『新东方在线托福阅读』为托福考生准备了ETS托福TPO/Official 26 Passage 3阅读练习：In paragraph 3, why does the author provide the information that the number of signs in use had dropped from 2,000 to 600 by 2300 B.C.E.?真题题目及答案解析，TPO/Official 26 Passage 3阅读原文范文音频翻译

托福TPO/Official 26 Passage 3阅读原文In paragraph 3, why does the author provide the information that the number of signs in use had dropped from 2,000 to 600 by 2300 B.C.E.?题目答案及解析-新东方托福官方网校手机版

苏美尔和古代近东的第一批城市

Sumer and the First Cities of the Ancient Near East

古代近东最早的城邦出现在美索不达米亚平原的南端，该地区位于底格里斯河和幼发拉底河之间，也就是现在的伊拉克境内。

The earliest of the city states of the ancient Near East appeared at the southern end of the Mesopotamian plain, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq.

苏美尔文明就是在这里出现的，最早的形式出现在公元5世纪。

It was here that the civilization known as Sumer emerged in its earliest form in the fifth millennium.

乍一看，这片平原似乎不像是一个文明的家园。

At first sight, the plain did not appear to be a likely home for a civilization.

那里几乎没有自然资源，没有木材、石头或金属。

There were few natural resources, no timber, stone, or metals.

降雨量有限，每年融化的雪水泛滥，冲过平原。

Rainfall was limited, and what water there was rushed across the plain in the annual flood of melted snow.

由于平原在500公里内落差只有20米，河流的河床不断地移动。

As the plain fell only 20 meters in 500 kilometers, the beds of the rivers shifted constantly.

正是这一点使得灌溉的机制，特别是建造运河来疏导和保护水，变得至关重要。

It was this that made the organization of irrigation, particularly the building of canals to channel and preserve the water, essential.

一旦这样做了，并固定了河流带来的淤泥，回报是丰厚的：是雨养土壤能出产的四到五倍。

Once this was done and the silt carried down by the rivers was planted, the rewards were rich four to five times what rain-fed earth would produce.

正是在这样的条件下，一个精英阶层出现了，可能是作为一个有组织的阶层，并通过控制剩余的农作物来维持自己的存在。

It was these conditions that allowed an elite to emerge, probably as an organizing class, and to sustain itself through the control of surplus crops.

很难将导致下一个发展的因素——城市居住区的出现——孤立起来。

It is difficult to isolate the factors that led to the next development—the emergence of urban settlements.

最早的是公元前4500年的埃里都和一千年后的乌鲁克，以令人印象深刻的泥砖寺庙建筑群为中心。

The earliest, that of Eridu, about 4500 B.C.E., and Uruk, a thousand years later, center on impressive temple complexes built of mud brick.

在某种程度上，精英们把自己与神的力量联系在一起。

In some way, the elite had associated themselves with the power of the gods.

例如，乌鲁克有两个守护神——阿努，天空之神，是所有其他神的主宰；伊南娜，是爱与战争女神；还有其他人，是不同城市的守护神。

Uruk, for instance, had two patron gods—Anu, the god of the sky and sovereign of all other gods, and Inanna, a goddess of love and war—and there were others, patrons of different cities.

圣经中关于洪水的故事可能起源于苏美尔。

The biblical story of the Flood may originate in Sumer.

在最早的版本中，众神毁灭了人类，因为人类的喧闹声一直困扰着他们。

In the earliest version, the gods destroy the human race because its clamor had been so disturbing to them.

过去人们认为，公元前3000年以前，城市的政治和经济生活围绕着寺庙进行，但现在看来，这些城市很可能在很早以前就有了世俗的统治者。

It used to be believed that before 3000 B.C.E. the political and economic life of the cities was centered on their temples, but it now seems probable that the cities had secular rulers from earliest times.

城市里住着行政官员、工匠和商人。

Within the city lived administrators, craftspeople, and merchants.

（贸易很重要，因为有那么多的原材料，用来装饰庙宇的半宝石，用来盖屋顶的木材，以及所有的金属都需要进口。）

(Trading was important, as so many raw materials, the semiprecious stones for the decoration of the temples, timbers for roofs, and all metals, had to be imported.)

大约在公元前3300年，一个日益复杂的管理系统导致了文字的出现。

An increasingly sophisticated system of administration led in about 3300 B.C.E. to the appearance of writing.

最早的文字是以符号为基础，用一个符号来表达一个完整的单词。

The earliest script was based on logograms, with a symbol being used to express a whole word.

这些标识是用一根末端为楔形的手写笔在潮湿的粘土片上刻下的。

The logograms were incised on damp clay tablets with a stylus with a wedge shape at its end.

（罗马人称这种形状为“库努斯（cuneus）”，这也就给这种文字起了“楔形文字（cuneiform）”的名字。）

(The Romans called the shape cuneus and this gives the script its name of cuneiform.)

从这些早期的文字记录中已经记录了2000个标志。

Two thousand logograms have been recorded from these early centuries of writing.

一个更经济的方法是使用一个符号来表达一个音节，而不是一个完整的单词。

A more economical approach was to use a sign to express not a whole word but a single syllable.

（举个例子：苏美尔语中“头”的单词是“sag”。

(To take an example the Sumerian word for ' head” was “sag.”

当一个单词包含一个音节时，如果这个音节的发音是“sag”，那么可以用“sag”的符号来表示这个音节，其余的音节可以用其他符号来表示。）

Whenever a word including a syllable in which the sound “sag” was to be written, the sign for “sag” could be used to express that syllable with the remaining syllables of the word expressed by other signs.)

到公元前2300年，所需的符号数量已减少到600个，可表达的词汇范围也扩大了。

By 2300 B.C.E. the number of signs required had been reduced to 600, and the range of words that could be expressed had widened.

同以往一样，处理经济问题的内容占主导地位；但此时，神学、文学、历史和法律的著作也出现了。

Texts dealing with economic matters predominated, as they always had done; but at this point works of theology, literature, history, and law also appeared.

（公元前）第四世纪末的其他创新包括轮子，可能首先是作为一种更有效的制陶方式发展起来的，然后才被转移到运输上。

Other innovations of the late fourth millennium include the wheel, probably developed first as a more efficient way of making pottery and then transferred to transport.

一块大约公元前3000年雕刻的碑文提供了苏美尔最早的已知的例子，是一个装在四个实心轮子上的有盖的盒状的雪橇。

A tablet engraved about 3000 B.C.E. provides the earliest known example from Sumer, a roofed boxlike sledge mounted on four solid wheels.

一项重大的发现是在公元前3000年左右：如果把在公元前3500年左右的美索不达米亚就发现了的铜，与锡混合在一起，那么会制出青铜，一种坚硬得多的金属。

A major development was the discovery, again about 3000 B.C.E., that if copper, which had been known in Mesopotamia since about 3500 B.C.E., was mixed with tin, a much harder metal, bronze, would result.

尽管铜和石器继续被使用，但青铜在制造锋利的边缘方面要成功得多，这些锋利的边缘可以被用作从锯、镰刀到武器的任何东西。

Although copper and stone tools continued to be used, bronze was far more successful in creating sharp edges that could be used as anything from saws and scythes to weapons.

从公元前3000年到公元前1000年，当青铜的使用变得广泛时，这段时期通常被称为青铜器时代。

The period from 3000 to 1000 B.C.E., when the use of bronze became widespread, is normally referred to as the Bronze Age.

Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 1 as a disadvantage of the Mesopotamian plain?

According to paragraph 1, which of the following made it possible for an elite to emerge?

The word “sustain" in the passage is closest in meaning to

According to paragraph 2, Eridu and Uruk are examples of urban settlements that

The word “sovereign" in the passage is closest in meaning to

According to paragraph 3, which of the following led to the appearance of writing?

In paragraph 3, why does the author provide the information that the number of signs in use had dropped from 2,000 to 600 by 2300 B.C.E.?

According to paragraph 3, ancient texts most commonly dealt with

According to paragraph 4, the earliest wheels probably

The word “engraved” 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 word “widespread” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Look at the four squares  that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. City life was diverse, and the population was engaged in a variety of occupations.  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 selected 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.

Sumer and the First Cities of the Ancient Near East The earliest of the city states of the ancient Near East appeared at the southern end of the Mesopotamian plain, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq. It was here that the civilization known as Sumer emerged in its earliest form in the fifth millennium. At first sight, the plain did not appear to be a likely home for a civilization. There were few natural resources, no timber, stone, or metals. Rainfall was limited, and what water there was rushed across the plain in the annual flood of melted snow. As the plain fell only 20 meters in 500 kilometers, the beds of the rivers shifted constantly. It was this that made the organization of irrigation, particularly the building of canals to channel and preserve the water, essential. Once this was done and the silt carried down by the rivers was planted, the rewards were rich: four to five times what rain-fed earth would produce. It was these conditions that allowed an elite to emerge, probably as an organizing class, and to sustain itself through the control of surplus crops. It is difficult to isolate the factors that led to the next development—the emergence of urban settlements. The earliest, that of Eridu, about 4500 B.C.E., and Uruk, a thousand years later, center on impressive temple complexes built of mud brick. In some way, the elite had associated themselves with the power of the gods. Uruk, for instance, had two patron gods—Anu, the god of the sky and sovereign of all other gods, and Inanna, a goddess of love and war—and there were others, patrons of different cities. Human beings were at their mercy. The biblical story of the Flood may originate in Sumer. In the earliest version, the gods destroy the human race because its clamor had been so disturbing to them. It used to be believed that before 3000 B.C.E. the political and economic life of the cities was centered on their temples, but it now seems probable that the cities had secular rulers from earliest times.  Within the city lived administrators, craftspeople, and merchants. (Trading was important, as so many raw materials, the semiprecious stones for the decoration of the temples, timbers for roofs, and all metals, had to be imported.)  An increasingly sophisticated system of administration led in about 3300 B.C.E. to the appearance of writing.  The earliest script was based on logograms, with a symbol being used to express a whole word.  The logograms were incised on damp clay tablets with a stylus with a wedge shape at its end. (The Romans called the shape cuneus and this gives the script its name of cuneiform.) Two thousand logograms have been recorded from these early centuries of writing. A more economical approach was to use a sign to express not a whole word but a single syllable. (To take an example: the Sumerian word for ' head” was “sag.” Whenever a word including a syllable in which the sound “sag” was to be written, the sign for “sag” could be used to express that syllable with the remaining syllables of the word expressed by other signs.) By 2300 B.C.E. the number of signs required had been reduced to 600, and the range of words that could be expressed had widened. Texts dealing with economic matters predominated, as they always had done; but at this point works of theology, literature, history, and law also appeared. Other innovations of the late fourth millennium include the wheel, probably developed first as a more efficient way of making pottery and then transferred to transport. A tablet engraved about 3000 B.C.E. provides the earliest known example from Sumer, a roofed boxlike sledge mounted on four solid wheels. A major development was the discovery, again about 3000 B.C.E., that if copper, which had been known in Mesopotamia since about 3500 B.C.E., was mixed with tin, a much harder metal, bronze, would result. Although copper and stone tools continued to be used, bronze was far more successful in creating sharp edges that could be used as anything from saws and scythes to weapons. The period from 3000 to 1000 B.C.E., when the use of bronze became widespread, is normally referred to as the Bronze Age.