托福阅读TPO 40 Ancient Athens(5页).doc

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1、-托福阅读TPO 40 Ancient Athens-第 3 页Ancient AthensPara.1 One of the most important changes in Greece during the period from 800 B.C. to 500 B.C. was the rise of the polis, or city-state, and each polis developed a system of government that was appropriate to its circumstances. The problems that were fac

2、ed and solved in Athens were the sharing of political power between the established aristocracy and the emerging other classes, and the adjustment of aristocratic ways of life to the ways of life of the new polis. It was the harmonious blending of all of these elements that was to produce the classi

3、cal culture of Athens. Para.2 Entering the polis age, Athens had the traditional institutions of other Greek protodemocratic states: an assembly of adult males, an aristocratic council, and annually elected officials. Within this traditional framework the Athenians, between 600 B.C. and 450 B. C., e

4、volved what Greeks regarded as a fully fledged democratic constitution, though the right to vote was given to fewer groups of people than is seen in modem times. Para.3 The first steps toward change were taken by Solon in 594 B. C.，when he broke the aristocracys stranglehold on elected offices by es

5、tablishing wealth rather than birth as the basis of office holding, abolishing the economic obligations of ordinary Athenians to the aristocracy, and allowing the assembly (of which all citizens were equal members) to overrule the decisions of local courts in certain cases. The strength of the Athen

6、ian aristocracy was further weakened during the rest of the century by the rise of a type of government known as a tyranny, which is a form of interim rule by a popular strongman (not rule by a ruthless dictator as the modern use of the term suggests to us). The Peisistratids, as the succession of t

7、yrants were called (after the founder of the dynasty, Peisistratos), strengthened Athenian central administration at the expense of the aristocracy by appointing judges throughout the region, producing Athens first national coinage, and adding and embellishing festivals that tended to focus attentio

8、n on Athens rather than on local villages of the surrounding region. By the end of the century, the time was ripe for more change: the tyrants were driven out, and in 508 B C a new reformer, Cleisthenes, gave final form to the developments reducing aristocratic control already under way.Para.4 Cleis

9、thenes principal contribution to the creation of democracy at Athens was to complete the long process of weakening family and clan structures, especially among the aristocrats, and to set in their place locality-based corporations called demes, which became the point of entry for all civic and most

10、religious life in Athens. Out of the demes were created 10 artificial tribes of roughly equal population. From the demes, by either election or selection, came 500 members of a new council, 6,000 jurors for the courts, 10 generals, and hundreds of commissioners. The assembly was sovereign in all mat

11、ters but in practice delegated its power to subordinate bodies such as the council, which prepared the agenda for the meetings of the assembly, and me courts, which took care of most judicial matters. Various committees acted as an executive branch, implementing policies of the assembly and supervis

12、ing, for instance, the food and water supplies and public buildings. This wide-scale participation by the citizenry in the government distinguished the democratic form of the Athenian polis from other, less liberal forms. Para.5 The effect of Cleisthenes reforms was to establish the superiority of t

13、he Athenian community as a whole over local institutions without destroying them. National politics rather than local or deme politics became the focal point. At the same time, entry into national politics began at the deme level and gave local loyalty a new focus: Athens itself. Over the next two c

14、enturies the implications of Cleisthenes reforms were fully exploited. Para.6 During the fifth century B. C. the council of 500 was extremely influential in shaping policy. In the next century, however, it was the mature assembly that took on decision-making responsibility. By any measure other than

15、 that of the aristocrats, who had been upstaged by the supposedly inferior people, the Athenian democracy was a stunning success. Never before, or since, have so many people been involved in the serious business of self-governance. It was precisely this opportunity to participate in public life that

16、 provided a stimulus for the brilliant unfolding of classical Greek culture. Vocabulary:1. Fully-fledged _ 2. Stranglehold_3. Overrule_ 4. Interim_5. Tyranny_ 6. Tyrant_7. Succession_ 8. Embellish_9. Clan_ 10. Delegate_11. Sovereign_ 12. Surbodinate_13. Agenda_ 14. Judicial_15. Exploit_ 16. Stunning

17、_1. Paragraph 1 supports which of the following statements about the Greek city-states?A. Most city-states followed the model provided by AthensB. Most city-states were based on aristocratic ruleC. Different types of government and organization were used by different city-statesD. By 500 BC the city

18、-states were no longer powerful2. According to paragraph 2, Athens had all of the following before becoming a city-state EXCEPT A. a council made up of aristocrats B. an assembly made up of menC. a constitution that was fully democratic D. officials who were elected yearly3. According to paragraph 3

19、, an important effect of making wealth the basis of office holding was toA. make fewer people qualified to be members of the assemblyB. make it possible for non-aristocrats to hold officeC. help aristocrats maintain powerD. increase economic opportunities for all Athenian citizens4. The word abolish

20、ing in the passage is closest in meaning toA. limiting B. eliminating C. revising D. Supervising5. In paragraph 3, the authors explanation of the word “tyranny” indicates thatA. Most Athenians were opposed to rule by the Peisistratids. B. The word had somewhat different meaning for the Athenians tha

21、n it does for the people todayC. The tyrants were supported by the aristocracyD. the word can be applied only to ruthless dictators6. According to paragraph 3, all of the following were true of the Peisistratids EXCEPT:A. A national system of coins were madeB. Judges were appointed across the region

22、C. New festivals were addedD. Increased attention was focused on local villages7. The word embellishing in the passage is closest in meaning toA. making more attractive B. providing support for C. duplicating D. controlling8. Which of the following sentences best expresses the essential information

23、in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choice change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.A. Cleisthenes, a reformer who recognized that aristocratic control had been decreasing since the end of the previous century, finally drove the tyrants out of Athens

24、in 508 B.C.B. The tyrants were driven out, and in 508 B.C. Cleisthenes put in place the structures that completed the weakening of the aristocracyC. By driving out the tyrants, Cleisthenes enabled the reforms that had been underway since the end of the century to reach their final form in 508 B. C.D

25、. Toward the end of the century, the tyrants were driven out, and in 508 B.C. Cleisthenes saw that it was time to change the structures that had reduced aristocratic control.9. According to paragraph 4, one effect of making the demes the point of entry for civic life was toA. ensure that every regio

26、n had the same of commissioners.B. distribute the population more equally throughout the Athens region.C. limit the number of aristocratic clans.D. reduce the importance of family connections.10. According to paragraph 4, one role of the new council was toA. determine what issues came before the ass

27、emblyB. prepare the agenda for the courtsC. carry out the assemblys policiesD. oversee the distribution of food and water11. The word exploited is closest in meaning to A. separated B. understood C. utilized D. Exported12. The word stunning is closest in meaning to A. popular B. universal C. impress

28、ive D. continuing13. Look at the four squares【】that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Indeed, at the height of Athenian democracy there was no government separate from its citizenry. 14. Prose summaryBetween 600 B.C. and 450 B.C., Athens changed the distribution of

29、 political power between the aristocracy and ordinary citizens.Answer choicesA. The rise of the city-state put enormous pressure on the aristocracy to change its traditional way of life to make it appear more in harmony with the values of classical Athenian culture.B. The aristocrats staged elaborat

30、e festivals that focused attention on Athens instead of the surrounding villages.C. Cleisthenes reforms reduced aristocratic power by recognizing the citizen body and changing the entry points to civic life so that political power did not rely on traditional family and clan structures.D. The aristoc

31、racys monopoly on political power ended with Solons reform, and its political influence was further eroded by the centralization of administration under the tyrants.E. Cleisthenes gave each tribe an equal number of council members, jurors, generals, and commissioners.F. Over time, as the all citizen assembly took on more and more of the actual exercise of political power, ordinary participated in public life more fully than ever before.