Passage 26
Trade and Commerce in the Middle Ages
In ancient times, trading over any significant distance was an expensive and risky enterprise. This restricted commerce mainly to local markets. However, after a decline following the breakup of the Roman Empire, European commerce expanded gradually to distant countries during the Middle Ages. Accompanying such a growth in trade and commerce were the establishment of guilds and the improvement in monetary systems, which, in turn, further enhanced the trade expansion.
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The expansion of trade from the West to the East was helped along by the Crusades. It was a series of military expeditions, initially carried out for recapturing Christi an holy places in the Middle East from Islam. These expeditions facilitated the relations with Eastern countries, by developing a taste in the West for their indigenous productions. The conquest of Palestine, by the Crusaders, first opened all the towns and harbors of the Italian states to Western traders, many of whom were able to permanently establish themselves there, with all sorts of privileges and exemptions from taxes. Besides, as the Crusaders traveled through the Eastern lands to reach Jerusalem, many new products were introduced to Europe. Trade and commerce in the Middle Ages changed to include different products, from Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt, Damascus in Syria, Baghdad & Mosul in Iraq, and other great cities, which became important commerce and trading centers because of their strategic location, astride the trade routes to India, Persia, and the Mediterranean. The products were then carried across the Mediterranean to the Italian seaports, and then on to the major towns and cities of Europe.
Other improvements to the Middle Ages trade and commerce were also made by enhancing security. As a consequence of the growth, both, of commerce and of urban communities, guilds began to come into being on the European continent in the 11th century, and in England, after the Norman Conquest. Merchants traveled from market to market in foreign countries, and, for the sake of mutual protection, a group of merchants from the same city often banded together in a caravan. The members of a caravan elected a leader, and made rules that they pledged to obey. The name for such a caravan was Gilde or Hansa in the Germanic countries of Europe. In countries speaking languages derived from Latin, the term was caritas or fraternity as. Under the leadership of such guilds, the coasts were protected from piratical incursions, and lighthouses were erected at dangerous points to prevent shipwrecks. Besides, the members are obliged to stand by each other in legal disputes, in which any might engage. In this way, treaties of commerce with foreign nations, including even the most distant, were able to guarantee the liberty and security of traders abroad. As commerce and trade, especially long-distance trade, became safer and more general, the expansion of trade advanced further.
Before the collapse of the Roman Empire, urban centers in Europe once prospered, and many monetary systems were established. For example, through the banning of private or unauthorized minting, the first important standardization of sizes, weights, and values of coins was inaugurated under the Roman Empire. The banking system was so highly developed that its bankers could accept deposits of money, make loans, and purchase mortgages. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, however, the minting again went into chaos and the banking system also declined. Yet, by the beginning of the 11th century, trade revived and towns began a three-century growth spurt. The coinage and banking activities also began to resume. In 1252, the city of Florence minted the first gold coins since Roman times—the golden florin. And with the revival of banking in the 13th century, the moneychangers of the Italian states developed facilities for exchanging local and foreign currency. Soon, merchants demanded other services, such as lending money, and, gradually, banking services were expanded. The revival and development of the banking system, not only facilitated distant trade, but also provided the merchants with more capital they need to extend their business.
——2012年5月26日北美机经
The word “their” in Paragraph 2 refers to .
A. Western countries
B. Crusades
C. expeditions
D. Eastern countries
核心词汇：
…………
词汇练习：
阅读下列句子，用所给单词（或词组）的正确形式填空：
security resume restrict prosper privilege permanently mutual indigenous facilitate extend expedition conquest enhance decline expand consequence
1. This can be seen clearly in the changes that affected Venetian shipping and trade. (TPO-25: The Decline of Venetian Shipping)
2. From a practical aspect this protected the figures against breakage and psychologically gives the images a sense of strength and power, usually by a supporting back pillar. (TPO-11: Ancient Egyptian Sculpture)
3. These were essentially professional associations that provided for the aid and protection of their members, and allowed for the maintenance of professional standards. (TPO-16: Trade and the Ancient Middle East)
4. Contrary to the arguments of some that much of the pacific was settled by Polynesians accidentally marooned after being lost and adrift, it seems reasonable that this feat was accomplished by deliberate colonization that set out fully stocked with food and domesticated plants and animals. (TPO-5: The Origin of the Pacific Island People)
…………
参考答案：
1. decline 2. enhanced 3. mutual 4. expeditions 5. restricted 6. indigenous 7. conquest 8. permanently 9. privileges 10. security 11. expanded 12. consequence13. prospered 14. resume 15. facilitated 16. Extend
Sentence 26
英文原文：
Missing until recently were fossils clearly intermediate, or transitional, between land mammals and cetaceans.
OG Practice Set 1: The Origins of Cetaceans
本题全文及相应译文见免费共享资料“黄金阅读”
小试身手：
参考翻译：
（那些）明确地（处在）陆生哺乳动物与鲸目动物中间（阶段）及过渡（阶段）的化石一直都是找不到的，直到最近（才被发现）。
知识点小结：
1. 生词释义：
intermediate n. 中间物；调停者；中级
adj. 中间的；中级的
vi. 起媒介作用
cetacean adj. 鲸目的；鲸鱼的
n. 鲸目动物；鲸鱼
2. 知识点释义：
这句话如果倒过来读，就变成了“...fossils were missing unti l recently”。大家有没有觉得这样就更容易理解一些了呢？
“现在分词+ be + 主语”是一种典型的“强调型”倒装模式。原句之中显然是在强调“missing”。
衍生句型：
a. Surrounding the column are three sepals and three petals, sometimes easily recognizable as such, oft en distorted into gorgeous, weird, but always functional shapes.
b. Accompanying that growth was a structural change that featured increasing economic diversification and a gradual shift in the nation’s labor force from agriculture to manufacturing and other nonagricultural pursuits.
与本次句子翻译相关的阅读题目：
It should be obvious that cetaceans—whales, porpoises, and dolphins—are mammals. They breathe through lungs, not through gills, and give birth to live young. Their streamlined bodies, the absence of hind legs, and the presence of a fluke and blowhole cannot disguise their affinities with land-dwelling mammals. However, unlike the cases of sea otters and pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses, whose limbs are functional both on land and at sea), it is not easy to envision what the first whales looked like. Extinct but already fully marine cetaceans are known from the fossil record. How was the gap between a walking mammal and a swimming whale bridged? Missing until recently were fossils clearly intermediate, or transitional, between land mammals and cetaceans.
1. In this paragraph, what does the author say about the presence of a blowhole in cetaceans?
A. It clearly indicates that cetaceans are mammals.
B. It cannot conceal the fact that cetaceans are mammals.
C. It is the main difference between cetaceans and land-dwelling mammals.
D. It cannot yield clues about the origins of cetaceans.
2. Which of the following can be inferred from this paragraph about early sea otters?
A. It is not difficult to imagine what they looked like.
B. There were great numbers of them.
C. They lived in the sea only.
D. They did not leave many fossil remains.
汉英翻译练习：
随着人们生活水平的提高，越来越多的人开始购买私家车；伴随这种增长的是一系列的问题，比如环境污染和交通堵塞等。
（提示：黑体部分可采用我们上面刚刚介绍的倒装句型）
小试身手：
参考翻译：
As people’s living standards get higher, more and more people became private car owners; accompanying such a trend are a series of problems, such as environmental pollution and traffic congestion.
请将以上句子扩充后的中文段落翻译成英文：
（1）随着人们生活水平的提高，越来越多的人开始购买私家车；伴随这种增长的是一系列的问题，比如环境污染和交通堵塞等。
（2）想要缓解这一状况，我们一方面寄希望于政府能够提供更好的公共服务——比如更宽的马路，另一方面也寄希望于民众能够自主使用公共交通。
（3）因此，作为一项促成后者的举措，我十分赞同对高峰期出行的司机额外征税。
小试身手：
大家想一想，该翻译练习是不是可以用到下面的托福写作中呢？
写作题目：
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Drivers should pay a certain amount of fee to drive on the city streets during the busiest hours of a day.
——2007.1.14
勇哥批改学生翻译练习：
……
