首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Civilization Before about 3500 BC, there were cultures, but not civilizations. Prehistoric men and women created societies,
Civilization Before about 3500 BC, there were cultures, but not civilizations. Prehistoric men and women created societies,
admin
2013-04-25
70
问题
Civilization
Before about 3500 BC, there were cultures, but not civilizations. Prehistoric men and women created societies, constructed houses, lived in villages, hunted and fished, farmed, made pottery, wove cloth and created languages. But unlike more advanced peoples, they did not build cities, read or write. Cities are the
cornerstone
of civilized life because with them came other civilizing elements, including differentiation of classes and employment, sophisticated religious and political systems, monumental architecture and the formation of states and empires.
Historians usually begin the story of civilization with
accounts
of the world’s first great writers and city-builders, the Sumerians. Because the Sumerians recorded ideas and sagas and listed the names of their rulers, we know more about them than about prehistoric peoples who left their legacy in stones, bones and pottery.
With the ability to build cities and record thoughts came the ability to communicate ideas and
innovations
over vast reaches of time and space. Human beings—who had formerly taken hundreds of thousands of years to learn that a stone ax sharpened on both sides is more useful than an ax sharpened on one side—progressed rapidly from foot travel to horse drawn carts, and later from railways to airplanes. With these and thousands of other innovations, people came to live longer, more comfortable lives.
Civilization also brought new ills to humanity. In the 20th century it brought nuclear warfare, global warming, and ozone depletion. More subtly, civilization removed human beings from regular encounters with the wonders of the natural world. Unlike people of modern civilizations,
primitive
people lived close to the sounds and smells of forest and grasslands. They looked at fire and the stars with awe and reverence. Civilization involves the ability to create a new political and cultural world. In the 19th century the American writer, philosopher and naturalist Henry David Thoreau noted that this artificial sphere separates humanity from primitive virtue.
"Most of the luxuries", he argued, "and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevations of mankind."
Thoreau believed that men and women should simplify their lives.
(A)To live well and happily usually doesn’t mean to live very luxuriously, the material enjoyment and much expense can satisfy you to some extent, but to enjoy a simple life also can make you feel fine and comfortable, something in your mind or in your spiritual world can bring more or influence much on your life and your happiness value.
(B)They expressed this sense of regret in the story of Prometheus and Pandora. Contrary to the wishes of other gods, Prometheus brought to humanity the gifts of fire, art and science. The jealous gods were unwilling to allow men and women to enjoy such blessings without cost, and so they sent Pandora to the world with a box containing disease, sorrow and other evils.
(C)From then on, the world wasn’t quiet or fortunate all the time, some people suffered from them and always got punished in one way or other. The people began to pay as well as they gain some achievement during the progress process. Human beings have viewed civilization as a mixed blessing. Civilized people have waged brutal wars, destroyed majestic forests and persecuted religious minorities.
(D)But civilizations have also achieved wonders.
We cannot list with words all the achievements of the human beings with the help and development of civilization. The abilities of writing and reading can spread one kind of culture or invention to other places, and advanced science and technology have allowed human beings to enjoy much more convenient and interesting lives. With many inventions of modern life, many places where people could not reach before can be explored and developed by human beings and many new materials with very good properties can improve people’s lives and help do many jobs which were thought very difficult or impossible before.
The word primitive in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to ______.
选项
A、prehistoric
B、predominant
C、primary
D、successful
答案
A
解析
本题属于词汇题,主要考查考生根据上下文对单词primitive的理解。原文中primitive的意思是“原始的,古老的”,指的是本文研究的对象,即古人类。prehistoric的意思是“史前的,古老的”与primitive为同义词,所以答案为A。而选项B(predominant)的意思是“具有支配地位的”,选项C(primary)的意思是“主要的,首要的”,选项D(successful)的意思是“成功的”,均不符合题意。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/Z0yO777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
SECTION4Questions31-40Questions31-32Completethefollowingsummaryofthelecturer’sintroductionbyusingNOMORETHAN
Whichmemberormembersofthespeaker’sfamilyhavehealthproblems?Beforeleaving,thespeakerandhisfamilygotinformatio
Whatwasthestudentsurprisedtodiscoverhehadalotof?Theprofessorpointsoutthattheuniversitylanguagecentre______
Theprofessorsaysthatsuperhighways______.【30】
Theprofessorsaysthatsuperhighways______.Theprofessorsuggeststhatinfiveyears’time______.
Theprofessorsaysthatsuperhighways______.Thestudentthinkspeople______.
TheprofessoralreadyknowssomethingaboutClarefromher______.
Inthemiddlepart,Klaraneedstousea______.What’sthelastthingKlaraneedstodobeforegivingtheprofessorherproje
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDAND/ORANUMBERforeachanswer.ThingstodobeforewegoExam
随机试题
先天性腹股沟斜疝是哪种解剖因素所致_______。
女性,28岁。间断腹痛腹泻2年,大便每天2-5次,糊状,有时带黏液,不含脓血。患者发病以来体重正常,睡眠尚可。多次胃肠系统钡餐和纤维结肠镜检查无异常发现。本例最可能的诊断为
下列哪种疾病可能会出现补体水平增高
可用石油醚提取的成分是
水带长度小于水带长度规格()m以上的,则可以判为该产品为不合格。
身高()的儿童随同成人乘坐列车可享受半价客票、加快票和空调票。
下列情形中,导游员可允许旅游者离团()。
著名学者钱乘旦先生认为:“光荣革命后英国建立了一个合适的政治制度,这个制度保证社会有宽松、和平的环境,让人们追求个人的目标,最大限度地发挥创造能力。”就此理解18世纪英国领先世界的最大优势在于()。
Theideaisasaudaciousasitaltruistic:provideapersonallaptopcomputertoeveryschoolchild—particularlyinthepoorestp
庙会(templefair)是中国一种传统的节日活动。它源于古代人们的祭祀仪式(sacrificialceremony),逐渐演变成物品交流的集市和文化表演的场所。庙会一般在寺庙里或寺庙附近的空地上举行。虽然各地举办庙会的日子有所不同,但活动内容都差不
最新回复
(
0
)