托福阅读真题+题目+答案：The Mycenaean Collapse

托福阅读真题+题目+答案：The Mycenaean Collapse

The Mycenaean culture of ancient Greece, with major centers at Mycenae and Pylos on the Greek mainland and Knossus on the island of Crete in the Aegean Sea, was at its height from 1400 b.c.e. to 1200 b.c.e. with growing cities, thriving trade, and a prosperous economy. Around 1200 b.c.e., however the Mycenaean world showed signs of great trouble, and by 1100 b.c.e. it was gone. Its palaces were destroyed, many of its cities were abandoned, and its art, patterns of life: and system of writing were buried and forgotten.

1.According to paragraph 1, which of the following is true of the Mycenaean culture of ancient Greece?

A It was at its strongest point from 1200 B.c.E.to 1100 b.c.e.

B It had a sophisticated tradition of art but no written language. 

C Its three largest cities were Mycenae, Pylos; and Knossus. 

D It spread from Crete to the Greek mainland around 1400 b.c.e.

What happened? Some recent scholars, noting evidence that the Aegean island of Thira (modern Santorini) suffered a massive volcanic explosion in the middle to late second millennium b.c.e., have suggested that this natural disaster was responsible. According to one version of the theory, the explosion occurred around 1400 b.c.e., blackening and poisoning the air for many miles around and sending a monstrous tidal wave that destroyed the great palace at Knossus and, with it, Minoan culture. According to another version, the explosion took place about 1200 b.c.e., destroying the Bronze Age culture throughout the Aegean Sea region. This second version conveniently accounts for the end of both the Mycenaean and Minoan civilizations in a single blow, but the evidence does not support it. The Mycenaean towns were not destroyed all at once; many fell around 1200 b.c.e., but some flourished for another century, and the Athens of the period was never destroyed or abandoned. No theory of natural disaster can account for this pattern, leaving us to seek less dramatic explanations for the end of Mycenaean civilization.

2.In paragraph 2, why does the author point out that the city of Athens was neither destroyed nor abandoned around 1200 b.c.e ?

A To provide evidence that the city was better prepared than other Greek cities to withstand natural disasters

B To explain the cause of the gradual nature of the Mycenaean collapse

C To argue against the theory that a massive volcanic explosion wiped out the Mycenaean civilization

D To emphasize the differences between island and mainland civilizations

Some scholars have suggested that sea raiders destroyed Pylos and, perhaps, other sites on the mainland. The Greeks themselves believed in a legend that told of the Dorians, a rude people from the north who spoke a Greek dialect different from that of the Mycenaean peoples. According to the legend, the Dorians joined with one of the Greek tribes, the Heraclidae, in an attack on the southern Greek peninsula of Peloponnese, which was repulsed. One hundred years later they returned and gained full control. Recent historians have identified this legend of the return of the Heraclidae with a Dorian invasion.

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