2015年2月1日托福阅读真题P2+题目+答案：The Chaco Phenomenon

2015年2月1日托福阅读真题P2+题目+答案：The Chaco Phenomenon

Atruly remarkable transformation in settlement patterns occurred in the San Juan basin in northwestern New Mexico in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries, with small household farmsteads giving way to aggregated communities centered on communal masonry buildings that are now called “great houses.” These structures are found throughout the basin but are concentrated in Chaco Canyon, where several examples contained hundreds of rooms and reached four stories in height. The largest great house is Pueblo Bonito, with over 600 rooms covering two acres. The entire episode of great house construction in Chaco, the Bonito phase (A.D. 900-1140), was obviously a time of immense cooperative effort. At least 200,000 wooden beams averaging 5 meters long and 20 centimeters in diameter were brought to the canyon from distances between 40 and 100 kilometers away to build a dozen great houses, signifying a huge labor investment and a complex production process. The bulk of construction took place in the eleventh century, but by A.D. 1140 it had ceased abruptly, after which there was a rapid decline in use of the great houses and apparent abandonment of the canyon in the thirteenth century.

15. The word “signifying” in the passage is closet in meaning to

A creating

B indicating

C initiating

D requiring

16. The word “ceased” in the passage is closet in meaning to

A slow down

B accelerated

C stopped

D changed in style

17. According to paragraph 1, all of the following provide evidence that the Bonito phase was a time of immense cooperative effort EXCEPT

A the large amounts of material needed

B the size of the Pueblo Bonito complex

C the unusual materials used in construction

D the distance the materials needed to be transported

For more than a century archaeologists have struggled to understand the circumstances surrounding the rise and collapse of Chacoan society—dubbed the Chaco Phenomenon. In particular, research has focused on determining why such an apparently inhospitable place as Chaco, which today is extremely arid and has very short growing seasons, should have favored the concentration of labor that must have been required for such massive construction projects over brief periods of time. Until the 1970s, it was widely assumed that Chaco had been a forested oasis that attracted farmers who initially flourished but eventually fell victim to their own success and exuberance, as they denuded the canyon of trees and vegetation to build large great houses. In the 1980s this reconstruction was largely dismissed in response to evidence that there had never been a forest in Chaco, and that canyon soils had poor agricultural potential. As scientific interpretations about Chaco changed, the focus of explanatory models changed from the attractiveness of the canyon for farmers to the position of the canyon within a regional network of dispersed agricultural communities.

18. 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.

A Researchers have tried to establish why an area as dry as Chaco was the site of such large construction efforts.

B Researchers have tried to establish whether the concentration of massive construction projects in a brief period of time made Chaco the dry area that it is today.

C Researchers have established that Chaco’s brief growing season required a concentration of labor to produce large quantities of food in a short period of time.

D Researchers have established that the hot, dry climate of Chaco forced workers to complete construction on large buildings in short periods of time.

19. According to paragraph 2, before 1970, scholars believed that Chacoan society collapsed because

A Chaco never had the forests that were needed for the development of a stable agricultural economy.

B farmers used up the natural resources in Chaco that had originally allowed the society to succeed.

C Chaco suffered a long-term drought that prevented farmers from growing enough food.

D laborers left Chaco to find other work after they finished building the great houses there.

20. It can be inferred from paragraph 2 that the pre-1970s theory about the Chaco Phenomenon

A wasbased on the widespread farm and tool remains found by archaeologists on the site.

B was largely reinforced by findings in the 1980s.

C was not supported by substantial evidence.

D was so strong that it went unchallenged for many decades.

21. The word “dispersed” in the passage is closet in meaning to

A connected

B scattered

C stable

D developed

22. According to paragraph 2, why did scientists change their view about the cause of the collapse of Chacoan society?

A They found evidence that Chaco had always lacked trees and good soil.

B They discovered that Chaco Canyon was much drier than they had previously believed.

C They learned that the population was not large enough to supply the laborers needed to build the great houses.

D They found evidence that the farming economy was excessively concentrated in the central canyon.

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