Question 10-19) t8 N) ~ T& _& T& h: R6 |
Both in what is now the eastern and the southwestern United States, the peoples of 8 T0 `. E+ w+ Z: n4 S
the Archaic era (8,000-1,000 B.C) were, in a way, already adapted to beginnings of& m7 u# U% C6 I' u6 ^6 e
cultivation through their intensive gathering and processing of wild plant foods. In both
$ T7 i) e* O, O! ?& Gareas, there was a well-established ground stone tool technology, a method of pounding
* h6 ^8 x N0 g5 p(5)and grinding nuts and other plant foods, that could be adapted to newly cultivated foods.7 } p; o# Q% a; X6 j3 `+ E
By the end of the Archaic era, people in eastern North America had domesticated certain0 W7 |8 }' i6 @/ T) }
native plants, including sunflowers; weeds called goosefoot, sumpweed, or marsh elder;
! {8 S w b t/ T, M% ~" i and squash or gourds of some kind. These provided seeds that were important sources of carbohydrates and fat in the diet. * L9 C5 c& I+ t: {! y
(10) The earliest cultivation seems to have taken place along the river valleys of the
6 d( h7 L; }# @( w. E2 J8 n, K2 \- gMidwest and the Southeast, with experimentation beginning as early as 7,000 years ago, A0 d* b% r1 p8 {$ _" q& d
and domestication beginning 4,000 to 2,000 years ago. Although the term “Neolithic” is( Q7 h& }2 w+ { W! L
not used in North American prehistory, these were the first steps toward the same major subsistence changes that took place during the Neolithic (8,000-2,000 B.C.) period
* p8 K* @0 y3 z" B0 @. _: j; K(15)elsewhere in the world.% c/ j# {, y0 S& g8 A$ z6 G
Archaeologists debate the reasons for beginning cultivation in the eastern part of the$ P# Q% y+ W- k/ C" v0 L' {
continent. Although population and sedentary living were increasing at the time, there is+ K; i/ J/ h! i+ n, r
little evidence that people lacked adequate wild food resources; the newly domesticated2 F3 o0 N( { ~, X
foods supplemented a continuing mixed subsistence of hunting, fishing, and gathering1 h9 o# e! Q5 i+ R7 U, ^
(20)wild plants, Increasing predictability of food supplies may have been a motive. It has been suggested that some early cultivation was for medicinal and ceremonial plants rather than/ Q6 i4 |4 g( S# r, h# U
for food. One archaeologist has pointed out that the early domesticated plants were all
8 X& Q# _. Y3 U0 D weedy species that do well in open, disturbed habitats, the kind that would form around; n# l) n& ^$ @
human settlements where people cut down trees, trample the ground, deposit trash, and & K% C$ F' z% B7 }4 l0 F
(25)dig holes. It has been suggested that sunflower, sumpweed, and other plants almost 9 f! C% x9 C0 O0 `& }5 ^/ u0 R) ~
domesticated themselves, that is , they thrived in human –disturbed habitats, so humans intensively collected them and began to control their distribution. Women in the Archaic communities were probably the main experimenters with cultivation, because
. V- t! K+ M) c2 d* u ethnoarchaeological evidence tells us that women were the main collectors of plant food
6 K, H% R( _7 F8 \, Qand had detailed knowledge of plants.% p4 s! H& q9 `9 V+ }/ o" G3 T6 l
( E+ J" J) q- J
10. The passage mainly discusses which of the following aspects of the life of Archaic peoples?3 t1 G1 }, Z* L- b- U8 r
(A) The principal sources of food that made up their diet
0 |0 c: z7 u0 s. O/ w(B) Their development of ground stone tool technology! @& o( i A# g3 A3 k& B2 B
(C) Their development of agriculture
; n1 m: A" v1 y0 y! Z% C; G9 }0 B; h(D) Their distribution of work between men and women
9 ^: \ Y ~0 s% F11. The word “these” in line 13 refers to
* T- m2 {/ @# @7 \) K (A) seeds
4 B4 }! E6 M& [0 G (B) river valleys
3 Y5 `7 q; n! v6 C# d( b; s8 |$ e (C) the Midwest and the Southeast
+ d4 j) J, Z# o1 A (D) experimentation and domestication
- X4 X3 z% g" Q! Z* P12 According to the passage, when did the domestication of plants begin in North America?
7 q1 v( q' W- E M; T4 H (A) 7,000 years ago* \+ b: X( M0 ^0 s
(B) 4,000 to 2,000 years ago" q. z+ m3 G* ^
(C) Long after the Neolithic period; B% y' m5 R; v* V+ M
(D) Before the Archaic period |