tpo39三篇托福阅读TOEFL原文译文题目答案译文背景知识.docx

PAGE

PAGE1

tpo39三篇托福阅读TOEFL原文译文题目答案译文背景知识

TOC\o1-2\h\u19736阅读-1 2

12177原文 2

22478译文 5

10829题目 8

25246答案 15

13806背景知识 16

25639阅读-2 18

18995原文 18

19035译文 21

26029题目 24

26698答案 33

10983背景知识 33

27429阅读-3 37

7129原文 37

22631译文 40

3562题目 43

26190答案 53

779背景知识 53

阅读-1

原文

EarlyWritingSystems

①ScholarsagreethatwritingoriginatedsomewhereintheMiddleEast,probablyMesopotamia,aroundthefourthmillenniumB.C.E.Itisfromthegreatlibrariesandword-hoardsoftheseancientlandsthatthefirsttextsemerged.Theywerewrittenondampclaytabletswithawedged(orV-shaped)stick;sincetheLatinwordforwedgeiscunea,thetextsarecalledcuneiform.Theclaytabletsusuallywerenotfired;sundryingwasprobablyreckonedenoughtopreservethetextforaslongasitwasbeingused.Fortunately,however,manytabletssurvivedbecausetheywereaccidentallyfiredwhenthebuildingstheywerestoredinburned.

②Cuneiformwritinglastedforsome3,000years,inavastlineofsuccessionthatranthroughSumer,Akkad,Assyria,Nineveh,andBabylon,andpreservedforusfifteenlanguagesinanarearepresentedbymodern-dayIraq,Syria,andwesternIran.Theoldestcuneiformtextsrecordedthetransactionsoftaxcollectorsandmerchants,thereceiptsandbillsofsaleofanurbansociety.Theyhadtodowiththingslikegrain,goats,andrealestate.Later,Babylonianscribesrecordedthelawsandkeptotherkindsofrecords.Knowledgeconferredpower.Asaresult,thescribeswereassignedtheirowngoddess,Nisaba,laterreplacedbythegodNabuofBorsippa,whosesymbolisneitherweaponnordragonbutsomethingfarmorefearsome,thecuneiformstick.

③Cuneiformtextsonscience,astronomy,medicine,andmathematicsabound,someofferingastoundinglyprecisedata.OnetabletrecordsthespeedoftheMoonover248days;anotherdocumentsanearlysightingofHalleysComet,fromSeptember22toSept