2013年12月28日托福阅读真题解析..docVIP

2013年12月28日托福阅读真题解析 第一篇 TOPIC 奥斯曼帝国的衰落 讲一个Ottoman王朝的decline。文章第一段叙述王朝背景，说它在地中海附近，曾繁荣一时，后来因为诸多原因走向衰败。文章每一段列举一个原因。第一个原因说一个伟大的君主sultan，在统治期间不停扩张领地，经济贸易发展很好，但后几任君主没有这样的魄力。第二个原因是王权旁落，那位伟大君主没有非常依靠高管来进行管理，但其继任者都或多或少被高官削弱了权力。第三个原因是女性的影响。联姻导致其他国家或部族的势力进入本朝，并会出现母壮而子少的情况，王权最终被削弱。最后一个原因是随着经济发展，传统贸易通路被阻隔，经济影响虽然不是立竿见影，但对王朝发展存在缓慢而深远的影响。 解析：本文属历史类话题，主要围绕古代王朝的发展来谈，从文章结构来说，很明确是因果关系类文章，详述了四点不同原因，比较常见的是经济原因，在托福阅读中常常会被分析到。比较少见的具有独特性的就是女性影响，这是奥斯曼帝国苏丹（帝国首领）的权力旁落的原因之一。 The Sultanate of Women The Sultanate of Women (Turkish: Kad?nlar Saltanat?) was the nearly 130-year period during the 16th and 17th centuries when the women of the Imperial Harem of the Ottoman Empire exerted extraordinary political influence over state matters and over the (male) Ottoman sultan. Many of the Sultans during this time were minors and it was their mothers, the Valide Sultans (the leaders of the Harem), who effectively ruled the Empire. Most of these women were of slave origin, which was often the case for consorts of Ottoman sultans. Valide sultan Valide sultan (Ottoman Turkish: ????? ?????, literally Mother Sultan) was the title held by the mother of a ruling Sultan in the Ottoman Empire. The title was first used in the 16th century for Ay?e Hafsa Sultan, consort of Selim I and mother of Suleiman the Magnificent, superseding the previous title of mehd-i ülya (“cradle of the great”). The Turkish pronunciation of the word Valide is [va?.li?de]. The title is sometimes translated as queen mother, although the position of valide sultan was quite different. The position was perhaps the most important position in the Ottoman Empire after the sultan himself. As the mother to the sultan, by Islamic tradition (A mothers right is Gods right), the valide sultan would have a significant influence on the affairs of the empire. She had great power in the court and her own rooms (always adjacent to her sons) and state staff. In particular during the 17th century, in a period known as the Sultanate of Women, a series of