The exact time and place that crops were first cultivated successfully is
uncertain. Many prehistorians believe that farming may have emerged in
dependently in several different areas of the world when small communities,
drivenby increasing population and a decline in available food resources,
began to plantseeds in the ground in an effort to guarantee their survival.
The first farmers, whomay have lived as long as 10,000 years ago,
undoubtedly used simple techniques andstill relied primarily on other forms
of food production, such as hunting, foraging, orpastoralism.
The real breakthrough took place when farmers began to cultivate cropsalong
the floodplains of river systems.
The advantage was that crops grown in suchareas were not as dependent on
rainfall and therefore produced a more reliableharvest.
An additional benefitwas that the sediment carried by the river
waters deposited nutrients in the soil, thus enabling the farmer to cultivate
a single plot ofground for many years without moving to a new location.
Thus, the first truly sedentary (that is, nonmigratory) societies were born.
As time went on, suchcommunities gradually learned how to direct the flow of
water to enhance theproductive capacity of the land,
while the introduction of the iron plow eventuallyled to the cultivation
of heavy soils not previously susceptible to agriculture.
1. According to paragraph 2, what are TWO reasons why farmers chose river
valleysfor cultivation? To receive credit you must select TWO answer choices.
(A) The soils in river valleys were rich in nutrients.
(B) The crops grown in river valleys were not completely dependent on rainwater.
(C) Farming techniques could not be easily applied to soils far from rivers.
(D) The heavier weight of river soil resulted in more reliable harvests.
題目: 根據第二段,哪二個原因是農夫選擇在河谷地耕作之原因?
關鍵字詞--- river valleys / cultivation
此題為事實細節題, 但題幹要求必須選擇兩個答案.
首先藉由關鍵字 cultivation in river valleys 原文定位第九行:
The real breakthrough took place when farmers began to cultivate cropsalong
the floodplains of river systems. The advantage was that crops grown in
suchareas were not as dependent on rainfall and therefore produced a more
reliableharvest. An additional benefit was that the sediment carried
by the river watersdeposited nutrients in the soil,
thus enabling the farmer to cultivate a single plot ofground for many years
without moving to a new location.
原文提及為因應逐漸增加之人口, 因而有一突破性之處置措施, 那即是農夫選擇在河谷地
耕作. 後續訊息陳列出其優點為: (1) 因農作物栽種地位於河谷處, 水源取得較容易,
即可不需仰賴降雨, 因此確保更穩定之收成.
(2) 另一好處則是由河水所挾帶而來之沉積物質為土壤帶來養份,
因而俾使農夫得以在單一土地上栽種數年之久, 免除因土壤品質降低而須移轉它處之困擾.
判斷上述兩原因, 答案即為 (A)與(B).
更多托福考題分享請參考:
http://allenglishtoefljj.blogspot.tw/2015/04/toefl-reading-detailed-factual.html
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