托福寫作模擬試題：英國小麥種植歷史

　　新托福綜合寫作題目回顧

　　閱讀主要觀點提�。�

　　總論點：在英國一個地區(qū)的土壤層中發(fā)現(xiàn)了小麥的痕跡。保存這些小麥的土壤是8000年前的，所以可以推測出這些土壤中的小麥也可能是8000年前的。但是，英國是從6000年前才開始種植小麥的。科學家試圖用三種方法解釋為什么最新發(fā)現(xiàn)的小麥比英國最初開始種植小麥的時間早了2000年。

　　解釋一：該土壤中的小麥并不是8000年前的。土壤是一層一層形成的，早期的土壤會被后面的土壤覆蓋。小麥有可能被海水沖刷到下層的土壤中。所以，英國8000年前的土壤中發(fā)現(xiàn)的小麥，可能比8000年前晚一些才有的。

　　解釋二：與歐洲做交易得來的小麥。這些小麥可能是源于8000年前，但是并不是生長在英國。有可能是英國人乘船與歐洲大陸的人進行交易，購買了歐洲的小麥。

　　解釋三：是英國本土種植的小麥。有可能英國種植小麥的歷史更早些。英國8000年前的居民大部分是依靠狩獵和采集果實為生的人，其中一部分可能是農(nóng)民。他們可能在英國廣泛種植小麥之前，就可以開始種植小麥了。

　　聽力主要觀點提取：

　　總論點：閱讀中的每個解釋都有問題。

　　駁論一：上層土壤中的植物被沖刷到下層土壤中，只有當土壤層十分松散才可以可能。但是英國最近剛被挖掘的那處土壤十分緊實(dense)，上層土壤中的小麥不能被海水沖到下層土壤。并且，科研人員發(fā)現(xiàn)該地區(qū)土壤的上層土壤中有很多種類植物，并沒有流入它下層的土壤中。

　　駁論二：8000年前，只有歐洲南部有農(nóng)業(yè)種植。如果英國人想要到達歐洲南部，首先要抵達歐洲北部，然后再到歐洲南部。當時的航行條件是很差的，所以英國人不太可能長途跋涉到歐洲南部交易小麥。

　　駁論三：種植小麥會經(jīng)歷一個周期，這期間小麥會釋放花粉，并在該區(qū)域傳播。然而，科研人員在該區(qū)域并沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)小麥的花粉。

　　新托福綜合寫作范文:英國小麥種植歷史

　　The speaker proposes that the three theories mentioned in the reading to explain the presence of wheat 2,000 years earlier than expected are all problematic.

　　First, the professor states that the theory of a dating mistake is unconvincing. If the plants in the upper layers of soil want to move to the lower layers, the layers of soil must be loosely packed. However, the site’s soil layers are very dense, leaving no space for wheat to move downward to the older layers. So it is not possible the newer and older soil layers mix together.

　　Second, the writer makes the point that the wheat was traded from Europe by the British hunter-gatherers. The professor refutes the idea by saying that it was very unlikely that the Britain would traveled far into Europe to trade for domesticated wheat. Farming was practiced in the southern part of Europe, far away from Britain. To arrival terminal, the British had to travel by boat to arrive in the northern Europe and then they had to traveled far to southern Europe. Accounting for the difficulty in traveling at that time, it is not likely that the British would travel so far to trade for wheat.

　　Finally, the professor presents that it is also unlikely that the early farmers grew wheat at the site. The reason is that farming wheat would go through a lifecycle including a reproductive pace. So growing wheat would release pollen spreading around the site. But the scientists did not find any pollen of domesticated plants at the site.