单选题
What is the main purpose of the lecture?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 6-11
For thousands of years, early peoples found their food in nature. They hunted and fished, and ate plants and fruits that grew wild. What led these people to invent agriculture, a completely different way of life?
We know that ancient people changed from hunters and gatherers to farmers when they began to domesticate wild plants and animals. The first farmers on each continent did not have other farmers to observe, so they could not have chosen farming consciously. However, once agriculture had started in one part of a continent, neighboring people could see the result and make the conscious decision to farm.
We have no written records about prehistoric agriculture in the Americas, and very few artifacts or physical clues. We do have evidence that early people used sharp sticks to dig furrows for planting seeds. Those sticks were probably the first agricultural tools. We think the first Americans began to grow crops around ten thousand years ago. The evidence comes from a cave in Mexico, where cultivated squash seeds have been found. These seeds are evidence of the early domestication of plants.
Hunting-gathering people selected wild plants for domestication for various reasons. Some plants had tasty fruit, some had fleshy or seedless fruit, and some had fruit with oily or tasty seeds. In a certain part of prehistoric Mexico, there was a kind of squash that grew in abundance on hillsides. The flesh of this squash was bitter, so the people didn"t eat it, but the seeds were tasty and nourishing, and the people liked to gather them. The people brought the squash seeds back to their camp. As they ate the seeds, some seeds fell to the ground all around the camp. Later, some of these seeds germinated and produced new plants. Thus, the hunter-gatherers became farmers sort of by accident. It was probably not a conscious decision to plant squash in their camp, yet that was the result.
Now the people had a wild garden of squash plants at their campsite. This was fortunate, so they started to take more of an interest in the plants. They tried to protect the plants in practical ways. They cut back and cleared out the less healthy-looking plants. They pulled up other types of plants that were weeds. They gave the plants water during long dry spells. Eventually, the people realized that seeds grew better when they were planted in earth that was turned over. So they began to scratch the earth with a digging stick and to plant seeds systematically in rows. They realized that a tilled, watered, weeded garden provided larger, better, more numerous squash plants than those that grew naturally on a dry hillside. Thus, with a series of conscious decisions, the people started cultivating a new breed of squash plants. Because of their success with squash, they started to experiment with other kinds of plants. In time, they built a fence around the garden to protect it from animals. At this point, agriculture was firmly established in their culture.
Of course, all of this didn"t happen overnight. The process probably took thousands of years. Different peoples acquired agriculture at different times in prehistory. In some areas, crops and agricultural technology spread as ancient peoples conquered and traded with one another. In other places, agricultural technology developed in isolation. Even so, it"s very likely that the change from a hunting-gathering society to an agricultural society followed a similar pattern in different regions of the world.
The main purpose of the lecture is to explain how early people started farming. The professor says: What led these people to invent agriculture, a completely different way of life; ... ancient people changed from hunters and gatherers to farmers when they began to domesticate wild plants and animals.
For thousands of years, early peoples found their food in nature. They hunted and fished, and ate plants and fruits that grew wild. What led these people to invent agriculture, a completely different way of life?
We know that ancient people changed from hunters and gatherers to farmers when they began to domesticate wild plants and animals. The first farmers on each continent did not have other farmers to observe, so they could not have chosen farming consciously. However, once agriculture had started in one part of a continent, neighboring people could see the result and make the conscious decision to farm.
We have no written records about prehistoric agriculture in the Americas, and very few artifacts or physical clues. We do have evidence that early people used sharp sticks to dig furrows for planting seeds. Those sticks were probably the first agricultural tools. We think the first Americans began to grow crops around ten thousand years ago. The evidence comes from a cave in Mexico, where cultivated squash seeds have been found. These seeds are evidence of the early domestication of plants.
Hunting-gathering people selected wild plants for domestication for various reasons. Some plants had tasty fruit, some had fleshy or seedless fruit, and some had fruit with oily or tasty seeds. In a certain part of prehistoric Mexico, there was a kind of squash that grew in abundance on hillsides. The flesh of this squash was bitter, so the people didn"t eat it, but the seeds were tasty and nourishing, and the people liked to gather them. The people brought the squash seeds back to their camp. As they ate the seeds, some seeds fell to the ground all around the camp. Later, some of these seeds germinated and produced new plants. Thus, the hunter-gatherers became farmers sort of by accident. It was probably not a conscious decision to plant squash in their camp, yet that was the result.
Now the people had a wild garden of squash plants at their campsite. This was fortunate, so they started to take more of an interest in the plants. They tried to protect the plants in practical ways. They cut back and cleared out the less healthy-looking plants. They pulled up other types of plants that were weeds. They gave the plants water during long dry spells. Eventually, the people realized that seeds grew better when they were planted in earth that was turned over. So they began to scratch the earth with a digging stick and to plant seeds systematically in rows. They realized that a tilled, watered, weeded garden provided larger, better, more numerous squash plants than those that grew naturally on a dry hillside. Thus, with a series of conscious decisions, the people started cultivating a new breed of squash plants. Because of their success with squash, they started to experiment with other kinds of plants. In time, they built a fence around the garden to protect it from animals. At this point, agriculture was firmly established in their culture.
Of course, all of this didn"t happen overnight. The process probably took thousands of years. Different peoples acquired agriculture at different times in prehistory. In some areas, crops and agricultural technology spread as ancient peoples conquered and traded with one another. In other places, agricultural technology developed in isolation. Even so, it"s very likely that the change from a hunting-gathering society to an agricultural society followed a similar pattern in different regions of the world.
The main purpose of the lecture is to explain how early people started farming. The professor says: What led these people to invent agriculture, a completely different way of life; ... ancient people changed from hunters and gatherers to farmers when they began to domesticate wild plants and animals.
单选题
What is probably true about the origins of agriculture?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】The professor says: Thepeople brought the squash seeds back to their camp. As they ate the seeds some seeds fell to the ground all around the camp. Later, some of these seeds germinated and produced new plants. Thus, the hunter-gatherers became farmers sort of by accident. You can infer that the process of gathering wild food led naturally to farming.
多选题
According to the professor, which of the following occurred as plants were first being domesticated?
Click on 2 answers.
Plants grew from seeds that were dropped accidentally.
People chose to grow squash to feed their animals.
Attempts to domesticate some plants led to their extinction.
Click on 2 answers.
Plants grew from seeds that were dropped accidentally.
People chose to grow squash to feed their animals.
Attempts to domesticate some plants led to their extinction.
【正确答案】
A、D
【答案解析】As plants were first being domesticated, they grew from seeds that were dropped accidentally: ...some seeds fell to the ground all around the camp. Later, some of these seeds germinated and produced newplants. Also, people started tending and protecting wild gardens: Now the people had a wild garden of squash plants at their campsite; They tried to protect the plants in practical ways.
单选题
Why did the people begin to use digging sticks?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】The professor says: Eventually, the people realized that seeds grew better when they were planted m earth that was turned over. So they began to scratch the earth with a digging stick....
单选题
Listen again to, art of the lecture. Then answer the question.
Why does the professor say this:
Why does the professor say this:
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】The professor"s purpose is to point out that agriculture developed over a very long time. When something doesn"t happen overnight, it takes a long time. The professor says: Theprocess probably took thousands of years.
单选题
What point does the professor make about the transition from hunting-gathering to agriculture?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】The professor says: ...it"s very likely that the change from a hunting-gathering society to an agricultural society followed a similar pattern in different regions of the world.