TF阅读真题第774篇Greece Emerges from the Dark Ages

Greece Emerges from the Dark Ages

The Mycenaean Greek civilization,which featured cities and a thriving economy,dominated the Aegean and parts of the Mediterranean beginning about 1600 B.C.E.But around 1100 B.C.E., Greek society entered a period of decline known as the Dark Ages that lasted for roughly three centuries.A new Greek culture emerged in the eighth century-the conventional start date is 776 B.C.E.-marking the beginning of the Archaic Age,which brought a revival of Greek trade and culture as the Greeks again became one of the major economic and political forces in the Mediterranean world.This happened for several reasons.For one thing,the Dark Ages had seen aconstant population increase,and Greece,with its great expanses of rocky and hilly soil,simply could not grow enough agricultural staples to support a large population. Methods for dealing with the extra mouths were needed.

One response was to import food.As a consequence,Greek trade and manufacturing expanded.In exchange for olive oil,fine pottery,silver,and slaves,the Greeks acquired grain in Egypt and in the lands on the Black Sea coast.The expansion of Greek commerce brought the Greeks into conflict with the current Mediterranean trading power,the Phoenicians.The large,30-oared Greek warships,known as triakonters,of the ninth and eighth centuries B.C.E.were replaced by fleets of iron-beaked ships known as pentakonters,which were 90 feet long and had 50 oars.The clumsy,two-decked Phoenician warships were no match for the more maneuverable Greek ships,and the Greeks soon wrested control of much of Mediterranean trade from their Phoenician competitors,who at this time also were under attack by the Assyrians.

The revival of Greek trade also had other consequences.The Greeks brought back culture as well as grain,and as a result Greek culture evolved based largely on borrowings from the much more ancient and sophisticated cultures of the Near East.From the Phoenicians they borrowed the alphabet,for they now had just as great a need to keep records.In order to adapt the Phoenician alphabet,which had been designed to write Semitic languages,to write their own language,the Greeks added new letters representing vowels to make it more clear which word was meant.

In the late seventh century B.C.E.,the Greeks of lonia adopted coinage from the Lydians who lived in Turkey.In the early sixth century,coinage spread to the mainland,with the island city of Aegina issuing staters (coins of a standard weight)bearing a turtle on one side and a simple punch mark on the other.Around 570 B.C.E.,Corinth issued coins bearing an image of Pegasus,the winged horse thought to have alighted at Corinth to drink from a sacred well,and about 525 B.C.E.Athens began issuing its famous “Owls,”which bore the head of the goddess Athena on one side and Athena’s owl on the other A multitude of other Greek cities also issued coins as a means of asserting their status and independence.The coins of important trading cities such as Aegina, Corinth,and Athens became standard currency in the Mediterranean world because of their extensive circulation.One problem,however,was that the Greeks could not agree on standard weights for all their coins,and since trading cities attempted to carve out their own spheres of economic influence by favoring the use of coins with their own weights,this resulted in a complicated mathematical calculation if,say,someone wanted to use Corinthian coins to pay for something with a price expressed in Athenian coins.

The Greeks also assimilated ideas about artistic expression from the East.During the Dark Ages,artistic designs had consisted of simple geometric patterns.The Archaic Age introduced a multitude of Eastern styles.Greek sculpture assumed a very Egyptian look, and,in the Orientalizing style,at its height around 750 B.C.E.,Greek pottery depicted many Eastern motifs,such as lions,bulls,and sphinxes.But Greek artists soon developed their own idiosyncratic style by incorporating into their designs scenes drawn from their own myths and legends.Greek potters competed with each other to perfect different manufacturing techniques and artistic styles,and they soon were the acknowledged masters of pottery making in the Mediterranean.

The word“thriving”in the passage is closest in meaning to

Asophisticated

Bprosperous

Cvast

Ddistinctive

The word“conventional'”in the passage is closest in meaning to

Aearliest possible

Bgenerally accepted

Cmost likely

Dother possible

Paragraph 2 supports which of the following ideas about Greek manufacturing?

AIt grew to support trade for grain that was grown abroad.

BIt was primarily focused on ship building.

CIt stimulated commercial competition between the Phoenicians and the Assyrians.

DIt was dependent on production materials imported from Egypt and the Black Sea coast.

According to paragraph 2,which of the following factors helped Greece to take control of much of Mediterranean trade from their Phoenician competitors?

AThe superiority of Greek manufacturing

BThe superiority of Greek ships

CThe Greeks’need to import food

DThe military defense of trade provided by the Assyrians

According to paragraph 3,all of the following were true of the Greek writing system EXCEPT:

AIt was based on a writing system created for Semitic languages.

BIt was used to keep records.

CIt was simpler to learn than Phoenician writing was.

DIt contained letters that had no equivalents in Phoenician writing.

Which of the following best describes the relationship of paragraph 4 to paragraph 3 of the passage?

AParagraph 4 explains why the Greek writing system discussed in paragraph 3 played an important role in Greek culture.

BParagraph 4 discusses a cultural development in addition to the Greek writing system discussed in paragraph 3 that occurred as a result of Greek trade.

CParagraph 4 discusses several ways in which Greek culture influenced the Near Eastern cultures mentioned in paragraph 3.

DParagraph 4 examines the claim in paragraph 3 that Near Eastern cultures were older and more sophisticated than Greek culture.

According to paragraph 4,issuing coins was a way for Greek cities to

Astimulate local trade with non-urban areas

Blimit the spread of Lydian coinage

Cencourage agreement on standard weights for coinage

Dsignal their importance and freedom from outside control

According to paragraph 5,one way in which Greek artists modified the Eastern styles that had been introduced in the Archaic Age was by

Agiving them a more Egyptian look

Bincluding figures of animals such as lions and bulls

Cincorporating traditional Greek geometric patterns

Dusing scenes from Greek myths in their designs

One response was to import food. [■]As a consequence,Greek trade and manufacturing expanded. [■]In exchange for olive oil,fine pottery,silver,and slaves,the Greeks acquired grain in Egypt and in the lands on the Black Sea coast. [■]The expansion of Greek commerce brought the Greeks into conflict with the current Mediterranean trading power,the Phoenicians. [■]The large,30-oared Greek warships,known as triakonters,of the ninth and eighth centuries B.C.E.were replaced by fleets of iron-beaked ships known as pentakonters,which were 90 feet long and had 50 oars.The clumsy,two-decked Phoenician warships were no match for the more maneuverable Greek ships,and the Greeks soon wrested control of much of Mediterranean trade from their Phoenician competitors,who at this time also were under attack by the Assyrians.

Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage

While these new trade relations provided the trade partners with needed goods,they also increased regional political tensions.

Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square sentence to the passage.

After a period known as the Dark Ages,which lasted from the 11th to the 8th century B.C.E.,Greece emerged into the Archaic Age.

AMycenaean cities controlled Mediterranean trade until they were overcome by the Phoenicians,but in the 8th century the Greeks were able to regain dominance.

BUnlike Phoenician ships,Greek ships of the Archaic Age were designed to carry large amounts of trade goods-including pottery, for which Greeks had become famous-as far away as the Black Sea.

CGreeks learned about coinage from Lydians who lived in Turkey,and soon major Greek trading cities issued their own distinctive coins, which were circulated widelv in the Mediterranean.

DThe need to import food to feed a rising population led to a revival of Greek trade and manufacturing,and their superior ships made it possible for the Greeks to become the dominant trading power in the Mediterranean.

EGreeks adopted and added vowels to the Phoenician alphabet and incorporated Eastern artistic styles into their art works,such as pottery.

FThe development of Greek coinage at first helped expand trade,but the coins’different weights created record-keeping problems for Greek traders that eventually had a neaative effect on trade.

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