托福阅读真题第238篇The Greek Revival
The Greek Revival
Paragraph 1：After the Mycenaean Greek civilization collapsed around 1100 B.C.E., Greece endured a three-century-long Dark Age about which relatively little is known. But the year 776 B.C.E., which the winners of the Olympic games were first recorded, marks the beginning of a new period of Greek history, the Archaic Age (lasting to 500 B.C.E.), which brought a revival of culture, the economy, and political significance to Greece. During the relatively peaceful Dark Ages, populations had gradually increased to a point where Greece's rocky and hilly soil could not produce enough basic agriculture products. One solution was to import additional foodstuffs. As a consequence, Greek commerce and production of trade goods expanded. In exchange for grain imported from Egypt and lands around the Black Sea, the Greeks traded olive oil, fine pottery, and silver. This explosion of commerce brought the Greeks into direct conflict with the existing Mediterranean trading power, the Phoenicians. The warlike Greeks constructed fleets of maneuverable iron-beaked fifty-oared ships called galleys, for which the unwieldy Phoenician two-decked warships were no match. The Greeks soon wrested control of important Mediterranean trade routes from the Phoenicians.
1. According to paragraph 1, what led to conflict between the Greeks and the Phoenicians?
A. Phoenician attempts to take over established Greek trading routes
B. Phoenician unwillingness to supply the Greeks with basic agricultural products
C. Increasing Greek involvement in commerce and trade
D. Greek use of warships to attack Egypt and lands around the Black Sea
2. Paragraph 1 suggests that the Greeks gained control of some important Mediterranean trade routes primarily by
A. offering superior trade goods
B. forming alliances with other Mediterranean powers
C. using military force
D. increasing the Greek population in areas surrounding these routes
Paragraph 2：A second solution to the overpopulation problem was to seek new farmland elsewhere. In a wave of colonization lasting roughly from 750 to 550 B.C.E., Greek cities established colonies on the shores of the Black Sea, the Adriatic Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea in North Africa, France, and Spain. Because colonists wanted access to the sea for trade, they occupied only coastal sites. The Greek city of Corinth, for example, founded the great city of Syracuse in Sicily. The most extensive immigration was into southern Italy and western Sicily, which became known as Great Greece. Colonies had the same culture, social structure, and government as the cities that founded them. Although they maintained sentimental ties to their mother city, they were completely independent. Because the colonists were mostly male, they found wives, and slaves, among the local populations, whose land they had also taken. A consequence of this intermingling was the spread of Greek culture, which became a common culture throughout the Mediterranean world and diffused into central Europe through the colony of Marseilles in southern France and into southern Russia via the Black Sea colonies.
3. 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.
A. The intermingling of colonists with the local population led to Greek culture becoming a common culture throughout the Mediterranean world and spreading into central Europe and southern Russia.
B. The success of Greek colonies throughout the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions resulted in new colonies in southern France and southern Russia.
C. As a result of colonization, Greek culture began to intermingle with other cultures in the Mediterranean world to create a new common culture that spread as far as central Europe and southern Russia
D. The intermingling of cultures that occurred in Marseilles and along the Black Sea encouraged Greek colonies to expand throughout the Mediterranean and central Europe.
4. According to paragraph 2, what was an important consideration affecting where Greek colonies were established?
A. How closely a site resembled the site of the mother city
B. Whether the location of the site would be suitable for engaging in sea trade
C. The extent to which the local population was familiar with Greek culture
D. Whether an area could become politically and economically independent of the mother city
Paragraph 3：The revival of Greek trade also brought Near East culture into Greece. From the Phoenicians the Greeks borrowed the alphabet, for they now had a need to keep records. From the Lydians (an empire in what is now Turkey), they picked up coinage, and the silver coins of Corinth and Athens became the standard currency throughout the Mediterranean world. The Greeks also assimilated artistic ideas. The simple geometric patterns of the Dark Ages gave way to eastern influences. Greek sculpture assumed a very Egyptian look and Greek pottery depicted many eastern designs, such as sphinxes, lions, and bulls. Almost always, however, the Greeks modified what they borrowed to suit their own preferences. They were the first people to put designs on both sides of coins. They changed some letters of the Phoenician alphabet from consonants into vowels. And Greek potters and sculptors soon used designs from their own myths and legends.
5. According to paragraph 3, all of the following were introduced into Greece as a result of Greek trade with the Near East EXCEPT
A. new sculpture style
B. the use of coins
C. geometric patterns
D. sphinx designs
6. In paragraph 3, why does the author mention that the Greeks changed some of the Phoenician letters from consonants into vowels?
A. To emphasize how different the Greek language was from the Phoenician
B. To support the idea that the Greeks borrowed much of their culture from the Phoenicians
C. To make the point that Phoenician culture was more. advanced than Greek culture
D. To provide an example of how the Greeks modified what they borrowed from other cultures
Paragraph 4：Greek pottery was a particularly important trade good. Some pots, such as large urns used as grave monuments, were made for ceremonial purposes, but most were utilitarian. Four-foot-tall jars called amphorae stored wine, olives, and other edibles. Many kinds of bowls, plates, and cups served as tableware. Greek potters were soon the acknowledged masters of pottery making. All Greek cities produced pottery for local use, but the pottery of important trading cities was valued throughout the ancient world. During the sixth century B.C.E., Corinth was famous for pottery featuring black figures on a lighter background, but by 500 B.C.E. Athenian pottery with red figures on a black background had become the preferred style.
7. According to paragraph 4, what is one way in which Corinthian pottery differed from Athenian pottery?
A. Corinthian pottery became an important trade good much later than Athenian pottery did.
B. Corinthian pottery was mostly used for everyday purposes whereas Athenian pottery was primarily used for ceremonial purposes.
C. Corinthian pottery was produced primarily for local use rather than as a trade good.
D. Corinthian pottery used different colors to decorate the figures and background.
Paragraph 5：During the Archaic Age the Greeks also began to build stone temples as centers of civic pride as well as to honor their primary gods. Temples usually were constructed in simple rectangular form, with a tile roof supported by external rows of stone columns, a style that also eventually spread throughout the Mediterranean.
8. The temples discussed in paragraph 5 provide an example of
A. the impact of Greek culture on the Mediterranean world
B. the spread of religion throughout the Mediterranean
C. differences between Greek culture and other cultures in the Mediterranean region
D. an artistic idea that the Greeks borrowed from elsewhere
Paragraph 3：The revival of Greek trade also brought Near East culture into Greece. From the Phoenicians the Greeks borrowed the alphabet, for they now had a need to keep records, From the Lydians (an empire in what is now Turkey), they picked up coinage, and the silver coins of Corinth and Athens became the standard currency throughout the Mediterranean world. The Greeks also assimilated artistic ideas. The simple geometric patterns of the Dark Ages gave way to eastern influences. Greek sculpture assumed a very Egyptian look and Greek pottery depicted many eastern designs, such as sphinxes, lions, and bulls. ■Almost always, however, the Greeks modified what they borrowed to suit their own preferences. ■They were the first people to put designs on both sides of coins. ■They changed some letters of the Phoenician alphabet from consonants into vowels. And Greek potters and sculptors soon used designs from their own myths and legends.■
9. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit?
Scenes from the lives of Hercules and other Greek heroes were often painted on large burial containers.
10. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selected THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
The Archaic Age brought a revival of cultural, economic, and political importance to Greece.
Answer Choices:
A. During the Archaic Period, Greek commerce was aided by improved ship designs, which allowed the Greeks to develop longer and more distant trade routes than the Phoenicians did.
B. Limited agricultural output and an increasing population forced Greeks to expand commerce and trade, and they became the major Mediterranean trading power.
C. Greek colonies succeeded partially because the Greeks allowed the colonies to keep their own systems of government, as well as their traditional cultures and social structures.
D. To gain farmland, Greeks established colonies throughout the Mediterranean and along the Black Sea, and as colonists mixed with local populations, Greek culture spread through the ancient world.
E. From the Near East the Greeks adopted and then modified the alphabet, coinage, and artistic ideas and designs that they adapted for use on their fine pottery.
F. The most important trade goods were transported in tall pottery jars, which were well-known throughout the Mediterranean world for their designs depicting Greek gods, myths, and legends.
答案
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