PEOPLE， like most animals， are naturally lazy. So the ascent of mankind is something of a mystery. Humans who make their livings hunting and gathering in the traditional way do not have to put much effort into it. Farmers who rely on rain to water their crops work significantly harder， and lead shorter and unhealthier lives. But the real back-breaking， health-destroying labour is that carried out by farmers who use irrigation. Yet it was the invention of irrigation， at first sight so detrimental to its practitioners， that actually produced a sufficient surplus to feed the priests， politicians， scholars， artists and so on whose activities are collectively thought of as “civilisation”。

　　In the past 10，000 yeas， the world‘s climate has become temporarily colder and drier on several occasions. The first of these， known as the Younger Dryads， after a tundra-loving plant that thriced during it， occurred at the same time as the beginning of agriculture in northern Mesopotamis. It is widely believed that this was nor a coincidence. The drying and cooling of the YOUNGER Dryads adversely affected the food supply of hunter-gatherers. That would have created an incentive for agriculture to spread once some bright spark invented it.

　　Why farmers then moved on to irrigation is， however， far from clear. But Harvey Weiss， of Yale University， think she knows. Dr. Weiss observes that the development of irrigation coincides with a second cool， dry period， some 8，200 years ago. His analysis of rainfall patterns in the area suggests that rainfall in agriculture‘s upper-Mesopotamian heartland would， at this time， have falllen below the level needed to sustain farming reliably. Farmers would thus have been forced out of the area in search of other opportunities.

　　Once again， an innovative spark was required. But it clearly occurred to some of these displaced farmers that the slow-moving waters of the lower Tigris and Euphrates， near sea level， could be diverted using canals and used to water crops， and the rest， as the clich has it， is history.

　　So climate change helped to intensify agriculture， and thus start civilization. But an equally intriguing idea is that the spread of agriculture caused climate change. In this case， the presumed criminal is forest clearance. Most of the land cultivated by early farmers in the Middle East would have been forested. When the trees that grew there were cleared， the carbon they contained ended up in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Moreover， one form of farming—the cultivation of rice in waterlongged fields—generates methane， in large quantities. Willianm Ruddiman， of the University of Virginia， explained that， in combination， these two phenomena had warmed the atmosphere prior to the start of the industrial era. As environmentalists are wont to observe， mankind is part of nature. These studies show just how intimate the relationship is.

　　1. The invention of irrigation is meaningful because it could help to

　　[A] alleviate farmers‘ workload

　　[B] increase agricultural production.

　　[C] make planting much easier

　　[D] get rid of human laziness.

　　2. According to Dr. Weiss， the second cool and dry period eventually

　　[A] changed the growing season.

　　[B] spurred the use of canals.

　　[C] forced the farmers to desert agriculture.

　　[D] led to declining populations.

　　3. From the first four paragraphs， we can infer that the dawn of civilization

　　[A] was accompanied by hardships of human existence.

　　[B] is a mystery as yet unknown to mankind.

　　[C] can be attributed to the innovative sparks of ancestors.

　　[D] was recorded by history books ending at that time.

　　4. Which of the following tends to warm the climate?

　　[A] To develop the irrigation system.

　　[B] To promote organic agriculture.

　　[C] To revert to hunting and gathering

　　[D] To turn farmland back into forest.

　　5. the text is mainly about

　　[A] the relationship between climate change and civilization.

　　[B] the history of global climate change.

　　[C] the interaction between nature and human society.

　　[D]the impact of the spread of agriculture.

　　答案與解析

　　1. B 細(xì)節(jié)題。本題的問(wèn)題是“灌溉的發(fā)明具有重要意義，因?yàn)樗�可能有助于”。題干中的“the invention of irrigation”出自文章第一段最后一句話(huà)中，表明本題與第一段有關(guān)。第一段提到，正是乍一看對(duì)其實(shí)踐者如此有害的灌溉發(fā)明才真正生產(chǎn)出足夠的剩余產(chǎn)品養(yǎng)活了牧師、學(xué)者、藝術(shù)家等等。這說(shuō)明，原因是它增加了農(nóng)業(yè)產(chǎn)量。[B]“提高農(nóng)業(yè)產(chǎn)量”與此意符合，為正確答案。[A]“減輕農(nóng)民的勞動(dòng)強(qiáng)度”和[C]“使種植容易得多”與該段第五句話(huà)的意思相反;[D]“消除人類(lèi)的懶惰”是針對(duì)該段第一句話(huà)設(shè)置的干擾項(xiàng)，但文中的信息并不能說(shuō)明灌溉的發(fā)明消除了人類(lèi)的懶惰，他們只是為了生計(jì)而勤勞，所以D與文意不符。

　　2. B 細(xì)節(jié)題。本題的問(wèn)題是“根據(jù)韋斯博士的觀點(diǎn)，第二個(gè)寒冷、干燥的時(shí)期最終 ”。題干中的“Dr.Weiss”和“the second cool and dry period”出自文章第三段第二、三句話(huà)中，表明本題與第三段有關(guān)。第三段介紹了韋斯博士的觀點(diǎn)——灌溉的發(fā)展時(shí)期與大約8，200年前的第二個(gè)寒冷、干燥時(shí)期時(shí)間吻合，接著提到了他的分析，指出，當(dāng)時(shí)美索不達(dá)米亞北部農(nóng)業(yè)中心地帶的降雨可能減少，低于維持農(nóng)業(yè)穩(wěn)步發(fā)展的水平，第四段接著提到農(nóng)民想到利用運(yùn)河灌溉農(nóng)作物的問(wèn)題。這說(shuō)明，韋斯博士認(rèn)為，第二個(gè)寒冷、干燥的時(shí)期可能促進(jìn)了運(yùn)河的發(fā)展。[B]“促進(jìn)了運(yùn)河的利用”與此意符合，為正確答案。[A] “改變了生長(zhǎng)季節(jié)”和[D]“導(dǎo)致人口減少”屬于無(wú)中生有;[C]“迫使農(nóng)民放棄農(nóng)業(yè)”是針對(duì)第三段最后一句話(huà)設(shè)置的干擾項(xiàng)，文中說(shuō)的是被迫離開(kāi)降雨減少的地區(qū)，不是放棄農(nóng)業(yè)，所以C與文意不符。

　　3. A 推論題。本題的問(wèn)題是“根據(jù)前面四段，我們可以推知，文明的起源 ”。文章第一段首先提到了灌溉的發(fā)明的意義，隨后三段介紹了氣候的變化導(dǎo)致農(nóng)民生活艱難，也促進(jìn)了灌溉的發(fā)展，最后一段指出，氣候變化有助于強(qiáng)化農(nóng)業(yè)的發(fā)展，進(jìn)而開(kāi)創(chuàng)文明。由此可知。文明的起源伴隨的是人類(lèi)生存的艱難。[A]“伴隨著人類(lèi)生存的艱難困苦”與此意符合，為正確答案。[B]“是人類(lèi)還不知道的一個(gè)秘密”是針對(duì)第一段第二句話(huà)和第三段第一句話(huà)設(shè)置的干擾項(xiàng)，與文意不符;文中的信息表明，是氣候的變化導(dǎo)致了人們生存困難，從而激發(fā)了創(chuàng)造靈感，說(shuō)明氣候的變化是關(guān)鍵，所以[C]“可能歸因于祖先的創(chuàng)造靈感”與文意不符;[D]“根據(jù)歷史書(shū)記載于那個(gè)時(shí)候結(jié)束”是針對(duì)第四段最后一句話(huà)設(shè)置的干擾項(xiàng)，明顯與文意不符。

　　4. B 細(xì)節(jié)題。本題的問(wèn)題是“下面哪項(xiàng)往往導(dǎo)致氣候變暖?”最后一段解釋了大氣升溫的原因——早期的農(nóng)民砍伐樹(shù)木可能導(dǎo)致樹(shù)木所含的碳轉(zhuǎn)化成二氧化碳進(jìn)入大氣，在水田里種植水稻產(chǎn)生了大量的甲烷，這兩種現(xiàn)象共同導(dǎo)致了工業(yè)時(shí)代之前的大氣升溫。這說(shuō)明，發(fā)展農(nóng)業(yè)可能導(dǎo)致氣候變暖。[B]“發(fā)展有機(jī)農(nóng)業(yè)”與此意符合，為正確答案。文中的信息并沒(méi)有表明灌溉與氣候變暖有關(guān)系，所以[A]“發(fā)展灌溉系統(tǒng)”不對(duì);[C]“回歸狩獵和采摘生活”和[D]“退耕還林”是在保護(hù)樹(shù)木，不會(huì)導(dǎo)致氣候變暖，所以不對(duì)。

　　5. A 主旨題。本題的問(wèn)題是“本文主要是關(guān)于 ”。文章第一段提到，灌溉的發(fā)明促進(jìn)了文明的發(fā)展，隨后的段落分析指出，灌溉的發(fā)明是氣候變化的結(jié)果，最后一段總結(jié)到，氣候變化有助于強(qiáng)化農(nóng)業(yè)的發(fā)展，進(jìn)而開(kāi)創(chuàng)文明。這說(shuō)明，本文主要講的是氣候變化與文明的發(fā)展之間的關(guān)系。[A]“氣候變化與文明之間的關(guān)系”是對(duì)本文內(nèi)容的恰當(dāng)概括，可以表達(dá)本文的主題，為正確答案。本文只是在第二、三段提到了全球氣候發(fā)生的變化，而這是為了說(shuō)明氣候變化導(dǎo)致灌溉的發(fā)展所舉的例子，不是本文討論的重點(diǎn)，所以[B]“全球氣候變化的歷史”不能表達(dá)本文的主題;[C]“自然界和人類(lèi)社會(huì)的交互作用”范圍太廣，不能表達(dá)本文的主題;[D]“農(nóng)業(yè)發(fā)展產(chǎn)生的影響”只是最后一段的內(nèi)容，不能表達(dá)本文的主題。

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