2013年8月25日托福阅读真题解析2013年8月25日托福阅读真题解析.doc

2013年8月25日托福阅读真题解析 第一套题： 第一篇 TOPIC 某古代王国扩张及衰退 古代地中海附近的一个国家，不断军事扩张，变得很繁荣。但随着版图的扩大，周围国家的威胁（如俄国），并且后面几代君主个人能力不行，这个国家渐渐衰弱。还介绍了他的政治制度，虽然君主一个人掌权，但后来产生了两种职位分权，一种是有一个人会对君主进行授权，另一种是很有权利的女人。但随着这个国家经济和社会的衰退，最后一段提到了一个解决的办法，但已无法扭转。 解析：本文属历史类话题，介绍了某国家的兴亡过程。从机经回忆来看，该古代王国应指曾盛极一时的土耳其奥斯曼帝国。奥斯曼帝国在欧洲历史长河中扮演了非常重要的角色，很多重要的如新航路开辟等历史事件都和奥斯曼帝国的崛起有直接联系，所以也常常在托福的历史类文章中出现，大家应对其有一定了解。 Ottoman Empire Origins The Ottoman state began as one of many small Turkish states that emerged in Asia Minor during the breakdown of the empire of the Seljuk Turks. The Ottoman Turks began to absorb the other states, and during the reign (1451–81) of Muhammad II they ended all other local Turkish dynasties. The early phase of Ottoman expansion took place under Osman I, Orkhan, Murad I, and Beyazid I at the expense of the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria, and Serbia. Bursa fell in 1326 and Adrianople (the modern Edirne) in 1361; each in turn became the capital of the empire. The great Ottoman victories of Kosovo Field (1389) and Nikopol (1396) placed large parts of the Balkan Peninsula under Ottoman rule and awakened Europe to the Ottoman danger. The Ottoman siege of Constantinople was lifted at the appearance of Timur, who defeated and captured Beyazid in 1402. The Ottomans, however, soon rallied. The Period of Great Expansion The empire, reunited by Muhammad I, expanded victoriously under Muhammads successors Murad II and Muhammad II. The victory (1444) at Varna over a crusading army led by Ladislaus III of Poland was followed in 1453 by the capture of Constantinople. Within a century the Ottomans had changed from a nomadic horde to the heirs of the most ancient surviving empire of Europe. Their success was due partly to the weakness and disunity of their adversaries, partly to their excellent and far superior military organization. Their army comprised numerous Christians—not only conscripts, who were organized as the corps of Janissaries, but also volunteers. Turkish expansion reached its peak in the 16th cent. unde