13/17年托福阅读真题+题目+答案解析:Documenting the Incas

托福阅读Documenting the Incas分别在2013年和2017年考过，一起来看一下详情吧。

The Incans ruled a vast empire in western South America when the Spaniards encountered them in the sixteenth century. Although the Incas had no writing system of their own, historical information about Incas is available to researchers because early Spaniards wrote documents about them. However, there are drawbacks to use the written record. First, the Spanish writers were describing activities and institutions that were very different from their own, but they often described Inca culture in terms of their own society. As an example, consider the list of kings given by the Incas. As presented in the historical chronology, Spanish sources indicate there were thirteen kings who ruled sequentially. The names were given to them by Inca informants. However, one school of thought in Inca studies suggests that the names were not actual people, but, rather, titles filled by different individuals. Thus, the number of actual kings may have been fewer, and several titles may have been filled at the same time. The early Spanish writers, being unfamiliar with such a system of titles, simply translated it into something they were familiar with (a succession of kings). Given that the Inca empire expanded only during the time of the last four kings, or as a result of the actions of the individuals in those four positions, this question is not deemed significant for an understanding of the Incas. But the example shows that biases and inaccuracies may have been introduced inadvertently from the very beginning of the written Spanish reports about the Incas. Moreover, early writers often copied information from each other - so misinformation was likely to be passed on and accepted as true by later scholars.
1.The word "vast" in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. Ancient
B. Wealthy
C. powerful
D. extensive
1/D
本题为词汇题。“vast”的意思是“广阔的;巨大的”，词汇所在句子“The Incans ruled a vast empire in western South America when the Spaniards encountered them in the sixteenth century.”的意思是“16世纪当西班牙人入侵时，印加人在南美洲西部统治着一个庞大的帝国。” A 选项 ancient 的意思是：古老的。排除。 B 选项 wealthy 的意思是：富有的。排除。 C 选项 powerful 的意思是：强大的。排除。 D 选项 extensive 的意思是：广阔的，广大的。意思和 vast 相近，故为正确答案。
 
2、The word "drawbacks" in the passage is closest in meaning toA. Requirements
B. Techniques
C. Exceptions
D. disadvantages
2/D
本题为词汇题。“drawbacks”的意思是“缺点，不足”，词汇所在句子“However, there are drawbacks to use the written record.”的意思是“然而，使用这些书面记录也有一些缺点。”及时大家不认识 drawback 这个单词，也可以根据 however 这个表达转折的逻辑关联词，推测出 drawback 一定带有某种负面含义，因此可以推测正确答案为 D：disadvantages。 A 选项 requirements 的意思是：要求。排除。 B 选项 techniques 的意思是：技术，手法。排除。 C 选项 exceptions 的意思是：例外。排除。 D 选项 disadvantages 的意思是：不利，劣势。故为正确答案。
 
3.The word "sequentially" in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. Secretly
B. one after another
C. Formerly
D. in partnership with each other
3/B
本题为词汇题。“sequentially”的意思是“继续地，从而”，词汇所在句子“As presented in the historical chronology, Spanish sources indicate there were thirteen kings who ruled sequentially.”的意思是“如历史年表显示，西班牙的记录显示印加帝国曾有13位国王依次当政。” A 选项 secretly 的意思是：秘密地。排除。 B 选项 one after another 的意思是：一个接着另一个。意思与 sequentially 最为相近，故为正确答案。 C 选项 formerly 的意思是：原来，从前。排除。 D 选项 in partnership with each other 的意思是：互相合作。排除。
 
4.According to paragraph 1, why does the written record about the Incan civilization depend on the reports of Spaniards?
A. The Incas destroyed their written records to prevent the Spaniards from benefiting from them.
B. The Incas did not have a writing system.
C. The Spaniards destroyed all records written by the Incas.
D. Incan records were written on materials that do not preserve well.
4/B
本题为事实信息题。题目问印加文明需要靠西班牙人来记载的原因是什么。根据题目中的关键词“written record”我们定位到原文的第3句话“However, there are drawbacks to use the written record.”意思是使用这些书面记录也有一些缺点。那么很明显，上文的内容是在介绍文字系统，我们往上寻找答案，锁定这句话“Although the Incas had no writing system of their own, historical information about Incas is available to researchers because early Spaniards wrote documents about them.”这句话翻译成“虽然印加人没有自己的书写系统，研究人员依然可以获得印加文明的历史信息，因为早期西班牙人用文字记录下了印加文化。”于是我们很容易得出答案：印加文明需要靠西班牙人来记载的原因是因为印加文化没有自己的书写系统。故 B 选项正确。A、C、D 选项在文中均未提及。

5、According to paragraph 1, sixteenth century's Spaniards may have been incorrect about which of the following aspects of the Incan empire?A. its size during the reigns of the last four kingsB. the total number of Incan kingsC. the kinds of power that Incan kings were able to exerciseD. the extent to which Incan kings were able to control activities within their empire
5/B
题目解析：
本题为事实信息题。本题题干中没有明显的定位词，但是我们发现，4个选项当中都有同一个关键词“king”，可以帮助我们直接定位到这句话“As an example, consider the list of kings given by the Incas.”答案一定在这句话后面。同时，学会使用结构阅读法可以帮助我们更快地锁定答案。因为题目要求我们找出关于印加帝国的错误描述，所以只需要找到文章中带有否定、转折的逻辑关联词，然后往下阅读，答案往往就这些关联词的后面。很快我们就可以找到这句话 “However, one school of thought in Inca studies suggests that the names were not actual people, but, rather, titles filled by different individuals. Thus, the number of actual kings may have been fewer, and several titles may have been filled at the same time.” However 表示转折，这句话的意思是说，这些名字并不是实际的人，而是由不同的人组成的头衔。因此，印加国王的实际数量可能更少，一个国王可能同时拥有好几个头衔。因此我们马上能得出正确答案是 B 选项：西班牙人记载的印加国王的总数是错误的。 A 选项：size 在文章中完全没有提到。故排除。 C 选项：power 在文中也未提及，故排除。 D 选项：control activities 在文中未提及，故排除。

Second, both Spanish writers and Incan informants sometimes had motives for being deliberately deceitful. For example, in an effort to gain status in the Spaniards' eyes, Incas might say that they formerly had been more important in the Inca empire than they actually were. Spanish officials as well were occasionally untruthful when it served their purposes. For example, Spaniards might deliberately underreport the productivity of a region under their authority so they could sell the additional products and keep the money, rather than hand it over to the Spanish Crown.

Third, it should be noted that the Spaniards' main sources of information were the Incas themselves, often members of the Inca ruling class. Therefore, what was recorded was the Incas' point of view about their own history and empire. Some modern authorities question whether the history of Incas happened as they said it did. Although some of their history is certainly more myth than truth, many, if not most, scholars agree that the history of the last four Inca kings is probably accurate. The same is true of other things told to the Spanish writers: the more recently an event is said to have occurred, the more likely it is to have actually happened.

A fourth problem relates to the nature of the Inca conquests of the other people in the Americas before the Spanish arrived and how accurate the accounts of those conquests are - whether related by the Spaniards or by the Incas on whom they relied. It was certainly in the Inca's interest to describe themselves as invincible and just. However, lacking accounts by conquered people about their interactions with the Incas, it is unknown how much of the information of the Inca conquest as related by the ruling class is factual.

Finally, there is a certain vagueness in the historical record regarding places and names. Many Spanish writers listed places they had visited within the empire, including both provinces and towns. However, other writers traveling along the same routes sometimes recounted different lists of places. In addition, it is difficult to identify the exact locations of towns and other geographic points of reference because of the widespread movements of people over the past five centuries.

For all these reasons, the historical record must be carefully evaluated to determine whether it is accurate and to verify the locations of past events. One approach is to cross-check information from a number of authors. Another approach is to conduct archaeological research. Regardless of the problems, historical documents review some important information about the Incas.

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