题目：
The Song Dynasty Expansion
About 1,000 years ago, during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), China saw a remarkable period of expansion and prosperity. Among the reasons for this was Chinese society’s increasing acceptance of a market economy. Buying and selling became more commonplace when Chinese coinage (soon supplemented by skillfully managed paper currency) began to facilitate commerce, and merchants were allowed greater scope than before. As a result, the Chinese economy became increasingly commercialized. Imperial administrators found it convenient to collect taxes in cash rather than in goods, and by the late eleventh century, more than half of the government’s income took monetary form. This, of course, required ordinary people to sell something (part or all of the harvest, for the majority of people) in order to pay their taxes. The government used its cash income to purchase goods and services, often in large quantities, thus sustaining and intensifying market relationships. Cities burgeoned, artisan skills improved, and wealthy landlords and merchants lived elegant lifestyles that dazzled outsiders for centuries to come.
Intensified agriculture supported this expansion of urban life. Early-ripening rice, introduced from Southeast Asia and first mentioned in Chinese records in 1012, allowed farmers in well-watered parts of southern China to produce two crops a year, nearly doubling their harvest at the cost of prolonging hard work in the fields. A single crop of early-ripening rice could also mature on hill slopes where water was only available for a couple of months in the year. Chinese peasants therefore began to construct fields on hilly landscapes of southern China, vastly expanding the total area of cultivation.
New crops, notably tea and cotton, also spread widely in China. The practice of drinking tea, steeped in boiling water, undoubtedly reduced intestinal infections by killing off most of the microorganisms that lurk in drinking water. This helped Chinese populations in Tang (618-907) and Song times to flourish in the warmer and wetter south, an area notoriously unhealthful and only thinly populated in Han times (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.). Washable cotton clothing may also have had positive implications for health. It certainly improved comfort for ordinary people, who could not afford silk and had previously worn coarse hempen clothes. All in all, intensified agriculture appears to have kept pace with China’s intensified urban manufacturing.
Cheap and safe transport along China’s rivers and canals was what made the market so effective in concentrating material resources wherever government officials and wealthy private persons wanted them. Canal boats carried thousands of kilograms at a time, and since they relied on wind and current, and used towropes (ropes used to pull boats through the canal or river) only when necessary, they permitted far lower transport costs than overland carriage. Consequently, even small differences of price made it worthwhile to carry local products long distances up and down the waterways. The Grand Canal-connecting, at great labor, the fertile plains of the Yangzi and Huang He valleys after 611-became the main artery of Chinese commerce to such an extent that the daily efforts of some 100 million persons came to be linked, far more closely than ever before, by buying and selling in a vast, reliable, and well articulated market.
Cheap transportation allowed goods of common consumption to circulate widely. In favorable locations, a peasant family could concentrate on raising silkworms, or some other commercial crop, and rely on the market for food and other necessities. All the benefits of specialization thus emerged in Song China. Output increased, population grew, skills multiplied, and a burst of inventiveness made Song China far wealthier than ever before.
It was not a completely free market, however. Government officials considered wealthy merchants and military commanders threats to social justice and good government. Yet in a dangerous, commercialized world, prudent officials could not do without their services. The officials attempted to restrain the power of merchants by fixing prices, taxing excessive gains, and occasionally resorting to outright confiscation of their wealth. They sought to weaken generals by subdividing their commands and keeping the delivery of necessary supplies under civilian control. Such policies limited the mobilization of China’s resources and eventually curtailed large-scale industrial enterprise, despite a cluster of high-tech furnaces in North China that, according to surviving tax records, produced no less than 125,000 tons of iron in the year 1078.
1
About 1,000 years ago, during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), China saw a remarkable period of expansion and prosperity. Among the reasons for this was Chinese society’s increasing acceptance of a market economy. Buying and selling became more commonplace when Chinese coinage (soon supplemented by skillfully managed paper currency) began to facilitate commerce, and merchants were allowed greater scope than before. As a result, the Chinese economy became increasingly commercialized. Imperial administrators found it convenient to collect taxes in cash rather than in goods, and by the late eleventh century, more than half of the government’s income took monetary form. This, of course, required ordinary people to sell something (part or all of the harvest, for the majority of people) in order to pay their taxes. The government used its cash income to purchase goods and services, often in large quantities, thus sustaining and intensifying market relationships. Cities burgeoned, artisan skills improved, and wealthy landlords and merchants lived elegant lifestyles that dazzled outsiders for centuries to come.
The word “sustaining” in the passage is closest in meaning to
Vocabulary Questions词汇题
Achanging
Bsupporting
Ccontrolling
Dcreating
2
About 1,000 years ago, during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), China saw a remarkable period of expansion and prosperity. Among the reasons for this was Chinese society’s increasing acceptance of a market economy. Buying and selling became more commonplace when Chinese coinage (soon supplemented by skillfully managed paper currency) began to facilitate commerce, and merchants were allowed greater scope than before. As a result, the Chinese economy became increasingly commercialized. Imperial administrators found it convenient to collect taxes in cash rather than in goods, and by the late eleventh century, more than half of the government’s income took monetary form. This, of course, required ordinary people to sell something (part or all of the harvest, for the majority of people) in order to pay their taxes. The government used its cash income to purchase goods and services, often in large quantities, thus sustaining and intensifying market relationships. Cities burgeoned, artisan skills improved, and wealthy landlords and merchants lived elegant lifestyles that dazzled outsiders for centuries to come.
According to paragraph 1, all of the following contributed to the increasing commercialization of the Chinese economy EXCEPT
Negative Factual Information Questions否定事实信息题
Athe successful introduction of paper currency
Bthe greater freedom with which merchants were allowed to operate
Cthe products that wealthy landlords and merchants sold to outsiders
Dthe government’s use of cash to purchase goods and services
3
About 1,000 years ago, during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), China saw a remarkable period of expansion and prosperity. Among the reasons for this was Chinese society’s increasing acceptance of a market economy. Buying and selling became more commonplace when Chinese coinage (soon supplemented by skillfully managed paper currency) began to facilitate commerce, and merchants were allowed greater scope than before. As a result, the Chinese economy became increasingly commercialized. Imperial administrators found it convenient to collect taxes in cash rather than in goods, and by the late eleventh century, more than half of the government’s income took monetary form. This, of course, required ordinary people to sell something (part or all of the harvest, for the majority of people) in order to pay their taxes. The government used its cash income to purchase goods and services, often in large quantities, thus sustaining and intensifying market relationships. Cities burgeoned, artisan skills improved, and wealthy landlords and merchants lived elegant lifestyles that dazzled outsiders for centuries to come.
According to paragraph 1, one effect of the government’s move to collect taxes in cash was to
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
Aforce ordinary people to become involved in the market economy
Bsignificantly expand the power of imperial administrators
Cbring about needed improvements in the management of paper currency
Dincrease taxes on ordinary people to make up for lower government income
4
Intensified agriculture supported this expansion of urban life. Early-ripening rice, introduced from Southeast Asia and first mentioned in Chinese records in 1012, allowed farmers in well-watered parts of southern China to produce two crops a year, nearly doubling their harvest at the cost of prolonging hard work in the fields. A single crop of early-ripening rice could also mature on hill slopes where water was only available for a couple of months in the year. Chinese peasants therefore began to construct fields on hilly landscapes of southern China, vastly expanding the total area of cultivation.
According to paragraph 2, which of the following was one advantage of early-ripening rice?
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
AIt significantly reduced the amount of work that was necessary to produce each crop of rice.
BIt allowed Chinese peasants to spend more time on tasks unrelated to agriculture.
CIt made an additional harvest season possible.
DIt made it possible to grow rice in even the wettest parts of southern China.
5
New crops, notably tea and cotton, also spread widely in China. The practice of drinking tea, steeped in boiling water, undoubtedly reduced intestinal infections by killing off most of the microorganisms that lurk in drinking water. This helped Chinese populations in Tang (618-907) and Song times to flourish in the warmer and wetter south, an area notoriously unhealthful and only thinly populated in Han times (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.). Washable cotton clothing may also have had positive implications for health. It certainly improved comfort for ordinary people, who could not afford silk and had previously worn coarse hempen clothes. All in all, intensified agriculture appears to have kept pace with China’s intensified urban manufacturing.
It can be inferred from paragraph 3 that the practice of drinking tea helped Chinese populations in the South because it
Inference Questions推理题
Amade them healthier than people in other regions of China
Bled to a better understanding of the causes ofinfection
Creduced the amount of infected water that people drank
Dallowed them to become the regional center of trade
6
Cheap and safe transport along China’s rivers and canals was what made the market so effective in concentrating material resources wherever government officials and wealthy private persons wanted them. Canal boats carried thousands of kilograms at a time, and since they relied on wind and current, and used towropes (ropes used to pull boats through the canal or river) only when necessary, they permitted far lower transport costs than overland carriage. Consequently, even small differences of price made it worthwhile to carry local products long distances up and down the waterways. The Grand Canal-connecting, at great labor, the fertile plains of the Yangzi and Huang He valleys after 611-became the main artery of Chinese commerce to such an extent that the daily efforts of some 100 million persons came to be linked, far more closely than ever before, by buying and selling in a vast, reliable, and well articulated market.
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 Grand Canal increased the speed and reliability of Chinese commerce, but connecting the fertile Yangzi and Huang He valleys required the labor of roughly 100 million people.
BThe Grand Canal, which connected the Yangzi and Huang He valleys, made possible the development of a large and efficient market that involved roughly 100 million people.
CAfter 611, the main artery of Chinese commerce transported approximately 100 million laborers throughout the fertile plains of the Yangzi and the Huang He valleys.
DAfter 611, Chinese commerce grew to such an extent due to the daily efforts of some 100 million people.
7
Cheap transportation allowed goods of common consumption to circulate widely. In favorable locations, a peasant family could concentrate on raising silkworms, or some other commercial crop, and rely on the market for food and other necessities. All the benefits of specialization thus emerged in Song China. Output increased, population grew, skills multiplied, and a burst of inventiveness made Song China far wealthier than ever before.
Why does the author provide the information that “a peasant family could concentrate on raising silkworms” ?
Rhetorical Purpose Questions修辞目的题
ATo support the idea that skills and inventiveness had increased during the period
BTo help explain why increased output led to population growth
CTo give an example of a group of people who needed to acquire new skills
DTo illustrate the connection between cheap transportation of goods and the growth of specialization
8
It was not a completely free market, however. Government officials considered wealthy merchants and military commanders threats to social justice and good government. Yet in a dangerous, commercialized world, prudent officials could not do without their services. The officials attempted to restrain the power of merchants by fixing prices, taxing excessive gains, and occasionally resorting to outright confiscation of their wealth. They sought to weaken generals by subdividing their commands and keeping the delivery of necessary supplies under civilian control. Such policies limited the mobilization of China’s resources and eventually curtailed large-scale industrial enterprise, despite a cluster of high-tech furnaces in North China that, according to surviving tax records, produced no less than 125,000 tons of iron in the year 1078.
According to paragraph 6, what were TWO actions taken by government officials to maintain their power?
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
Select 2 answers
AKeeping delivery of military supplies under civilian control
BTaking away wealth from merchants
CRequiring military commanders to get approval before taking certain actions
DForcing merchants to give wealth to the military
9
Cheap and safe transport along China’s rivers and canals was what made the market so effective in concentrating material resources wherever government officials and wealthy private persons wanted them. Canal boats carried thousands of kilograms at a time, and since they relied on wind and current, and used towropes (ropes used to pull boats through the canal or river) only when necessary, they permitted far lower transport costs than overland carriage. Consequently, even small differences of price made it worthwhile to carry local products long distances up and down the waterways. The Grand Canal-connecting, at great labor, the fertile plains of the Yangzi and Huang He valleys after 611-became the main artery of Chinese commerce to such an extent that the daily efforts of some 100 million persons came to be linked, far more closely than ever before, by buying and selling in a vast, reliable, and well articulated market.⬛
Cheap transportation allowed goods of common consumption to circulate widely. ⬛In favorable locations, a peasant family could concentrate on raising silkworms, or some other commercial crop, and rely on the market for food and other necessities. All the benefits of specialization thus emerged in Song China. ⬛Output increased, population grew, skills multiplied, and a burst of inventiveness made Song China far wealthier than ever before.⬛
It was not a completely free market, however. Government officials considered wealthy merchants and military commanders threats to social justice and good government. Yet in a dangerous, commercialized world, prudent officials could not do without their services. The officials attempted to restrain the power of merchants by fixing prices, taxing excessive gains, and occasionally resorting to outright confiscation of their wealth. They sought to weaken generals by subdividing their commands and keeping the delivery of necessary supplies under civilian control. Such policies limited the mobilization of China’s resources and eventually curtailed large-scale industrial enterprise, despite a cluster of high-tech furnaces in North China that, according to surviving tax records, produced no less than 125,000 tons of iron in the year 1078.
Look at the four squares that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage
This meant that families did not have to produce all their own goods.Insert Text Questions句子插入题
Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square sentence to the passage.
10
During China’s Song Dynasty, improved agriculture and commerical activity led to great economic growth.
Prose Summary Questions概要小结题
Select 3 answers
AAlthough Chinese society was initially slow to accept a market economy, the government’s desire to collect taxes in goods and cash encouraged its development.
BThe intensification of agriculture made possible by the introduction of new crops led to population increases, the growth of cities and urban manufacturing, and, especially in the south, improved health.
CThe production of large amounts of iron allowed government and military officials to protect the Chinese society and its economy from the dangers of a commercialized world.
DThe harvesting of early-ripening rice was introduced because of the increased availability of labor and the recognition that crop specialization was beneficial to the economy.
EChinas waterways allowed goods to circulate widely, which promoted a large-scale market economy.
FThe government’s efforts to maintain control over wealthy merchants and generals eventually resulted in decreased industrial development.
