Part Ⅰ Fast Reading
In this section，you are going to read two passageswith ten statements attached to each one.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.You may choose a paragraph more than once.Each paragraph is marked with a letter.Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter.
The Case Against Civilization
[A]Science and technology:we tend to think of them as siblings，perhaps even as twins.When it comes to the shiniestwonders of themodern world—science and technology are indeed hand in glove.Formuch of human history，though，technology had nothing to do with science.Many of our most significant inventions are pure tools，with no scientific method behind them.Some of themost important thingswe use every day were invented long before the adoption of the scientificmethod.The piece of technology Iwould bemost reluctant to give up:my glasses.Soap prevented more deaths than penicillin.That's technology，not science.
[B]In“Against the Grain:A Deep History of the Earliest States，”James C.Scott，a professor of political science at Yale，presents a plausible contender for the most important piece of technology in the history ofman.It is a technology so old.It is fire.We have used it in two crucial，defining ways.The first and the most obvious of these is cooking.The extra caloric value we get from cooked food allowed us to develop our big brains，which absorb roughly a fifth of the energy we consume，as opposed to less than a tenth formostmammals’brains.That difference is what hasmade us the dominant species on the planet.
[C]The other reason fire was central to our history is less obvious to contemporary eyes：we used it to adapt the landscape around us to our purposes.Hunter-gatherers（采猎者）would set fires as theymoved，to clear terrain andmake it ready for fast-growing，prey-attracting new plants.They would also drive animalswith fire.They used this technology somuch that，Scott thinks，we should date the human-dominated phase of earth，the so-called Anthropocene，from the time our forebearsmastered this new tool.
[D]To demonstrate the significance of fire，Scott points to what we've found in certain caves in southern Africa.The earliest，oldest strata of the caves contain whole skeletons of carnivores（食肉动物）and many chewed-up bone fragments of the things they were eating，including us.Then comes the layer from when we discovered fire，and ownership of the caves switches：the human skeletons are whole，and the carnivores are bone fragments.Fire is the difference between eating lunch and being lunch.
[E]Anatomically modern humans have been around for roughly two hundred thousand years.Formost of that time，we lived as hunter-gatherers.Then，about twelve thousand years ago，camewhat is generally agreed to be the definitive before-and-aftermoment in our ascent to planetary dominance：the Neolithic Revolution（新石器时代革命）.Thiswas our adoption of，to use Scott's word，a“package”of agricultural innovations，notably the domestication of animals such as the cow and the pig，and the transition from hunting and gathering to planting and cultivating crops.The most important of these crops have been the cereals—wheat，barley，rice，and maize—that remain the staples of humanity's diet.
[F]Scott argues that a state's interests and the interests of subjects are often not just different butopposite.Stalin's project of farm collectivization（集体化）“served well enough as ameanswhereby the state could determine cropping patterns，fix real ruralwages，appropriate a large share ofwhatever grain was produced，and politically emasculate the countryside”.
[G]Scott focuses his account on Mesopotamia—roughly speaking，modern-day Iraq—because it is“the heartland of the first‘pristine’states in the world”，the term“pristine”heremeaning that these states bore no watermark from earlier settlements and were the first time any such social organizations had existed.They were the first states to have written records，and they became a template for other states in the Near East and in Egypt，making them doubly relevant to later history.
[H]Our ancestors evidently took a good，hard look at the possibility of agriculture before deciding to adopt this new way of life.They were able to think it over for so long because the life they lived was remarkably abundant.Like the early civilization of China in the Yellow River Valley，Mesopotamia was a wetland territory，as its name(“between the rivers”)suggests.In the Neolithic period，Mesopotamia was a deltawetland，where the sea camemany miles inland from its current shore.
[I]The first settled communities were established here because the land offered such a diverse web of food sources.If one year a food source failed，another would still be present.The archeology shows，then，that the“Neolithic package”of domestication and agriculture did not lead to settled communities，the ancestors of ourmodern towns and cities and states.Those communities had been around for thousands of years，living in the bountiful conditions of the wetlands，before humanity committed to intensive agriculture.Reliance on a single，densely planted cereal crop wasmuch riskier，and it's no wonder people took a few millennia tomake the change.
[J]So why did our ancestors switch from this complex web of food supplies to the concentrated production of single crops?We don't know，although Scott speculates that climatic stressmay have been involved.Two things，however，are clear.The first is that，for thousands of years，the agricultural revolution was，formost of the people living through it，a disaster.The fossil record shows that life for agriculturalists was harder than it had been for huntergatherers.Their bones show evidence of dietary stress:they were shorter，they were sicker，theirmortality rateswere higher.
[K]Some crops(potatoes，sweet potatoes，cassava)are buried and so can be hidden from the tax collector，and，even if discovered，they must be dug up individually and laboriously.Other crops(notably legumes)ripen at different intervals，or yield harvests throughout a growing season rather than along a fixed trajectory of unripe to ripe—in other words，the taxman can't come once and get his proper due.Only grains are，in Scott'swords，“visible，divisible，assessable，storable，transportable，and‘rational’”.Other crops have some of these advantages，butonly cereal grains have them all，and so grain became“themain food starch，the unit of taxation in kind，and the basis for a hegemonic agrarian calendar.”
( )1.Mesopotamia was the first region to have the written record and themodel for other states in the world.
( )2.Throughout human history，technology is irrelevant to science.
( )3.According to Scott，we should say Anthropocene existed from the time our ancestors controlled fire.
( )4.Human beings adopted a series of agricultural innovations in the Neolithic Revolution.
( )5.Fire has been used by humans in two essential aspects.
( )6.Fire is the distinction between human beings and carnivores.
( )7.Farm collectivization takes a large part of produced grain and politicallymakes the countryside less powerful.
( )8.Scott speculates that the climatic stress was the reason why our ancestors switched from complex web of food supplies to the concentrated production of single crops.
( )9.In Scott's opinion，only grains are visible，divisible，assessable，storable，transportable，and‘rational’for tax collectors.
( )10.Itwas riskier to rely on an only，thickly planted cereal，and no wonder people took millennium to change that.
The Origin of Civilization
[A]Around 10，000—7000 years ago(8000—5000 BC)，h umankind experienced perhaps itsmost important revolution.The Neolithic revolution，as it is called，forever changed the interaction between humans and the world around us by introducing the basic ingredient thatmakes civilization possible:agriculture.In this sense，the Neolithic revolution made the rest of history possible.Though modern humans have existed for the last 150，000 years，it is only in the last few thousand years，since the discovery of agriculture，that civilization has existed.
[B]We have no written records for the period in which this happened.In fact，it is considered prehistory，since humans had not yet begun recording their histories，but we can piece events together with the help of archaeology.
The Beginnings of Sedentary Life
[C]Prior to the Neolithic agricultural revolution，people existed as hunter-gatherers，constantly on the move to feed themselves.They were organized in small nomadic groups，mostly bands of around twenty to thirty people，incapable of sustaining large populations because of their limited food supply and need to keep moving.They survived on hunting animals and eating vegetation，and would stay in one place only as long as they could forage food from that area.During the Paleolithic(Old Stone Age—before 10，000 BC)，all humans were nomadic hunter-gatherers.
[D]By the Mesolithic Period(Middle Stone Age—10，000BC—8300 BC—sometimes also called Epipaleolithic)，starting in the Middle East，people began settling down in more permanent communities，engaging in intensive hunting and gathering.Thismeans instead of moving around，hunting and gathering as nomads，they settled down in small settlements and gathered their food from the area around them.Such people living in Mesopotamia are known as the Natufians.The Natufians did not have agriculture，but they were hunter-gatherers who were able to live sedentary lives by collecting wild wheat and barley，and hunting gazelles and deer.
[E]A number of factors aided in this change.First，in thewake of the last ice age，the climate slowly changed from cold and dry to warm and wet.Under these new conditions，the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia became incredibly rich in plant and animal life.In fact，the climate became so humid that most of the Middle East was not dry and desert-like as it is today，but lush and teeming with biodiversity.
The Neolithic Revolution
[F]Around 9000 BC，the climatemay have begun to change again，becoming colder and dryer oncemore.If this is true，this led to fewer resources，meaning that the land had a lower carrying capacity.People living in settlements had to return to nomadic hunting and gathering，or else find a new way to survive.Many returned to themobile way of life，but some stayed in their settlements.They began planting seeds and harvesting the resulting plants.They may have originally learned this skill in earlier times as a safety net to hold them over in years of less successful hunts，but in the new climatic situation farming started to become more common.
[G]The peoplewho remained sedentary did so by learning to plantnutritiouswild grasses through trial and error.Slowly，they figured out what were the best seeds to plant，and they also selectively bred plants so that they became larger，more nutritious，and easier to harvest.The variouswild grasses evolved intomodern-day crops such aswheat and barley.
[H]In the Middle East，where this agricultural revolution first took place，the domesticated plants were primarily wheat and barley，which could be made into several different foods，such as porridge，leavened and unleavened bread，and beer.Figs，chickpeas，lentils，and peas were also cultivated.This seems to have been a very slow process，though，with many false starts.Neolithic farmers tried but failed to cultivate some plants，such as rye，which were rediscovered and domesticated later or in other parts of the world.
[I]The nextmajor step in the Neolithic agricultural revolution after PPNA(Pre-Pottery Neolithic A)was the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B(PPNB)，which was characterized by the domestication of animals.Around 10，000 BC，people began domesticating wolves for hunting and defense，and these slowly became modern-day dogs.Animals such as sheep，goats，and pigswere domesticated between 8500 and 7000 BC and used for food.Like plants，animals were selectively bred to yield more food and also to becomemore docile so that they could be more easily handled by humans.
[J]Another important development that came slightly later was the invention of pottery from baking clay.Pottery first appeared around 7000 BC，and allowed for the storage and transportation of food.Sometime between 6000 and 4000 BC the pottery wheel was invented，and by this time specialized craftsmen appeared whomade pottery for the rest of the population to use.
The Development and Spread of Agriculture
[K]The Neolithic agricultural revolution first took place in the Middle East，probably because of the advantageous climate of Mesopotamia.Butover time，agriculture spread to other fertile areas around rivers，such as Egypt around the Nile，the Indus River valley，and the Yellow River in China.From the Middle East，cultivation ofwheat and barley spread eastward to India，and north to Europe.In addition to these，new crops，such as flax and cotton，were adopted around the Nile in Egypt.While the conceptof agriculture no doubt spread from out of the Middle East，italso developed in some areas independently.In places such as China，sub-Saharan Africa，or the Americas，where there was little or no contact with the Middle East，agriculturewas also discovered，though it took slightly longer.Whilewheatand barley were the main crops in the Middle East，in Mesoamerica they weremaize，beans，and squash，in China the primary crop was rice，and in South America itwas the potato.
The Consequences of Agriculture
[L]The domestication of plants and animals allowed people to live in large settled communities，and，barring famine，they had a reliable and predictable influx of food.Abundant food allowed for excess population—people who did not necessarily have to work as farmers—and these people could specialize in crafts，act as priests，fight as warriors，or become social leaders(aristocrats or kings).Because excess food allowed for specialized craftsmen and the congregation of people into settled communities，cities slowly developed.
[M]In the urban settlements fed by agriculture，people could devote themselves to art，science，and religion.At both Jericho and 
atal Hüyük，for instance，there is abundant evidence for religious practices.On both sites，veneration of figurines，mainly of women and bulls，appears to have been common.
[N]Wemust be aware，however，that the Neolithic revolution also had negative effects.Ninety percentof the history ofmodern humanswas spentas nomadic hunter-gatherers.Humans evolved，both physiologically and psychologically，in the context of hunting and gathering.
[O]Agricultural advancementmeant that people had plenty of food and therefore could sustain larger populations，but it alsomeant that they had far less variety in their diet.Humans are supposed to have diverse diets，so settled populations could be less healthy.And as people clustered together in their permanent settlements，diseases spread more easily.Indeed，the cities that agriculture made possible are breeding grounds for disease.When there was a particularly bad season，nomads could just go someplace else，but settled humans faced crop failure，starvation，and mass death.
( )11.Formostof our history，humans have been hunter-gatherers，living in small bands and constantly on themove.
( )12.Around 10，000 BC，starting in the Middle East，some people began settling down in sedentary communities，practicing intensive hunting and gathering.The people who did this in the Middle East are known as the Natufian culture.
( )13.Although modern humans have existed for a long time，in the last few thousand
years，civilization has existed with the discovery of agriculture.
( )14.Gradually，some of the settled communities started practicing agriculture，at which point the Neolithic agricultural revolution began.The climate may have had some impact on the adoption of agriculture.
( )15.In the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B(PPNB)animalswere domesticated.Domesticated plants and animals were gradually changed，through selective breeding，to make them more useful to humans.
( )16.While agriculture was first developed in the Middle East and spread outward，it also developed independently in other places，such as China，sub-Saharan Africa，and the Americas.
( )17.Agriculture allowed for the creation of art，science，and religion，and modern society as we know it.
( )18.Agriculture allowed for the emergence of epidemic disease.
( )19.The development of cities was due to the excessive food，then specialized craftsmen and groups of people gathered together.
( )20.Middle East took place agricultural revolution firstly，wheat and barley were the primary domesticated plants，which could be made into several different foods.Other cropswere also cultivated.