托福閱讀真題Official 53 Passage 1（一）

托福閱讀真題Official 53 Passage 1（一）

Evidence of the Earliest Writing

Although literacy appeared independently in several parts of the prehistoric world,the earliest evidence of writing is the cuneiform Sumerian script on the clay tablets of ancient Mesopotamia,which,archaeological detective work has revealed,had its origins in the accounting practices of commercial activity.Researchers demonstrated that preliterate people,to keep track of the goods they produced and exchanged,created a system of accounting using clay tokens as symbolic representations of their products.Over many thousands of years,the symbols evolved through several stages of abstraction until they became wedge-shaped(cuneiform)signs on clay tablets,recognizable as writing.

The original tokens(circa 8500 B.C.E.)were three-dimensional solid shapes—tiny spheres,cones,disks,and cylinders.A debt of six units of grain and eight head of livestock,for example,might have been represented by six conical and eight cylindrical tokens.To keep batches of tokens together,an innovation was introduced(circa 3250 B.C.E.)whereby they were sealed inside clay envelopes that could be broken open and counted when it came time for a debt to be repaid.But because the contents of the envelopes could easily be forgotten,two-dimensional representations of the three-dimensional tokens were impressed into the surface of the envelopes before they were sealed.Eventually,having two sets of equivalent symbols—the internal tokens and external markings—came to seem redundant,so the tokens were eliminated(circa 3250–3100 B.C.E.),and only solid clay tablets with two-dimensional symbols were retained.Over time,the symbols became more numerous,varied,and abstract and came to represent more than trade commodities,evolving eventually into cuneiform writing.

The evolution of the symbolism is reflected in the archaeological record first of all by the increasing complexity of the tokens themselves.The earliest tokens,dating from about 10,000 to 6,000 years ago,were of only the simplest geometric shapes.But about 3500 B.C.E.,more complex tokens came into common usage,including many naturalistic forms shaped like miniature tools,furniture,fruit,and humans.The earlier,plain tokens were counters for agricultural products,whereas the complex ones stood for finished products,such as bread,oil,perfume,wool,and rope,and for items produced in workshops,such as metal,bracelets,types of cloth,garments,mats,pieces of furniture,tools,and a variety of stone and pottery vessels.The signs marked on clay tablets likewise evolved from simple wedges,circles,ovals,and triangles based on the plain tokens to pictographs derived from the complex tokens.

Before this evidence came to light,the inventors of writing were assumed by researchers to have been an intellectual elite.Some,for example,hypothesized that writing emerged when members of the priestly caste agreed among themselves on written signs.But the association of the plain tokens with the first farmers and of the complex tokens with the first artisans—and the fact that the token-and-envelope accounting system invariably represented only small-scale transactions—testifies to the relatively modest social status of the creators of writing.

And not only of literacy,but numeracy(the representation of quantitative concepts)as well.The evidence of the tokens provides further confirmation that mathematics originated in people’s desire to keep records of flocks and other goods.Another immensely significant step occurred around 3100 B.C.E.,when Sumerian accountants extended the token-based signs to include the first real numerals.Previously,units of grain had been represented by direct one-to-one correspondence—by repeating the token or symbol for a unit of grain the required number of times.The accountants,however,devised numeral signs distinct from commodity signs,so that eighteen units of grain could be indicated by preceding a single grain symbol with a symbol denoting“18.”Their invention of abstract numerals and abstract counting was one of the most revolutionary advances in the history of mathematics.

What was the social status of the anonymous accountants who produced this breakthrough.The immense volume of clay tablets unearthed in the ruins of the Sumerian temples where the accounts were kept suggests a social differentiation within the scribal class,with a virtual army of lower-ranking tabulators performing the monotonous job of tallying commodities.We can only speculate as to how high or low the inventors of true numerals were in the scribal hierarchy,but it stands to reason that this laborsaving innovation would have been the brainchild of the lower-ranking types whose drudgery it eased.

Question 1 of 14

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.Sumerian script,the earliest known form of writing among prehistoric writing systems,was first used on clay tablets for accounting purposes.

B.Although the earliest Sumerians engaged in commercial activity and practiced accounting,they were not as literate as people in other parts of the prehistoric world.

C.Archaeologists have discovered that literacy was developed in several parts of the world,including ancient Mesopotamia.

D.Archaeological detective work has revealed the commercial accounting practices of the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia and provided a written record of their intense commercial activity.

正確答案：A

題目詳解

題型分類：簡化句子題

原文分析：原句主要包含兩層意思：第一，蘇美爾人的文字系統(tǒng)是最早的（earliest）；第二，文字最早用于計數(shù)（accounting）。

選項分析：

A選項正確，包含了兩層意思。

B選項說了用于計數(shù)，沒說最早，而且原文沒有提到“as literate as”的比較關(guān)系。

C選項既沒說最早，也沒說用于計數(shù)。

D選項說了用于計數(shù)，沒說最早。

Question 2 of 14

All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 2 as true of clay envelopes EXCEPT:

A.They contained batches of tokens.

B.They could be reused frequently.

C.They had markings on the outside.

D.They could be used to record debts.

正確答案：B

題目詳解

題型分類：否定事實信息題

原文定位：根據(jù)clay envelopes定位到第二段第三句To keep batches of tokens together,an innovation was introduced(circa 3250 B.C.E.)whereby they were sealed inside clay envelopes that could be broken open and counted when it came time for a debt to be repaid.泥信封為了存放代幣，一段時間被打碎，數(shù)代幣。

選項分析：

B選項錯誤，打碎后不能重復(fù)使用。

A選項正確，對應(yīng)原文To keep batches of tokens together,an innovation was introduced(circa 3250 B.C.E.)whereby they were sealed inside clay envelopes…

C選項正確，對應(yīng)原文two-dimensional representations of the three-dimensional tokens were impressed into the surface of the envelopes。

D選項正確，對應(yīng)原文…when it came time for a debt to be repaid。

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