Ireland劍橋雅思6-聽力原文翻譯及答案解析

一、Ireland聽力原文：

Good morning everyone.

Last week we were looking at the hunter-gatherers in Ireland,across the Irish Sea from England.

Today,we're going to move on to the period between four and six thousand years ago,known as the Neolithic period,which is when a total farming economy was introduced in Ireland.

Now,there are several hypotheses about the origins of the first Neolithic settlers in Ireland,but most of these contain problems.

For instance,there are considerable archaeological difficulties about the theory that they came from England.

The evidence doesn't really add up.

But there are even greater practical problems about the theory that they came directly from continental Europe.

For one thing,it's not clear just how sufficient numbers of men and women could have been transported to Ireland to establish a viable population.

As you know,the hunter-gatherer economy which existed beforehand was based on small scattered groups.

The farming economy would almost certainly have required much larger communities to do all the work needed to plant and tend sufficient crops to sustain them through the year.

The early farmers kept various animals,including cattle and sheep.

There's also evidence of pigs,but it is possible that these could have been descended from the native wild species.

Now,we know from modem fanning that if the level of breeding stock falls below about three hundred females,the future of the species locally is at risk.

So we must assume that from the beginnings of Neolithic farming the number of breeding sheep would have considerably exceeded three hundred,and the national cattle herd must have been similar size.

The question is how these were brought to the area and where they came from.

It’s usually suggested that the Neolithic settlers used skin-covered boats to transport livestock.

But this method would have severely restricted the range of the colonising fleets.

The sheer volume of animal transport necessary means it’s unlikely that this livestock could have been brought from anywhere further than England.

What about crops?

Well,two main cereal crops were introduced to Ireland during this time:wheat and barley,both in several varieties.

The main evidence for their presence consists of impressions on pottery,where a cereal grain accidentally became enbedded in the surface of a pot before it was fired.

The grain itself was destroyed by the firing,but it left an impression on the pot which could be studied and identified by botanists.

Let's turn our attention now to the farming technology available at that time.

Before the cereal crops could be planted,it would have been necessary to clear the forest and to break the ground by ploughing.

The stone blade of a plough has beeiscovered during excavation in County Mayo in western Ireland.

The body of the plough would have been of wood and could have been drawn by people,but it’s also likely that cattle were used.

Now,the cultivation of crops and the husbandry of livestock brought about changes in people's lifestyle such as the type of shelters they made.

For one thing,instead of moving from place to place they needed permanent dwellings.

The stone axes used to chop down trees to make these dwellings were far superior to any that the Stone Age hunter-gatherers used.

To make the axes,sources of suitable stone had to be found and systematically exploited.

These so-called‘a(chǎn)xe factories’were really quarries rather than factories,as the manufacture of the axes wasn't regularly performed on the quarry site.

However,after the axe had been chipped into shape,they needed water and sand for grinding and polishing,so a high mountainside wouldn't have been an appropriate place for this.

So this final stage of the manufacture must have been carried out close to water and sure enough,there's ample evidence of this at coastal sites.

Now it’s clear that these Neolithic axes were transported all over Ireland,as well as to Scotland and the south of England.

It's not really surprising that axes from‘a(chǎn)xe factories’in England have also been found in Ireland.

At the very least,this indicates that there was a link between the two islands during that period.

One of the most useful innovations of the colonisers was pottery making,which was quite unknown to Irish hunter-gatherers.

The pottery was probably made by shaping day into a ball with the hand,and then hollowing it until the walls were the right thickness.

After firing,the outside was often polished.

This would have helped the pots to retain water,as they weren't glazed.

Now we know that the clay used usually came from local sources,which suggests that manufacture was on a fairly small scale,even though thousands of fragments are usually found at Neolithic sites.

In the course of time decoration began to appear.

At first this looked like a series of stitches and was just around the tops of the pots.

This could have been an imitation of earlier vessels which were made of leather sewn onto wood.

Then eventually pots with decoration all over…

二、Ireland聽力中文翻譯：

大家早上好。

上周，我們在愛爾蘭觀察狩獵采集者，他們與英國隔著愛爾蘭海。

今天，我們將進入四至六千年前的時期，即新石器時代，也就是愛爾蘭引入全面農(nóng)業(yè)經(jīng)濟的時期。

現(xiàn)在，關(guān)于愛爾蘭第一批新石器時代定居者的起源，有幾種假說，但大多數(shù)都有問題。

例如，關(guān)于他們來自英國的理論存在著相當大的考古困難。

證據(jù)并不完全正確。

但是，關(guān)于他們直接來自歐洲大陸的理論，還有更大的實際問題。

一方面，目前尚不清楚有多少男性和女性被運送到愛爾蘭，以建立一個有生存能力的人口。

正如你所知，之前存在的狩獵-采集經(jīng)濟是以分散的小群體為基礎(chǔ)的。

幾乎可以肯定的是，農(nóng)業(yè)經(jīng)濟需要更大的社區(qū)來完成種植所需的所有工作，并照料足夠的作物以維持全年。

早期的農(nóng)民飼養(yǎng)各種動物，包括牛羊。

也有豬的證據(jù)，但這些豬可能是本地野生物種的后代。

現(xiàn)在，我們從現(xiàn)代養(yǎng)殖中了解到，如果種畜數(shù)量低于大約300只雌性，當?shù)匚锓N的未來將面臨風(fēng)險。

因此，我們必須假設(shè)，從新石器時代農(nóng)業(yè)開始，繁殖綿羊的數(shù)量將大大超過300只，而全國牛群的規(guī)模一定相當。

問題是這些是如何被帶到該地區(qū)的，以及它們來自哪里。

人們通常認為，新石器時代的定居者使用帶皮的船來運輸牲畜。

但這種方法會嚴重限制殖民艦隊的活動范圍。

所需的動物運輸量之大，意味著這些牲畜不太可能從英國以外的任何地方運來。

農(nóng)作物呢？

在這段時間里，愛爾蘭引進了兩種主要的谷物作物：小麥和大麥，都有幾個品種。

它們存在的主要證據(jù)是陶器上的印痕，在燒制之前，一種谷物意外地嵌入到鍋的表面。

谷物本身被燒壞了，但它在罐子上留下了痕跡，植物學(xué)家可以對其進行研究和鑒定。

現(xiàn)在讓我們關(guān)注一下當時可用的農(nóng)業(yè)技術(shù)。

在種植谷類作物之前，必須清除森林，并通過犁耕開墾土地。

在西愛爾蘭梅奧縣的挖掘過程中發(fā)現(xiàn)了犁的石刃。

犁體可能是木頭，也可能是人拉的，但也可能是用牛拉的。

現(xiàn)在，農(nóng)作物的種植和牲畜的飼養(yǎng)帶來了人們生活方式的改變，例如他們建造的庇護所的類型。

首先，他們需要的不是從一個地方搬到另一個地方，而是永久性的住所。

用于砍伐樹木以建造這些住所的石斧遠遠優(yōu)于石器時代狩獵采集者使用的任何石斧。

為了制作斧頭，必須找到合適的石頭來源，并進行系統(tǒng)開發(fā)。

這些所謂的“斧頭工廠”實際上是采石場，而不是工廠，因為斧頭的制造并沒有定期在采石場進行。

然而，在斧頭被削成形狀后，他們需要水和沙子來打磨和拋光，所以高山腰不是合適的地方。

所以，制造的最后階段必須在靠近水的地方進行，毫無疑問，在沿海地區(qū)有充分的證據(jù)證明這一點。

現(xiàn)在很明顯，這些新石器時代的軸線被運到了整個愛爾蘭，以及蘇格蘭和英格蘭南部。

在愛爾蘭也發(fā)現(xiàn)了英國“斧頭工廠”的斧頭，這并不奇怪。

至少，這表明這兩個島嶼在這一時期有聯(lián)系。

殖民者最有用的創(chuàng)新之一是陶器制作，愛爾蘭狩獵采集者對此一無所知。

陶器的制作方法可能是用手將day塑造成一個球，然后將其挖空，直到墻壁達到合適的厚度。

開火后，外部經(jīng)常被打磨。

這將有助于這些罐子保持水分，因為它們沒有上釉。

現(xiàn)在我們知道，使用的粘土通常來自當?shù)兀@表明制造規(guī)模相當小，盡管新石器時代遺址通常發(fā)現(xiàn)數(shù)千塊碎片。

隨著時間的推移，裝飾開始出現(xiàn)。

起初，這看起來像是一系列的縫線，就在罐子的頂部。

這可能是早期用皮革縫制而成的船只的仿制品

最后，所有的花盆都裝飾好了

三、Ireland聽力問題：

Question 31-34

Choose the correct letters A,B or C.

31.

According to the speaker,it is not clear

A.when the farming economy was introduced to Ireland.

B.why people began to farm in Ireland.

C.where the early Irish farmers came from.

32.What point does the speaker make about breeding animals in Neolithic Ireland?

A.Their numbers must have been above a certain level

B.They were under threat from wild animals.

C.Some species died out during this period.

33.What does the speaker say about the transportation of animals?

A.Livestock would have limited the distance the farmers could sail.

B.Neolithic boats were too primitive to have been used.

C.Probably only a few breeding animals were imported.

34.What is the main evidence for cereal crops in Neolithic Ireland?

A.the remains of burnt grain in pots

B.the marks left on pots by grains

C.the patterns painted on the surface of pots

Question 35-40

Complete the sentences below.

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.STONE TOOLS

35.Ploughs could either have been pulled byor by cattle.

?The farmers needed homes which were permanent dwellings.

36.In the final stages of axe-making,andwere for grinding and polishing.

37.Irish axes were exported from Ireland toand England.

POTTERY MAKING

?The colonisers used clay to make pots.

38.Theof the pots was often polished to make them watertight.

39.Clay fromareas was generally used.

40.Decoration was only put around theof the earliest pots.

四、Ireland聽力答案：

31.C

32.A

33.A

34.B

35.people

36.water;sand;

37.Scotland

38.outside

39.local

40.tops

五、Ireland聽力答案解析

Question 31 C.題干中唯一的路標詞是“not clear”，但是原文替換為同義詞“hypotheses”，不容易辨認。因此，到聽到“now”時，應(yīng)意識到進入話題，通常第一題的答案應(yīng)該不遠。之后一句原文強調(diào)“origins”（起源），并且沒有提到A選項的economy，應(yīng)該指定居者的起源，因此選擇C項。

Question 32 A.題干路標詞為“breeding animals”原文提到“breeding stock”時應(yīng)為答案，并且聽到數(shù)字300。只有A項與數(shù)字有關(guān)，因此選A。

Question 33 A.題干路標詞為“transportation”，原文提到“to transport livestock”，并且強調(diào)“severely restricted”，與選項A中l(wèi)ivestock...limited...對應(yīng)。

Question 34 B.題干中evidence，cereal crops為路標詞。三個選項提到不同的“印記”———burnt,grains,patterns，原文說“cereal grain”，應(yīng)選B。注意排除干擾項C，雖然有“on the surface”，但原文沒有提到是“pattern”（圖案）。

Question 35 people.ploughs是路標詞，考生通過分析空格前的詞，pulled by...，空格中填寫邏輯主語，應(yīng)為名詞。

Question 36 water,sand.axe-making是路標詞，考生通過上下文判斷得知空格中填寫物質(zhì)名詞，for grinding and polishing在原文也出現(xiàn)，之前的名詞應(yīng)為答案。

Question 37 Scotland.Irish axes為路標詞。通過and之后的England判斷空格中填寫地點名詞。

Question 38 outside.之前的小標題pottery making作為定位詞，空格中應(yīng)填寫名詞，某個位置被打磨，原文中聽到was polished時，應(yīng)迅速記錄前一個詞。

Question 39 local.clay為路標詞，空格中填寫形容詞。

Question 40 tops.decoration為路標詞，之前的介詞around幫助定位，之后的名詞為答案。

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