综合写作5
Reading
As early as the twelfth century A.D., the settlements of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico in the American Southwest were notable for their "great houses," massive stone buildings that contain hundreds of rooms and often stand three or four stories high. Archaeologists have been trying to determine how the buildings were used. While there is still no universally agreed upon explanation, there are three competing theories.
One theory holds that the Chaco structures were purely residential, with each housing hundreds of people. Supporters of this theory have interpreted Chaco great houses as earlier versions of the architecture seen in more recent Southwest societies. In particular, the Chaco houses appear strikingly similar to the large, well-known "apartment buildings" at Taos, New Mexico, in which many people have been living for centuries.
A second theory contends that the Chaco structures were used to store food supplies. One of the main crops of the Chaco people was grain maize, which could be stored for long periods of time without spoiling and could serve as a long-lasting supply of food. The supplies of maize had to be stored somewhere, and the size of the great houses would make them very suitable for the purpose.
A third theory proposes that houses were used as ceremonial centers. Close to one house, called Pueblo Alto, archaeologists identified an enormous mound formed by a pile of old material. Excavations of the mound revealed deposits containing a surprisingly large number of broken pots. This finding has been interpreted as evidence that people gathered at Pueblo Alto for special ceremonies. At the ceremonies, they ate festive meals and then discarded the pots in which the meals had been prepared or served. Such ceremonies have been documented for other Native American cultures.
Listening
Professor:
Unfortunately none of the arguments about what the Chaco great houses were used for is convincing.
First, sure, from the outside, the great houses look like later and native American apartment building, but the inside of the great houses casts serious doubt on the idea that many people lived there. I'll explain. If hundreds of people were living in the great houses, then there would have to be many fireplaces, where each family did its daily cooking, but there are very few fireplaces. In one of the largest great houses, there were fireplaces for only around ten families. Yet there were enough rooms in the great house for more than a hundred families, so the primary function of the houses couldn't have been residential.
Second, the idea that the great houses were used to store grain maize is unsupported by evidence. It may sound plausible that large empty rooms were used for storage, but excavations of the great houses have not uncovered many traces of maize or maize containers. If the great houses were used for storage, why isn't there more spilled maize on the floor? Why aren't there more remains of big containers?
Third, the idea that the great houses were ceremonial centers isn't well supported either. You know that mound at Pueblo Alto? It contains lots of other materials besides broken pots, stuff you wouldn't expect from ceremonies. For example, there are large quantities of building materials, sands, stones, even construction tools. This suggests that the mound is just a trash heap of construction material, stuff that was thrown away or not used up when a house was being built. The pots in the pile could be regular trash too, leftover from the meals of the construction workers. So the Pueblo Alto mound is not good evidence that the great houses were used for special ceremonies.
一、阅读听力要点概括
Reading Passage
Main points: 3 theories on the buildings in New Mexico.
Sub point 1: Chaco structures are residential.
Sub point 2: Chaco used to store food.
Sub point 3: Chaco used for ceremonial centers.
Lecture
Attitude: None convincing.
Sub Point 1: Very few fireplaces, residential are not primary function.
Sub Point 2: No traces of maize or containers.
Sub Point 3: Contain stuff not from ceremonies. (Trash heap.)
Answers
二、范文逐段赏析
Paragraph 1
The author of the reading passage proposes three theories as likely explanations of the primary function of Chaco Canyon houses, great structures built in the I2th century. The lecturer, however, points to the inaccuracies in each of these theories.
此段功能：
(Listening passage后文提到用L代替)
(Reading passage后文用R代替)
开头段总结R认为有三个用途可以解释chaco canyon建筑，随后表明逻辑，L认为三个都不准确。
此段结构：
作者分清晰的复述了双方观点，辩论对象，为接下来的辩论做好了准备。
Paragraph 2
The lecturer argues that the modest number of fireplaces in these structures is in contradiction with their huge sizes, indicating that these structures could not have been used for residential purposes. The reading passage, however, draws comparisons between the Chaco houses and other similar large residential structures in support of the “residential” theory.
此段功能：
作者用L继续引出第一点，L指出房间里没有很多壁炉，所以不太可能是住宅用途。R在这点上，用的是类比的手法，用别的和Chaco相似的住宅来证明Chaco也是住宅。
此段结构：
总分结构。L和R互相陈列双方证据，L的证据给R造成了足够的怀疑，达到了证明not convincing的效果。
Paragraph 3
The second theory, that the houses were used for food storage, is also rejected by the lecturer. He explains that a place that had been used for storing maize would have many traces of scattered maize, which is not the case in the area of the Chaco Canyon houses. This provides support to the idea that the “food storage theory” is unlikely.
此段功能：
作者先陈述第二点理论，房间是用于食物储藏用途也被L推翻了。L说一个储存玉米的仓库起码会有碎玉米的痕迹，但是这些痕迹在Chaco根本找不到，无法支持这个储存理论。
此段结构：
此段为总分结构，在开头作者抛出结论后接着补充证据，达到反驳R了效果。
Paragraph 4
Finally, regarding the third “ceremony” theory, the lecturer contends that the presence of broken pots close to the great houses does not offer sufficient proof that this was a place for ceremonial activities. He argues that there are other materials such as pieces of construction trash found along with broken pots which suggests that these pots were probably not used for ceremonial purposes but instead were discarded by construction workers upon completion of the great houses.
此段功能：
在最后一点，仪式用途的说法上。作者先从L出发，指出一些在房子周围的破罐子完全不足以证明这里举行过仪式。这样的东西很可能就是建筑垃圾，是建筑工人修造完工后就扔在这里的。
此段结构：
此段为总分结构，L抛出对罐子的观点，接下来解释观点形成的原因。
三、范文全篇总评
1、 逻辑结构
全文遵从总分结构，开头段告诉读者逻辑和有三方面进行辩论。
在接下来的论段里，作者详细陈列了L和R各自的观点和证据。在三个用途解释上面，作者都表示了L对其不信任然后给出了新解释，同时给出了补充证据，呼应了首段。
2、语言表达
文中有一些不错的，引出观点和证据的句式，其中可以借鉴的词句有：
1. draws comparisons between：对两方面进行对比
2. Maize： 玉米
/Corn/
3. Regarding…(观点A), lecturer contends..(证据A)
4. Discard: 抛弃
/thrown away/
He has discarded his old theory.