TF阅读真题第968篇Farming in Uruk-托您的福

题目：

Farming in Uruk

The ancient city of Uruk in the southern region of Sumer in the ancient Middle East developed an agricultural system that depended on irrigation to bring water to its fields. In Uruk, fields were sloped so that water from a canal along the higher edge of a field would run downward through long parallel furrows (dug out areas), supplying the crops on the sides of the furrows with water. This “strip field” system required far-from-casual organization, for it had to be laid out with great care to maximize the available terrain and also to position them relative to the raised banks of the canal. Such systems could come into being only with very close coordination between those who cultivated them and under some form of carefully planned management. They formed large blocks of fields laid out in herringbone patterns off both sides of a canal. No one knows when strip fields and furrow irrigation came into use, but early tablets from Uruk speak of such methods as early as 3100 B.C.E. and it was almost certainly much earlier than that. The same texts tell us that the fields were organized in large blocks and were centrally managed, probably by temples.

Long strip fields are almost impossible to dig by hand while keeping the furrows straight. Nor was it feasible to place the seed in the ground by hand. A hooked digging stick, originally made of wood, then later fitted with stone and, ultimately, bronze and iron plowshares, was used. We don’t know when plows first came into use, for we have no actual specimens, only crude depictions of them in the form of pictograms(written symbols that look like the object they represent). Two or three oxen pulled the plow, beasts that were far from easy to manage and steer straight, quite apart from the costs of feeding them. However, plows were ideal for digging the soil along the lengths of long fields, where far fewer turns were needed than in a square plot. They saved enormous amounts of time when compared with hand tools like hoes to cultivate fields. When the field was ready for planting, the farmer used another innovation. He fitted a funnel onto the plow to turn it into a seeder, a device that dropped seeds deep into the prepared soil. Seeder plows, known from a pictographic sign, apin, were in wide use between 3400 and 3100 B.C.E. They reduced seed wastage and increased crop yields by as much as 50 percent.

The combination of the strip field, the ox-drawn plow, and irrigation created an economic powerhouse behind the numerous, and often volatile, Sumerian city-states that emerged after 3100 B.c.E. The innovations came at a time when the rising sea levels of the Persian Gulf had reduced gradients and increased sedimentation. The levees along rivers and channels brought water to the fields at a slightly higher elevation. A combination of animal strength and much more efficient, higher-yielding irrigation systems revolutionized agriculture in the south. The village farming of earlier centuries gave way in many places to what one can only call a simple form of mechanized farming, the ancient mode of the farm worked by family and kin passing into history as productivity increased, perhaps in some places by 500 to 1,000 percent.

Uruk and later city economies were based firmly on barley and sheep, the latter providing wool for textiles. Barley had two benefits for farmers in the region: It matures very rapidly and is tolerant of saline soils. With the climate changes caused by the shift in monsoon rains, the grain acquired a decisive advantage in the south, where floods could threaten crops as they approached harvest in late spring. Early reaping (harvesting) also avoided another hazard: locusts, insects which could ruin a field’s crops in minutes. And salinity was a constant problem in this area of very slight gradients and higher water tables. It was no coincidence that barley covered about 90 percent of the cultivated land in the south in 2500 B.C.E., with wheat becoming more significant as one moved upstream. Barley, grown in strip fields, formed the food surpluses that fed southern cities. Much of the harvest went to the temple, after a deduction for the workers’ use, this over and above the unpaid labor expected of them during specific periods such as the reaping season.

What can be inferred from paragraph 1 about ancient strip-field farming systems?

Inference Questions推理题

AThey contained small blocks of fields.

BThey worked best on land that was flat.

CThey were too complex for individuals to manage by themselves.

DThey were first used in Uruk sometime after 3100 B.CE.

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

Vocabulary Questions词汇题

AOld

Bvery small

Cvery basic

Dminor

According to paragraph 2, which of the following is a disadvantage of using oxen for plowing?

Factual Information Questions事实信息题

AOxen can cause damage to crops.

BOxen need special food.

COxen are difficult to control.

DOxen are too big to pull seeder plows.

In paragraph 3, why does the author include the information that water was brought “to the fields at a slightly higher elevation?

Rhetorical Purpose Questions修辞目的题

ATo show that irrigation was less important to farming success in Sumerian city-states than animal strength was

BTo provide evidence showing that sea levels were affected by the innovations that were occurring in agriculture

CTo explain why the practice of irrigating fields was slower to develop in the south than in other locations

DTo identify a particular way in which irrigation systems became more efficient and higher yielding

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

AIn the simplest form of mechanized farming. family and kin worked together to increase productivity.

BThe older farming method died out and was replaced by a more mechanized form of farming that greatly increased productivity.

CIn order to increase productivity, ancient modes of farming were combined with a simple form of mechanized farming.

DAncient modes of farming gave way to village farming, which increased productivity by 500 to 1,000 percent.

According to paragraph 3. which of the following happened in the Sumer region during the period in which city-states emerged?

Factual Information Questions事实信息题

ASedimentation slowed in the Persian Gulf

BCompetitors of the Sumerian city-states became more powerful economically.

COcean water levels became higher.

DLevees along rivers and channels were removed.

All of the following are identified in paragraph 4 as advantages in Uruk of growing barley EXCEPT:

Negative Factual Information Questions否定事实信息题

AIt could be harvested before the rains arrived.

BIt could be grown in soils with comparatively high saline content.

CIt could be planted in fields where wheat was growing.

DIt could be harvested before insects were able to destroy it.

According to paragraph 4, which of the following was true of barley in Uruk and later city economies?

Factual Information Questions事实信息题

AIt was fed to sheep that provided wool for textiles.

BMore was used to feed southern cities than was sent to temples.

CIt produced higher yields in upstream areas than in downstream areas.

DIt was harvested by people who were not paid for the work of harvesting it.

Long strip fields are almost impossible to dig by hand while keeping the furrows straight. Nor was it feasible to place the seed in the ground by hand. A hooked digging stick, originally made of wood, then later fitted with stone and, ultimately, bronze and iron plowshares, was used. [■]We don’t know when plows first came into use, for we have no actual specimens, only crude depictions of them in the form of pictograms(written symbols that look like the object they represent).[■] Two or three oxen pulled the plow, beasts that were far from easy to manage and steer straight, quite apart from the costs of feeding them. However, plows were ideal for digging the soil along the lengths of long fields, where far fewer turns were needed than in a square plot.[■] They saved enormous amounts of time when compared with hand tools like hoes to cultivate fields. [■]When the field was ready for planting, the farmer used another innovation. He fitted a funnel onto the plow to turn it into a seeder, a device that dropped seeds deep into the prepared soil. Seeder plows, known from a pictographic sign, apin, were in wide use between 3400 and 3100 B.C.E. They reduced seed wastage and increased crop yields by as much as 50 percent.

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

Even though information about early plows is limited, it is clear that incorporating them into farming presented challenges.Insert Text Questions句子插入题

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

Uruk and other city-states in Sumer emerged as a result of innovations in farming.

Prose Summary Questions概要小结题

Select 3 answers

ABecause there was poor coordination among farmers that cultivated strip fields, temples took over the management of the strip field system.

BThe introduction of ox-drawn plows and seeder plows significantly increased crop yields, which contributed economically to the growth of Sumerian city-states.

CIn part because it was well suited to the rainfall and soil conditions of the region, barley became the most common plant crop.

DThe strip-field system for laying out and irrigating fields required careful planning and management and was likely supervised by temples.

EBy changing their system of levees and plowing in ways that reduced the saline content of the soil, farmers solved the potential problems caused by rising sea levels.

FWheat slowly became more significant than barley as the main crop in the south, with most surplus going to the farm workers as a form of payrment.

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