托福TPO46阅读真题解析：Passage 2

TPO，即toefl Practice Online的首写字母，就是托福在线练习的意思，TPO可以为考生提供全真的模拟考试环境和过往真题，而TPO题库也是有着不断的更新。在托福阅读的备考过程中，除了大量的阅读之外，全面了解托福阅读的题型和解题方法也都是非常重要的环节。而对于很多备考托福的学生来说，TPO往往就是一个首先的备考材料。今天，小编就为大家带来托福TPO46阅读真题解析：Passage 2。

托福TPO46阅读Passage 2真题解析 【在线咨询】

The Origins of Writing

1. The word “key” in the passage is closest in meaning to 【词汇题】
A frequent
B essential
C original
D familiar
答案：B

解析：key的含义是“关键的“。B选项的essential意为“必要的、基本的”，与语境吻合，为正确答案。
frequent 频繁的，时常发生的。 original 原始的。 familiar熟悉的。

2. The word “virtue” in the passage is closest in meaning to 【词汇题】
A price
B design
C desirable quality
D physical characteristic
答案：C

解析：virtue意为：“优点”。C选项的desirable quality意为“令人满意的品质”。与virtue在文中的意思吻合，为正确选项。
price价格。design设计。 physical characteristic 物理特征。

3. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information. 【句子简化题】
A In part because of its low cost and ease of use, clay became the preferred writing material throughout Mesopotamia and well beyond it
B Clay was cheap throughout Mesopotamia, so clay tablets from Mesopotamia became the preferred writing material as far as the Mediterranean.
C For a while, the clay tablet was the preferred writing material in Crete and Greece.
D Moreover, because clay was used as the writing material of choice in Mesopotamia, Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, and the Mediterranean, it was cheap and popular.
答案：A

解析：原句的核心：Clay is cheap and forming it into tablets is easy. Clay tablet became the preferred writing material. A选项的逻辑关系词为because，句子的两个核心low cost and ease of use和became the preferred writing与原句的句子核心吻合，故A选项正确。

4. What can be inferred from paragraph 2 about clay as a writing material? 【推断题】
A It had to be baked before it could be written on
B Its good points outweighed its bad points.
C Its durability was its most important feature for its users.
D It was not available in Egypt.
答案：B

解析：文中提到clay的缺点是：clumsy and bulky, 但是it has a virtue dear to archaeologists: It is durable…. Became the preferred writing material not only throughout Mesopotamia but far outside it as well. 后面讲到的都是clay的优点。所以完全可以得出B选项的结论。

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5. In paragraph 2, why does the author discuss the Egyptian use of papyrus as a writing material? 【修辞目的题】
A To describe the superiofity of papyrus over leattier and wood as a writing material
B To explain why writing in Egypt did not develop as quickly as it did Mesopotamia
C To explain why archaeologists' knowledge of the early history of writing relies mainly on Sumerian cuneiform
D To explain why the Sumerians preferred clay tablets for writing over papyrus
答案：C

解析：作者先描述了in ancient times, Egyptians用papyrus reeds制造paper, 之后，clay tablet成为standard material. 最后又成为preferred material. 综合第二段的描述可知，C为正确选项。

6. According to paragraph 3, all of the following are true of cuneiform writing EXCEPT: 【否定事实信息题】
A It was composed of very simple shapes
B It was perfected by the ancient Sumerians.
C It influenced the choice of material on which it was written.
D It was understood by very few Sumerians.
答案：C

解析：A选项对应原文This script consists of simple shapes. B选项对应原文The Sumerians perfected a style of writing. D选项对应原文literacy was largely limited to a small professional class, the scribes. C 选项原文没有提及，错误。

7. According to paragraph 4, how did the Akkadians use the Sumerian language? 【事实信息题】
A They used Sumerian for speaking but used their own national language for writing.
B They used the complex cuneiform signs developed by the Babylonians and Assyrians rather than the Sumerian signs.
C They developed their own cuneiform shapes on clay tablets to replace those used by the Sumerians.
D They assigned new sound and word values to the signs of Sumerian cuneiform.
答案：D

解析：D选项对应原文The Akkadians…Sumerian and gave them sound and word values that fit their own language. 故D为正确选项。

8. Paragraph 4 answers all the following questions about Sumerian writing in the period after the Sumerians were conquered EXCEPT: 【否定事实信息题】
A Did Sumerian literature continue to be read?
B Did Sumerian continue to be spoken?
C Did scribes compose new texts in Sumerian?
D Did Sumerian have the same fate as Latin had after the fall of Rome?
答案：C

解析： A选项对应原文的The literature of the Sumerians was treasured throughout the Near East. B选项对应原文的and long after Sumerian ceased to be spoken. D选项对应原文的the Babylonians and Assyrians… the way Europeans kept Latin alive after the fall of Rome. C选项没有提及。

9. The word "document" in the passage is closest in meaning to 【词汇题】
A include
B influence
C organize
D record
答案：D

解析：document在原文语境中意为“记录” 。D选项的record意为“记录”，与原文语境吻合，故D选项为正确答案。
include 包含，包括。influence影响。 organize组织。

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10. According to paragraph 5, writing was first used for 【事实信息题】
A simple bookkeeping
B descriptions of daily events
C counting the contents of clay tablets
D government reports
答案：A

解析：根据原文Writing, it would appear, started as a primitive form of bookkeeping. 可知，A为正确选项。

11. The phrase “Now and then” in the passage is closest in meaning to 【词汇题】
A always
B occasionally
C sooner or later
D first and last
答案：B

解析：”Now and then “的语境含义为“时不时地”。B选项的occasionally意为“偶尔，间或”。与原文已经吻合，故为正确答案。

12. According to paragraph 6, large batches of clay writing tablets were stored because the tablets 【事实信息题】
A were being produced quickly and in large quantities
B did not serve any practical purpose for most Mesopotamians
C contained information that needed to be available for future reference
D could not be used again once they had been written on
答案：C

解析：根据原文These records of factual matters were kept in storage to be available for reference. 故C选项正确。

13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. 【句子插入题】
However, the Sumerian language did not entirely disappear.
Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square [■] to add the sentence to the passage
答案：B

解析：插入的句子中however说明其后面的句子内容与上文需要构成转折关系。not entirely disappear说明上文提到了Sumerian language 部分消失或者后文提到了Sumerian language没有disappear的事实。插入口B后面的句子说明了Sumerian literature仍然被treasure，也就是Sumerian language没有disappear，故应插入B处。

14. Directions: 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 in the passage Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points. 【概要小结题】
Drag your answer choices to the spaces where they belong To remove an answer choice, click on it.
To review the passage, click VIEW TEXT
The earliest examples of writing have been found in Mesopotamia and date to shortly before 3000 B.C.E.
Answer Choices
Writing was invented in the same areas in which civilization began by the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Asia Minor and the Mediterranean.
The development of cuneiform is known because it was written on a long-lasting material and because it was long and widely used throughout the ancient Near East.
Cuneiform tablets generally dealt with business and factual matters, but other topics, including literature, were also recorded and valued.
Writing was developed first by the Sumerians using wedge shaped marks (cuneiform) on clay tablets and then by the Egyptians using papyrus paper.
Scribes using cuneiform in Assyria, Babylon, Syria and Asia Minor had to learn all the languages that used the cuneiform script.
Batches of clay tablets, sometimes with as many as a thousand tablets each, are often found by archaeologists.
答案：ABC

解析：综合文章第1段和第2段可知A选项正确。
B选项的long-lasting material对应原文的durable, throughout the ancient Near East对应原文的In the Near East they remained in use for more than two and a half millennia. 故B选项正确。
C选项对应原文第5段的Its use soon widened to document the multitudinous things and acts that are involved in daily life, from simple inventories of …故C选项正确。
D选项的顺序颠倒了，错误。
E选项的learn all the languages的说法无中生有，错误。
F选项是文章的细节，故不选。

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