托福阅读真题+题目+答案：Ziggurats in Mesopotamia

托福阅读真题+题目+答案：Ziggurats in Mesopotamia

Like the pyramids of Egypt,the towers called “ziggurats”built in ancient Mesopotamia were monumental symbols of a great civilization.Ziggurats consisted of several levels or platforms of diminishing sizes with exterior stairways or ramps leading to their summits.New platforms were built on top of older ones over many centuries,leaving earlier stages buried under later enlargements.The Egyptian pyramids,however,were never meant to be climbed,and new pyramids were not built over the remains of older ones.

1.The word "diminishing"in the passage is closest in meaning to

A differing

B impressive

C specific

D decreasing

2.According to paragraph 1,all of the following are true of the ziggurats built in Mesopotamia EXCEPT:

A They were built over the remains of pyramids

B They became symbols of the culture of Mesopotamia

C They were built with newer levels constructed above older ones

D They were built so that it would be possible for people to climb to the top.

Unlike in Egypt,there was no stone for building projects in Mesopotamia,but mud-available everywhere-was used to produce bricks.Despite the availability of this cheap building material, ziggurats were always considerably smaller than pyramids,possibly due to a lack of manpower and wealth.The central core of most ziggurats consisted of unbaked,sun-dried bricks covered with a thick outer shell of baked bricks.Water occasionally leaked into the interior of a ziggurat,causing its unbaked core to expand and crumble.All kings of Mesopotamia had to face the constant task of rebuilding mud-brick structures;ziggurats,as well as other structures,rarely lasted a century without major renovation.

3.Why does the author state that "All kings of Mesopotamia had to face the constant task of rebuilding mud-brick structures"?

A To argue that Mesopotamian kings did not adequately support efforts to construct great monuments.

B To emphasize the lack of permanence of ziggurat construction

C To contrast the leadership of Mesopotamia with that of Egypt

D To suggest that ziggurats should have been constructed more like the Egyptian pyramids

。。。。余下托福阅读真题省略！

托福阅读真题+题目+答案：Ziggurats in Mesopotamia，10元有偿下载完整版PDF！