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
What is the lecture mainly about? What point does the professor make about the theory that agriculture brings about social chan
What is the lecture mainly about? What point does the professor make about the theory that agriculture brings about social chan
admin
2022-07-28
56
问题
What is the lecture mainly about?
What point does the professor make about the theory that agriculture brings about social changes?
Listen to part of a lecture in an anthropology class.
Professor:
We are aware that early agriculture arose independently in several regions of the world, for example, the Middle East, China, Southeast Asia, and parts of the Americas, roughly 10,000 years ago. And then agriculture spread from those areas to the rest of the world.
Now, some archeologists hypothesize that agriculture also developed independently in New Guinea. Up here, you can see a huge island on this map located in the Southwest Pacific, north of Australia. So, for many years, it was considered that New Guinea domesticated crops and animals introduced from Southeast Asia about 3,500 years ago. Then, in the 1960s and 70s, researchers explored sites in the island hoping to find some evidence of independent agriculture development. Unfortunately, though, the research was unsuccessful to gather some conclusive evidence to support their speculation. For example, although evidence was found in deforestation, which is from at least 7,000 years ago—that is long before we’ve thought previously—it was unclear whether the forest had been cleared by farmers to plant crops or by hunter-gatherers to hunt more easily. And most plant remains, like seeds and fruits don’t preserve well in swampy grounds. You know, New Guinea has a very humid environment. So, really the proof was limited.
But, recently, a group of archeologists have come up with some pretty convincing support from a site that had been previously examined: Kuk swamp. As its name implies, it is located on a wetland margin, in the upper Wahgi Valley of the New Guinea highlands. On the basis of their findings, they identified a succession of phases of agriculture development in the wetland and it actually predated the earliest known agricultural influence from Southeast Asia.
By using a modern archeological method, they were able to analyze the sediment samples from each layer of the earth at the site in Kuk. From the oldest soil layer, dating back to 9,000 years ago, they found some features such as pits, postholes and irrigation draining ditches which provide evidence for very early phase of agriculture. That is, these all indicate that crops were being planted. From a higher layer of soil, the second phase, they identified regularly distributed mounds. Mounds were constructed in order to plant crops that don’t grow well in wet soil, such as bananas. Because remember, Kuk is a swampy wetland, and bananas can’t, tolerate the conditions there. And in the layer from Kuk’s third phase, an extensive network of ditches and drainage channels have been found. They were excellent examples of transformation of agricultural practices.
Since the archeologists had more advanced techniques than were available from earlier researchers, the archeologists also were able to identify microfossils in the soil from banana plants, and also grains of starch from taro dating from about 10,000 years ago. It was really significant to find taro remains because it meant that it must have been planted there, brought from the low areas, because taro doesn’t ordinarily grow in the high lands. When it comes to the bananas, in sediment samples dating back from 7,000 years ago, researchers also found a high percentage of fossils from banana plants. This proved that bananas were deliberately planted because where bananas grow naturally, the concentration of the plant fossil is lower. Bananas don’t naturally grow so densely. As a matter of fact, recent genetic comparison research suggests that the type of banana grown in New Guinea was domesticated there, and then brought to South East Asia.
Well, usually, we expect to see certain social changes brought about by the development of agriculture, structural changes in the society like… rapid population surges, and different social classes. But New Guinea? It’s largely unchanged. It remained an egalitarian society. So, what does that tell us about the usual presumption?
选项
A、Recent research had yielded unexpected evidence supporting the theory.
B、The theory seems to be contradicted by the development of society in New Guinea.
C、Future discoveries in Kuk are likely to provide definitive proof for the theory.
D、The theory explains why New Guinea has become an egalitarian society.
答案
B
解析
题目询问教授怎么看待“农业带来社会变化”的理论。在讲座的最后,教授提到,通常来说,农业发展会带来某些社会变化,但这个说法在新几内亚行不通,因为农业基本没有带来变化(It’s largely unchanged)。由此可判断,教授认为这一理论似乎与新几内亚的社会发展相矛盾,即B项的表述。新几内亚的情况与该理论是矛盾的,故A项“最近的研究发现了出乎意料的证据能支持这一理论”错误。C项“未来在库克的新发现可能会为这一理论提供确凿的证据”在讲座中没有被提及。该理论不适用于新几内亚的情况,所以该理论无法解释为什么新几内亚成为了一个人人平等的社会,排除D项。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/EKfO777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDONLYforeachanswer.Episodicmemory-theabilitytorecalldetails,e.g.thetimeand
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDAND/ORANUMBERforeachanswer.SouthCityCyclingClubExampleNameofclubsecretary
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDAND/ORANUMBERforeachanswer.SouthCityCyclingClubExampleNameofclubsecretary
ChooseTHREEletters,A-F.WhichTHREEthingsarethestudentsrequiredtosubmittotheirprofessor?AawrittensummaryBnote
Labelthemapbelow.WritethecorrectletterA-H,nexttoQuestions11-15.Stonebridge
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSAND/ORANUMBERforeachanswer.ExampleAnswerPurposeplacinga
Labelthemapbelow.WritethecorrectletterA-I,nexttoQuestions11-15.Takethepaththroughthe______
Short-answerquestionsWriteNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSforeachanswer.Accordingtotheguide,wherewilltheystayforanhour
Whichstatementcanbestfittoeachofthefollowingsituation?ChooseFIVEanswersfromtheboxandwritethecorrectletter,
Choosethecorrectletter,A,BorC.Accordingtothespeaker,whyisitagoodtimeforD-I-Ypainting?
随机试题
A、15dollars.B、20dollars.C、25dollars.D、50dollars.C对话中女士问男士她要付多少钱,男士回答这周该商品在促销,它们已经降到了25美元。
Beforethesituationwasexplainedtohim,Franco________believedthattheautomobileprototypewasthefinishedproduct.
麻花钻的横刃斜角应为55°,主偏角为59°。()
患者男性,55岁,1周前心前区剧烈疼痛,随后心悸、气促,当时未就诊,现疑诊急性心肌梗死。为确诊,目前最有帮助的酶学检查是
根据我国《合同法》,下列关于承诺的说法,正确的是()。
作为抵押物的财产,只能是不动产。()
5,8,12,24,72,()
我国刑法对故意杀人罪规定了比过失致人死亡罪更重的法定刑,这体现了以下哪种原则?()
自我效能感是指个体对自己是否有能力为完成某一行为所进行的推测与判断。根据上述定义,下列体现了主体具有自我效能感的是()。
Theyfinallymadea_______tobuildanewschoolinthatarea.(decide)
最新回复
(
0
)