『新东方在线托福阅读』为托福考生准备了ETS托福TPO/Official 35 Passage 2阅读练习：The word “relatively” in the passage is closest in meaning to真题题目及答案解析，TPO/Official 35 Passage 2阅读原文范文音频翻译

托福TPO/Official 35 Passage 2阅读原文The word “relatively” 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

在人类历史的大部分时间里，我们四处觅食（狩猎、捕鱼以及采集野生植物）。

For most of human history, we have foraged (hunted, fished, and collected wild plants) for food.

小型游牧群体能够轻松地为家人们提供生活必需品。

Small nomadic groups could easily supply the necessities for their families.

没有人需要更多的量，提供更多的食物显得没有太大意义。

No one needed more, and providing for more than one’s needs made little sense.

这种社会的组织可能相当简单，以年龄和性别为中心。

The organization of such societies could be rather simple, revolving around age and gender categories.

这种社会很大可能奉行平等主义；超越了基于年龄和性别的差别，实际上所有人拥有平等的权力、地位以及获取资源的机会。

Such societies likely were largely egalitarian; beyond distinctions based on age and gender, virtually all people had equivalent rights, status, and access to resources.

考古学家唐纳德·亨利认为物产丰富的栖息地与定居主义（永久的、全年的定居点）的结合导致了人口数量的急剧增长。

Archaeologist Donald Henry suggests that the combination of a rich habitat and sedentism (permanent, year-round settlement) led to a dramatic increase in human population.

在他看来，过着简单的游牧生活的觅食者的生育能力相对较低。

In his view, nomadic, simple foragers have relatively low levels of fertility.

他们这种高蛋白、低碳水化合物的饮食习惯会降低身体脂肪水平，这通常会导致女性生育率低下。

Their high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets result in low body-fat levels, which are commonly associated with low fertility in women.

高强度的体力活动和长时间的哺乳期在现代简单的觅食者中间也很常见，这或许也会导致女性生育率低下，这一现象同样在古代觅食者中间也很常见。

High levels of physical activity and long periods of nursing, which are common among modern simple foragers, probably also contributed to low levels of female fertility if they were likewise common among ancient foragers.

在亨利看来，在拥有丰富食物资源的地区采用更为固定的生活方式可以帮助定居下来的觅食者提高生育水平。

In Henry’s view, the adoption of a more settled existence in areas with abundant food resources would have contributed to higher fertility levels among the sedentary foragers.

野生谷物占比更高的饮食会成比例地产生更多的身体脂肪，从而提高女性生育能力。

A diet higher in wild cereals produces proportionally more body fat, leading to higher fertility among women.

更易消化的谷类食品可以促进哺乳期女性产奶，同时谷物也可以作为稍大婴儿的主要食物来替代母乳。

Cereals, which are easy to digest, would have supplemented and then replaced mother’s milk as the primary food for older infants.

由于女性在哺乳期不易受孕，用谷物来替代母乳会导致每位女性缩短生育间隔并大幅提升活产率。

Since women are less fertile when they are breast-feeding, substituting cereals for mother’s milk would have resulted in closer spacing of births and the potential for a greater number of live births for each woman.

更为固定的生活方式同样会降低婴儿死亡率，还有可能提高老年人的寿命。

A more sedentary existence may also have lowered infant mortality and perhaps increased longevity among the aged.

这些相对脆弱的社会群体可以安全地留在一个固定村庄里，而不会在游牧生活的定期长距离迁移中遭遇较高风险的意外和伤害。

These more vulnerable members of society could safely stay in a fixed village rather than be forced regularly to move great distances as part of a nomadic existence, with its greater risk of accidents and trauma.

这一切因素或许导致了在全新世（从公元前9600开始）当地人口的增长趋势。

All of these factors may have resulted in a trend of increasing size among some local human populations in the Holocene (since 9600 B.C.E.).

如果时间充足的话，即使是在物产相当丰富的栖息地，人口规模也会达到承载能力，即一个地区在特定的生存系统环境下可以维持的最大人口数。

Given sufficient time, even in very rich habitats, human population size can reach carrying capacity, the maximum population an area can sustain within the context of a given subsistence system.

人口增长就像一列失控的火车：一旦加速就难以被控制。

And human population growth is like a runaway train: once it picks up speed, it is difficult to control.

因此即使达到了一个地区的承载能力后，全新世的人口数量很可能在食物丰富的地区继续增长，超出在这种生活模式中这片土地本来所能养活人口的能力，这同样是在相同的求生策略背景中发生的。

So even after reaching an area’s carrying capacity, Holocene human populations probably continued to grow in food-rich regions, overshooting the ability of the territory to feed the population, again within the context of the same subsistence strategy.

在一些地区，气候和植物特征方面的微小变化可能导致当地经济进一步失衡。

In some areas, small changes in climate or minor changes in plant characteristics may have further destabilized local economies.

提升一个地区承载能力的可能对策就是开拓周边土地。

One possible response to surpassing the carrying capacity of a region is for a group to exploit adjoining land.

但是，（例如位于河谷之间的）沃土本身就十分有限。

However, good land may itself be limited—for example, to within the confines of a river valley.

当周边人群同样也占据了领地内可找到的优质栖息地时，扩张也会造成问题。

Where neighbors are in the same position, having filled up the whole of the desirable habitat available in their home territories, expansion is also problematic.

侵占周边人群的领土会导致冲突，尤其是当对方同样也超过土地的承载能力而无法提供足够食物的时候。

Impinging on the neighbors’ territory can lead to conflict, especially when they too are up against the capacity of the land to provide enough food.

另一种选择是留在同一地区，但要改变并增加当地的食物获取。

Another option is to stay in the same area but to shift and intensify the food quest there.

在一些地区，给不断增长的人口提供更多的食物这一需要通过依靠发展更为复杂的生产技术实现了，这些技术涉及了密集的劳动力，需要不断增长的人口之间更好的协调合作。

The impulse to produce more food to feed a growing population was satisfied in some areas by the development of more-complex subsistence strategies involving intensive labor and requiring more cooperation and greater coordination among the increasing numbers of people.

这样的发展导致了定义这些社会的社会和经济规则的变化。

This development resulted in a change in the social and economic equations that defined those societies.

在前新石器时代（公元前一万年之前），随着人口的增加，早期的采集群体中不存在的等级制度可能已经确立。这些等级制度有助于结构化合作劳动和组织更复杂的技术，甚至在驯化和农业出现之前就已经形成。

Hierarchies that did not exist in earlier foraging groups but that were helpful in structuring cooperative labor and in organizing more-complex technologies probably became established, even before domestication and agriculture, as pre-Neolithic societies (before the tenth millennium B.C.E.) reacted to the population increase.

Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 1 as a characteristic of early nomadic foraging societies?

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

Why does the author mention “modern simple foragers”?

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

Select the TWO answer choices that, according to paragraph 3, were probable effects of a more sedentary existence among foragers. To receive credit you must select TWO answer choices.

It can be inferred from paragraph 3 that, compared with simple foragers, sedentary foragers

According to paragraph 5, what is one possible response for a society that has surpassed the carrying capacity of its land?

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.

Look at the four squares  that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Population growth eventually leads to potential problems, however.  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.

The Development of Social Complexity For most of human history, we have foraged (hunted, fished, and collected wild plants) for food. Small nomadic groups could easily supply the necessities for their families. No one needed more, and providing for more than one’s needs made little sense. The organization of such societies could be rather simple, revolving around age and gender categories. Such societies likely were largely egalitarian; beyond distinctions based on age and gender, virtually all people had equivalent rights, status, and access to resources. Archaeologist Donald Henry suggests that the combination of a rich habitat and sedentism (permanent, year-round settlement) led to a dramatic increase in human population. In his view, nomadic, simple foragers have relatively low levels of fertility. Their high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets result in low body-fat levels, which are commonly associated with low fertility in women. High levels of physical activity and long periods of nursing, which are common among modern simple foragers, probably also contributed to low levels of female fertility if they were likewise common among ancient foragers. In Henry’s view, the adoption of a more settled existence in areas with abundant food resources would have contributed to higher fertility levels among the sedentary foragers. A diet higher in wild cereals produces proportionally more body fat, leading to higher fertility among women. Cereals, which are easy to digest, would have supplemented and then replaced mother’s milk as the primary food for older infants. Since women are less fertile when they are breast-feeding, substituting cereals for mother’s milk would have resulted in closer spacing of births and the potential for a greater number of live births for each woman. A more sedentary existence may also have lowered infant mortality and perhaps increased longevity among the aged. These more vulnerable members of society could safely stay in a fixed village rather than be forced regularly to move great distances as part of a nomadic existence, with its greater risk of accidents and trauma. All of these factors may have resulted in a trend of increasing size among some local human populations in the Holocene (since 9600 B.C.E.).  Given sufficient time, even in very rich habitats, human population size can reach carrying capacity, the maximum population an area can sustain within the context of a given subsistence system.  And human population growth is like a runaway train: once it picks up speed, it is difficult to control.  So even after reaching an area’s carrying capacity, Holocene human populations probably continued to grow in food-rich regions, overshooting the ability of the territory to feed the population, again within the context of the same subsistence strategy.  In some areas, small changes in climate or minor changes in plant characteristics may have further destabilized local economies. One possible response to surpassing the carrying capacity of a region is for a group to exploit adjoining land. However, good land may itself be limited—for example, to within the confines of a river valley. Where neighbors are in the same position, having filled up the whole of the desirable habitat available in their home territories, expansion is also problematic. Impinging on the neighbors’ territory can lead to conflict, especially when they too are up against the capacity of the land to provide enough food. Another option is to stay in the same area but to shift and intensify the food quest there. The impulse to produce more food to feed a growing population was satisfied in some areas by the development of more-complex subsistence strategies involving intensive labor and requiring more cooperation and greater coordination among the increasing numbers of people. This development resulted in a change in the social and economic equations that defined those societies. Hierarchies that did not exist in earlier foraging groups but that were helpful in structuring cooperative labor and in organizing more-complex technologies probably became established, even before domestication and agriculture, as pre-Neolithic societies (before the tenth millennium B.C.E.) reacted to the population increase.