TPO 16-1 Trade and the Ancient Middle East（人文科学--商业）

字数：740

建议做题时间 20分钟

Trade was the mainstay of the urban economy in the Middle East, as caravans negotiated the surrounding desert, restricted only by access to water and by mountain ranges. This has been so since ancient times, partly due to the geology of the area, which is mostly limestone and sandstone, with few deposits of metallic ore and other useful materials Ancient demands for obsidian (a black volcanic rock useful for making mirrors and tools) led to trade with Armenia to the north, while jade for cutting tools was brought from Turkistan, and the precious stone lapis lazuli was imported from Afghanistan. One can trace such expeditions back to ancient Sumeria, the earliest known Middle Eastern civilization. Records show merchant caravans and trading posts set up by the Sumerians in the surrounding mountains and deserts of Persia and Arabia, where they traded grain for raw materials, such as timber and stones, as well as for metals and gems.

Reliance on trade had several important consequences. Production was generally in the hands of skilled individual artisans doing piecework under the tutelage of a master who was also the shop owner. In these shops differences of rank were blurred as artisans and masters labored side by side in the same modest establishment, were usually members of the same guild and religious sect, lived in the same neighborhoods, and often had assumed (or real) kinship relationships. The worker was bound to the master by a mutual contract that either one could repudiate, and the relationship was conceptualized as one of partnership.

This mode of craft production favored the growth of self-governing and ideologically egalitarian craft guilds everywhere in the Middle Eastern city. These were essentially professional associations that provided for the mutual aid and protection of their members, and allowed for the maintenance of professional standards. The growth of independent guilds was furthered by the fact that surplus was not a result of domestic craft production but resulted primarily from international trading; the government left working people to govern themselves, much as shepherds of tribal confederacies were left alone by their leaders. In the multiplicity of small-scale local egalitarian or quasi-egalitarian organizations for fellowship, worship, and production that flourished in this laissez-faire environment, individuals could interact with one another within a community of harmony and ideological equality, following their own popularly elected leaders and governing themselves by shared consensus while minimizing distinctions of wealth and power.

The mercantile economy was also characterized by a peculiar moral stance that is typical of people who live by trade—an attitude that is individualistic, calculating, risk taking, and adaptive to circumstances. As among tribespeople, personal relationships and a careful weighing of character have always been crucial in a mercantile economy with little regulation, where one's word is one's bond and where informal ties of trust cement together an international trade network. Nor have merchants and artisans ever had much tolerance for aristocratic professions of moral superiority, favoring instead an egalitarian ethic of the open market, where steady hard work, the loyalty of one's fellows, and ntrepreneurial skill make all the difference. And, like the pastoralists, Middle Eastern merchants and artisans unhappy with their environment could simply pack up and leave for greener pastures—an act of self-assertion wholly impossible in most other civilizations throughout history.

Dependence on long-distance trade also meant that the great empires of the Middle East were built both literally and figuratively on shifting sand. The central state, though often very rich and very populous, was intrinsically fragile, since the development of new international trade routes could undermine the monetary base and erode state power, as occurred when European seafarers circumvented Middle Eastern merchants after Vasco da Gama's voyage around Africa in the late fifteenth century opened up a southern route. The ecology of the region also permitted armed predators to prowl the surrounding barrens, which were almost impossible for a state to control. Peripheral peoples therefore had a great advantage in their dealings with the center, making government authority insecure and anxious.

题目

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答案解析

1. 事实信息题

解析：根据trade, important定位到第1句，说贸易是支柱，因为受到地理的限制，后文具体说明各地之间的贸易包括什么东西，所以选C

2. 词汇题

解析：repudiate后面的名词是contract，这句话说的是工人通过合同束缚于主人，这个合同任何一方都可以repudiate，由此推断应该是违反的意思，选B。Repudiate 拒绝、否定

3. 事实信息题

解析：根据shop owner, workers定位到第2句，但是这句没说明owner如何对待worker，继续往后看。后句说阶级差异被模糊了，他们经常是同行业、宗教的成员，是邻居，也可能是亲戚，所以选D。A中的workers were ranked原文没说，B说态度因人而异与原文相反，C原文说任何一方都可以不遵守，与原文相反

4. 修辞目的题

解析：高亮部分是一个具体的事实（例子），为了说明前半句，是这个事实导致了独立行业的进一步发展。前句在说明行业协会的作用，首句说这种手工生产方式有利于行业自律平等的发展。但是高亮和首句没有太大关系，所以A是错的。继续往后看，说政府让工人自己管理，所以高亮是给出政府为什么有这种行为的原因，选C。BD都没说

5. 事实信息否定题

解析：A根据support workers (与provide mutual aid and protection同义表达), uphold principles (与maintenance of professional standards同义表达)定位到第2句，正确。B原文没说到geographic area，选B。C根据vote定位到最后一句，正确。D根据equals定位到最后一句，正确。

6. 词汇题

解析：这句话说通过共同的consensus，而最小化差异，由while可知前后是同一方向，consensus与distinction词义应该相反，所以选D一致

7. 事实信息否定题

解析：A对应倒数第2句entrepreneurial skill，B对应倒数第2句loyalty of one’s fellow，C没说，D对应倒数第2句steady hard work。

8. 句子简化题

解析：原句结构为个人关系和对人品的仔细权衡在商业经济中很重要。A增加了comfortable，遗漏很多重要信息。B对。C原文说little regulations没有规定，C相反。D原文没说only

9. 词汇题

解析：ethic伦理道德，选A

10. 事实信息题

解析：根据many other people (与most other civilizations同义表达)定位到最后一句，中东商人如果不满意环境会搬到别的地方，而这对其他文明来说是完全不可能的，选D

11. 词汇题

解析：intrinsic本质的、固有的，选A

12. 修辞目的题

解析：原句说新的国际贸易路线会破坏货币基础、侵蚀国家权力，然后说就像在某个时候所发生的那样。说明这个例子是为了证明前半句会对国家的金钱和权力破坏，而这句话是对前句的进一步说明，前句说长距离的贸易意味着中东王国是建立在流沙上的，即不稳定，所以选B，融合了两句话的主要信息。

13. 句子插入题

解析：插入句说for one thing, 说明是其中一个方面，且是靠前的方面；根据句意，it指代的应该是trade，贸易创造了卖到当地和国外的成品需求。A后都在讲workers, master之间的关系，与插入句内容不太相关。所以选A

14. 段落小结题

解析：A是第1段中的一个细节，不选

B与原文第3段最后一句说反，是贫富差距缩小，不是扩大，不选

C对应第4段，正确

D与第3段第1句相反，不选

E对应第2段和第3段的最后一句，正确

F对应第5段第1句，正确

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