TF阅读真题第811篇Dorset Culture

Dorset Cultur

 

Dorset Culture

 

 

In the Canadian Arctic, the Pre-Dorset culture evolved into the Dorset culture by about 800 B.c.E. The Dorset culture, which was first recognized by Diamond Jenness in 1925， was named after Cape Dorset, where some of the first artifacts were discovered. Archaeologists originally believed that the Dorset culture was a new migration of people from Alaska, but this is no longer widely accepted. Understanding the transition from the Pre-Dorset to the Dorset culture is complicated because the rate of change was not equal in all areas of the Arctic. Starting about 1500 B.C.E., a cooling trend began that lasted until about 1 c.E. The impact in the northern Arctic was that there were fewer land animals. While some Pre-Dorset people migrated south in search of a warmer environment, others did not migrate, were unable to adapt to the changes in the climate, and died of exposure or starvation. However, some developed the Dorset culture that allowed for survival in a colder environment.

Thus the Dorset culture emerged between 800 and 500 B.C.E., during a time of climatic cooling, and was marked by a change in material culture including the addition of snow knives, presumably used to construct snow houses, and also of soapstone lamps, which were used inside snow houses for heat and light. The cooler climate resulted in an increase in the amount and duration of winter sea ice, which in turn resulted in an increased emphasis on hunting sea mammals, especially seals. Unlike the Pre- Dorset people who focused on terrestrial hunting, the Dorset people appear to have done inland hunting of tundra animals primarily in the summer months. The bow and arrow apparently disappeared during the Dorset period, as did the use of the drill. The Pre-Dorset people had used the drill to make holes in household items and weapons, whereas the Dorset laboriously cut or carved holes in items. Much of the tundra area in the Canadian Arctic occupied by the Pre-Dorset people was abandoned by the Dorset people as they moved to coastal areas.

The Dorset culture was adapted to the harsh Arctic environment and survived for more than a thousand years. However, there were two factors that contributed to its disappearance. The first was a warming trend that started about 900 c.E. The Dorset people had evolved a culture that was highly dependent on hunting sea mammals from the ice, and the warming trend changed not only the amount and duration of sea ice but also the distribution of sea mammals and the hunting techniques needed to obtain them. Although a thousand years earlier the Dorset people made the cultural changes necessary to survive when the climate became colder, they did not make the cultural changes necessary to survive in a warmer environment.

The second factor that contributed to their disappearance was the arrival from the west of a new culture, the Thule, which was named after a site in northern Greenland where their remains have been found. It is not known if the Dorset gradually died out or if they were absorbed or annihilated by the Thule. The Thule culture was fully developed in northern coastal Alaska by 1000 c.E. and had a highly specialized and effective technology for hunting large sea mammals. As the climate became warmer, previously ice-filled areas in the eastern Arctic opened up, and as sea mammals migrated east, toward the area inhabited by the Dorset, the Thule people followed. The migration was very rapid, and within 200 years they had spread from Alaska to Greenland. In the eastern Arctic, the Thule people are referred to as Neo-Eskimos since they shared no cultural relationship with the Dorset who inhabited the Canadian Arctic when they arrived.

It is generally believed that the Dorset and Thule peoples had some interaction. The Thule adopted several aspects of Dorset culture, such as snow houses and soapstone lamps, and Thule legends discuss contact in the Canadian Arctic with the “Tunit,” also spelled Tuniit, who are believed to be the Dorset. While there is no direct evidence of violence between the two groups, the Dorset people were probably pushed to peripheral resource areas of the eastern Arctic since the Thule were better organized and had weapons, such as the bow and arrow, which helped them control the better hunting areas.

 

1

In the Canadian Arctic, the Pre-Dorset culture evolved into the Dorset culture by about 800 B.c.E. The Dorset culture, which was first recognized by Diamond Jenness in 1925， was named after Cape Dorset, where some of the first artifacts were discovered. Archaeologists originally believed that the Dorset culture was a new migration of people from Alaska, but this is no longer widely accepted. Understanding the transition from the Pre-Dorset to the Dorset culture is complicated because the rate of change was not equal in all areas of the Arctic. Starting about 1500 B.C.E., a cooling trend began that lasted until about 1 c.E. The impact in the northern Arctic was that there were fewer land animals. While some Pre-Dorset people migrated south in search of a warmer environment, others did not migrate, were unable to adapt to the changes in the climate, and died of exposure or starvation. However, some developed the Dorset culture that allowed for survival in a colder environment.

Paragraph 1 suggests that one of the most significant ways the cooling trend affected the Pre-Dorset people was by

Inference Questions推理题

Akilling off the plants they depended on for food

Bmaking travel difficult by cutting off migration routes

Cincreasing competition for territory to the south where the climate was warmer

Dmaking hunting more difficult by eliminating prey

 

 

2

 

In the Canadian Arctic, the Pre-Dorset culture evolved into the Dorset culture by about 800 B.c.E. The Dorset culture, which was first recognized by Diamond Jenness in 1925， was named after Cape Dorset, where some of the first artifacts were discovered. Archaeologists originally believed that the Dorset culture was a new migration of people from Alaska, but this is no longer widely accepted. Understanding the transition from the Pre-Dorset to the Dorset culture is complicated because the rate of change was not equal in all areas of the Arctic. Starting about 1500 B.C.E., a cooling trend began that lasted until about 1 c.E. The impact in the northern Arctic was that there were fewer land animals. While some Pre-Dorset people migrated south in search of a warmer environment, others did not migrate, were unable to adapt to the changes in the climate, and died of exposure or starvation. However, some developed the Dorset culture that allowed for survival in a colder environment.

According to paragraph 1， the current theory suggests that which of the following groups of people developed the Dorset culture?

Inference Questions推理题

AA group of people who migrated to the Canadian Arctic from Alaska around 800 B.c

BPre-Dorset people who migrated south in search of a warmer environment

CPre-Dorset people who stayed in the Arctic and adapted to a colder environment

DA combination of groups from different areas of the Arctic who gradually merged into a common culture

 

 

3

 

Thus the Dorset culture emerged between 800 and 500 B.C.E., during a time of climatic cooling, and was marked by a change in material culture including the addition of snow knives, presumably used to construct snow houses, and also of soapstone lamps, which were used inside snow houses for heat and light. The cooler climate resulted in an increase in the amount and duration of winter sea ice, which in turn resulted in an increased emphasis on hunting sea mammals, especially seals. Unlike the Pre- Dorset people who focused on terrestrial hunting, the Dorset people appear to have done inland hunting of tundra animals primarily in the summer months. The bow and arrow apparently disappeared during the Dorset period, as did the use of the drill. The Pre-Dorset people had used the drill to make holes in household items and weapons, whereas the Dorset laboriously cut or carved holes in items. Much of the tundra area in the Canadian Arctic occupied by the Pre-Dorset people was abandoned by the Dorset people as they moved to coastal areas.

Paragraph 2 indicates that Pre-Dorset culture was characterized by all of the following EXCEPT

Negative Factual Information Questions否定事实信息题

Ayear-round hunting of land animals

Buse of the bow and arrow and the drill

Coccupation of inland tundra

Duse of snow knives and soapstone lamps

 

 

 

4

The Dorset culture was adapted to the harsh Arctic environment and survived for more than a thousand years. However, there were two factors that contributed to its disappearance. The first was a warming trend that started about 900 c.E. The Dorset people had evolved a culture that was highly dependent on hunting sea mammals from the ice, and the warming trend changed not only the amount and duration of sea ice but also the distribution of sea mammals and the hunting techniques needed to obtain them. Although a thousand years earlier the Dorset people made the cultural changes necessary to survive when the climate became colder, they did not make the cultural changes necessary to survive in a warmer environment.

According to paragraph 3， how did the warming trend that began around A.D. 900 affect the Dorset people?

Factual Information Questions事实信息题

AIt caused them to evolve a culture that was highly dependent on hunting sea mammals.

BIt made it difficult for them to continue to survive by hunting sea mammals.

CIt prompted them to develop new hunting techniques suitable for finding prey in warm seas.

DIt led them to change their culture back to the way it had been more than a thousand years before.

 

 

5

 

The Dorset culture was adapted to the harsh Arctic environment and survived for more than a thousand years. However, there were two factors that contributed to its disappearance. The first was a warming trend that started about 900 c.E. The Dorset people had evolved a culture that was highly dependent on hunting sea mammals from the ice, and the warming trend changed not only the amount and duration of sea ice but also the distribution of sea mammals and the hunting techniques needed to obtain them. Although a thousand years earlier the Dorset people made the cultural changes necessary to survive when the climate became colder, they did not make the cultural changes necessary to survive in a warmer environment.

The phrase “duration of sea ice”in the passage is closest in meaning to

Factual Information Questions事实信息题

Apercentage of the total area that is covered by ice

Blength of time the ice lasts

Cthickness and consistency of the ice

Damount of weight that the ice can support

 

 

6

 

 

The second factor that contributed to their disappearance was the arrival from the west of a new culture, the Thule, which was named after a site in northern Greenland where their remains have been found. It is not known if the Dorset gradually died out or if they were absorbed or annihilated by the Thule. The Thule culture was fully developed in northern coastal Alaska by 1000 c.E. and had a highly specialized and effective technology for hunting large sea mammals. As the climate became warmer, previously ice-filled areas in the eastern Arctic opened up, and as sea mammals migrated east, toward the area inhabited by the Dorset, the Thule people followed. The migration was very rapid, and within 200 years they had spread from Alaska to Greenland. In the eastern Arctic, the Thule people are referred to as Neo-Eskimos since they shared no cultural relationship with the Dorset who inhabited the Canadian Arctic when they arrived.

According to paragraph 4， because they are unrelated to the Dorset people, the Thule people

Factual Information Questions事实信息题

Adid not settle in parts of the Canadian Arctic that the Dorset people had inhabited

Brefused to share in a cultural relationship with the Dorset people

Care sometimes called Neo-Eskimos

Dwere forced to migrate away from Dorset territories after 200 years

 

 

 

 

7

 

It is generally believed that the Dorset and Thule peoples had some interaction. The Thule adopted several aspects of Dorset culture, such as snow houses and soapstone lamps, and Thule legends discuss contact in the Canadian Arctic with the “Tunit,” also spelled Tuniit, who are believed to be the Dorset. While there is no direct evidence of violence between the two groups, the Dorset people were probably pushed to peripheral resource areas of the eastern Arctic since the Thule were better organized and had weapons, such as the bow and arrow, which helped them control the better hunting areas.

Why does the author include the information that”The Thule adopted several aspects of Dorset culture, such as snow houses and soapstone lamps, and Thule legends discuss contact in the Canadian Arctic with the “Tunit,” also spelled Tuniit, who are believed to be the Dorset”?

Rhetorical Purpose Questions修辞目的题

A To provide evidence that there was interaction between the Thule and the Dorset peoples

BTo support the argument that the Dorset people did not disappear but simply merged with the Thule

CTo emphasize the importance of snow houses and soapstone lamps for survival in the Canadian Arctic

DTo suggest that the Dorset culture evolved into the Tuniit culture sometime after the arrival of the Thule

 

 

8

It is generally believed that the Dorset and Thule peoples had some interaction. The Thule adopted several aspects of Dorset culture, such as snow houses and soapstone lamps, and Thule legends discuss contact in the Canadian Arctic with the “Tunit,” also spelled Tuniit, who are believed to be the Dorset. While there is no direct evidence of violence between the two groups, the Dorset people were probably pushed to peripheral resource areas of the eastern Arctic since the Thule were better organized and had weapons, such as the bow and arrow, which helped them control the better hunting areas.

Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

Sentence Simplification Questions句子简化题

AThe Thule probably were able to drive the Dorset people out of the region’s prime hunting areas because of their superior organization and weapons.

BThere is no direct evidence that the Thule had the weapons and organization to defeat the Dorset people in armed conflict in the peripheral resource areas.

CAlthough the Thule had the weapons and organization to defeat the Dorset in battle, there is no evidence that they were able to control the better hunting areas.

DThere is no evidence of violence between two groups of the Dorset people; rather, they were probably pushed to peripheral areas by the Thule.

 

 

 

9

The second factor that contributed to their disappearance was the arrival from the west of a new culture, the Thule, which was named after a site in northern Greenland where their remains have been found. [■]It is not known if the Dorset gradually died out or if they were absorbed or annihilated by the Thule. [■]The Thule culture was fully developed in northern coastal Alaska by 1000 c.E. and had a highly specialized and effective technology for hunting large sea mammals. [■]As the climate became warmer, previously ice-filled areas in the eastern Arctic opened up, and as sea mammals migrated east, toward the area inhabited by the Dorset, the Thule people followed. [■]The migration was very rapid, and within 200 years they had spread from Alaska to Greenland. In the eastern Arctic, the Thule people are referred to as Neo-Eskimos since they shared no cultural relationship with the Dorset who inhabited the Canadian Arctic when they arrived.

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

The animals were hunted from boats in open water that was surrounded on one side by land and on the other by ice-covered parts of the Arctic Ocean.Insert Text Questions句子插入题

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

10

The Dorset culture emerged in the Canadian Arctic between 800 and 500 B.C.E., during a period of climatic cooling.

Prose Summary Questions概要小结题

Select 3 answers

AThe Dorset people’s tools and weapons included drills, soapstone knives, and bows and arrows.

BThe Dorset people probably interacted with other cultures and may have adopted snow houses and soapstone lamps from the Tuniit.

CAfter more than a thousand years, a warming trend contributed to the disappearance of the Dorset culture.

DThe Dorset people adapted to the cooler climate by hunting sea mammals and building houses out of snow.

EUnlike their Pre-Dorset ancestors, the Dorset people spent the winter months in the tundra and moved to the coast in the summer.

FProficient hunters known as the Thule moved into Dorset territory and took over some of the region’s best hunting areas.