Evolution of culture—that is, the development of forms through time has taken place. No amount of diffusion of picture writing could of itself, for instance, produce the alphabetic system of writing; as Tylor demonstrated so well, the art of writing has developed through a series of stages, which began with picture writing, progressed to hieroglyphic(象形文字的) writing, and culminated in alphabetic writing. In the realm of social organization there was a development from territorial groups composed of families to segmented societies (clans and larger groupings). Sociocultural evolution, like biologic evolution, exhibits a progressive differentiation of structure and socialization of function. A misunderstanding has arisen with regard to the relationship between evolution and diffusion. It has been argued, for example, that the theory of cultural evolution was unsound because some peoples skipped a stage in a supposedly determined sequence; some African tribes, as a consequence of diffusion, went from the Stone Age to the Iron Age without an intermediate age of copper and bronze.
But the classical evolutionists did not maintain that peoples, or societies, had to pass through a fixed series of stages in the course of development, but that tools, techniques, institutions—in short, culture had to pass through the stages. The sequence of stages of writing did not mean that a society could not acquire the alphabet without working its way through hieroglyphic writing; it was obvious that many peoples did skip directly to the alphabet.
1. Which of the following is probably NOT true when it comes to the art of writing?
2. The phrase “culminated in” in the first paragraph means ______.
3. What can be inferred from the first paragraph?
4. Which of the following is probably NOT agreed by classical evolutionists?
5. According to the theory of cultural evolution, the sequence of stages during which evolution takes place should be ______.
问题1选项
A.One opinion is that the art of writing is bound to progress step by step.
B.The truth is that many nations acquire alphabet without following the fixed series of stages.
C.The alphabetic writing is the highest stage it has arrived so far.
D.Tylor believed that picture writing could jump directly to alphabetic writing in some tribes.
问题2选项
A.reached the highest degree
B.changed into
C.ended in
D.resulted in
问题3选项
A.Progressive evolution with different features is bound to occur in the course of development.
B.Picture writing is the first form in writing history.
C.Clans and larger groupings developed from territorial groups.
D.Sociocultural evolution bears similarity to that of biologic evolution.
问题4选项
A.The sequence of stages of writing is applicable to any case as far as evolution is concerned.
B.The development of societies does not follow a fixed pattern as tools or techniques do.
C.The way society develops is not the same as that of tools, techniques.
D.Culture develops from one stage to the other.
问题5选项
A.Stone Age—Copper and Bronze Age—Iron Age
B.Stone Age—Iron Age—Copper and Bronze Age
C.Iron Age—Stone Age—Copper and Bronze Age
D.Copper and Bronze Age—Stone Age—Iron Age
第1题:D
第2题:A
第3题:C
第4题:A
第5题:A
第1题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following is probably NOT true when it comes to the art of writing? 说到写作的艺术，下列哪一项可能是不正确的？
A. One opinion is that the art of writing is bound to progress step by step. A. 一种观点认为，写作的艺术必然是一步一步进步的。
B. The truth is that many nations acquire alphabet without following the fixed series of stages. B. 事实上，许多国家在没有遵循固定的一系列阶段的情况下获得了字母表。
C. The alphabetic writing is the highest stage it has arrived so far. C. 字母文字是迄今为止它所达到的最高阶段。
D. Tylor believed that picture writing could jump directly to alphabetic writing in some tribes. D. 泰勒认为，在一些部落中，图画书写可以直接跳到字母书写。
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可精确定位到原文第一段第二句“举例来说，图片书写的扩散本身不可能产生字母书写系统；正如泰勒所展示的那样，写作艺术经历了一系列的发展阶段，从图画写作开始，发展到（象形文字的）书写，并以字母书写达到顶峰。”（No amount of diffusion of picture writing could…in alphabetic writing.），因此本题正确答案为选项D。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、C选项均描述正确：
A选项对应第一段最后一句“有人认为，文化进化论是不合理的，因为一些人跳过了一个假定确定的顺序的阶段；一些非洲部落，由于扩散，从石器时代到铁器时代，没有铜和青铜的中间时代。”（It has been argued, for example, that the theory of cultural evolution was unsound because some peoples skipped a stage in a supposedly determined sequence）；
B选项对应第一段最后一句“一些非洲部落，由于扩散，从石器时代到铁器时代，没有铜和青铜的中间时代。”（some African tribes, as a consequence of diffusion, went from the Stone Age to the Iron Age without an intermediate age of copper and bronze.）；
C选项对应原文第一段第二句“举例来说，图片书写的扩散本身不可能产生字母书写系统；正如泰勒所展示的那样，写作艺术经历了一系列的发展阶段，从图画写作开始，发展到象形文字的书写，并以字母书写达到顶峰。”（No amount of diffusion of picture writing could…in alphabetic writing.）。
第2题:
【选项释义】
The phrase “culminated in” in the first paragraph means ______. 在第一段中的短语“culminated in”的意思是______。
A. reached the highest degree A. 达到最高程度
B. changed into B. 变成
C. ended in C. 以……为结果
D. resulted in D. 导致
【考查点】词汇推测题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词可精确定位到原文第一段第二句“举例来说，图片书写的扩散本身不可能产生字母书写系统；正如泰勒所展示的那样，写作艺术经历了一系列的发展阶段，从图画写作开始，发展到象形文字的书写，并以字母书写达到顶峰。”（No amount of diffusion of picture writing…alphabetic writing.），因此本题正确答案为选项A。
【干扰项排除】
B、C、D选项均不符合短语词义。
第3题:
【选项释义】
What can be inferred from the first paragraph? 从第一段可以推断出什么？
A. Progressive evolution with different features is bound to occur in the course of development. A. 在发展过程中，必然会出现具有不同特征的渐进进化。
B. Picture writing is the first form in writing history. B. 图画文字是历史上最早的文字形式。
C. Clans and larger groupings developed from territorial groups. C. 氏族和更大的群体从领土群体发展而来。
D. Sociocultural evolution bears similarity to that of biologic evolution. D. 社会文化进化与生物进化有相似之处。
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到原文第一段第三句“在社会组织领域，从由家庭组成的领土群体发展到了分裂的社会（氏族和更大的群体）。”（In the realm of social organization there was a development from territorial groups composed of families to segmented societies (clans and larger groupings).），因此本题正确答案为选项C。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、D选项原文均未提及，属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following is probably NOT agreed by classical evolutionists? 下列哪一项可能不被古典进化论者所同意？
A. The sequence of stages of writing is applicable to any case as far as evolution is concerned. A. 就进化而言，写作阶段的顺序适用于任何情况。
B. The development of societies does not follow a fixed pattern as tools or techniques do. B. 社会的发展不像工具或技术那样遵循固定的模式。
C. The way society develops is not the same as that of tools, techniques. C. 社会的发展方式和工具、技术的发展方式不一样。
D. Culture develops from one stage to the other. D. 文化从一个阶段发展到另一个阶段。
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词可精确定位到原文最后一段第二句“书写阶段的顺序并不意味着一个社会不努力学习象形文字就不能获得字母表；很明显，许多人确实直接跳到字母表。”（The sequence of stages of writing did not mean that a society could not acquire the alphabet without working its way through hieroglyphic writing; it was obvious that many peoples did skip directly to the alphabet.）。所以写作阶段的顺序适用于任何情况可能不被古典进化论者所同意，因此本题正确答案为选项A。
【干扰项排除】
B、C、D选项均正确：对应原文最后一段第一句“但是，古典进化论者并不认为民族或社会在发展过程中必须经历一系列固定的阶段，而是认为工具、技术、制度，简言之，文化必须经历这些阶段。”（But the classical evolutionists did not maintain that peoples, or societies, had to pass through a fixed series of stages in the course of development, but that tools, techniques, institutions—in short, culture had to pass through the stages.）
第5题:
【选项释义】
According to the theory of cultural evolution, the sequence of stages during which evolution takes place should be ______. 根据文化进化理论，进化发生的阶段顺序应该是______。
A. Stone Age—Copper and Bronze Age—Iron Age A. 石器时代——铜和青铜器时代——铁器时代
B. Stone Age—Iron Age—Copper and Bronze Age B. 石器时代——铁器时代——铜和青铜器时代
C. Iron Age—Stone Age—Copper and Bronze Age C. 铁器时代——石器时代——铜和青铜器时代
D. Copper and Bronze Age—Stone Age—Iron Age D. 铜和青铜器时代——石器时代——铁器时代
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可精确定位到原文第一段最后一句话“有人认为，文化进化论是不合理的，因为一些人跳过了一个假定确定的顺序的阶段；一些非洲部落，由于扩散，从石器时代到铁器时代，没有铜和青铜的中间时代。”（It has been argued…copper and bronze.），因此本题正确答案为选项A。
【干扰项排除】
B、C、D选项均不符合进化发生的阶段顺序。
