『新东方在线托福阅读』为托福考生准备了ETS托福TPO/Official 52 Passage 2阅读练习：The word “ties” in the passage is closest in meaning to真题题目及答案解析，TPO/Official 52 Passage 2阅读原文范文音频翻译

托福TPO/Official 52 Passage 2阅读原文The word “ties” in the passage is closest in meaning to题目答案及解析-新东方托福官方网校手机版

从大约12500至10200年之前的纳图夫时期的考古记载中，在被称作黎凡特(Levant) 的中东地区（大致在地中海以东，阿拉伯半岛以北），我们看到了确切的农业起源证据。

In the archaeological record of the Natufian period, from about 12,500 to 10,200 years ago, in the part of the Middle East known as the Levant―roughly east of the Mediterranean and north of the Arabian Peninsula―we see clear evidence of agricultural origins.

纳图夫的多种石器包括了很多镰刀型刀片，这些刀片显示出一系列在收割谷物时会产生的特有磨损。

The stone tools of the Natufians included many sickle-shaped cutting blades that show a pattern of wear characteristic of cereal harvesting.

另外，在纳图夫遗址中也存在许多用于加工谷物的碎石机（手工磨机）和其他石器，并且许多这类的石器都体现了被长期且大量使用的迹象。

Also, querns (hand mills) and other stone tools used for processing grain occur in abundance at Natufian sites, and many such tools show signs of long, intensive use.

与镰刀型刀片一同发现的还有很多研磨石，主要是由石灰石或玄武岩制成的研钵和磨杵。

Along with the sickle blades are many grinding stones, primarily mortars and pestles of limestone or basalt.

同时也有证据表明，这些笨重的研磨石是被从很远的地方运过来的，有时候距离甚至超过30公里，这不是我们目前已知的的早期人类能办到的事。

There is also evidence that these heavy grinding stones were transported over long distances, more than 30 kilometers in some cases, and this is not something known to have been done by people of preceding periods.

鱼钩和让渔网沉入水底的重物证明了在一些地区，鱼类在人们的饮食中变得愈发重要。

Fishhooks and weights for sinking fishing nets attest to the growing importance of fish in the diet in some areas.

石制容器则表明了人们对容器的更多需求，但是并没有证据可以表明纳图夫人能制造陶艺制品或陶器。

Stone vessels indicate an increased need for containers, but there is no evidence of Natufian clay working or pottery.

关于纳图夫人牙齿的研究也强有力的说明这些纳图夫人专门收集谷物，并且有可能一直在种植和培育这些谷类作物。但同时他们也是采猎者，在草木茂盛的地方，他们会短时间内集中猎杀羚羊和鹿，在更为干旱的地区就会集中猎杀野山羊和马。

Studies of the teeth of Natufians also strongly suggest that these people specialized in collecting cereals and may have been cultivating them and in the process of domesticating them, but they were also still hunter-foragers who intensively hunted gazelle and deer in more lush areas and wild goats and equids in more arid zones.

和他们的祖先相比，纳图夫人有着不一样的聚居模式。

The Natufians had a different settlement pattern from that of their predecessors.

他们的一些大本营比此前任何时期的大本营都要大得多（超过1000平方米），并且他们可能会在这些营地中住上半年甚至更久。

Some of their base camps were far larger (over 1,000 square meters) than any of those belonging to earlier periods, and they may have lived in some of these camps for half the year or even more.

在一些营地当中，人们用石灰岩石块来建造地基和其他建筑要素。

In some of the camps, people made foundations and other architectural elements out of limestone blocks.

贝壳、黑曜石和其他商品的交换似乎一直在增加，并且人类学家推测，那些容易腐烂的物品（比如兽皮、食物）和盐的交换也在不断增加。

Trade in shell, obsidian, and other commodities seems to have been on the rise, and anthropologists suspect that the exchange of perishables (such as skins, foodstuffs) and salt was also on the increase.

随着野生谷物在日常饮食中的重要性一日增加，盐很可能首次成为了一种近乎必需的物品，因为虽然大量吃肉的人可以从肉中摄取很多必要的盐分，但是以谷物为主食的饮食结构是缺少盐的（所以不能为人们提供足够的盐分）。

With the growing importance of wild cereals in the diet, salt probably became for the first time a near necessity: people who eat a lot of meat get many essential salts from this diet, but diets based on cereals can be deficient in salts.

在早期村庄中，盐可能也是一种很重要的食品防腐剂。

Salt was probably also important as a food preservative in early villages.

一如既往，对于纳图夫人来说，除了经济的转变，更多的则是文化的转变。

As always, there is more to a major cultural change than simply a shift in economics.

纳图夫人用多种原材料（包括需要进口的宝石和海贝壳）去制作珠子和吊坠（并且很可能他们也会佩戴这些饰品）。这些装饰很可能反映了他们日益增强的种族认同感、个人地位与群体地位的差异。

The Natufians made (and presumably wore) beads and pendants in many materials, including gemstones and marine shells that had to be imported, and it is possible that this ornamentation actually reflects a growing sense of ethnic identity and perhaps some differences in personal and group status.

很多遗址中都出土了精细雕琢的动物、妇女和其他物体的小雕像，并且在安纳托利亚（Anatolia）、叙利亚（Syria）和伊朗（Iran）都发现有纳图夫时期的洞穴壁画。

Cleverly carved figurines of animals, women, and other subjects occur in many sites, and Natufian period cave paintings have been found in Anatolia, Syria, and Iran.

400多座纳图夫墓葬已经被发现，其中大多数都是建在楼层里的简单墓穴。

More than 400 Natufian burials have been found, most of them simple graves set in house floors.

正如考古学家Belfer-Cohen所说，这些墓葬可能反映了纳图夫对祖先的崇拜和对某一特定地点的更多的社区情感纽带和依恋。直到纳图夫文明后期，这片地区的人们才将生活区和墓葬区进行了严格的区分。

As archaeologist Belfer-Cohen notes, these burials may reflect an ancestor cult and a growing sense of community emotional ties and attachment to a particular place, and toward the end of the Natufian period, people in this area were making a strict separation between living quarters and burial grounds.

与黎凡特（Levant）的更新世文化相反，纳图夫文化似乎经历了相当大的社会变革。

In contrast with the Pleistocene cultures of the Levant, Natufian culture appears to have experienced considerable social change.

为什么纳图夫在上述方面都和他们的祖先如此不同？为什么他们迈出了选择农耕生活的第一步？这两个问题至今仍然没有答案。

The question of why the Natufians differed from their predecessors in these and other ways and why they made these first steps toward farming as a way of life remains unclear.

当然，气候变化、日益加剧的干旱和增长的人口密度这些原因都可能迫使他们增加对谷物的开发利用，对谷物的开发利用又反过来刺激了镰刀和其他工具的发展、以及能够让农业生产高效化的长期定居社会的发展。

There were climate changes, of course, and growing aridity and rising population densities may have forced them to intensify the exploitation of cereals, which in turn might have stimulated the development of sickles and other tools and the permanent communities that make agriculture efficient.

但是具体关于这些因素是如何与其他因素之间相互作用影响的，我们还知之甚少。

But precisely how these factors interacted with others at play is poorly understood.

All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 1 as evidence that the Natufians may have engaged in the growing and processing of cereals and grains EXCEPT

Why does the author say that “many such...intensive use” in connection with Natufian agriculture?

The phrase "attest to"in the passage is closest in meaning to

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.

The phrase “be deficient in” in the passage is closest in meaning to

According to paragraph 2, the abundance of wild cereals in the Natufian diet probably meant that the Natufians

The word “ties” in the passage is closest in meaning to

All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 3 as part of the cultural change experienced by the Natufians EXCEPT:

Look at the four squares  that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Further evidence of an evolving cultural complexity comes from Natufian burials.  Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square  to add the sentence to the passage.

Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

Natufian Culture In the archaeological record of the Natufian period, from about 12,500 to 10,200 years ago, in the part of the Middle East known as the Levant―roughly east of the Mediterranean and north of the Arabian Peninsula―we see clear evidence of agricultural origins. The stone tools of the Natufians included many sickle-shaped cutting blades that show a pattern of wear characteristic of cereal harvesting. Also, querns (hand mills) and other stone tools used for processing grain occur in abundance at Natufian sites, and many such tools show signs of long, intensive use. Along with the sickle blades are many grinding stones, primarily mortars and pestles of limestone or basalt. There is also evidence that these heavy grinding stones were transported over long distances, more than 30 kilometers in some cases, and this is not something known to have been done by people of preceding periods. Fishhooks and weights for sinking fishing nets attest to the growing importance of fish in the diet in some areas. Stone vessels indicate an increased need for containers, but there is no evidence of Natufian clay working or pottery. Studies of the teeth of Natufians also strongly suggest that these people specialized in collecting cereals and may have been cultivating them and in the process of domesticating them, but they were also still hunter-foragers who intensively hunted gazelle and deer in more lush areas and wild goats and equids in more arid zones. The Natufians had a different settlement pattern from that of their predecessors. Some of their base camps were far larger (over 1,000 square meters) than any of those belonging to earlier periods, and they may have lived in some of these camps for half the year or even more. In some of the camps, people made foundations and other architectural elements out of limestone blocks. Trade in shell, obsidian, and other commodities seems to have been on the rise, and anthropologists suspect that the exchange of perishables (such as skins, foodstuffs) and salt was also on the increase. With the growing importance of wild cereals in the diet, salt probably became for the first time a near necessity: people who eat a lot of meat get many essential salts from this diet, but diets based on cereals can be deficient in salts. Salt was probably also important as a food preservative in early villages. As always, there is more to a major cultural change than simply a shift in economics. The Natufians made (and presumably wore) beads and pendants in many materials, including gemstones and marine shells that had to be imported, and it is possible that this ornamentation actually reflects a growing sense of ethnic identity and perhaps some differences in personal and group status. Cleverly carved figurines of animals, women, and other subjects occur in many sites, and Natufian period cave paintings have been found in Anatolia, Syria, and Iran.  More than 400 Natufian burials have been found, most of them simple graves set in house floors.  As archaeologist Belfer-Cohen notes, these burials may reflect an ancestor cult and a growing sense of community emotional ties and attachment to a particular place, and toward the end of the Natufian period, people in this area were making a strict separation between living quarters and burial grounds.  In contrast with the Pleistocene cultures of the Levant, Natufian culture appears to have experienced considerable social change.  The question of why the Natufians differed from their predecessors in these and other ways and why they made these first steps toward farming as a way of life remains unclear. There were climate changes, of course, and growing aridity and rising population densities may have forced them to intensify the exploitation of cereals, which in turn might have stimulated the development of sickles and other tools and the permanent communities that make agriculture efficient. But precisely how these factors interacted with others at play is poorly understood.