托福阅读经典加试——两河流域文明与埃及文明之比较【无老师系列】

两河流域苏美文明与埃及文明之比较

科学家惊奇的发现，两种文明可以在同一时间产生。在埃及文化产生时，美索不达米亚文化也同时应运而生。埃及土地肥沃，造成它的独立致。美索不达米亚两河流域，地理环境特殊，四周沙漠什么的，老被侵略，所以都是一个帮一个帮的，美索不达米亚文化不像埃及文化一样，美索不达米亚文化没有留下很多遗产。当初美索不达米亚的居民生活好像挺好的，所以一直没有人提出统一的想法，很久以后才有，可是由于大量的花费在战争上什么的，很快就覆灭了。由于当时的环境条件，那里的人们都用泥土/木头盖房子，所以和埃及不一样，现在我们没找到什么当初留下的建筑物。我们现在还挖出了许多陶器石板，上面刻着文字，只能通过这些推知历史。后来又变成什么苏美尔了，这是从外面迁徙过来的民族。

两河地域的美索布达米娅文明，先是和埃及文明作比较，比较的结果是他们（美索）由外来入侵，文明不易保存，建筑用的材料也不易保存，考古学家只能从挖掘出来的文物中研究他们。后半部分是讲苏美尔人在两河地区建立的文明的特点，特别是他们城邦的宗教神祗制度，影响了他们的经济制度（献纳）。大题目是分类题，比较埃及文明和苏美尔文明 。

科学家惊奇的发现，两种文明可以在同一时间产生。在埃及文化产生时，美索不达米亚文化也同时应运而生。埃及土地肥沃，造成它的独立所致。美索不达米亚两河流域，地理环境特殊，四周沙漠什么的，老被侵略，所以都是一个城邦一个城邦的，美索不达米亚文化不像埃及文化一样，美索不达米亚文化没有留下很多遗产。当初美索不达米亚的居民生活安逸，所以一直没有人提出统一的想法，很久以后才有，可是由于大量的花费在战争上，很快就覆灭了。由于当时的环境条件，那里的人们都用泥土/木头盖房子，所以和埃及不一样，现在没找到什么当初留下的建筑物。但是挖出了许多陶器石板，上面刻着文字，考古学家只能从挖掘出来的文物中研究其历史。后来讲苏美尔人在两河地区建立的文明的特点，特别是他们城邦的宗教神祗制度，影响了他们的经济制度（献纳）。大题目是分类题，比较埃及文明和苏美尔文明 。 Sumerian Civilization

It is an astonishing fact that human civilization should have emerged into the light of history in two separate places at just about the same time. Between 3,500 and 3,000 B.C. when Egypt was being united under pharaonic rule, another great civilization arose in Mesopotamia, the “land between the rivers.” And for close to three thousand years, the two rival centers retained their distinct characters, even though they had contact with each other from their earliest beginnings, and their destinies were interwoven in many ways. The pressure that forced the inhabitants of both regions to abandon the pattern of Neolithic village life may well have been the same. But the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, unlike that of the Nile, is not a narrow fertile strip protected by desert on either side. It resembles a wide, shallow trough with few natural defenses, crisscrossed by two great rivers and their tributaries, and is easily encroached upon from any direction.

1.The word astonishing in the passage is closest in meaning to (A) important (B) unknown (C) amazing (D) interesting

2.Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information. (A) A great civilization arose in Mesopotamia, the “land between the rivers” under pharaonic rule. 发源于美索不达米亚的伟大文明，在paranonic统治之下的“两河之间的土地” (B) Egypt and another great civilization both developed in Mesopotamia between 3500 and 3000 B.C. (C) A great civilization arose in Mesopotamia between 3500 and 3000 B.C. at the same time that ancient Egypt was being united. (D) As Egypt was being united under pharaonic rule, a great civilization arose there.

3.The phrase its substance refers to (A) the political history of ancient Mesopotamia古代美索不达米亚政治的历史 (B) divine kingship (C) Egypt (D) the sudden collapse of military power

4.The word obscure in the passage is closest in meaning to (A) unclear (B) unique (C) controversial (D) important 5.The author mentions Nor did they share the Egyptians’ concern with the hereafter, in order to作者提到 也不分享埃及人关于从今以后的担忧 为了。。。 (A) To provide one explanation for the relatively few physical remains of ancient Sumerian society.为相对少的关于古代苏美尔社会物理遗迹提供一个解释 (B) To explain why ancient Sumerian built with mud brick and wood rather than with stone. (C) To help account for the fact that tombs and vaulted chambers have been found only at Ur. (D) To counter the claim that all ancient societies paid great attention to the afterlife.

6.According to the passage, it can be inferred that the City of Ur is located in Ur 城（乌尔城）位于 (A) Egypt (B) Persia (C) northern Mesopotamia (D) near the confluence of Tigris and Euphrates底格里斯河和幼发拉底河的附近 7.The word vast in the passage is closest in meaning to (A) random (B) very large (C) surprising (D) relatively small 8.According to paragraph 2 and 3, the physical characteristics of Mesopotamia affected Sumerian civilization in all of the following ways EXCEPT: 根据2、3、段美索不达米亚影响苏美尔文明，除了哪方面(A) Foreign invasions were made easy. (B) Creating and maintaining political stability was made difficult. (C) Continuity of cultural and artistic traditions could not be achieved. 文化和艺术传统的一致性 得不到 (D) Sumerian architecture could not produce long-lasting structures 9.Look at the four [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

Despite these achievements, scholars know much less about Sumerian life than they would like. 尽管这些成就，学者们对于苏美尔人的生活知道的更少，比起他们爱好什么而言 Where would the sentence best fit? 第四方块

10.According to paragraph 4, what evidence is used to support the claim that the idea of divine ownership was not “a mere pious fiction”? 对于神的所有权并不仅仅“是虔诚的虚构”这一论点支持的证据是 (A) The idea of divine ownership originated with the kings of Sumerian city-state. (B) The idea of divine ownership was the reason why a large part of the harvest was offered to the god. (C) The idea of divine ownership eventually came to replace “theocratic socialism”. (D) The idea of divine ownership served as the basis for the economic organization of Sumerian society. 神的所有权服务于苏美尔社会的经济组织形式的基础 11.，The word considerable in the passage is closest in meaning to (A) substantial (B) fixed (C) valuable (D) limited.

12，In the above passage, all of the following were true of the local god EXCEPT 哪项不是关于当地的神的事实 (A) The local god owned everything and everyone in the city-state. (B) The local god represented the subjects of the city-state to other gods. (C) The local god communicated with the people of the city-state through a human ruler. (D) The local god sometimes fought against the local gods of rival city-states 当地的神有时候同竞争的城邦的神作战

13，fill in a table問題 Ancient Egyptian Civilization 政治统一了很久时间 有相当多建筑物遗址 Sumerian Civilization 城邦国家是一个特色 从文件中所记载 这一个文明受到外部的侵略

两河文明：发源于亚洲底格里斯河（Tigris）与幼发拉底河（Euphrates）河流域，又称美索不达米亚（Mesopotamia）文明。两河文明也是有史可考的最古老的文明，其文明形成期可以追溯到公元前4000年，正式形成于约公元前3500年。当时生活在两河流域的是苏美尔人，建立了苏美尔文明。之后陆续有闪米特人、赫梯人、亚述人、波斯人、马其顿人、罗马人、阿拉伯人和突厥人相继入侵。两河流域继苏美尔人之后最伟大的文明就是由闪米特人汉穆拉比建立的巴比伦。 尼罗河文明：发源于非洲尼罗河（Nile）流域，又称古埃及文明，其历史也可追溯到公元前4000年。公元前3100年左右，上埃及国王美尼斯统一上下埃及，开始了史称的埃及王朝时期，也就代表了古埃及文明的正式开始。 5、苏美尔文明主要是关于两河流域，美索不达米亚平原的文明。着重谈了苏美尔文明。刚开始，说两河流域和埃及的古文明几乎同时开始。然后对比了这两个地方的地理位置和自然环境，两河流域是平原，没有自然屏障，于是容易被外界入侵，所以该地区的政权很不稳定，等等。然后着重谈了苏美尔文明，讲了他们的起源和文化上的特点，然后说由于两河流域没有石头，他们的建筑材料都是一些泥土和木头，因此很少有遗迹，不像埃及。随后重点介绍了苏美尔文明的宗教制度和政治经济制度。

两河流域的Sumerian（苏美尔人）文化。首先讲到埃及有强大的法老政权，与埃及同时期在美索不达米亚平原出现了苏美尔人文化，但是这一文化很难有强大的统一政权，因为平原缺少天险用于防御，容易被外族入侵。该文化缺少建筑物的遗迹，因为大量使用了木材作为建筑材料，而木材容易腐烂，所以很难对该文化加以研究。不过，苏美尔人留下了大量的石板文字可供研究。 5美索布达米娅文化 第一段：美文化和埃及文化同时，但因为美的地域限制一直没有统一。（有题） 第二段：直到一种S人来统一，说了他们的来源和历史，他们建立了一种s文化 第三段：S文化的实物遗迹少，这又两方面原因：一当地石料不丰富二当地人没有厚葬的习惯。所以对S的了解主要基于文字。 第四段：在S文化中最重要的是宗教，每一个城市有一个local god, god无比神圣拥有一切，代表本城在她的fellow中议事。（有题）社会的经济市场就是以寺庙为中心，由牧师组织交易，所以很多的牧师纪录都与此有关。