2013年7月21日托福阅读真题解析2013年7月21日托福阅读真题解析.doc

2013年7月21日托福阅读真题解析 1 commercial revolution 贸易的发展带来的变化以及城市的变化等。 解析：本文描述在公元前贸易变化的情况，根据考生回忆重点描述的腓尼基人的贸易的变化，现根据机经的内容还原相关背景知识，请大家参考下文。 Mediterranean trade: from the 11th century BC The Phoenicians inhabit the region of modern Lebanon and Syria from about 3000 BC (see Palestine and Phoenicia). They become the greatest traders and the best sailors and navigators of the pre-classical world. They are also the first people to establish a large colonial network based on seafaring. In all these skills they build on the example of their maritime predecessors, the Minoans of Crete. An Egyptian narrative of about 1080 BC, the Story of Wen-Amen, provides an insight into the scale of this activity. One of the characters is Wereket-El, a Phoenician merchant living at Tanis in the Nile delta. As many as 50 ships carry out his business, plying back and forth between the port of Sidon and the Nile. The most prosperous period for Phoenicia is the 10th century BC, when the surrounding region is stable. Hiram, the Phoenician king of Tyre, is an ally and business partner of Solomon, king of Israel. For Solomons great Temple in Jerusalem Hiram provides skilled craftsmen and materials - particularly timber, including cedar from the forests of Lebanon. And the two kings go into trade in partnership. They send out Phoenician vessels on long expeditions (three years for the round trip) to bring back gold, sandalwood, ivory, monkeys and peacocks from Ophir - an unidentified place, probably on the east coast of Africa or the west coast of India. Phoenicia is famous for its luxury goods. The cedar wood is not only exported as top-quality timber for architecture and shipbuilding. It is also carved by the Phoenicians, and the same skill is adapted to even more precious work in ivory. The rare and expensive dye, Tyrian purple, complements another famous local product, fine linen. The metalworkers of the region are famous, particularly in gold. And Tyre and Sidon are known for their glass. These a