After around 900 A.D.the North Atlantic region began a 300-year spell of elevated temperature known as the medieval warm period, which affected agriculture both in North America and in Europe- including a burst of productivity that has sometimes been called a revolution.Although some have questioned whether the term “agricultural revolution”is appropriate for western Europe during this era,it is clear that dramatic changes in food production coincided with the medieval warm period.The central innovation was the three-field system of crop rotation,which began to take hold in much of northern Europe and Britain during the tenth and eleventh centuries.Although historians are not as certain as they once were about either the extent of its use or its novelty,the three-field system replaced in many areas an earlier agricultural model that Germanic peoples of the northern parts of western Europe had inherited from the Roman Empire.Many farmers had formerly used two sets of fields;one was cultivated and the other left unplanted, and the cultivation would alternate from year to year. The main crop had been wheat,sometimes joined by plots of rye or other grains,planted in the autumn and harvested in the spring.
The new three-field pattern took advantage of climatic changes during the warm period to add summer crops to the ancient mix. The two-field system had always been better adapted to the wet, mild winters and dry summers of the ancient Mediterranean region than to the very different environments north of the Alps and the Pyrenees.The three-field system was not only better adapted to northern conditions but substantially more productive than the Mediterranean model.For any given place,the three-field revolution increased the amount of land under annual cultivation by a third;a community that formerly cultivated,say,300 of its 600 acres annually now farmed 400.The transition may not have been quite as earthshaking as the replacement of the crops first grown by Native Americans in eastern North America with a regime of corn,beans,and squash,but it was dramatic nonetheless.On both continents,new agricultural patterns transformed life in temperate zones.
In northwestern Europe,more was involved than new crops and a new organization of the landscape.A novel kind of yoke allowed horses to be employed to pull heavy loads,augmenting the slower and less powerful oxen that still did much of the work.Horsepower was particularly useful in pulling improved heavy,wheeled plows, which were now frequently fitted with moldboards (curved iron plates)that turned as well as dug the soil.As these innovations spread,simple wooden tools called harrows also began to replace dragged thornbushes in the chore of breaking up and smoothing freshly plowed ground.An even simpler device-two pieces of wood attached together to make a flail-improved the process of separating the seed from the plant.
None of these changes occurred overnight,and all built upon precedents that were hundreds of years old.Nonetheless,the cumulative impact was striking.Vast areas either abandoned since the decline of Rome or never before cultivated were put into production.More important,the three-field system diversified the diet of ordinary people.Among the new summer crops were oats, barley,and a variety of legumes,including vetches,peas,lentils, and beans.The expanded availability of legumes (apparently grown previously,if at all,mostly as garden vegetables)was a major nutritional improvement to a diet formerly composed largely of daily bread.Western Europeans and North Americans discovered the virtues of legumes at almost exactly the same time.
Most European households kept gardens,which,like the gathered vegetation of North America,contributed essential nutrients for at least part of the year.The extent to which this phenomenon was novel is unclear,and,even for the elite,the yield was what the most careful student of early medieval nutrition calls “a somewhat monotonous diet heavily oriented to members of the cabbage and onion families.”Still,the nutritional gains from western Europe’s agricultural revolution were substantial.As the system took full hold,in the eleventh through fourteenth centuries, the region’s population seemed to have roughly tripled.
题目：
1
After around 900 A.D.the North Atlantic region began a 300-year spell of elevated temperature known as the medieval warm period, which affected agriculture both in North America and in Europe- including a burst of productivity that has sometimes been called a revolution.Although some have questioned whether the term “agricultural revolution”is appropriate for western Europe during this era,it is clear that dramatic changes in food production coincided with the medieval warm period.The central innovation was the three-field system of crop rotation,which began to take hold in much of northern Europe and Britain during the tenth and eleventh centuries.Although historians are not as certain as they once were about either the extent of its use or its novelty,the three-field system replaced in many areas an earlier agricultural model that Germanic peoples of the northern parts of western Europe had inherited from the Roman Empire.Many farmers had formerly used two sets of fields;one was cultivated and the other left unplanted, and the cultivation would alternate from year to year. The main crop had been wheat,sometimes joined by plots of rye or other grains,planted in the autumn and harvested in the spring.
According to paragraph 1,historians have become less certain about which of the following aspects of the three-field system?
AWhich crops were cultivated under the system
BHow widely the system was used
CWhether the system was used in Britain
DHow much the system increased crop yield
2
After around 900 A.D.the North Atlantic region began a 300-year spell of elevated temperature known as the medieval warm period, which affected agriculture both in North America and in Europe- including a burst of productivity that has sometimes been called a revolution.Although some have questioned whether the term “agricultural revolution”is appropriate for western Europe during this era,it is clear that dramatic changes in food production coincided with the medieval warm period.The central innovation was the three-field system of crop rotation,which began to take hold in much of northern Europe and Britain during the tenth and eleventh centuries.Although historians are not as certain as they once were about either the extent of its use or its novelty,the three-field system replaced in many areas an earlier agricultural model that Germanic peoples of the northern parts of western Europe had inherited from the Roman Empire.Many farmers had formerly used two sets of fields;one was cultivated and the other left unplanted, and the cultivation would alternate from year to year. The main crop had been wheat,sometimes joined by plots of rye or other grains,planted in the autumn and harvested in the spring.
According to paragraph 1,which of the following is true of the earlier agricultural model inherited from the Romans?
AFarmers were assigned specific crops to plant in their fields.
BNo crop was ever planted in the same field twice.
COnly one of two sets of fields was in production during the year.
DThe model was different from that used by the Germanic peoples of northern Europe.
3
The new three-field pattern took advantage of climatic changes during the warm period to add summer crops to the ancient mix. The two-field system had always been better adapted to the wet, mild winters and dry summers of the ancient Mediterranean region than to the very different environments north of the Alps and the Pyrenees.The three-field system was not only better adapted to northern conditions but substantially more productive than the Mediterranean model.For any given place,the three-field revolution increased the amount of land under annual cultivation by a third;a community that formerly cultivated,say,300 of its 600 acres annually now farmed 400.The transition may not have been quite as earthshaking as the replacement of the crops first grown by Native Americans in eastern North America with a regime of corn,beans,and squash,but it was dramatic nonetheless.On both continents,new agricultural patterns transformed life in temperate zones.
The word“formerly”in the passage is closest in meaning to
Ausually
Bfrequently
Cpreviously
DPartially
4
The new three-field pattern took advantage of climatic changes during the warm period to add summer crops to the ancient mix. The two-field system had always been better adapted to the wet, mild winters and dry summers of the ancient Mediterranean region than to the very different environments north of the Alps and the Pyrenees.The three-field system was not only better adapted to northern conditions but substantially more productive than the Mediterranean model.For any given place,the three-field revolution increased the amount of land under annual cultivation by a third;a community that formerly cultivated,say,300 of its 600 acres annually now farmed 400.The transition may not have been quite as earthshaking as the replacement of the crops first grown by Native Americans in eastern North America with a regime of corn,beans,and squash,but it was dramatic nonetheless.On both continents,new agricultural patterns transformed life in temperate zones.
Why does the author compare the transition to the three-field system in Europe to “the replacement of the crops first grown by Native Americans in eastern North America with a regime of corn,beans,and squash”?
ATo indicate that agricultural revolution in the medieval warm period was not restricted to Europe
BTo point out the differences between crops grown in Europe and North America during the medieval warm period
CTo show how the three-field system was implemented in other parts of the world
DTo put into perspective the impact of the transition to the three-field system in Europe
5
In northwestern Europe,more was involved than new crops and a new organization of the landscape.A novel kind of yoke allowed horses to be employed to pull heavy loads,augmenting the slower and less powerful oxen that still did much of the work.Horsepower was particularly useful in pulling improved heavy,wheeled plows, which were now frequently fitted with moldboards (curved iron plates)that turned as well as dug the soil.As these innovations spread,simple wooden tools called harrows also began to replace dragged thornbushes in the chore of breaking up and smoothing freshly plowed ground.An even simpler device-two pieces of wood attached together to make a flail-improved the process of separating the seed from the plant.
According to paragraph 3,how did the invention of a new type of yoke change agricultural labor?
AHorses became able to do work that was traditionally done only by oxen.
BOxen were no longer used in agricultural labor.
CThe heavy wheeled plow became much easier to steer and turn.
DFarmers needed fewer animals for agricultural labor.
6
In northwestern Europe,more was involved than new crops and a new organization of the landscape.A novel kind of yoke allowed horses to be employed to pull heavy loads,augmenting the slower and less powerful oxen that still did much of the work.Horsepower was particularly useful in pulling improved heavy,wheeled plows, which were now frequently fitted with moldboards (curved iron plates)that turned as well as dug the soil.As these innovations spread,simple wooden tools called harrows also began to replace dragged thornbushes in the chore of breaking up and smoothing freshly plowed ground.An even simpler device-two pieces of wood attached together to make a flail-improved the process of separating the seed from the plant.
According to paragraph 3,innovations were developed to accomplish all of the following tasks EXCEPT
Aremoving thornbushes
Bsmoothing plowed soil
Cremoving seeds from plants
Dturning and digging soil
7
None of these changes occurred overnight,and all built upon precedents that were hundreds of years old.Nonetheless,the cumulative impact was striking.Vast areas either abandoned since the decline of Rome or never before cultivated were put into production.More important,the three-field system diversified the diet of ordinary people.Among the new summer crops were oats, barley,and a variety of legumes,including vetches,peas,lentils, and beans.The expanded availability of legumes (apparently grown previously,if at all,mostly as garden vegetables)was a major nutritional improvement to a diet formerly composed largely of daily bread.Western Europeans and North Americans discovered the virtues of legumes at almost exactly the same time.
The word “virtues”in the passage is closest in meaning to
Abenefits
Buses
Cvarieties
Dcharacteristics
8
Most European households kept gardens,which,like the gathered vegetation of North America,contributed essential nutrients for at least part of the year.The extent to which this phenomenon was novel is unclear,and,even for the elite,the yield was what the most careful student of early medieval nutrition calls “a somewhat monotonous diet heavily oriented to members of the cabbage and onion families.”Still,the nutritional gains from western Europe’s agricultural revolution were substantial.As the system took full hold,in the eleventh through fourteenth centuries, the region’s population seemed to have roughly tripled.
What can be inferred from paragraph 5 about population growth in western Europe?
AIt was already increasing rapidly before the agricultural revolution.
BIt was the result of improved nutrition.
CIt was most substantial among the elite.
DIt matched population growth in North America.
9
After around 900 A.D.the North Atlantic region began a 300-year spell of elevated temperature known as the medieval warm period, which affected agriculture both in North America and in Europe- including a burst of productivity that has sometimes been called a revolution.Although some have questioned whether the term “agricultural revolution”is appropriate for western Europe during this era,it is clear that dramatic changes in food production coincided with the
