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OFFICIAL41 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. Drag your answer choices to the spaces where they belong. To remove an answer choice, click on it. Various attempts have been made to explore the role that trade played in the rise of ancient states.

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Trade And Early State Formation
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Bartering was a basic trade mechanism for many thousands of years; often sporadic and usually based on notions of reciprocity, it involved the mutual exchange of commodities or objects between individuals or groups. Redistribution of these goods through society lay in the hands of chiefs, religious leaders, or kin groups. Such redistribution was a basic element in chiefdoms. The change from redistribution to formal trade—often based on regulated commerce that perhaps involved fixed prices and even currency—was closely tied to growing political and social complexity and hence to the development of the state in the ancient world.

In the 1970s, a number of archaeologists gave trade a primary role in the rise of ancient states. British archaeologist Colin Renfrew attributed the dramatic flowering of the Minoan civilization on Crete and through the Aegean to intensified trading contacts and to the impact of olive and vine cultivation on local communities. As agricultural economies became more diversified and local food supplies could be purchased both locally and over longer distances, a far-reaching economic interdependence resulted. Eventually, this led to redistribution systems for luxuries and basic commodities, systems that were organized and controlled by Minoan rulers from their palaces. As time went on, the self-sufficiency of communities was replaced by mutual dependence. Interest in long­-distance trade brought about some cultural homogeneity from trade and gift exchange, and perhaps even led to piracy. Thus, intensified trade and interaction, and the flowering of specialist crafts, in a complex process of positive feedback, led to much more complex societies based on palaces, which were the economic hubs of a new Minoan civilization.

Renfrew’s model made some assumptions that are now discounted. For example, he argued that the introduction of domesticated vines and olives allowed a substantial expansion of land under cultivation and helped to power the emergence of complex society. Many archaeologists and paleobotanists now question this view, pointing out that the available evidence for cultivated vines and olives suggests that they were present only in the later Bronze Age. Trade, nevertheless, was probably one of many variables that led to the emergence of palace economies in Minoan Crete.

American archaeologist William Rathje developed a hypothesis that considered an explosion in long-distance exchange a fundamental cause of Mayan civilization in Mesoamerica. He suggested that the lowland Mayan environment was deficient in many vital resources, among them obsidian, salt, stone for grinding maize, and many luxury materials. All these could be obtained from the nearby highlands, from the Valley of Mexico, and from other regions, if the necessary trading networks came into being. Such connections, and the trading expeditions to maintain them, could not be organized by individual villages. The Maya lived in a relatively uniform environment, where every community suffered from the same resource deficiencies. Thus, argued Rathje, long­-distance trade networks were organized through local ceremonial centers and their leaders. In time, this organization became a state, and knowledge of its functioning was exportable, as were pottery, tropical bird feathers, specialized stone materials, and other local commodities.

Rathje’s hypothesis probably explains part of the complex process of Mayan state formation, but it suffers from the objection that suitable alternative raw materials can be found in the lowlands. It could be, too, that warfare became a competitive response to population growth and to the increasing scarcity of prime agricultural land, and that it played an important role in the emergence of the Mayan states.

Now that we know much more about ancient exchange and commerce, we know that, because no one aspect of trade was an overriding cause of cultural change or evolution in commercial practices, trade can never be looked on as a unifying factor or as a primary agent of ancient civilization. Many ever-changing variables affected ancient trade, among them the demand for goods. There were also the logistics of transportation, the extent of the trading network, and the social and political environment. Intricate market networks channeled supplies along well-defined routes. Authorities at both ends might regulate the profits fed back to the source, providing the incentive for further transactions. There may or may not have been a market organization. Extensive long-distance trade was a consequence rather than a cause of complex societies. 

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. Drag your answer choices to the spaces where they belong. To remove an answer choice, click on it. Various attempts have been made to explore the role that trade played in the rise of ancient states.

A.Barter, a basic trade mechanism that involved the direct exchange of goods or services, depended on a high degree of social complexity.

B.It was only in the 1970s that most archaeologists began to realize that the long-distance trade typical of Minoan communities varied significantly from that of lowland Mayan communities.

C.Renfrew and Rathje are recognized today for having correctly analyzed the basic relationship between trade and the emergence of states, even though they were wrong about many details.

D.Renfrew suggested that an organized state emerged in Minoan Crete because of intensified trade, but current views indicate that trade was probably only one of many variables.

E.Rathje's hypothesis that long-distance trade led to the emergence of a Mayan state has been objected to, and it is argued that other factors such as warfare may have played an important role too.

F.Current views indicate that trade was not the most important agent of ancient civilization and that long-distance trade was a result rather than a cause of complex societies.

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正确答案:DEF
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【题目翻译】说明:下面提供了一个简短总结文章的介绍性句子。通过选择三个答案选项来完成总结,这些选项表达了文章中最重要的观点。有些句子不属于摘要,因为它们表达的观点不是在文章中呈现的,或者是文章中的次要观点。 为了探索贸易在古代国家崛起中的作用,人们做了各种各样的尝试。 A:易货贸易是一种基本的贸易机制,涉及商品或服务的直接交换,依赖于高度的社会复杂性。 B:直到20世纪70年代,大多数考古学家才开始认识到,米诺斯社区的典型远程贸易与玛雅低地社区的贸易差异很大。 C:伦弗鲁和拉什杰今天被公认为正确分析了贸易与国家出现之间的基本关系,尽管他们在许多细节上都是错误的。 D:Renfrew认为,由于贸易加剧,克里特岛米诺安地区出现了一个有组织的国家,但目前的观点表明,贸易可能只是众多变量中的一个。 E:Rathje关于远程贸易导致玛雅国家出现的假设遭到了反对,认为战争等其他因素也可能发挥了重要作用。 F:目前的观点表明,贸易不是古代文明最重要的动因,而长途贸易是一种结果,而不是复杂社会的起因。 【判定题型】:根据问题的提问方式和6选3的作答方式可以确定该题目为概要小结题。 【选项定位及分析】 根据原文第一段可看出,bartering与社会的复杂程度是紧密相关的,was closely tied to growing political and social complexity, 并非完全依赖于此。并且A选项过于细节,不属于文章主旨。所以A选项错误。 根据1970s定位至原文第二段,发现文中并未提及Minoan communities与lowland Mayan communities之间典型的长途贸易的差别。所以B选项错误。 文章并没有说Renfrew 和Rathje的理论中的细节是错误的。所以C选项错误。 根据原文Trade, nevertheless, was probably one of many variables that led to the emergence of palace economies in Minoan Crete.所以D选项正确。 根据原文Rathje’s hypothesis probably explains part of the complex process of Mayan state formation, but it suffers from the objection that suitable alternative raw materials can be found in the lowlands. It could be, too, that warfare became a competitive response to population growth and to the increasing scarcity of prime agricultural land, and that it played an important role in the emergence of the Mayan states.其中but it suffers from the objection对应E选项中的has been objected to. 所以E选项正确。 根据原文because no one aspect of trade was an overriding cause of cultural change or evolution in commercial practices, trade can never be looked on as a unifying factor or as a primary agent of ancient civilization.和Extensive long¬-distance trade was a consequence rather than a cause of complex societies.可知F选项正确。

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