首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
"Civilization" Between 4000 and 3000 B.C., significant technological developments began to transform the Neolithic towns. The
"Civilization" Between 4000 and 3000 B.C., significant technological developments began to transform the Neolithic towns. The
admin
2018-07-24
83
问题
"Civilization"
Between 4000 and 3000 B.C., significant technological developments began to transform the Neolithic towns. The invention of writing enabled records to be kept, and the use of metals marked a new level of human control over the environment and its resources. Already before 4000 B.C., craftspeople had discovered that metal-bearing rocks could be heated to liquefy metals, which could then be cast in molds to produce tools and weapons that were more useful than stone instruments. Although copper was the first metal to be utilized in producing tools, after 4000 b.c. craftspeople in western Asia discovered that a combination of copper and tin produced bronze, a much harder and more durable metal than copper. Its widespread use has led historians to call the period the Bronze Age; thereafter, from around 3000 to 1200 b.c, bronze was increasingly replaced by iron.
At first, Neolithic settlements were hardly more than villages. But as their inhabitants mastered the art of farming, more complex human societies emerged. As wealth increased, these societies began to develop armies and to build walled cities. By the beginning of the Bronze Age, the concentration of larger numbers of people in the river valleys of Southwest Asia and Egypt was leading to a whole new pattern for human life.
As we have seen, early human beings formed small groups that developed a simple culture that enabled them to survive. As human societies grew and developed greater complexity, a new form of human existence—called civilization—came into being. A civilization is a complex culture in which large numbers of human beings share a number of common elements. Historians have identified a number of basic characteristics of civilization, most of which are evident in the Southwest Asian and Egyptian civilizations. These include (1) an urban focus: cities became the centers of political, economic, social, cultural, and religious development; (2) a distinct religious structure: the gods were deemed crucial to the community’s success, and professional priestly classes, as stewards of the gods’ property, regulated relations with the gods; (3) new political and military structures: an organized government bureaucracy arose to meet the administrative demands of the growing population while armies were organized to gain land and power and for defense; (4) a new social structure based on economic power: while kings and an upper class of priests, political leaders, and warriors dominated, there also existed large groups of free people (farmers, artisans, craftspeople) and at the very bottom, socially, a class of slaves; (5) the development of writing: kings, priests, merchants, and artisans used writing to keep records; and (6) new forms of significant artistic and intellectual activity: monumental architectural structures, usually religious, occupied a prominent place in urban environments.
Why early civilizations developed remains difficult to explain. A Since civilizations developed independently in India, China, Mesopotamia, and Egypt, can general causes be identified that would explain why all of these civilizations emerged? B A number of possible explanations of the beginning of civilization have been suggested. A theory of challenge and response maintains that challenges forced human beings to make efforts that resulted in the rise of civilization. Some scholars have adhered to a material explanation. C Material forces, such as the growth of food surpluses, made possible the specialization of labor and development of large communities with bureaucratic organization. D But the area of the Fertile Crescent, in which civilization emerged in Southwest Asia, was not naturally conducive to agriculture. Abundant food could be produced only with a massive human effort to carefully manage the water, an effort that created the need for organization and bureaucratic control and led to civilized cities. Some historians have argued that nonmaterial forces, primarily religious, provided the sense of unity and purpose that made such organized activities possible. Finally, some scholars doubt that we are capable of ever discovering the actual causes of early civilization.
According to paragraph 4, how can the independent development of civilization in different geographic regions be explained?
选项
A、Scholars agree that food surpluses encouraged populations to be concentrated in certain areas.
B、There are several theories that explain the rise of civilization in the ancient world.
C、The model of civilization was probably carried from one region to another along trade routes.
D、Historians attribute the emergence of early cities at about the same time as a coincidence.
答案
B
解析
"A number of possible explanations of the beginning of civilization have been suggested." Choice A is not correct because scholars do not agree on one explanation. Choice C is not correct because trade routes are not mentioned in paragraph 4. Choice D is not correct because coincidence is not mentioned as one of the possible explanations.
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/4CfO777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
ChooseTWOletters,A-EWhichTWOproblemsdoSamandthetutoridentifyconcerninggroupassignments?APersonalrelationships.
WhatdidPhoebefinddifficultaboutthedifferentresearchtechniquessheused?ChooseFIVEanswersfromtheboxandwritethe
ChooseTWOletters,A-E.WhichTWOrecentdevelopmentsinroof-gardenbuildingarementioned?AwaterproofbarriermaterialsBd
Whatadvantagedoesthespeakermentionforeachofthefollowingphysicalactivities?ChooseSIXanswersfromtheboxandwrite
Whothinksthefollowing?AKatyaBPeterCbothKatyaandPeterTheInternetcreatesnewgapsbetweenrichandpoor.
ResearchingtheoriginofmedievalmanuscriptsBackgroundMedievalmanuscripts—handwrittenbooksproducedbetweenthefifth
ResearchingtheoriginofmedievalmanuscriptsBackgroundMedievalmanuscripts—handwrittenbooksproducedbetweenthefifth
Harborsare(protected)areas(ofwater)thatcanbe(usedthe)transferofpassengersandcargo(between)shipsshore.
随机试题
下列公共关系目标,属于按公共关系活动的作用进行分类的是()
以下哪一项不是CT增强检查的目的
抢救有机磷农药中毒时,阿托品用量根据哪项而定
A、紫外分光光度法B、红外分光光度法C、气相色谱法D、液相色谱法E、荧光法氢火焰离子化检测器使用( )。
“用来分析普通设备故障或过程波动(称为初始事件)导致事故发生的可能性,具体使用归纳法,可提供记录事故后果的系统性的方法,并能确定导致事件后果与初始事件的关系”,所描述安全评价方法是()。
(一)基本情况1.安居房产公司为一家新成立的房地产开发企业,2009年2月该公司在某市市区竞得1万平方米土地进行商品房开发。公司采取一次性开发功能、售价和成本相似的商品房,开发的商品房可售面积为8万平方米,建造的会所、电站、物业用房等配套设施的产权
班轮运价最基本的计费标准是将货物分为容积货物和重量货物,并且为货物的容积和重量规定一个比例关系,按照这种比例关系换算。()
有表示公司和职员及工作的三张表,职员可在多家公司兼职。其中公司表C(公司号,公司名,地址,注册资本,法人代表,员工数),职员表S(职员号,姓名,性别,年龄,学历),工作表W(公司号,职员号,工资),则表W的键(码)为()。
A—cashbusinessJ—modeofpaymentB—commissionreceivablesK—downpaymentC—loanextensionL—rep
A、Ignoringthegeneralmeaningofthetext.B、Payinglittleattentiontotheprintingmistakes.C、Pursuingathoroughunderstand
最新回复
(
0
)