复时间
2022-06-07
2025-04-12
Early Domestication and Agriculture
To some extent, the causes of agriculture are to be found in the thousands of years of hunting-gathering that immediately preceded the first agricultural societies. A critical interval may be the period between 22,000 and 8,000 years ago-a time of major climatic changes for much of the world. In Western Europe, population densities shifted as the herds of reindeer and horses that once supported many hunting bands moved northward as the glaciers became smaller. Some people moved with them, but others worked out subsistence strategies stressing plants, smaller game, and fish. Salmon became especially important in Europe as traps, drying racks, and other tools were developed to make salmon exploitation a reliable way to make a living. In Southwest Asia, parts of Africa, and parts of the Americas, some late Pleistocene and early post- Pleistocene(12,000-8,000 years ago) peoples began to eat more small game, fish, waterfowl, clams, wild cereals, and similar foods. Elsewhere, however, big-game hunting specializations (hunting large animals)persisted.
Where a shift to a smaller, more varied resource was made, technologies also changed. The bow and arrow and throwing stick were important innovations, and new tools were developed to dig plants, trap wild fowl, and prepare and cook this broader diet. Small, simple, geometric stone tools predominated in many areas. The world about 12,000 years ago was relatively diverse culturally, as some groups remained big-game hunters while others took up fishing, intensive foraging, and other pursuits. Thus, a great diversity of plants and animals was being exploited with varying intensities and technologies in a wide range of climates. Out of this vast mixture of people, plants, animals, and places the first domesticates and farmers appeared.
But which of these groups became agriculturalists and why? Although all the people before about 10,000 years ago were hunter- gatherers, this term covers a wide range of economies. Much of the variability in hunter-gatherer adaptations seems to be linked to food storage. Anthropologist Alain Testart notes that some hunter- gatherers store large amounts of food, others do not, and that “storing hunter-gatherer societies exhibit three characteristics-a sedentary(settled) way of life, a high population density, and the development of socioeconomic inequalities-which have been considered typical of agricultural societies”. Thus, in looking for causes of agricultural economies, we must consider kinds of adaptations where storage is a potential factor. This relates directly to certain types of foods. Cereals store well, but many tubers do not. Sheep, goats, barnyard fowl, and other animals can also be considered a form of food storage, since one simply feeds them excess or unwanted foods until the need arises to eat the animals.
It is probably also significant, as researcher Kent Flannery notes, that the major cereal seed crops that supported the first farmers and remain the basis of modern economies, including wheat, barley, millet, and rice, appear to have derived from wild ancestors that were “third-choice” foods: plants that were usually more difficult to gather and process than other wild plants and thus were probably first eaten in quantity because people had to do so, not because they wanted to. On the other hand, most of these third-choice foods are easily storable, plentiful, easy to grow, and, as annuals, genetically adaptable.
Aspects of the shift to cereals and other resources may help explain how agriculture-once it was in its initial stages-changed human demographic patterns. In hunting-gathering societies, fertility rates are suppressed significantly simply by maternal mobility. Thus, those late Pleistocene groups that became less mobile, perhaps because they began to obtain food from salmon runs or wild cereal patches, might have experienced a rise in fertility rates. Also, a direct correlation exists between the amount of carbohydrates in the diet and fertility rates. Studies have shown that it is almost impossible for a woman to become pregnant until she has about 27,000 calories, or 20 to 25 percent of her body weight, stored as fat. Nursing a child requires about 1,000 calories a day, and in many hunter-gatherer societies, the rigors of mobility and their high-protein diet can mean that nursing itself prevents sufficient fat build-up for a successful subsequent pregnancy for about three years. But with the change to a high-carbohydrate, cereal-based diet and restricted mobility of sedentary life, fertility rates may well have risen rapidly.
1
To some extent, the causes of agriculture are to be found in the thousands of years of hunting-gathering that immediately preceded the first agricultural societies. A critical interval may be the period between 22,000 and 8,000 years ago-a time of major climatic changes for much of the world. In Western Europe, population densities shifted as the herds of reindeer and horses that once supported many hunting bands moved northward as the glaciers became smaller. Some people moved with them, but others worked out subsistence strategies stressing plants, smaller game, and fish. Salmon became especially important in Europe as traps, drying racks, and other tools were developed to make salmon exploitation a reliable way to make a living. In Southwest Asia, parts of Africa, and parts of the Americas, some late Pleistocene and early post- Pleistocene(12,000-8,000 years ago) peoples began to eat more small game, fish, waterfowl, clams, wild cereals, and similar foods. Elsewhere, however, big-game hunting specializations (hunting large animals)persisted.
According to paragraph 1, all of the following occurred between 22,000 and 8,000 years ago EXCEPT:
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
ASome human populations migrated farther north.
BThe climate warmed in some locations.
CSmall animals became a bigger part of the diet of some Europeans.
DHuman populations in all parts of the world stopped hunting large animals.
2
To some extent, the causes of agriculture are to be found in the thousands of years of hunting-gathering that immediately preceded the first agricultural societies. A critical interval may be the period between 22,000 and 8,000 years ago-a time of major climatic changes for much of the world. In Western Europe, population densities shifted as the herds of reindeer and horses that once supported many hunting bands moved northward as the glaciers became smaller. Some people moved with them, but others worked out subsistence strategies stressing plants, smaller game, and fish. Salmon became especially important in Europe as traps, drying racks, and other tools were developed to make salmon exploitation a reliable way to make a living. In Southwest Asia, parts of Africa, and parts of the Americas, some late Pleistocene and early post- Pleistocene(12,000-8,000 years ago) peoples began to eat more small game, fish, waterfowl, clams, wild cereals, and similar foods. Elsewhere, however, big-game hunting specializations (hunting large animals)persisted.
Accordingtoparagraph1,which of the following resulted in salmon fishing becoming an effective way for people to support themselves?
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
AThe development of new types of tools for fishing
BAn increase in salmon populations
CA decline in the number of hunting bands
DThe northward movement of certain glaciers
3
Where a shift to a smaller, more varied resource was made, technologies also changed. The bow and arrow and throwing stick were important innovations, and new tools were developed to dig plants, trap wild fowl, and prepare and cook this broader diet. Small, simple, geometric stone tools predominated in many areas. The world about 12,000 years ago was relatively diverse culturally, as some groups remained big-game hunters while others took up fishing, intensive foraging, and other pursuits. Thus, a great diversity of plants and animals was being exploited with varying intensities and technologies in a wide range of climates. Out of this vast mixture of people, plants, animals, and places the first domesticates and farmers appeared.
The word “predominated” in the passage is closest in meaning to
Vocabulary Questions词汇题
Awere the most advanced
Bwere the most common
Chad already appeared
Dhad almost disappeared
4
Where a shift to a smaller, more varied resource was made, technologies also changed. The bow and arrow and throwing stick were important innovations, and new tools were developed to dig plants, trap wild fowl, and prepare and cook this broader diet. Small, simple, geometric stone tools predominated in many areas. The world about 12,000 years ago was relatively diverse culturally, as some groups remained big-game hunters while others took up fishing, intensive foraging, and other pursuits. Thus, a great diversity of plants and animals was being exploited with varying intensities and technologies in a wide range of climates. Out of this vast mixture of people, plants, animals, and places the first domesticates and farmers appeared.
According to paragraph 2, what was true at the time when the first farmers appeared?
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
ADifferent societies adopted a variety of activities and strategies for making a living.
BPlants had become far more diverse than they were in previous periods.
CThe domestication of animals had become relatively advanced.
DFishing and intensive plant foraging had almost entirely replaced hunting as a means of providing food.
5
But which of these groups became agriculturalists and why? Although all the people before about 10,000 years ago were hunter- gatherers, this term covers a wide range of economies. Much of the variability in hunter-gatherer adaptations seems to be linked to food storage. Anthropologist Alain Testart notes that some hunter- gatherers store large amounts of food, others do not, and that “storing hunter-gatherer societies exhibit three characteristics-a sedentary(settled) way of life, a high population density, and the development of socioeconomic inequalities-which have been considered typical of agricultural societies”. Thus, in looking for causes of agricultural economies, we must consider kinds of adaptations where storage is a potential factor. This relates directly to certain types of foods. Cereals store well, but many tubers do not. Sheep, goats, barnyard fowl, and other animals can also be considered a form of food storage, since one simply feeds them excess or unwanted foods until the need arises to eat the animals.
What does paragraph3 suggest about societies that did NOT store food before about 10,000 years ago?
Negative Factual Information Questions否定事实信息题
AThey usually remained in one location.
BThey had fewer, if any, socioeconomic inequalities compared to storing societies.
CThey were probably the first societies to depend on agricultural economies.
DThey tended to have dense populations.
6
But which of these groups became agriculturalists and why? Although all the people before about 10,000 years ago were hunter- gatherers, this term covers a wide range of economies. Much of the variability in hunter-gatherer adaptations seems to be linked to food storage. Anthropologist Alain Testart notes that some hunter- gatherers store large amounts of food, others do not, and that “storing hunter-gatherer societies exhibit three characteristics-a sedentary(settled) way of life, a high population density, and the development of socioeconomic inequalities-which have been considered typical of agricultural societies”. Thus, in looking for causes of agricultural economies, we must consider kinds of adaptations where storage is a potential factor. This relates directly to certain types of foods. Cereals store well, but many tubers do not. Sheep, goats, barnyard fowl, and other animals can also be considered a form of food storage, since one simply feeds them excess or unwanted foods until the need arises to eat the animals.
Which of the following can be inferred from the statement that “Cereals store well, but many tubers do not”?
Inference Questions推理题
APeople who relied on foods like tubers were less likely to develop agricultural societies.
BSocieties that relied on foods like tubers were more likely to develop social inequalities.
CEarly agricultural societies used tubers mainly as a source of food for farm animals.
DSome early agricultural societies that relied on tubers rather than cereal developed new methods of food storage.
7
Aspects of the shift to cereals and other resources may help explain how agriculture-once it was in its initial stages-changed human demographic patterns. In hunting-gathering societies, fertility rates are suppressed significantly simply by maternal mobility. Thus, those late Pleistocene groups that became less mobile, perhaps because they began to obtain food from salmon runs or wild cereal patches, might have experienced a rise in fertility rates. Also, a direct correlation exists between the amount of carbohydrates in the diet and fertility rates. Studies have shown that it is almost impossible for a woman to become pregnant until she has about 27,000 calories, or 20 to 25 percent of her body weight, stored as fat. Nursing a child requires about 1,000 calories a day, and in many hunter-gatherer societies, the rigors of mobility and their high-protein diet can mean that nursing itself prevents sufficient fat build-up for a successful subsequent pregnancy for about three years. But with the change to a high-carbohydrate, cereal-based diet and restricted mobility of sedentary life, fertility rates may well have risen rapidly.
For which of the following reasons does the author include the information that “Nursing a child requires about 1,000 calories a day”?
Rhetorical Purpose Questions修辞目的题
ATo emphasize that a woman must store a large amount of fat before having a baby
BTo indicate the main reason why hunter gatherer societies gave up hunting in favor of farming cereals
CTo help explain why fertility rates were low in hunter gatherer societies
DTo suggest that the demands of raising children led hunter gatherers to become less mobile
8
Aspects of the shift to cereals and other resources may help explain how agriculture-once it was in its initial stages-changed human demographic patterns. In hunting-gathering societies, fertility rates are suppressed significantly simply by maternal mobility. Thus, those late Pleistocene groups that became less mobile, perhaps because they began to obtain food from salmon runs or wild cereal patches, might have experienced a rise in fertility rates. Also, a direct correlation exists between the amount of carbohydrates in the diet and fertility rates. Studies have shown that it is almost impossible for a woman to become pregnant until she has about 27,000 calories, or 20 to 25 percent of her body weight, stored as fat. Nursing a child requires about 1,000 calories a day, and in many hunter-gatherer societies, the rigors of mobility and their high-protein diet can mean that nursing itself prevents sufficient fat build-up for a successful subsequent pregnancy for about three years. But with the change to a high-carbohydrate, cereal-based diet and restricted mobility of sedentary life, fertility rates may well have risen rapidly.
The word “subsequent’ in the passage is closest in meaning to
Vocabulary Questions词汇题
Ahealthy
Bnormal
Cfollowing
Dolder age
9
To some extent, the causes of agriculture are to be found in the thousands of years of hunting-gathering that immediately preceded the first agricultural societies. A critical interval may be the period between 22,000 and 8,000 years ago-a time of major climatic changes for much of the world. In Western Europe, population densities shifted as the herds of reindeer and horses that once supported many hunting bands moved northward as the glaciers became smaller. Some people moved with them, but others worked out subsistence strategies stressing plants, smaller game, and fish. ⬛Salmon became especially important in Europe as traps, drying racks, and other tools were developed to make salmon exploitation a reliable way to make a living. ⬛In Southwest Asia, parts of Africa, and parts of the Americas, some late Pleistocene and early post- Pleistocene(12,000-8,000 years ago) peoples began to eat more small game, fish, waterfowl, clams, wild cereals, and similar foods. ⬛Elsewhere, however, big-game hunting specializations (hunting large animals)persisted.⬛
Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage
In North America, for example, some groups centered heir lives around vast buffalo herds.
Insert Text Questions句子插入题
Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square sentence to the passage.
10
Many different factors led people in various parts of the world to stop hunting and gathering food in the wild.
Prose Summary Questions概要小结题
Select 3 answers
AHuman populations grew smaller in Europe when the reindeer and horses that provided the main sources of food disappeared due to the warming climate.
BFarmers in early agricultural societies tended to concentrate on producing types of food that were easy to store, leading them to grow grains and raise animals.
CHigh levels of inequality often caused food shortages in farming societies, while hunter gatherer societies were limited to very small populations in which inequality was absent.
DSome people began to rely on fish, small animals, and wild grains around the end of the Pleistocene, but others continued to obtain most of their food by hunting large animals.
EFarming and the domestication of animals quickly spread throughout the world 12.000 years ago as changes in the climate made hunting and gathering impractical in most places.
FAgriculture may have increased human populations because people who settled permanently in areas that provided large food supplies, especially cereals, tended to have more children.
答案：
