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 Before about 3500 BC, there were cultures, but not civilizations. Prehistoric men and women created societies, cons
Civilization Before about 3500 BC, there were cultures, but not civilizations. Prehistoric men and women created societies, cons
admin
2013-08-12
53
问题
Civilization
Before about 3500 BC, there were cultures, but not civilizations. Prehistoric men and women created societies, constructed houses, lived in villages, hunted and fished, farmed, made pottery, wove cloth and created languages. But unlike more advanced peoples, they did not build cities, read or write. Cities are the
cornerstone
of civilized life because with them came other civilizing elements, including differentiation of classes and employment, sophisticated religious and political systems, monumental architecture and the formation of states and empires.
Historians usually begin the story of civilization with
accounts
of the world’s first great writers and city-builders, the Sumerians. Because the Sumerians recorded ideas and sagas and listed the names of their rulers, we know more about
them
than about prehistoric peoples who left their legacy in stones, bones and pottery.
With the ability to build cities and record thoughts came the ability to communicate ideas and
innovations
over vast reaches of time and space. Human beings—who had formerly taken hundreds of thousands of years to learn that a stone ax sharpened on both sides is more useful than an ax sharpened on one side—progressed rapidly from foot travel to horse drawn carts, and later from railways to airplanes. With these and thousands of other innovations, people came to live longer, more comfortable lives.
Civilization also brought new ills to humanity. In the 20th century it brought nuclear warfare, global warming, and ozone depletion. More subtly, civilization removed human beings from regular encounters with the wonders of the natural world. Unlike people of modern civilizations,
primitive
people lived close to the sounds and smells of forest and grasslands. They looked at fire and the stars with awe and reverence. Civilization involves the ability to create a new political and cultural world. In the 19th century the American writer, philosopher and naturalist Henry David Thoreau noted that this artificial sphere separates humanity from primitive virtue.
"Most of the luxuries", he argued, "and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevations of mankind. "
Thoreau believed that men and women should simplify their lives.(A)
To live well and happily usually doesn’t mean to live very luxuriously, the material enjoyment and much expense can satisfy you to some extent, but to enjoy a simple life also can make you feel fine and comfortable, something in your mind or in your spiritual world can bring more or influence much on your life and your happiness value.
(B)
They expressed this sense of regret in the story of Prometheus and Pandora. Contrary to the wishes of other gods, Prometheus brought to humanity the gifts of fire, art and science. The jealous gods were unwilling to allow men and women to enjoy such blessings without cost, and so they sent Pandora to the world with a box containing disease, sorrow and other evils.(C)
From then on, the world wasn’t quiet or fortunate all the time, some people suffered from them and always got punished in one way or other. The people began to pay as well as they gain some achievement during the progress process. Human beings have viewed civilization as a mixed blessing. Civilized people have waged brutal wars, destroyed majestic forests and persecuted religious minorities.(D)
But civilizations have also achieved wonders.
We cannot list with words all the achievements of the human beings with the help and development of civilization. The abilities of writing and reading can spread one kind of culture or invention to other places, and advanced science and technology have allowed human beings to enjoy much more convenient and interesting lives. With many inventions of modern life, many places where people could not reach before can be explored and developed by human beings and many new materials with very good properties can improve people’s lives and help do many jobs which were thought very difficult or impossible before.
The word
account
in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to______.
选项
A、narration
B、counting
C、notation
D、reference
答案
A
解析
本题为词汇题,主要考查考生能否根据上下文理解account一词。文中提到了“Historians usually begin the story of civilization with accounts of the world’s first great writersand city—builders,the Suerians”,这说明关于文明的记载(story)最初是对闪族人(Sumerians)的记述。原文中的account与story意思相近,意思是“记述,陈述”,而选项A(narration)的意思是“叙述,记述”,应为本题的答案。而选项B(counting)的意思是“计算”,选项C(notation)的意思是“符号”,选项D(reference)的意思是“参考,指代”,均不符合题意。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/RBfO777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
Completethetablebelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSORANUMBERforeachanswer.CharlesWillsonPeale1741—BorninM
Labelthediagrambelow.ChooseyouranswersfromtheboxbelowandwritethelettersA-Hnexttoquestions29-30.Countries
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSforeachanswer.KeepingKidsSafeontheInternetInternetforc
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSforeachanswer.KeepingKidsSafeontheInternetInternetforc
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDONLYforeachanswer.Notestobeaddedtopolicy:Addnewdriver:Name
Completetheformbelow.WriteONEWORDAND/ORANUMBERforeachanswer.TAUBERINSURANCECo.Policy#:
Thereneedstobeabalancebetweentheneedsof______livingindevelopedenvironmentsandthepreservationofnaturalhabitat
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDONLYforeachanswer.BusinessCulturesPowercultureCharacteristi
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDAND/ORANUMBERforeachanswer.ThingstodobeforewegoExam
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDAND/ORANUMBERforeachanswer.ThingstodobeforewegoExam
随机试题
复发性口疮黏膜损害的临床特征是
食物的热价是指
可承担建筑高度100m及以下、建筑面积5万m2及以下的房屋建筑,易燃或可燃液体和可燃气体生产或储存装置等消防设施工程的是()资质的企业。
私募房地产基金多采取(),这种企业的组织形式很好的投资管理效率,并避免了双重征税的弊端。
根据个人所得税的相关规定,在计算个体工商户的应纳税所得额时,允许据实扣除支出的有()。(2010年)
李氏夫妇目前都是50岁左右,有一个儿子在读大学,拥有定期和活期储蓄共40万元,夫妇俩准备65岁时退休。根据生命周期理论,理财客户经理给出的以下理财分析和建议不恰当的是()。
阅读下列材料,回答问题。李梅幼师毕业后,应聘到某幼儿园工作。该幼儿园每周六、周日都不放假,没有暑假,寒假也只有一个星期。老师是一个人带一个班,从来没有时间进行业务学习。李梅和她的同事曾多次提出,老师应该享有一定的假期,也希望能有一些学习的机会。园
某单位举办围棋联赛,所有参赛选手的排名都没有出现并列名次。小周发现除自己以外,其他所有人的排名数字之和正好是70。问小周排名第几?
下列关于操作系统结构说法中,正确的是()。Ⅰ.当前广泛使用的WindowsXP操作系统,采用的是分层式OS结构Ⅱ.模块化的OS结构设计的基本原则是:每一层都仅使用其底层所提供的功能和服务,这样使系统的调试和验证都变得容易
•YouwillhearpartofaninterviewbetweenaHumanResourcesManagerofacompanyandacandidate.•Foreachquestion23--30,m
最新回复
(
0
)