TF阅读真题第969篇Dating the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids

Dating the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids

 

题目：

 

The first step toward discovering the age of the ancient Egyptian pyramids is to determine for whom they were built. Each pyramid was erected to mark the burial of a particular king (pharaoh), and fortunately the builders left inscriptions that attest to the ownership of many of these monuments. The three great pyramids at Giza were built for rulers named Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure. Other pyramids were built for kings named Snofru, Sahure, and Neferirkare. Even more fortunately, the ancient Egyptians maintained detailed records of the dynasties (lines of hereditary rulers of a country) and the hundreds of kings who ruled Egypt over the centuries. These lists provide the basis for modern reconstructions of ancient Egyptian chronology and are an essential tool in any estimate of the age of the pyramids.

The most famous of these king lists was produced by an Egyptian priest named Manetho, who lived during the third century B.C.E. His work includes a list of over 200 kings who had ruled Egypt since the beginning of recorded history. These kings are grouped together into some 30 dynasties, but it is not always clear what all the kings in any given dynasty had in common, since sometimes the kings belonging to a particular dynasty seem to belong to a single family, while in other cases rulers from different families are grouped together. In spite of such uncertainties, Manetho’s dynasties still provide the basic terminology for organizing Egyptian kings and Egyptian history.  

Manetho’s records indicate how long each dynasty lasted and suggest that the total length of time covered by all the dynasties extends over thousands of years. Given such a vast amount of time, there are bound to be issues of accuracy. Furthermore, Manetho’s work is preserved only in a few secondhand copies created hundreds of years after he died, and even these are not entirely consistent. Thus while the Manetho tradition is a valuable resource, earlier lists of kings are still needed in order to construct a more accurate chronology.

Luckily for Egyptologists, there are a number of other king lists that are thousands of years older than Manetho’s. Some were created to decorate the walls of temples and include only rulers considered important at the time the stone was carved, omitting a number of short-lived or heretical kings known from other historical records. Other texts, preserved only in fragments, appear to have originally contained a more or less complete account of Egyptian rulers. The Palermo Stone, for example, gives a year-by- year record of events in Egyptian history up through the Fifth Dynasty. There is also the Turin Papyrus, likely created in the Nineteenth Dynasty, which contains a list of kings together with the lengths of their reigns. Here, even kings who ruled for only a year are included. Such resources, while regrettably incomplete, still preserve invaluable information that has allowed scholars to come to a clearer understanding of a complex story spanning three millennia.

Based on these and other historical documents, Egyptologists have constructed an outline of ancient Egyptian history. The outline is still divided into 31 dynasties, which are now grouped together into an Archaic Period, Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms, the Late Period, and three intermediate periods. The kingdoms are, in general, times when the central government of Egypt was strong, while the intermediate periods were times when the authority of the pharaoh was weak. During the intermediate periods, multiple rulers and even foreign powers could exercise control over different parts of Egypt.

The kings associated with the Great Pyramids at Giza belong to the Fourth Dynasty in the Old Kingdom, which places them in a very early period in Egypt’s long history. Their pyramids are consequently among the older monuments in Egypt. However, the information from the king lists cannot provide us with a very precise estimate of when these kings lived or when the pyramids were built These records may indicate how long each king ruled, but there are gaps in the records and, to complicate matters further, some kings may have had overlapping reigns Uncertainties of this sort tend to accumulate as we go backward in time, so the timing of very early events, such as the construction of the pyramids, is quite difficult to pinpoint.

 

 

 

 

 

1

The first step toward discovering the age of the ancient Egyptian pyramids is to determine for whom they were built. Each pyramid was erected to mark the burial of a particular king (pharaoh), and fortunately the builders left inscriptions that attest to the ownership of many of these monuments. The three great pyramids at Giza were built for rulers named Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure. Other pyramids were built for kings named Snofru, Sahure, and Neferirkare. Even more fortunately, the ancient Egyptians maintained detailed records of the dynasties (lines of hereditary rulers of a country) and the hundreds of kings who ruled Egypt over the centuries. These lists provide the basis for modern reconstructions of ancient Egyptian chronology and are an essential tool in any estimate of the age of the pyramids.

According to paragraph 1, ancient Egyptians’ lists of kings are useful to scholars for which of the following TWO reasons? To receive credit, you must select TWO answers.

 

Factual Information Questions事实信息题

 

Select 2 answers

AThe lists helped determine the sequence of ancient Egyptian rulers.

BThe lists, written as inscriptions on the pyramids, indicated the rulers for whom the pyramids were built.

CThe lists provided evidence for the theory that each ancient Egyptian pyramid marked the burial place of a particular ruler.

DThe lists helped provide an estimate of when the pyramids were built.

2

The most famous of these king lists was produced by an Egyptian priest named Manetho, who lived during the third century B.C.E. His work includes a list of over 200 kings who had ruled Egypt since the beginning of recorded history. These kings are grouped together into some 30 dynasties, but it is not always clear what all the kings in any given dynasty had in common, since sometimes the kings belonging to a particular dynasty seem to belong to a single family, while in other cases rulers from different families are grouped together. In spite of such uncertainties, Manetho’s dynasties still provide the basic terminology for organizing Egyptian kings and Egyptian history.  

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

 

AFor the most part, these kings seem to have been grouped together according to what family they belonged to and then divided into about 30 dynasties.

BIt is not clear how these kings were grouped into 30 dynasties because only in some dynasties did the kings belong to the same family.

CThe kings that were grouped together into some 30 dynasties shared a number of characteristics that helped determine to which families they belonged.

DThese kings were grouped together into about 30 dynasties according to various characteristics they had in common.

3

Manetho’s records indicate how long each dynasty lasted and suggest that the total length of time covered by all the dynasties extends over thousands of years. Given such a vast amount of time, there are bound to be issues of accuracy. Furthermore, Manetho’s work is preserved only in a few secondhand copies created hundreds of years after he died, and even these are not entirely consistent. Thus while the Manetho tradition is a valuable resource, earlier lists of kings are still needed in order to construct a more accurate chronology.

According to paragraph 3, Manetho’s list does not provide enough information for reconstructing an accurate chronology of ancient Egyptian kings for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:

Negative Factual Information Questions否定事实信息题

AThe list comes in the form of secondhand copies made hundreds of years after the original was produced.

BThe various later copies of the list that have been preserved do not all agree with one another.

CThe list is not always clear about which kings belonged to which dynasty.

DIt is almost impossible for a record that covers thousands of years not to contain errors.

4

Luckily for Egyptologists, there are a number of other king lists that are thousands of years older than Manetho’s. Some were created to decorate the walls of temples and include only rulers considered important at the time the stone was carved, omitting a number of short-lived or heretical kings known from other historical records. Other texts, preserved only in fragments, appear to have originally contained a more or less complete account of Egyptian rulers. The Palermo Stone, for example, gives a year-by- year record of events in Egyptian history up through the Fifth Dynasty. There is also the Turin Papyrus, likely created in the Nineteenth Dynasty, which contains a list of kings together with the lengths of their reigns. Here, even kings who ruled for only a year are included. Such resources, while regrettably incomplete, still preserve invaluable information that has allowed scholars to come to a clearer understanding of a complex story spanning three millennia.

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

 

Vocabulary Questions词汇题

 

Aarguing against

Bcommenting on

Cgrouping together

Dleaving out

5

Luckily for Egyptologists, there are a number of other king lists that are thousands of years older than Manetho’s. Some were created to decorate the walls of temples and include only rulers considered important at the time the stone was carved, omitting a number of short-lived or heretical kings known from other historical records. Other texts, preserved only in fragments, appear to have originally contained a more or less complete account of Egyptian rulers. The Palermo Stone, for example, gives a year-by- year record of events in Egyptian history up through the Fifth Dynasty. There is also the Turin Papyrus, likely created in the Nineteenth Dynasty, which contains a list of kings together with the lengths of their reigns. Here, even kings who ruled for only a year are included. Such resources, while regrettably incomplete, still preserve invaluable information that has allowed scholars to come to a clearer understanding of a complex story spanning three millennia.

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

 

Vocabulary Questions词汇题

 

Acertain places

Bspecial cases

Chistorical records

Dsmall pieces

6

Luckily for Egyptologists, there are a number of other king lists that are thousands of years older than Manetho’s. Some were created to decorate the walls of temples and include only rulers considered important at the time the stone was carved, omitting a number of short-lived or heretical kings known from other historical records. Other texts, preserved only in fragments, appear to have originally contained a more or less complete account of Egyptian rulers. The Palermo Stone, for example, gives a year-by- year record of events in Egyptian history up through the Fifth Dynasty. There is also the Turin Papyrus, likely created in the Nineteenth Dynasty, which contains a list of kings together with the lengths of their reigns. Here, even kings who ruled for only a year are included. Such resources, while regrettably incomplete, still preserve invaluable information that has allowed scholars to come to a clearer understanding of a complex story spanning three millennia.

It can be inferred from paragraph 4 that the Palermo Stone does not include

 

Inference Questions推理题

 

Akings who were not regarded as important at the time it was produced

Bany events that occurred after the Fifth Dynasty

Ckings who ruled only for brief periods

Da clear indication of how long each of the various kings ruled

7

The kings associated with the Great Pyramids at Giza belong to the Fourth Dynasty in the Old Kingdom, which places them in a very early period in Egypt’s long history. Their pyramids are consequently among the older monuments in Egypt. However, the information from the king lists cannot provide us with a very precise estimate of when these kings lived or when the pyramids were built These records may indicate how long each king ruled, but there are gaps in the records and, to complicate matters further, some kings may have had overlapping reigns Uncertainties of this sort tend to accumulate as we go backward in time, so the timing of very early events, such as the construction of the pyramids, is quite difficult to pinpoint.

The author provides the information that “some kings may have had overlapping reigns” in order to

 

Rhetorical Purpose Questions修辞目的题

 

Aimply that different kings fought against each other to rule Egypt

Bprovide a possible reason behind the existence of gaps in the Egyptian records of kings

Csupport the claim that construction of the pyramids lasted through more than one king’s time in power

Dhelp explain why it is difficult to determine the exact time that the Great Pyramids of Giza were built

8

The kings associated with the Great Pyramids at Giza belong to the Fourth Dynasty in the Old Kingdom, which places them in a very early period in Egypt’s long history. Their pyramids are consequently among the older monuments in Egypt. However, the information from the king lists cannot provide us with a very precise estimate of when these kings lived or when the pyramids were built These records may indicate how long each king ruled, but there are gaps in the records and, to complicate matters further, some kings may have had overlapping reigns Uncertainties of this sort tend to accumulate as we go backward in time, so the timing of very early events, such as the construction of the pyramids, is quite difficult to pinpoint.

According to paragraph 6,which of the following is true of the king lists?

 

Factual Information Questions事实信息题

 

AThey allow scholars to determine when the Giza pyramids were constructed.

BThey contain gaps that create great uncertainty about very early events.

CThey indicate the location where each of the kings lived.

DThey specify which pyramids were built by each king on the list.

9

Based on these and other historical documents, Egyptologists have constructed an outline of ancient Egyptian history. [■] The outline is still divided into 31 dynasties, which are now grouped together into an Archaic Period, Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms, the Late Period, and three intermediate periods. [■] The kingdoms are, in general, times when the central government of Egypt was strong, while the intermediate periods were times when the authority of the pharaoh was weak. [■] During the intermediate periods, multiple rulers and even foreign powers could exercise control over different parts of Egypt.[■]

The kings associated with the Great Pyramids at Giza belong to the Fourth Dynasty in the Old Kingdom, which places them in a very early period in Egypt’s long history. Their pyramids are consequently among the older monuments in Egypt. However, the information from the king lists cannot provide us with a very precise estimate of when these kings lived or when the pyramids were built These records may indicate how long each king ruled, but there are gaps in the records and, to complicate matters further, some kings may have had overlapping reigns Uncertainties of this sort tend to accumulate as we go backward in time, so the timing of very early events, such as the construction of the pyramids, is quite difficult to pinpoint.

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

As a result, in some cases it is not even certain how many.rulers there were during any one period.Insert Text Questions句子插入题

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

10

It is quite difficult to arrive at a very precise estimate of the date at which the ancient Egyptian pyramids were constructed.

 

Prose Summary Questions概要小结题

 

Select 3 answers

APyramids were designed to mark the death of a particular ruler who, in many cases, can be identified by inscriptions left by the builders, so such a pyramid can be dated by determining when that ruler lived.

BUnlike many earlier lists of kings that were carved onto stone and thus largely preserved, Manetho’s list was written on papyrus and was preserved only partially in a few secondhand copies.

CThe Great Pyramids at Giza are now known to have been built for kings that belonged to the Fourth Dynasty and thus are among the very few pyramids that have been precisely dated.

DManetho’s work from the third century B.C.E. includes the most famous list of ancient Egyptian kings and their reigns, but earlier detailed lists also exist.

EEgyptologists largely accept Manetho’s grouping of kings into dynasties but find it more useful to divide ancient Egyptian history into eight equal periods on the basis of older king lists.

FIt is difficult to reconstruct the exact chronology of Ancient Egyptian reigns because of poor preservation of ancient records and the existence of multiple rulers at the same time.