Hunting is at best a precarious way of procuring food, even when the diet is supplemented with
seeds and fruits. Not long after the last Ice Age, around 7,000 B.C. (during the Neolithic period),
some hunters and gatherers began to rely chiefly on agriculture for their sustenance. Others
continued the old pastoral and nomadic ways. Indeed, agriculture itself evolved over the courseof
(5) time, and Neolithic peoples had long known how to grow crops. The real transformation of human
life occurred when huge numbers of people began to rely primarily and permanently on the grain
they grew and the animals they domesticated.
Agriculture made possible a more stable and secure life. With it Neolithic peoples flourished,
fashioning an energetic, creative era. They were responsible for many fundamental inventions and
(10) innovations that the modern world takes for granted. First, obviously, is systematic agriculture--
that is, the reliance of Neolithic peoples on agriculture as their primary, not/nerely subsidiary,
source of food.
Thus they developed the primary economic activity of the entire ancient world and the basis of all
modern life. With the settled routine of Neolithic farmers came the evolution of towns and
(15) eventually cities. Neolithic farmers usually raised more food than they could consume, and their
surpluses permitted larger, healthier populations. Population growth in turn created an even
greater reliance on settled farming, as only systematic agriculture could sustain the increased
numbers of people. Since surpluses o food could also be bartered for other commodities, the
Neolithic era witnessed ihe beginnings of large-scale exchange of goods. In time the increasing
(20) complexity of Neolithic societies led to the development of writing, prompted by the need to keep
records and later by the urge to chronicle experiences, learning, and beliefs.
The transition to settled life also had a profound impact on the family. The shared needs and
pressures that encourage extended-family ties are less prominent in settled than in nomadic
societies. Bonds to the extended family weakened. In towns and cities, the nuclear family was
(25) more dependent on its immediate neighbors than on kinfolk.
What does the passage mainly discuss？
A．Why many human societies are dependent on agriculture
B．the changes agriculture brought to human life
C．How Neolithic peoples discovered agriculture
D．Why the first agricultural societies failed
When we talk about intelligence, we do not mean the ability to get a good score on a certain kind of test, or even the ability to do well in school. These are at best only indicators of something larger, deeper, and far more important. By intelligence we mean a style. of life, a way of behaving in various situations. The true test of intelligence is not how much we know what to do, but how we behave when we don’t know what to do.
The intelligent person, young or old, meeting a new situation or problem, opens himself up to it. He tries to take in with mind and senses everything he can about it. He thinks about it, instead of about himself or what it might cause to happen to him. He grapples (努力克服) with it boldly, imaginatively, resourcefully (机智地), and if not confidently, at least hopefully: if he fails to master it, he looks without fear or shame at his mistakes and learns what he can from them. This is intelligence. Clearly its roots lie in a certain feeling about life, and one’s self with respect to life. Just as clearly, unintelligence is not what most psychologists seem to suppose, the same thing as intelligence, only less of it. It is an entirely different style. of behavior, arising out of entirely different set of attitudes.
Years of watching and comparing bright children with the not-bright, or less bright, have shown that they are very different kinds of people. The bright child is curious about life and reality, eager to get in touch with it, embrace (捉住机会) it, unite himself with it. There is no wall; no barrier, between himself and life. On the other hand, the dull child is far less curious, far less interested in what goes on and what is real, more inclined (倾向于) to live in a world of fantasy. The bright child likes to experiment, to try things out. He lives by the maxim (格言) that there is more than one way to skin a cat. If he can’t do something one way, he’ll try another. The dull child is usually afraid to try at all. It takes a great deal of urging to get him to try even once; if that try fails, he is through.
Nobody starts off stupi
D.Hardly an adult in a thousand, or ten thousand, could in any three years of his life learn as much, grow as much in his understanding of the world around him, as every infant (婴儿) learns and grows in his first three years. But what happens, as we grow older, to this extraordinary capacity for learning and intellectual growth？ What happens is that it is destroyed, and more than by any other one thing, it is destroyed by the process that we misname education – a process that goes on in most homes and schools.
11. The writer believes that intelligence is doing well on some examinations.
A.True
B.False
12. The writer believes that “unintelligence” is a particular way of looking at the world.
A.True
B.False
13. Why does the writer say that education is misnamed？
A.Because it takes place more in homes than in school.
B.Because it discourages intellectual growth.
C.Because it helps dull children with their problems.
D.Because it helps children understand the world around them.
14. “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” Which of the following maxims has a similar meaning to this one？
A.If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, and try again.
B.All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy.
C.Make new friends and keep the old; one is silver and the other is gold.
D.Make hay while the sun shines.
15. “It is an entirely different style. of behavior, arising out of an entirely different set of attitudes.” “It” in this sentence refers to （） .
A.intelligence
B.behavior
C.life
D.unintelligence
