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The Formation of Civilization
The criteria for a body of people to be considered a civilization includes the construction of permanent settlements, the use of agriculture for food, the emergence of a leadership class, the worship of one or more deities, and the development of art and writing. For most of human history, these features were beyond the reach of the roving bands of hunter-gatherers whose primary concern was obtaining food. Some tribes may have settled in areas to hunt, fish, or gather fruits or nuts for short periods, but their shelters were not permanent, and they inevitably moved on when their food supplies became exhausted.
This changed once humans discovered how to farm. Agriculture developed at different times around the world, but sometime around 8000 B.C., people in the Middle East learned how to sow wild grains to produce crops. Since raising crops takes time, these individuals built permanent shelters and stood guard over their plants to protect them from other people and wild animals. This required a degree of org
anization and specialization, so people began doing various tasks. Some worked the land, others protected the settlements, and others raised animals or made crafts such as pottery and woven baskets. Hunter-gatherer groups had always had leaders; therefore, it was natural for them to emerge in these permanent settlements. Because agriculture depended upon good weather and timely rain or floodwaters, people started worshipping deities and praying for sunshine and rain.
Over time, the practice of agriculture led to population explosions and the founding of civilizations in Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, and the Indus Valley. The leaders became kings, the protectors became soldiers, the shamans who prayed to deities became priests in organized religions, and the majority of people became peasants who farmed the land and worked on massive construction projects in honor of their kings and gods. Craftsmen also began creating beautiful works of art, and, in some places, writing was developed to record history and to communicate with others. In these places, civilization was born.
*hunter-gatherer: a human that has no permanent home but wanders the land while hunting, fishing, and gathering wild fruits, grains, and vegetables
*shaman: a person that acts as an intermediary between the real world and the spirit world
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 of the passage. Some sentences do not belong because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage.
Thousands of years ago, hunter-gatherers learned to farm the land and then developed civilizations based around the permanent settlements they established.
ANSWER CHOICES
①There are still some groups of people in the world who can be said not to have established civilizations yet.
②Once people started settling down in one place, individuals began taking on roles such as those of king, soldier, shaman, and peasant.
③Some of the first civilizations were established in China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley.
④Having organized religions, creating art, and developing writing systems are three of the characteristics of human civilizations.
⑤It was necessary for people to learn how to raise crops by farming the land for them to start establishing civilizations.
⑥Most of the people in the earliest civilizations were peasants who had to farm the land and serve their masters.
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第2题
The Expanding Universe Theory
The Big Bang Theory, which posits that the universe began from a single point of incredibly dense matter, is the most widely accepted theory regarding the creation of the universe. According to it, roughly fourteen billion years ago, this matter exploded and expanded to form the present-day universe. This theory is based upon observations of the universe suggesting that it is not static but is instead continually expanding outward.
For centuries, astronomers believed that the universe was fixed and that Earth was located at its center. By the early twentieth century, the notion that Earth was at the center of the universe had been dispelled, but the static universe theory was still the prevailing model. Even Albert Einstein was a great believer in it. Then, in 1917, he had a revelation. His general theory of relativity did not precisely agree with the static universe model, yet he could not reconcile his strong belief in a static universe with his theories, so he concluded that some unknown force was preventing the universe from expanding. Simultaneously, other astronomers were discovering that Earth and the sun belonged to a large collection of stars they called a galaxy. In 1925, American astronomer Edwin Hubble proved other galaxies existed in addition to Earth's galaxy, which had been dubbed the Milky Way.
worshippingHubble made further observations that had a profound effect on the static universe theory. In 1929, he realized that the light coming from the galaxies he was observing had a distinctive red shift on the light spectrum. This was due to the Doppler Effect, which makes an object moving away from an observer appear red in color. This meant that the galaxies were moving away from one another and that the universe was expanding outward. There was resistance to Hubble's theory, but Einstein accepted it, and others soon agreed with the expanding universe theory as well. From it, astronomers concluded that if the universe was expanding, then it must have been much smaller at some point. That led to the Big Bang Theory becoming the accepted model for the creation of the universe.
*static: stationary; unmoving
*Doppler Effect: a shift in the frequency of the radiation emitted by a source that is moving relative to an observer
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 of the passage. Some sentences do not belong because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage.
Thanks to discoveries made by astronomers in the twentieth century, the expanding universe model replaced the static universe model as accepted science,
ANSWER CHOICES
①Edwin Hubble made a discovery that showed that the galaxies in the universe were spreading apart from one another.
②The theory of relativity showed Albert Einstein that his notion that the universe was static was incorrect.
③Most people throughout history have believed that the universe is static and that Earth can be found at its center.
④The belief in the expanding universe model indicated to astronomers that the universe was probably started due to the Big Bang.
⑤Albert Einstein and Edwin Hubble worked together to come up with the expanding universe model.
⑥The Doppler Effect is what makes an object appear red when it is moving away from another object.
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Prions and Illness
Prions are proteins responsible for several infectious diseases that can affect both humans and animals. In humans, prions cause a number of neurological diseases which result in a decrease in cognitive functions and that almost always end in death. Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease—often called mad cow disease because of its debilitating effect on bovines—is one such prion disease that strikes the hu
man brain. Some others are fatal familial insomnia, kuru, and Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker Disease (GSS).
These diseases, while different, share some similarities, particularly their cause. Prion proteins are attached to cell surfaces and are usually not harmful; however, in each of the aforementioned diseases, a prion protein in the brain assumes a wrong shape, disrupting the cell it is attached to. This signals nearby prion proteins to form improper shapes, too. The process slowly spreads across the brain as it destroys neurons, builds up plaque-like matter, and makes holes in brain tissue. It is slow moving, so it may take several years before the first symptoms are recognized.
There are three main forms of prion diseases: acquired, genetic, and sporadic. People get acquired prion diseases through infections by bad prions, typically through food. Kuru, a prion disease that was once common in New Guinea, was caused by cannibals eating the brains of people with bad prions, and Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease, which humans get from ingesting infected beef, is another example. Genetic prion diseases are passed from parents to children through genes as an error causes the genes that code prion proteins to make mutant prion proteins that, as the children age, attach to cells in the wrong shapes. Fatal familial insomnia, which is found in a few families worldwide, causes people to be unable to sleep, and eventually leads to death, is one such example. As for sporadic prion diseas
es, they have no definitive causes. Experts believe they manifest because of mutant genes but are not certain why people acquire the diseases. Roughly 85% of prion diseases are sporadic as their victims are not exposed to infected food and have no family history of prion diseases.
*bovine: an animal such as a cow or buffalo
*neuron: a specialized cell that is a part of the nervous system
第3题
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 of the
passage. Some sentences do not belong because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage.
Prions are proteins that can cause various types of diseases to infect the brains of their victims. ANSWER CHOICES
①Sporadic prion diseases are not caused by infected food or genetics, so their causes are a complete mystery.
②Medical researchers believe that they can cure some of the best-known prion diseases, including Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease.
③Sporadic prion diseases are the most common, but there are also acquired and genetic prion diseases.
④When prions take the wrong shape, they cause other prions to do the same thing, and this can spread through the brain.
⑤When a person is infected by a prion disease, that individual's thinking processes are weakened, and the disease is nearly always fatal.
⑥Only a few families around the world are affected by the genetic prion disease that is called fatal familial insomnia.
第4题
Mapping
The following chart shows the structure of the passage. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words.
图片
第5题
Summary
The following is a summary of the passage. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words.
Prions are 5 that can cause various diseases in both humans and animals. The diseases they cause in humans, such as Creutzfeldt-Jacobs Disease, fatal familial insomnia, kuru, and Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker Disease, almost always 6 the infected people. What happens is that a prion protein in the brain assumes the wrong 7 , and then it causes nearby prion proteins to do the same thing. This spreads across the brain, destroys neurons, builds up plaque-like matter, and creates 8 in brain tissue. Prion diseases can be acquired, genetic, or sporadic. 9 prion diseases are typically gotten from food. 10 prion diseases are passed from parents to children, and 11 prion diseases have no known causes.
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(12~19/共53题)阅读理解
Humanism and Renaissance Art
Humanism is the idea that human life and its natural surroundings are more important than a religious-centered view of the world. Its origins lie in ancient Greece and can be seen in Greek art,
which depicts humans with anatomically correct proportions. The notion of humanism spread to other parts of the ancient world but then declined when the Roman Empire fell. Gradually, humanism was replaced by religion as the primary focus of life as well as art. Artwork produced in the Middle Ages, wh
ich began roughly after the fall of Rome, is almost entirely focused on religion while human aspects are secondary concerns. For instance, saints and other religious figures are depicted in medieval paintings as having halos, and the holy people themselves are much larger than normal humans. In addition, the mathematical precision with which the ancients showed both scale and depth in their works became a lost art.
It was not until the late fourteenth century in Florence, Italy, that a revival of humanistic thinking began. At first, it was mostly scholarly and literary in form, but over time, this rediscovered philosophy spread and had a profound influence on establishing the era known today as the Renaissance. Humanism had a particularly powerful effect on artists then. Slowly, artists moved away from religion being the focal point of their work as they began showing humans in a more realistic manner. In artwork in which religious figures were depicted, they were no longer wearing halos or looming over other humans. They were instead drawn or painted on the same scale. In Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper, for instance, Jesus and his disciples are represented naturally as real people rather than as iconic figures of Christianity.
Nature became prominent in Renaissance art, too, as humans were placed in natural scenes, and nature was represented more realistically. The rediscovering of the ancient mathematical method of dr
awing humans and the using of depth in artwork led the way to paintings showing people more realistically. Painters learned the art of foreshortening, which gave paintings an illusion of depth not found in prior periods. The depth and lifelike aspect of Renaissance art was further enhanced by the invention of oil paints, which enabled artists to work in more detail and to include more naturalism in their works. ? Furthermore, artists of that time embraced the human body as a work of art. ?They accomplished this by showing the body nude more often than clothed and by putting the beauty of the human body on full display. ?Michelangelo's sculpture David is the prime example of this as it shows a nude human body in perfectly chiseled proportions.?
Art patrons, such as the Medici family of Florence, also encouraged the influence of humanism on art. Not satisfied only with artwork with religious themes, individuals of wealth and social standing sought artists who could provide more secular views in their art and commissioned works with humanist aspects. A final way in which humanism affected Renaissance art concerned how people perceived artists. At one time, artists were regarded as craftsmen rather than specialists, which is why hardly any artists from the Middle Ages are known today. However, people recognized the true genius of men such as Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael, so they—and many others—are remembered today for the brilliance of their work.
*anatomically correct: properly representing the human body
*halo: a disc or circle of light around the head of a divine or holy individual
第12题
Vocabulary
______=exactness
第13题
______=carved
第14题
______=to improve; to make better
第15题
______=to think of; to consider
第16题
Vocabulary Question
The word art in the passage is closest in meaning to ______
A.skill
C.painting
D.work
第17题
Negative Factual Information Question
In paragraph 2, all of the following questions are answered EXCEPT: ______
A.What changes in the representation of religious figures in art did humanism cause?
B.How influential was on other art produced in the Renaissance?
C.How important was the idea of humanism to the Renaissance?
D.When and where did humanism start to become prominent again?
第18题
Insert Text Question
Look at the four squares [●] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
The paints that had been used previously had dried more quickly and been less vivid, which made them produce works of inferior quality.
Where would the sentence best fit?
第19题
Prose Summary Question
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 of the passage. Some sentences do not belong because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage.
The notion of humanism had a great impact on the artwork that was produced during the Renaissance.
ANSWER CHOICES
①Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper is considered one of the greatest works of humanism in the Renaissance.
②Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael could not have created the artwork they made without the influence of humanistic ideas.
③The relearning of artistic techniques from ancient times enabled Renaissance artists to portray their figures more realistically.
④Renaissance artists influenced by humanism began portraying religious figures as normal-sized humans lacking halos.
⑤The desire of rich individuals to possess artwork of a secular nature induced many artists to abandon painting pictures with religious themes.
⑥The ancient Greeks were among the first people to develop various notions of humanism and
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