TF阅读真题第908篇The Search for the Origins of Writing

The Search for the Origins of Writing

 

 

Who invented the first writing? Like many questions of its type in archaeology, this one is not easily answered. Some might argue that the paintings that our Cro- Magnon relatives applied to cave walls in western Europe during the Upper Paleolithic between about 22,000 and 13,000 y.a. (years ago) should be counted as writing. After all, researcher Alexander Marshack and others have demonstrated that much of the cave art, as well as many small sculptural carvings and engraved bones and stones from the same period, surely were more than mere decorations. They were subject to manipulation and reworking and may have served in some symbolic way as reminders of significant or periodic events, including those associated with the annual progression of the seasons. However, a lack of standardized repetitive elements combined into meaningful patterns probably disqualifies this type of artwork as true writing. The magnificent and skillful renderings of Ice Age animals and other subjects may have conveyed significant meaning and perhaps even information to their late Stone Age viewers, but they probably were not “read”in the way that we understand writing. Still, the distinctions tend to blur.

A more likely candidate for the world’s earliest writing (or at least the source of its inspiration) may be the counting tokens (objects that represent something else) of ancient Mesopotamia. Denise Schmandt-Besserat noted that small fired-clay objects were common on many Neolithic (late Stone Age)sites in the upper valley of the Tigris- Euphrates Rivers and in the adjacent Zagros Mountains. Represented in an array of geometric shapes-disks, spheres, cones, triangles, rectangles, tetrahedrons, ovoids, and others-these enigmatic objects, about the size of a fingernail, long puzzled archaeologists. They had been described as children’s playthings, ornaments, or “ritual objects.” Schmandt-Besserat was struck by their wide distribution and persistent appearance on sites in the Fertile Crescent over thousands of years, with the earliest dating to 10,000 y.a. and great quantities coming from Jarmo and nearby Zagros Neolithic sites after about 8,500 y.a. She recognized that comparable clay geometrics had been used much later as counting tokens for tallying sheep, grain, and other products. Each distinctive shape represented a specific kind of agricultural or craft product. At Nuzi, a 3,500-year-old site in Iraq, the tokens were found in conjunction with other types of Sumerian accounting records, which seemed to verify their purpose.

The most surprising and convincing connection between the tokens and early writing is that many of the token shapes subsequently were carried over onto the earliest Sumerian pictographic tablets, including those found at Uruk, as signs representing numerals, sheep, cow, dog, various types of containers, bread, wool, garment bracelet, and so on. In essence, Schmandt-Besserat posits a translation of three-dimensional tokens into a two-dimensional script during the period of Sumerian development (later Ubaid and Uruk times, 5,500- 5,100 y.a.) because of an increased need for efficient records and the availability of numerous new products Where loose clay tokens representing a transaction once had been strung together or stored in a hollow clay container, now the diverse token shapes became individual symbols that could be recorded conveniently on wet clay tablets and baked for preservation.

These earliest accounting tablets were primarily pictographic(pictures representing words or phrases), but before about 5,000 y.a., additional abstract signs were being devised to represent both concepts (ideograms) and sounds or syllables, resulting in a more comprehensive form of true writing. Eventually, the cuneiform(“wedge-shaped”)writing of the Sumerians comprised hundreds of different signs, many somewhat comparable to a letter in an alphabet, while others represented individual words(logograms).

People of the Nile River in Egypt evidently received their first exposure to writing around 5,500 y.a. as they traded with Mesopotamia. The Egyptians adopted the concept of writing from this source but developed their own unique script. The famous hieroglyphics(“sacred carvings”) of ancient Egypt retain a deceptively simple pictographic look, but they really are both more syllabic and ideographic than they appear at first glance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

Who invented the first writing? Like many questions of its type in archaeology, this one is not easily answered. Some might argue that the paintings that our Cro- Magnon relatives applied to cave walls in western Europe during the Upper Paleolithic between about 22,000 and 13,000 y.a. (years ago) should be counted as writing. After all, researcher Alexander Marshack and others have demonstrated that much of the cave art, as well as many small sculptural carvings and engraved bones and stones from the same period, surely were more than mere decorations. They were subject to manipulation and reworking and may have served in some symbolic way as reminders of significant or periodic events, including those associated with the annual progression of the seasons. However, a lack of standardized repetitive elements combined into meaningful patterns probably disqualifies this type of artwork as true writing. The magnificent and skillful renderings of Ice Age animals and other subjects may have conveyed significant meaning and perhaps even information to their late Stone Age viewers, but they probably were not “read”in the way that we understand writing. Still, the distinctions tend to blur.

Why does the author discuss arguments made by “researcher Alexander Marshack and others”?

Vocabulary Questions词汇题

ATo show that most scholars now believe that the first form of writing was invented by Cro-Magnons

BTo support the claim that Upper Paleolithic cave art was created for decorative purposes

CTo explain why some consider Upper Paleolithic cave art to be writing

DTo illustrate the idea that early writing served a variety of social functions

 

2

Who invented the first writing? Like many questions of its type in archaeology, this one is not easily answered. Some might argue that the paintings that our Cro- Magnon relatives applied to cave walls in western Europe during the Upper Paleolithic between about 22,000 and 13,000 y.a. (years ago) should be counted as writing. After all, researcher Alexander Marshack and others have demonstrated that much of the cave art, as well as many small sculptural carvings and engraved bones and stones from the same period, surely were more than mere decorations. They were subject to manipulation and reworking and may have served in some symbolic way as reminders of significant or periodic events, including those associated with the annual progression of the seasons. However, a lack of standardized repetitive elements combined into meaningful patterns probably disqualifies this type of artwork as true writing. The magnificent and skillful renderings of Ice Age animals and other subjects may have conveyed significant meaning and perhaps even information to their late Stone Age viewers, but they probably were not “read”in the way that we understand writing. Still, the distinctions tend to blur.

The word “mere” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Vocabulary Questions词汇题

Ainteresting

Bpretty

Cjust

Dtypical

 

3

The word “enigmatic”in the passage is closest in meaning to

Vocabulary Questions词汇题

Arate

Bmysterious

Cdelicate

Dremarkable

 

4

A more likely candidate for the world’s earliest writing (or at least the source of its inspiration) may be the counting tokens (objects that represent something else) of ancient Mesopotamia. Denise Schmandt-Besserat noted that small fired-clay objects were common on many Neolithic (late Stone Age)sites in the upper valley of the Tigris- Euphrates Rivers and in the adjacent Zagros Mountains. Represented in an array of geometric shapes-disks, spheres, cones, triangles, rectangles, tetrahedrons, ovoids, and others-these enigmatic objects, about the size of a fingernail, long puzzled archaeologists. They had been described as children’s playthings, ornaments, or “ritual objects.” Schmandt-Besserat was struck by their wide distribution and persistent appearance on sites in the Fertile Crescent over thousands of years, with the earliest dating to 10,000 y.a. and great quantities coming from Jarmo and nearby Zagros Neolithic sites after about 8,500 y.a. She recognized that comparable clay geometrics had been used much later as counting tokens for tallying sheep, grain, and other products. Each distinctive shape represented a specific kind of agricultural or craft product. At Nuzi, a 3,500-year-old site in Iraq, the tokens were found in conjunction with other types of Sumerian accounting records, which seemed to verify their purpose.

According to paragraph 2, which of the following does NOT accurately describe the counting tokens of ancient Mesopotamia?

Negative Factual Information Questions否定事实信息题

AThey are small and made of clay.

BThey have been found throughout the Fertile Crescent.

CThey were discovered alongside objects used in rituals.

DSome archaeologists believed them to be children’s toys.

 

5

The most surprising and convincing connection between the tokens and early writing is that many of the token shapes subsequently were carried over onto the earliest Sumerian pictographic tablets, including those found at Uruk, as signs representing numerals, sheep, cow, dog, various types of containers, bread, wool, garment bracelet, and so on. In essence, Schmandt-Besserat posits a translation of three-dimensional tokens into a two-dimensional script during the period of Sumerian development (later Ubaid and Uruk times, 5,500- 5,100 y.a.) because of an increased need for efficient records and the availability of numerous new products Where loose clay tokens representing a transaction once had been strung together or stored in a hollow clay container, now the diverse token shapes became individual symbols that could be recorded conveniently on wet clay tablets and baked for preservation.

Which ofthe 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.

Sentence Simplification Questions句子简化题

AThe use of token shapes to represent types and quantities of goods on the earliest Sumerian pictographic tablets strongly connects the tokens to early writing.

BEarly forms of writing discovered in Sumeria reveal that the token shapes represented numbers,animals, garments, and various types of containers.

CSumerian pictographic tablets provide convincing evidence that the token shapes were traded at Uruk for animals and various types of goods.

DAt the Sumerian site of Uruk,archaeologists were surprised to find that token shapes and pictographic tablets were both used to represent animals and objects.

 

6

The most surprising and convincing connection between the tokens and early writing is that many of the token shapes subsequently were carried over onto the earliest Sumerian pictographic tablets, including those found at Uruk, as signs representing numerals, sheep, cow, dog, various types of containers, bread, wool, garment bracelet, and so on. In essence, Schmandt-Besserat posits a translation of three-dimensional tokens into a two-dimensional script during the period of Sumerian development (later Ubaid and Uruk times, 5,500- 5,100 y.a.) because of an increased need for efficient records and the availability of numerous new products Where loose clay tokens representing a transaction once had been strung together or stored in a hollow clay container, now the diverse token shapes became individual symbols that could be recorded conveniently on wet clay tablets and baked for preservation.

According to paragraph 3, Schmandt-Besserat believes that which of the following developments occurred during the later Ubaid and Uruk times?

Factual Information Questions事实信息题

ATransactions began to involve the use of tokens.

BTokens were strung together for the first time and stored in containers.

CNumerous new products were developed to preserve tokens.

DShapes recorded onto clay tablets began to replace the use of tokens.

 

7

These earliest accounting tablets were primarily pictographic(pictures representing words or phrases), but before about 5,000 y.a., additional abstract signs were being devised to represent both concepts (ideograms) and sounds or syllables, resulting in a more comprehensive form of true writing. Eventually, the cuneiform(“wedge-shaped”)writing of the Sumerians comprised hundreds of different signs, many somewhat comparable to a letter in an alphabet, while others represented individual words(logograms).

Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 4 about the earliest accounting tablets?

Inference Questions推理题

AThey were too large to be used in ordinary commercial transactions.

BThey represented the most comprehensive form of writing produced by the Sumerians.

CFor the most part, they lacked abstract signs comparable to letters in alphabets.

DThey were largely comparable to the Sumerians’ cuneiform writing.

 

8

People of the Nile River in Egypt evidently received their first exposure to writing around 5,500 y.a. as they traded with Mesopotamia. The Egyptians adopted the concept of writing from this source but developed their own unique script. The famous hieroglyphics(“sacred carvings”) of ancient Egypt retain a deceptively simple pictographic look, but they really are both more syllabic and ideographic than they appear at first glance.

According to paragraph 5, Egyptian hieroglyphics are more

Factual Information Questions事实信息题

Aunusual than they appear

Blike true writing than they appear

Csimple than they appear

Dancient than they appear

 

9

A more likely candidate for the world’s earliest writing (or at least the source of its inspiration) may be the counting tokens (objects that represent something else) of ancient Mesopotamia. Denise Schmandt-Besserat noted that small fired-clay objects were common on many Neolithic (late Stone Age)sites in the upper valley of the Tigris- Euphrates Rivers and in the adjacent Zagros Mountains. Represented in an array of geometric shapes-disks, spheres, cones, triangles, rectangles, tetrahedrons, ovoids, and others-these enigmatic objects, about the size of a fingernail, long puzzled archaeologists.  [■] They had been described as children’s playthings, ornaments, or “ritual objects.”  [■] Schmandt-Besserat was struck by their wide distribution and persistent appearance on sites in the Fertile Crescent over thousands of years, with the earliest dating to 10,000 y.a. and great quantities coming from Jarmo and nearby Zagros Neolithic sites after about 8,500 y.a.  [■] She recognized that comparable clay geometrics had been used much later as counting tokens for tallying sheep, grain, and other products.  [■] Each distinctive shape represented a specific kind of agricultural or craft product. At Nuzi, a 3,500-year-old site in Iraq, the tokens were found in conjunction with other types of Sumerian accounting records, which seemed to verify their purpose.

Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage

However, emerging evidence from these sites suggested that they had a different function.Insert Text Questions句子插入题

Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square  sentence to the passage.

10

Ancient Mesopotamians were likely the first people to invent writing.

Prose Summary Questions概要小结题

Select 3 answers

Alce Age hunters developed an early form of writing to communicate the location of game animals as the seasons progressed.

BUpper Paleolithic cave art had some features of writing and may have had symbolic meaning, but it was not truly read.

CSome argue that the Egyptians were the first people to develop writing. which went on to spread throughout Mesopotamia as a result of trade.

DMuch has been learned about Sumerian trade, crafts, and ways of life by reading the clay tablets scattered throughout Neolithic sites in Mesopotamia.

EWriting may have evolved as people began to keep records of transactions using three-dimensional counting tokens at first and two-dimensional representations later.

FThe Sumerians and Egyptians developed sophisticated scripts that had some similarities to an alphabet.

 

答案：