The universal global warming at the end of the Ice Age haddramaticeffects ontemperateregions of Asia, Europe, and North America. Ice sheets retreated and sea levels rose. Theclimaticchanges in southwestern Asia were moresubtle, in that they involved shifts in mountain snow lines,rainfallpatterns, andvegetationcover. However, these same cycles of change hadmomentousimpacts on thesparsehuman populations of theregion. At the end of the Ice Age, no more than a few thousand foragers livedalongthe easternMediterraneancoast, in the Jordan andEuphratesvalleys. Within2,000 years, the humanpopulationof theregionnumbered in the tens of thousands, all as a result of village life and farming. Thanks to newenvironmentalandarchaeologicaldiscoveries, we now know something about thisremarkablechange inlocallife.

Pollen samples from freshwater lakes in Syria and elsewhere tell us forest cover expanded rapidly at the end of the Ice Age, for the southwestern Asianclimatewas still cooler andconsiderablywetter than today. Many areas were richer in animal and plantspeciesthan they are now, making them highlyfavorablefor human occupation. About 9000 B.C., most human settlementslayin the areaalongtheMediterraneancoastand in the Zagros Mountains of Iran and their foothills. Somelocalareas, like the Jordan Rivervalley, the middleEuphratesvalley, and some Zagros valleys, were more densely populated than elsewhere. Here moresedentaryand morecomplexsocieties flourished. These people exploited thelandscapeintensively, foraging on hill slopes for wildcerealgrasses and nuts, while huntinggazelleand other game on grassy lowlands and in river valleys. Their settlementscontainexoticobjects such as seashells, stone bowls, and artifacts made ofobsidian(volcanicglass), all traded from afar. Thisconsiderablevolumeof intercommunityexchangebrought adegreeof socialcomplexityin its wake.

Thanks to extremelyfine-grainedexcavationandextensiveuse offlotationmethods (throughwhich seeds are recovered from soil samples), we know a greatdealabout the foraging practices of the inhabitants of Abu Hureyra in Syria'sEuphratesvalley. Abu Hureyra was founded about 9500B.C, a small villagesettlementofcrampedpitdwellings (houses dugpartiallyin the soil) with reed roofs supported by wooden uprights. For the next 1,500 years, its inhabitants enjoyed asomewhatwarmer and damperclimatethan today, living in a well-woodedsteppearea where wildcerealgrasses wereabundant. They subsisted offspringmigrations of Persian gazelles from the south. With such afavorablelocation, about 300 to 400 people lived in a sizable,permanentsettlement. They were no longer aseriesof small bands but lived in a largecommunitywith moreelaboratesocialorganization, probably grouped into clans of people ofcommondescent.

Theflotationsamples from the excavations allowed botanists to study shifts in plant-collecting habits as if they were lookingthroughatelescopeat a changinglandscape. Hundreds of tiny plant remains show how the inhabitants exploited nut harvests in nearby pistachio andoakforests. However, as theclimatedried up, the forests retreated from thevicinityof thesettlement. The inhabitants turned to wildcerealgrassesinstead, collecting them by the thousands, while the percentage of nuts in thedietfell. By 8200B.C.,droughtconditions were soseverethat the people abandoned their long-establishedsettlement, perhaps dispersing into smaller camps.

Five centuries later, about 7700B.C., a new village rose on themound. At first the inhabitants still huntedgazelleintensively. Then, about 7000 B.C.,withinthespaceof a few generations, they switchedabruptlyto herdingdomesticatedgoats and sheep and to growing einkorn, pulses, and othercerealgrasses. Abu Hureyra grew rapidly until it covered nearly 30 acres. It was a close-knitcommunityofrectangular, one-story mud-brick houses, joined by narrow lanes and courtyards, finally abandoned about 5000 B.C.. Manycomplexfactors led to theadoptionof the new economies, not only at Abu Hureyra, but at many other locations such as 'Ain Ghazal, also in Syria, where goat toe bones showing the telltale marks ofabrasioncaused by foot tethering (binding) testify to early herding ofdomesticstock.

Questions:
question_stem: The word "momentous" in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: numerous

tag: B
text: regular

tag: C
text: very important

tag: D
text: very positive
answer_key: C
explanation: C momentous: 重要的，重大的。A 是许多的；B 是常规的；C 是非常重要的；D 是非常积极的，正面的。所以 C 的 very important 正确。

question_stem: Major climatic changes occurred by the end of the Ice Age in all of the following geographic areas EXCEPT
choices: tag: A
text: temperate regions of Asia

tag: B
text: southwestern Asia

tag: C
text: North America

tag: D
text: Europe
answer_key: B
explanation: B, EXCEPT 题，排除法。A/C/D 都集中在第一句，只有 B 没有提到，所以答案是 B.

question_stem: The phrase "this remarkable change" in the passage refers to
choices: tag: A
text: warming at the end of the Ice Age

tag: B
text: shifts in mountain snow lines

tag: C
text: the movement of people from farms to villages

tag: D
text: a dramatic increase in the population
answer_key: D
explanation: D, 指代，往前看，前一句说由于农业和城镇的发展，人口成千上万，紧接着就说 this change，说要这个变化指的就是人口的增长，所以答案是 D。

question_stem: The word "exploited" in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: explored

tag: B
text: utilized

tag: C
text: inhabited

tag: D
text: improved
answer_key: B
explanation: B exploit: 开采，开发，剥削，利用。在原文中是利用的意思。A 是开发，探寻；B 是利用；C 是居住；D 是改进。所以 B 的 utilize 正确。

question_stem: Why does the author mention "seashells, stone bowls, and artifacts made of obsidian"?
choices: tag: A
text: To give examples of objects obtained through trade with other societies

tag: B
text: To illustrate the kinds of objects that are preserved in a cool climate

tag: C
text: To provide evidence that the organization of work was specialized

tag: D
text: To give examples of the artistic ability of local populations
answer_key: A
explanation: A 修辞目的题，先看例子所在句子，说定居点里包含很多通过贸易获得的外来物品，诸如 blabla，所以这些东西都是外来品，A 是正确答案。B/C/D 都没说。

question_stem: The word "cramped" in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: primitive

tag: B
text: secure

tag: C
text: extended

tag: D
text: confined
answer_key: D
explanation: D cramped: 局促的，狭隘的，难以辨认的。A 是原始的；B 是安全的，无虑的；C 是延伸的，扩大的；D 是狭窄的，有限制的。所以 D 的 confined 正确。

question_stem: Paragraph 3 suggests which of the following about the settlement of Abu Hureyra?
choices: tag: A
text: The settlement was inhabited by small groups of people from nearby areas.

tag: B
text: Small bands of people migrated in and out of the settlement.

tag: C
text: The location of the settlement made permanent development difficult.

tag: D
text: The easy availability of food led to the growth of the settlement.
answer_key: D
explanation: D 以 AH 做关键词定位至第一句的后半句和第二句的前半句，但一直在说 AH 是怎么回事，只得往下看，说接下来的1500年里，他们所在的地方气候温暖，种子丰富，所以答案是 D，C 说反了；A 和 B 没提及

question_stem: The word "shifts" in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: effects

tag: B
text: similarities

tag: C
text: changes

tag: D
text: exceptions
answer_key: C
explanation: C  shift: 转变，转换，倒班。A 是效果；B 是相似；C 是改变；D 是例外。所以答案是 C 的 change。

question_stem: Paragraph 4 suggests that the people of Abu Hureyra abandoned their long-established settlement because
choices: tag: A
text: the inhabitants had cleared all the trees from the forests

tag: B
text: wild cereal grasses took over pistachio and oak forests

tag: C
text: people wanted to explore new areas

tag: D
text: lack of rain caused food shortages
answer_key: D
explanation: D 以 abandoned long established settlement 做关键词定位至最后一句，说干旱如此严重，使他们放弃了原来的住所，所以放弃的原因是因为 lack of rain，正确答案是 D，其他都不是原因

question_stem: According to paragraph 5, after 7000 B.C. the settlement of Abu Hureyra differed from earlier settlements at that location in all of the following EXCEPT
choices: tag: A
text: the domestication of animals

tag: B
text: the intensive hunting of gazelle

tag: C
text: the size of the settlement

tag: D
text: the design of the dwellings
answer_key: B
explanation: B EXCEPT 题，排除法。A 的 domestication 做关键词定位至第二句，说驯养的动物不同，所以 A 正确，不选；B 的 gazelle 做关键词定位至第二句，这只是7700 BC 的事儿，不是不同也不是变化，所以 B 错，选；C 的 size 做关键词定位至第三句的30 acre，所以 C 对，不选；D 的 design 和 dwelling 做关键词定位至倒数第二句，正确，不选

question_stem: The word "abruptly" in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: informally

tag: B
text: briefly

tag: C
text: suddenly

tag: D
text: surprisingly
answer_key: C
explanation: C  abruptly: 突然地，唐突地。A 是非正式地，B 是简略的，暂时的；C 是突然的；D 是令人惊讶地。所以正确答案是 suddenly。

question_stem: Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
choices: tag: A
text: In many areas besides Abu Hureyra, complex factors led to new economies including the herding of domestic stock.

tag: B
text: In 'Ain Ghazal and Syria, domestic stock was more important than it was at Abu Hureyra.

tag: C
text: Once early methods of herding animals improved, new economies were adopted.

tag: D
text: Many complex theories attempt to explain the early domestication of animals.
answer_key: A
explanation: A，原句的结构是诸多复杂因素导致 economy 的采用，后面罗列的非主要逻辑可以不看。所以正确答案是 A。B/C/D 都缺失原文主干，且 B 的比较关系原句没有体现出来；C 的 once 这个逻辑错误；D 内容完全不符合。