考满分 toefl

1 .Listen to part of a lecture in an anthropology class.

听一段人类学课堂上的讲座片段。

1 .Professor: A critical development in prehistoric societies occurred around 12,000 years ago. That's when the first agricultural societies emerged, when early humans made the transition from being hunter gatherers, hunting animals and gathering edible wild plants into farmers. But what precipitated this kind of transition? OK, so let's consider the Natufians, a prehistoric culture in the Middle East. The Natufians were hunter gatherers who flourished while the region was humid and warm, and therefore supported a wide variety of plants and animals. The Natufians ate mostly wild grains like wheat and rye and some animal meat.

教授：史前社会的一个重要发展发生在大约12000年前。那就是首个农业社会的兴起，早期人类从狩猎采集者——捕猎动物、采集可食用野生植物——向农耕者的转变。但是什么促成了这种转变呢？ 好的，让我们看看中东的纳吐夫文化。纳吐夫人是狩猎采集者，在气候温暖湿润的时期繁荣发展起来，因为这种环境孕育了丰富的动植物资源。他们的主要食物是野生谷物如小麦和黑麦，以及少量动物肉类。

1 .Now, something unusual about the Natufians, since their region was so rich and wild grains, they were able to establish small villages of permanent homes. Other hunter gatherers were more nomadic, following animal herds that migrated seasonally. Now, around 13,000 years ago, climate in the Middle East became cold and dry, relatively suddenly. It was the beginning of a time period known as the Younger Dryas. The Younger Dryas lasted over 1000 years. So how do you think the Natufians would have fared during this period? Student: Um if they depended on plants and animals with colder temperatures? There have been less food. That couldn't have been good.

纳吐夫人的独特之处在于，由于当地野生谷物资源极其丰富，他们得以建立永久性定居的小型村落。其他狩猎采集者则更多过着游牧生活，跟随季节性迁徙的兽群。大约13000年前，中东气候突然变得寒冷干燥，这一时期被称为“新仙女木期”，持续了超过1000年。你们认为纳吐夫人在这段时期会如何应对呢？ 学生：如果他们赖以生存的动植物无法适应低温，食物可能会减少，那生活应该不太好。

1 .Professor: There was a decrease in plant and animal life, so you're kind of right there. Natufians did survive the beginning of the Younger Dryas, and there's actually evidence to suggest that it was the hardship brought on by the Younger Dryas that led to the Natufians becoming successful agriculturalists, and ultimately to their survival. Student: So when conditions got worse, it actually helped the Natufians survive?

教授：确实存在动植物数量减少的现象，你的推测有一定道理。证据显示纳吐夫人挺过了新仙女木初期。有观点认为，正是新仙女木期带来的生存压力，促使他们发展出成熟的农业，最终得以存活下来。 学生：所以环境恶化反而帮助了纳吐夫人生存下来？

1 .Professor: The commonly accepted theory is, that as their food sources started disappearing, the Natufians began planting their precious grain. Raising crops insured there’d be a continual food source at a time when it became harder to find grains in the wild. However, there are problems with the evidence, which mostly comes from a Natufian site called Abu Hureyra. Abu Hureyra was occupied early in the Younger Dryas. Researchers there found several large grinding stones, stones they think were used for grinding seeds, stones that are characteristic of agricultural societies. They've also found several rye seeds that may have been cultivated by the Natufians. Student: So how do you know those seeds weren't just, you know, blown in by the wind?

教授：主流理论认为，当野生资源逐渐枯竭时，纳吐夫人开始播种珍贵的谷物。在野生谷物日益稀缺的时期，种植作物确保了持续的食物供应。但相关证据存在争议，主要来自名为阿布胡赖拉的遗址。该遗址在新仙女木早期有人居住，研究者发现了多个大型研磨石器——这类工具被认为是农业社会的特征，可能用于碾磨种子。同时还发现了可能被驯化的黑麦种子。 学生：如何确定这些种子不是被风吹来的？

1 .Professor: Well, compared to wild, dry seeds, which are skinny, these were fat. Many researchers think they were especially selected by the Natufians, since plants from these seeds would have produced more grain than wild seeds would have, which would have been critical at a time when the cooling trend was causing hardship. So it’s theorized that the Natufians were domesticating plants, producing lots of grain, and then using the stones to grind it. Student: Oh, but didn't you say there were problems?

教授：相较于干瘪的野生种子，这些种子颗粒饱满。研究者推测是纳吐夫人特意选育的，因为这些植株产粮量高于野生品种——这在气候变冷导致生存危机的时期至关重要。理论认为他们驯化作物后，生产大量谷物，然后用石器进行加工研磨。 学生：但您不是说证据存在问题吗？

1 .Professor: Yes. First, Abu Hureyra is the only Natufian site that contains this kind of seed evidence, and a handful of seeds from one site is hardly a basis for generalizations. And those grinding stones, they could have had other purposes, like um, smoothing animal hides for clothing, say. Another challenge to this theory--when we compare the Natufians to early agricultural societies that are already well documented. Well, A study of gazelle bones at several sites shows that the Natufians didn't change their hunting patterns during the early Younger Dryas. They hunted wild animals as much as always. Yet, from what we know about societies that transition from hunting and gathering to farming, we'd expect the Natufians' diet to show a shift from mostly meat eating to mostly grain eating.

教授：是的。首先，阿布胡赖拉是唯一发现此类种子的遗址，仅凭单一一处遗址的少量样本，难以得出普遍结论。那些研磨石器也可能有其他用途，比如鞣制兽皮制衣。另一个质疑点来自与已知早期农业社会的对比：对瞪羚骨骼的研究显示，纳吐夫人狩猎模式在新仙女木早期并未改变，他们像往常一样捕猎野生动物。然而，根据我们对从狩猎采集转向农耕的社会的了解，我们应当预期纳图夫人的饮食结构会从主要吃肉转变为主要吃谷物。

1 .Student: But couldn't those bones mean that as an agricultural society, Natufians were also domesticating gazelles? Professor: No, you see, gazelles require a large range of territory. They also have solitary habits, and they scare easily, all of which makes them hard for humans to control. Prehistoric humans preferred to domesticate animals that naturally gather in herds with some kind of hierarchical organization. One animal acts as a leader and the others fall. This kind of animals easier to domesticate because humans can make themselves the leader of the herd, which is why sheep and cattle are prime examples. And we do find evidence for sheep and cattle raising in early agricultural societies.

学生：难道不能说明他们同时驯养瞪羚？ 教授：不，你看，瞪羚需要很大的活动范围。它们也有独居的习性，而且容易受惊吓，这些都使得人类难以控制它们。史前人类更倾向于驯养那些自然成群并具有某种等级组织的动物。一只动物充当领导者，其他的就会跟随。这类动物更容易被驯化，因为人类可以让自己成为群体的领导者，这就是为什么绵羊和牛成为了典型驯化物种，而且我们确实在早期农业社会中找到了饲养绵羊和牛的证据。