TF阅读真题第915篇lron Working in Africa-托您的福

lron Working in Africa

Many scholars believe that the secret of iron smelting(the process of extracting the iron from the rock that contains it) came to Africa with Phoenician merchants. The Phoenicians living on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean were smelting iron by 1000 B.C.E. They were a seafaring people whose square-rigged ships sailed along the North African coast, where they established settlements that became colonies. The most famous was Carthage in modern Tunisia, founded about 800 B.C.E., but other settlements were scattered along the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast of Africa as far south as Mauritania. The indigenous peoples of North Africa who surrounded these Phoenician colonies were Berbers who cultivated wheat, barley, and millet on the rich coastal lowlands between their pastures for sheep, goats, and cattle. The Phoenicians were traders as well as sailors who exchanged iron implements and the technology to make them in return for the cereals and livestock of the Berbers.

By 600 B.C.E. Carthage had become a wealthy and powerful city- state in the western Mediterranean whose commerce depended on goods brought across the Sahara by the pastoral, nomadic Berbers of the interior who controlled the early trans-Saharan routes. Two thousand years later, these routes were to become great arteries of trade between Africa and the Mediterranean world. In 500 B.C.E., however, they were paths used from time to time to connect the chain of Saharan oases inhabited by Berbers, who since great antiquity had maintained the line of communications and contacts between the regions of Africa south of the Sahara and the Mediterranean coast north of it. The paintings in the rock shelters of the Sahara graphically depict the two-wheeled, horse-drawn chariots, most probably used for war but also able to transport African gold, ivory, and slaves taken in raids in return for salt, cloth, beads, and iron from North Africa.

Not all scholars believe that iron entered Africa exclusively through the Phoenicians and their Berber trading partners. Some argue that it is more likely that its diffusion occurred in a wide arc stretching from Morocco to Yemen. Others believe that Africans developed iron-smelting technology independently of the Phoenicians, perhaps even separately in East and West Africa, and there is evidence to support this view.

Regardless of where the technology originated, by the middle of the first millennium B.C.E., iron furnaces were in use in central Niger, in the inland delta of the Niger River in Mali and in central Nigeria at Taruga on the Jos Plateau. Taruga is near the site of the Nok culture, known for its exquisitely fashioned terra-cotta figurines of clay baked in furnaces adaptable to iron technology. Slag(the by- product of smelting) has been found in thirteen furnaces in the Taruga area, the oldest dating to 400 B.C.E. The beehive and cylindrical furnaces of West Africa were quite different from those in North Africa and Mesopotamia(modern Iraq) and were indicative of innovations in, if not the invention of, iron-smelting technology that were unique to Africa.

Whether imported or independently developed, iron technology was dispersed widely and rapidly throughout western Africa. Equipped with iron tools and weapons, the Africans could now assault the natural and political obstacles to their expansion. The land could be cleared, the forest penetrated, and large wild animals more successfully hunted. Iron tools made possible more intensive and productive farming that required a distinct division of labor in societies where everyone had hitherto been completely involved in growing only a sufficient amount of food for subsistence. This division of labor created not only a ruling class but also groups of artisans, craftsmen, and commercial traders, all of whom no longer tilled the soil.

Linguists have observed that the dates for early iron working in West Africa correspond roughly with the beginning of the dispersal of the Bantu languages out of their homeland, but similar dates alone are insufficient evidence to conclude that the spread of iron technology and Bantu linguistics were in some way related. The assumption by early historians that a Bantu migration throughout the continent was precipitated and made possible by the discovery of iron technologies is an overly simple explanation for a historical movement that was, in reality, extremely complex.

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.

Sentence Simplification Questions句子简化题

AThe Berbers supplied labor for the Phoenician colonies, working in their fields and caring for their animals

BSurrounding the Phoenician were the Berbers, native North African people who grew grains and raised animals

CThe Berbers grew wheat, barley, and millet on the lowlands surrounding Phoenician animal pastures

DLike the native Berbers, the Phoenician colonies grew wheat, barley, and millet and millet and raised sheep, goals, and cattle

According to paragraph 1, many scholars believe that iron smelting in Africa first began when the technique was

Factual Information Questions事实信息题

Abrought by Phoenicians who settled on the North African coast

Bdiscovered by the Berbers around 1,000 B.C.E

Cbrought back from Phoenicia by seafaring African merchants

Ddiscovered in Carthage in modern Tunisia around 800 B.C.E

According to paragraph 3, which of the following is NOT a theory about the development of the iron-smelting process in Africa?

Negative Factual Information Questions否定事实信息题

AIt arrived in Africa through trade between the Phoenicians and Berbers

BIt was invented independently in different parts of Africa

CIt first appeared in East Africa and then was carried by the Phoenicians to other parts of the world

DIt was adopted by African traders living in a wide area between Morocco and Yemen

The phrase”Regardless of” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Vocabulary Questions词汇题

ANo matter

BBecause of

CAs for

DDepending on

In stating that the furnaces were “adaptable to” iron technology, the author means that the furnaces

Rhetorical Purpose Questions修辞目的题

Aled to improvements in iron technology

Bwere made with iron technology

Cwere superior to iron technology

Dcould be used with iron technology

The author mentions “The beehive and cylindrical furnaces of West Africa”in order to

Rhetorical Purpose Questions修辞目的题

Aprovide evidence that Africans developed original iron-smelting technology that was not found elsewhere

Bsupport the argument that iron working was more important to West African societies than to those of North Africa and Mesopotamia

Cprovide evidence that West Africa may have developed smelting technology before North Africa did

Dargue that iron working moved east from the West African coast to Niger and Nigeria

According to paragraph 5, once iron technology reached western Africa, it

Factual Information Questions事实信息题

Awas exported to other continents

Bwas used only in a few key regions

Cwas available only to the ruling classes

Dspread quickly over a large area

Paragraph 6 suggests that scholars today believe which of the following about iron technology and the spread of the Bantu languages?

Inference Questions推理题

AThe Bantu-speaking peoples were able to migrate across Africa because they gained access to iron technology

BAlthough iron technology and Bantu languages spread at about the same time, no causal connection has been shown

CThe spread of Bantu languages and the spread of iron technology occurred at different times and were unrelated events

DThe migratory Bantu-speaking peoples were responsible for the wide dispersal of iron technology across Africa Paragraph 6 is marked with an arrow

By 600 B.C.E. Carthage had become a wealthy and powerful city- state in the western Mediterranean whose commerce depended on goods brought across the Sahara by the pastoral, nomadic Berbers of the interior who controlled the early trans-Saharan routes.[■] Two thousand years later, these routes were to become great arteries of trade between Africa and the Mediterranean world. [■] In 500 B.C.E., however, they were paths used from time to time to connect the chain of Saharan oases inhabited by Berbers, who since great antiquity had maintained the line of communications and contacts between the regions of Africa south of the Sahara and the Mediterranean coast north of it. [■] The paintings in the rock shelters of the Sahara graphically depict the two-wheeled, horse-drawn chariots, most probably used for war but also able to transport African gold, ivory, and slaves taken in raids in return for salt, cloth, beads, and iron from North Africa.[■]

Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage

Archaeological evidence has shed light on how the Berbers traveled along these routes.Insert Text Questions句子插入题

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

There are competing theories about how iron technology first came to Africa, but it is agreed that once there, it had great social impact.

Prose Summary Questions概要小结题

Select 3 answers

AOne theory is that the Phoenicians first brought iron to North Africa and that the Berbers were responsible for spreading it south.

BPaintings in the rock shelters of the Sahara provide evidence for the presence of iron in Africa even before the formation of Carthage in 800B.C.E.

CSome scholars believe that trans-Saharan routes were first used for trading iron but were later used for war and for trading other types of goods.

DThere is some evidence, such as various styles of furnaces, that supports the view that iron technology developed independently in different parts of Africa.

EIron tools made farmers and hunters more productive, which allowed other members of society to focus on politics, arts, crafts, and trade.

FNumerous artifacts provide evidence that Bantu-speaking peoples used iron technology to conquer large areas of West Africa.

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