托福阅读原文之美索不达米亚和古埃及城市的对比

阅读真题：TOPIC Mesopotamian and Egyptian City Structure

　　文章比较了美索不达米亚(M)和古埃及(E)的城市形态，包括农业、贸易等。

　　解析：本文文章结构清晰明白，属于对比类文章，也是托福文章中较简单的类型。文章涉及的美索不达米亚和古埃及这两个地区都是托福常考地点，话题并不陌生。

　　Egypt and Mesopotamia Compared

　　The development of two great early civilizations in the Middle East and

　　North Africa encourages a first effort at comparative analysis. Because of

　　different geography, different degrees of exposure to outside invasion and

　　influence, and different prior beliefs, Egypt and Mesopotamia were in contrast

　　to one another in many ways. Egypt emphasized strong central authority, while

　　Mesopotamian politics shifted more frequently over a substructure of regional

　　city-states. Mesopotamian art focused on less monumental structures, while

　　embracing a pronounced literary element that Egyptian art lacked.

　　These cultural differences can be explained partly by geography:

　　Mesopotamians lacked access to the great stones that Egyptians could import

　　for their monuments. The differences also owed something to different

　　politics, for Egyptian ability to organize masses of laborers followed from

　　its centralized government structures and strong bureaucracy. The differences

　　owed something, finally, to different beliefs, for the Mesopotamians lacked

　　the Egyptian concern for preparations for the afterlife, which so motivated

　　the great tombs and pyramids that have made Egypt and some of the pharaohs

　　live on in human memory.

　　Both societies traded extensively, but there was a difference in economic

　　tone. Mesopotamia was more productive of technological improvements, because

　　their environment was more difficult to manage than the Nile valley. Trade

　　contacts were more extensive, and the Mesopotamians gave attention to a

　　merchant class and commercial law.

　　Social differences were less obvious because it is difficult to obtain

　　information on daily life for early civilizations. It is probable, though,

　　that the status of women was greater in Egypt than in Mesopotamia (where

　　women's position seems to have deteriorated after Sumer). Egyptians paid great

　　respect to women at least in the upper classes, in part because marriage

　　alliances were vital to the preservation and stability of the monarchy. Also,

　　Egyptian religion included more pronounced deference to goddesses as sources

　　of creativity.

　　Comparisons in politics, culture, economics, and society suggest

　　civilizations that varied substantially because of largely separate origins

　　and environments. The distinction in overall tone was striking, with Egypt

　　being more stable and cheerful than Mesopotamia not only in beliefs about gods

　　and the afterlife but in the colorful and lively pictures the Egyptians

　　emphasized in their decorative art. Also striking was the distinction in

　　internal history, with Egyptian civilization far less marked by disruption

　　than its Mesopotamian counterpart.

　　Comparison must also note important similarities, some of them

　　characteristic of early civilizations. Both Egypt and Mesopotamia emphasized

　　social stratification, with a noble, landowning class on top and masses of

　　peasants and slaves at the bottom. A powerful priestly group also figured in

　　the elite. While specific achievements in science differed, there was a common

　　emphasis on astronomy and related mathematics, which produced durable findings about units of time and measurement. Both Mesopotamia and Egypt changed only slowly by the standards of more modern societies. Details of change have not been preserved, but it is true that having developed successful political and economic systems there was a strong tendency toward conservation. Change, when it came, was usually brought by outside forces - natural disasters or invasions. Both civilizations demonstrated extraordinary durability in the basics. Egyptian civilization and a fundamental Mesopotamian culture lasted far longer than the civilizations that came later, in part because of relative isolation within each respective region and because of the deliberate effort to maintain what had been achieved, rather than experiment widely.

　　Both civilizations, finally, left an important heritage in their region and adjacent territories. A number of smaller civilization centers were launched under the impetus of Mesopotamia and Egypt, and some would produce important innovations of their own by about 1000 B.C.