State Formation托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

State Formation托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

一、State Formation托福听力原文：

NARRATOR:Listen to part of a lecture in an anthropology class.

FEMALE PROFESSOR:One of the big questions when we look at prehistory is:Why did the earliest states form? Well,to begin we'd better define exactly what we mean when we talk about states. Uh,the human groups that are the smallest and have the least social and political complexity we call"bands."The groups that are the largest and most socially and politically complex we call"states."So the level of complexity here refers to the organization of people into large,diverse groups and densely populated communities?

and there are four levels in total:bands,tribes,chiefdoms,and states.But-but back to my original question. Why did early states form?Why not just continue to live in small groups?Why become more complex?

One theory,called the"environmental approach"hypothesizes that the main force behind state formation was population growth.It assumes that centralized management was critical to dealing with issues caused by sudden population surges,like a strain on limited food supplies.At the least-complex end of the spectrum,the few families living in bands are able to meet their own basic needs. They usually hunt,gather,and forage whatever foods are available to them,instead of domesticating animals and planting crops. In order to efficiently take advantage of the wild foods available,bands are often nomadic,and move around following herds of animals. This strategy is feasible when you have a small population.

But when you have a large population,well,the whole population can't just get up and move to follow a wild herd of animals.So you need sophisticated technologies to produce enough food for everyone.And there is an increased need to resolve social problems that arise as people begin to compete for resources.To manage intensified food production—to collect,store,and distribute food—you need centralized decision making?centralized decision makers.

It's the same thing when it comes to maintaining social order. You need to create and efficiently enforce a formal legal code.It makes sense to have a centralized authority in charge of that,right?So a hierarchy forms.By definition,states have at least three social levels:usually an upper class of rulers,a middle class comprised of managers and merchants,and a lower class of craft producers and agricultural laborers.

The environmental approach hypothesizes that states appear in certain environmental settings—settings which have a severe population problem or a shortage of agricultural land.But not everyone agrees with the theory. It definitely has some weaknesses.

For example,states have developed in places like the Maya lowlands of Mesoamerica,and in Egypt's Nile River valley. Both places had vast areas of fertile farmland—no shortage of agricultural land.And what about population increase? Well,there were some early states that formed where there wasn't any sudden population increase.So it seems that these are valid criticisms of the environmental approach.

二、State Formation托福听力中文翻译：

旁白：在人类学课上听一节课的一部分。

女教授：当我们研究史前史时，一个大问题是：为什么最早的国家会形成；好吧，首先，我们最好准确地定义我们在谈论国家时的意思；呃，最小的、社会和政治复杂性最低的人类群体，我们称之为“乐队”最大、社会和政治最复杂的群体，我们称之为“国家”那么这里的复杂程度是指将人们组织成大型、多样的群体和人口稠密的社区？

总共有四个层次：部落、部落、酋长领地和国家。但回到我原来的问题；为什么早期国家会形成？为什么不继续小团体生活呢？为什么变得更复杂？

一种称为“环境方法”的理论假设，国家形成背后的主要力量是人口增长。它假设集中化管理对于处理人口突然激增引起的问题至关重要，例如有限的粮食供应紧张。至少在最不复杂的一端，生活在乐队中的少数家庭能够满足自己的基本需求；他们通常狩猎、采集和饲喂任何食物，而不是驯养动物和种植作物；为了有效地利用现有的野生食物，乐队通常是游牧民族，跟随成群的动物四处走动；当人口较少时，这种策略是可行的。

但是，当你有一个庞大的种群时，整个种群不能只是站起来跟着一群野生动物。所以你需要先进的技术来为每个人生产足够的食物。随着人们开始争夺资源，越来越需要解决社会问题。为了管理强化食品生产以收集、储存和分发食品，您需要集中决策吗？集中决策者。

在维护社会秩序方面也是一样；您需要创建并有效实施正式的法律法规。有一个中央集权机构负责这件事是有道理的，对吗？这样就形成了等级制度。根据定义，各州至少有三个社会阶层：通常是统治者的上层阶级，由经理和商人组成的中产阶级，以及手工艺品生产者和农业劳动者的下层阶级。

环境方法假设国家出现在某些环境环境中，这些环境具有严重的人口问题或农业用地短缺。但并非所有人都同意这一理论&nbsp；它肯定有一些弱点。

例如，在中美洲的玛雅低地和埃及的尼罗河流域等地，国家已经发展起来；这两个地方都有大片肥沃的农田，并不缺乏农业用地。那么人口增长呢；嗯，有一些早期的州是在人口没有突然增加的情况下形成的。因此，这些似乎是对环境方针的有效批评。

三、State Formation托福听力问题：

Q1:1.What does the professor mainly discuss?

A.Sudden population increases in early states

B.Possible reasons for the formation of early states

C.Consequences of agricultural land shortages in ancient Egypt

D.Common political problems of chiefdoms

Q2:2.According to the professor,what are two typical characteristics of a band?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.It is the smallest type of group.

B.It is the most sociopolitically complex type of group.

C.It practices intensified agriculture.

D.It is able to meet its own basic needs.

Q3:3.What does the professor say is a characteristic feature of states?

A.States often damage the environment of the area they occupy.

B.States engage in trade to obtain necessary goods for their population.

C.States often undergo sudden changes in population.

D.States manage food production for the entire population.

Q4:4.What reason for prehistoric social problems does the professor mention?

A.Competition for resources

B.Poor decisions by the ruling classes

C.The existence of several conflicting legal codes

D.Cultural differences between neighboring states

Q5:5.Why does the professor mention upper,middle,and lower classes?

A.To explain why formal legal codes were developed

B.To explain what factors caused the destruction of several early states

C.To stress the importance of agricultural workers

D.To further describe the organization of states

Q6:6.What is the professor's opinion about the environmental approach?

A.It will remain popular for a long time.

B.It does not help explain how early states formed.

C.Some evidence supports it,but other evidence contradicts it.

D.It should be applied when analyzing hierarchies.

四、State Formation托福听力答案：

A1:正确答案：B

A2:正确答案：AD

A3:正确答案：D

A4:正确答案：A

A5:正确答案：D

A5:正确答案：C

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