The EuropeanMesolithic(roughlythe period from 8000 B.C. to 2700 B.C.) testifies to acontinuityin human culture from the times of the Ice Age. Thiscontinuity, however, was based oncontinuousadjustmentto environmental changes following the end of the lastglacialperiod (about 12,500 years ago). Three broad subdivisionswithinthe northernMesolithicare known inScandinavia.The Maglemose Period (7500–5700 B.C.) was a time ofseasonalexploitationof rivers and lakes, combined withterrestrialhunting and foraging. The sites from the Kongemose Period (5700–4600 B.C.) are mainly on the Baltic Sea coasts,alongbays and near lagoons, where the people exploited bothmarineandterrestrialresources. Many Kongemose sites aresomewhatlarger than Maglemose ones. The Ertebølle Period (4600–3200 B.C.) was theculminationofMesolithicculture in southernScandinavia.

By the Ertebølle Period, the Scandinavians were occupying coastal settlements year-round and subsisting off a very wide range of food sources. These included forest game andwaterfowl,shellfish, sea mammals, and both shallow-water and deepwater fish. There were smaller,seasonalcoastal sites, too, forspecificactivities such as deepwater fishing, sealing, or hunting ofmigratorybirds. One such site, the Aggersund site in Denmark, was occupied for short periods of time in the autumn, when the inhabitants collected oysters and hunted some game, especiallymigratoryswans. Ertebølle technology was far moreelaboratethan that of itsMesolithicpredecessors; a wide variety of antler, bone, and wood tools forspecializedpurposes such as fowling and sea-mammal hunting were developed, including dugout canoes up to ten meters long.

Withsedentarysettlementcomesevidenceof greater socialcomplexityin the use of cemeteries for burials and changes inburialpractices. The trend toward moresedentarysettlement, the cemeteries, and theoccasionalsocialdifferentiationrevealed byelaborateburials are all reflections of an intensified use of resources among theserelativelyaffluenthunter-gatherers of 3000 B.C. Mesolithicsocieties intensified the foodquestby exploiting many moremarinespecies, makingproductiveuse ofmigratorywaterfowland theirbreedinggrounds, and collectingshellfishinenormousnumbers. This intensification is also reflected in a much moreelaborateanddiversetechnology, more exchange of goods and materials between neighbors, greater variety insettlementtypes, and a slowly rising populationthroughoutsouthernScandinavia. These phenomena may, in part, be areflectionof rising sea levelsthroughouttheMesolithicthat flooded many cherished territories. There are signs, too, of regional variations inartifactforms and styles,indicativeof cultural differences between people living in well-delineated territories andcompetingfor resources.

Mesolithiccultures are much less well-defined elsewhere in Europe,partlybecause theclimaticchanges were less extreme than in southernScandinaviaand because there were fewer opportunities for coastaladaptation. In much of central Europe,settlementwas confined to lakeside and riverside locations, widely separated from one another bydenseforests. ManyMesolithiclakeside sites were located in transitional zones between different environments so that the inhabitants could return to a central base location, where for much of the year they lived close topredictableresources such as lake fish. However, they wouldexploitboth forest game and otherseasonalresources from satellite camps. For example, the archaeologist Michael Jochim believes that some groups lived during most of the year in campsalongthe Danube River in central Europe, moving to summer encampments on the shores of neighboring lakes. In areas like Spain, there appears to have been intensifiedexploitationofmarineand forest resources. There was a trend nearly everywhere toward greater variety in the diet, with more attention being paid to less obvious foods and to those that require more complex processing methods than do game and other such resources.

Thus, in parts of Europe, there was a long-term trend among hunter-gatherer societies toward a more extensiveexploitationof food resources, oftenwithinthecontextof astrategythat sought ways tominimizethe impact of environmental uncertainty. In morefavoredsouthernScandinavia, such societies achieved a new level of socialcomplexitythat was to becomecommonplaceamong later farming peoples, and thispreadaptationproved an importantcatalystfor rapid economic and social change when farming did come to Europe.

Questions:
question_stem: What can be inferred from paragraph 1 about human life in Mesolithic Scandinavia?
choices: tag: A
text: People tended to live in smaller groups during the Ertebǿlle Period than during earlier Mesolithic periods.

tag: B
text: The areas where it was advantageous to live changed over time as a result of environmental changes.

tag: C
text: Human groups were less affected by environmental change during the Maglemose Period than during the Kongemose Period.

tag: D
text: During most of the Mesolithic, people were more dependent on terrestrial food sources than other food sources.
answer_key: B
explanation: A 选项中比较级 smaller 原文没有提到，错误；B 对应文章第2句话，正确；C 选项的比较级也没有提到，排除；D 选项中的 more dependent 的对比没有提到，排除。

question_stem: Why does the author mention “the Aggersund site in Denmark” and its brief periods of occupation?
choices: tag: A
text: To suggest that the supply of year-round food sources near earlier settlement sites had nearly disappeared

tag: B
text: To give an example of a small, temporary coastal site that took advantage of seasonal food sources

tag: C
text: To illustrate how small coastal settlements could not last as long as large forest settlements

tag: D
text: To highlight the fact that none of the Denmark camps were able to be occupied year-round
answer_key: B
explanation: 题干中的细节是一个例子，作者提到这个例子是为了论证例子前一句的观点句，所以对应 B 选项。

question_stem: Paragraph 2 suggests that before the Ertebølle Period, hunting tools and other Mesolithictechnologies
choices: tag: A
text: were available only in small coastal sites

tag: B
text: were developed mainly in Denmark

tag: C
text: were made mainly from animal bones

tag: D
text: were somewhat simple
answer_key: D
explanation: 根据文章最后一句话“Ertebolle technology was far more elaborate than that of its Mesolithic predecessors”可知 Ertebolle 的技术比之前的时代更复杂，说明之前更 simple，对应 D。

question_stem: The word “exploiting” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: calling attention to

tag: B
text: focusing on

tag: C
text: taking advantage of

tag: D
text: searching for
answer_key: C
explanation: exploit 开发，利用，对应 C。

question_stem: According to paragraph 3, the existence of cemeteries in Mesolithic Scandinavia is associated with
choices: tag: A
text: increased social complexity

tag: B
text: problems in obtaining sufficient food

tag: C
text: a dramatically increasing population

tag: D
text: a trend toward reduced dependence on the food sources provided by hunter-gatherers
answer_key: A
explanation: 根据该段落第一句话中“evidence of greater social complexity in the use of cemeteries for burials and changes in burial practices ” 可知公墓（cemeteries）的存在跟社会复杂度有关系，对应 A 选项。

question_stem: The phrase “confined to” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: adapted to

tag: B
text: limited to

tag: C
text: expanded to

tag: D
text: located next to
answer_key: B
explanation: confined to 局限于，对应 B。

question_stem: According to paragraph 4, how were Mesolithic societies in central Europe able to meet their food needs for much of the year?
choices: tag: A
text: By finding new opportunities for coastal adaptations wherever they could

tag: B
text: By keeping their base camps in dense forests with plenty of forest game

tag: C
text: By settling in areas that provided both predictable food resources and access to different kinds of environments

tag: D
text: By hunting farther and farther from their central base camps each day
answer_key: C
explanation: 根据段落第3-4句话，可知，中欧的居民一年中大部分时间是住在 predictable resources 附近，同时也利用森林的猎物和其他季节性的资源，对应 C 选项。

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: Because of favorable conditions in southern Scandinavia and the social complexity of their societies, hunter-gatherer societies did not adapt to farming until economic change required it.

tag: B
text: When farming came to Europe and became common, hunter-gatherer societies finally achieved high levels of social complexity.

tag: C
text: Social complexity was common in the societies of southern Scandinavia but was less common in other areas where farming came later.

tag: D
text: Hunter-gatherer societies in southern Scandinavia achieved a new level of social complexity, and this allowed them to quickly achieve economic and social change when farming was introduced.
answer_key: D
explanation: 整句话主干意思是说：在更有优势的斯堪的纳维亚南部，这样的社会更复杂，这种提前适应促进了农业到来时的经济和社会快速发展。A 选项后半句错误，B 选项当欧洲出现农业，产生的是“this preadaptation proved an important catalyst for rapid economic and social change” 而不是选项中的” hunter-gatherer societies finally achieved high levels of social complexity”, 属于偷换概念，排除；C 选项的对比没有，排除；D 选项整体意思符合原句的主干意思，正确。