Earliest Permanent Settlement托福聽力原文翻譯及問題答案

Earliest Permanent Settlement托福聽力原文翻譯及問題答案

一、Earliest Permanent Settlement托福聽力原文：

Narrator:Listen to part of a lecture in an archaeology class.FEMALE PROFESSOR:One of the frustrating things about archaeology,especially for beginning students...is that theories are constantly evolving.A theory that's been accepted for many years may suddenly be called into question.MALE STUDENT:But why would that happen?FEMALE PROFESSOR:Oh,there are probably a number of reasons.Earlier finds are always being re-examined in the context of new finds.Or it may just be that someone looks at the evidence in a different way...has a different idea of what it suggests.

Take the theory about the earliest permanent settlements.They were found in an area to the east of the Mediterranean Sea called the Levant.And the people who lived there were the Natufians.For quite some time,it's been widely accepted that about 15,000 years ago,the Natufians developed a sedentary lifestyle.Can someone remind us what that means?MALE STUDENT:It means that they stopped being nomadic,that they began staying in one area year round instead of moving around all the time.FEMALE PROFESSOR:Right.And we think there was an abundance of edible plants and animals in the area at that time that make this shift away from a nomadic lifestyle possible.Uh...keep in mind that the Natufians were hunter-gatherers.So in spite of other changes,they were always a pre-agricultural society.

Anyway,after being sedentary for around 2,000 years,something happened that forced the Natufians to change their lifestyle.The general consensus is that there was a period of climatic cooling,which had a negative effect on the availability of food.And this food shortage likely caused the Natufians to revert to a nomadic lifestyle.Then around 11,500 years ago,the climate warmed again.Food became more abundant and the people in that area became sedentary again.Now,no one is contesting that these people,probably descendants of the Natufians,were indeed sedentary by 11,500 years ago.The evidence is quite strong.Archaeologists have uncovered numerous circular structures....dating from that period....that appear to have been used to store grain.We think this for a couple of reasons.

First,the remains of barley houses have been found inside them.Barley was the main type of grain that grew in this area.

And secondly,the floors on these structures were elevated.This design would have been consistent with the need to keep the barley dry and safe from rodents.So,that makes sense.

And there are lots of these structures in the settlements.In one settlement that was only partially excavated,archaeologists have already found four of these structures.

MALE STUDENT:So it's the earlier part—that the Natufians were sedentary 15,000 years ago—that's changed?FEMALE PROFESSOR:Well,there's evidence,but some archaeologists have questioned the criteria used to identify permanent settlements.

See,circular structures have also been found in early Natufian settlements,so archaeologists believe that these were also food storage structures based on their physical similarity to the structures in later settlements.And they would indicate that the Natufians were sedentary 15,000 years ago.But now,there are doubts about the use of these earlier structures.

Researchers point to the lack of grain remnants in these earlier structures.In fact,things other than grains have been found in them.So at the very least,they say,these structures probably had multiple purposes.

And another problem they point to is that most early settlements have only one of these so-called storage structures.But do you think one structure would be enough to hold a surplus for an entire settlement?MALE STUDENT:skeptical]Well,whatever these structures were used for,couldn't they just have built them at a place they came back to regularly?Maybe to store things for their next visit?

FEMALE PROFESSOR:Exactly?so-called base camps where the Natufians didn't stay all year-round.

But artifacts that were found at a number of Natufian sites seem to present evidence of a sedentary way of life.Large,heavy mortars...the sort of thing that would have been used for grinding grain.Such heavy equipment could indicate that the Natufians would have stayed permanently in one place since the work involved in moving an item like this around constantly would have been substantial.

But this evidence of sedentism has also been called into question because the materials used to make the stone mortars did originally come from quite a distance.And if the Natufians could move the materials over great distances...

二、Earliest Permanent Settlement托福聽力中文翻譯：

旁白：聽一節(jié)考古學課上的講座。女教授：考古學最令人沮喪的事情之一，尤其是對于初學的學生來說……是理論在不斷發(fā)展。一個被接受多年的理論可能會突然受到質疑。男學生：但為什么會這樣？女教授：哦，可能有很多原因。早期發(fā)現(xiàn)總是在新發(fā)現(xiàn)的背景下重新檢查?；蛘呖赡苤皇怯腥艘圆煌姆绞娇创C據(jù)…對證據(jù)的含義有不同的看法。

以最早的永久定居點理論為例。它們是在地中海東部的黎凡特地區(qū)發(fā)現(xiàn)的。住在那里的人是納圖費人。相當長一段時間以來，人們普遍認為，大約15000年前，納圖費人發(fā)展了一種久坐的生活方式。有人能提醒我們這是什么意思嗎？男學生：這意味著他們不再游牧了，他們開始一年四季呆在一個地區(qū)，而不是一直四處走動。女教授：對。我們認為，當時該地區(qū)有大量可食用的植物和動物，這使得這種遠離游牧生活方式的轉變成為可能。呃…記住納圖費人是狩獵采集者。因此，盡管有其他變化，他們始終是前農業(yè)社會。

無論如何，在大約2000年的久坐之后，發(fā)生了一些事情，迫使納圖費人改變了他們的生活方式。普遍的共識是，有一段時間氣候變冷，對糧食供應產生了負面影響。這種食物短缺可能導致納圖費人回歸游牧生活方式。大約11500年前，氣候再次變暖。食物變得更加豐富，該地區(qū)的人們再次變得久坐不動?，F(xiàn)在，沒有人質疑這些人，可能是納圖費人的后裔，在11500年前確實是定居的。證據(jù)相當有力?？脊艑W家已經發(fā)現(xiàn)了許多圓形結構…可以追溯到那個時期…似乎是用來儲存谷物的。我們認為這有幾個原因。

首先，在它們里面發(fā)現(xiàn)了大麥屋的遺跡。大麥是該地區(qū)生長的主要谷物類型。

其次，這些建筑的地板被抬高了。這種設計符合保持大麥干燥和免受嚙齒動物危害的需要。所以，這是有道理的。

定居點里有很多這樣的建筑。在一個僅部分挖掘的定居點中，考古學家已經發(fā)現(xiàn)了其中的四個結構。

男學生：那幺，15000年前納圖費人久坐不動的早期部分改變了嗎？女教授：嗯，有證據(jù)，但一些考古學家質疑用于確定永久定居點的標準。

看，圓形結構也在早期納圖費人聚居區(qū)中被發(fā)現(xiàn)，因此考古學家認為這些也是食物儲存結構，因為它們與后來聚居區(qū)的結構物理相似。這表明納圖費人在15000年前是定居的。但現(xiàn)在，對這些早期結構的使用存在疑問。

研究人員指出，在這些早期結構中缺乏谷物殘留物。事實上，在他們身上發(fā)現(xiàn)了除谷物以外的其他東西。因此，他們說，至少這些結構可能有多種用途。

他們指出的另一個問題是，大多數(shù)早期定居點只有一個所謂的儲存結構。但你認為一個結構足以容納整個定居點的盈余嗎？男學生：懷疑]好吧，不管這些建筑是用來做什么的，難道他們就不能把它們建在他們經?；貋淼牡胤絾?？也許是為他們下次來訪準備東西？

女教授：是嗎？所謂的大本營，納圖費人不是全年都呆在那里。

但在納圖費遺址發(fā)現(xiàn)的文物似乎證明了久坐的生活方式。大而重的迫擊炮…那種用來碾磨谷物的東西。這種重型設備可能表明納圖費人將永久留在一個地方，因為不斷移動這樣的物品所涉及的工作將是巨大的。

但是，這種沉著主義的證據(jù)也受到質疑，因為用于制造石制迫擊炮的材料最初確實來自很遠的地方。如果納圖費人能將這些材料移動很遠。。。

三、Earliest Permanent Settlement托福聽力問題：

Q1:1.What is the lecture mainly about?

A.Techniques used by the Natufians for building shelters

B.Different interpretations of archaeological evidence from Natufian sites

C.Strategies used by different hunter-gatherer societies in response to climate change

D.The development of the Natufians into an agricultural society

Q2:2.According to the professor,what does a theory suggest about the Natufians who lived 15,000 years ago?

A.They moved into the eastern Mediterranean region.

B.They developed advanced hunting tools.

C.They began cultivating a variety of crops.

D.They began to settle permanently in one area.

Q3:3.According to the professor,in what ways did climate change affect Natufians?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.A period of climatic cooling led them to return to an earlier lifestyle.

B.A period of climatic warming enabled them to settle in centralized villages.

C.A period of climatic warming allowed them to plant crops other than barley.

D.Several cooling and warming periods forced them to develop new agricultural techniques.

Q4:4.Why does the professor discuss the floors of excavated structures?

A.To show the high level of technology attained by some prehistoric people

B.To suggest that the area called the Levant flooded regularly

C.To support the idea that the structures were used to hold grain

D.To explain a construction method that was common 15,000 years ago

Q5:5.What evidence suggests that Natufians were not sedentary 15,000 years ago?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.No tools for grinding grain have been found in Natufian settlements from that time.

B.Individual settlements from that time contain just one circular structure.

C.Circular structures from that time may have had multiple purposes.

D.Circular structures from that time contain remnants of grain.

Q6:6.Why does the professor say this:

A.To indicate that she is unsure about the origin of the materials.

B.To suggest the Natufians settled a large area.

C.To point out how technologically advanced the Natufians were.

D.To help students understand why the evidence of sedentism has been questioned.

四、Earliest Permanent Settlement托福聽力答案：

A1:正確答案：B

A2:正確答案：D

A3:正確答案：AB

A4:正確答案：C

A5:正確答案：BC

A6:正確答案：D

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