CAMBRIDGE IELTS 13
TEST 3 (READING)
PASSAGE 3
READING
PASSAGE 3
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions
27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.
Whatever happened to the Harappan
Civilisation?
New
research sheds light on the disappearance of an ancient society
|
|
A
|
The Harappan
Civilisation of ancient Pakistan and India flourished 5,000 years ago, but a
thousand years later their cities were abandoned. The Harappan Civilisation
was a sophisticated Bronze Age society who built ‘megacities’ and traded
internationally in luxury craft products, and yet seemed to have left almost
no depictions of themselves all over their temples – is only part of the
mystery.
|
B
|
‘There is
plenty of archaeological evidence to tell us about the rise of the Harappan
Civilisation, but relatively little about its fall,’ explains archaeologist Dr
Cameron Petrie of the University of Cambridge. ‘As populations increased,
cities were built that had great baths, craft workshops, palaces and halls
laid out in distinct sectors. Houses were arranged in blocks, with wide main
streets and narrow alleyways, and many had their own wells and drainage
systems. It was very much a “thriving” civilisation.’ Then around 2100 BC, a transformation
began. Streets went uncleaned, buildings started to be abandoned, and ritual
structures fell out of use. After their final demise, a millennium passed
before really large-scale cities appeared once more in South Asia.
|
C
|
Some have
claimed that major glacier-fed rivers changed their course, dramatically
affecting the water supply and agriculture; or that the cities could not cope
with an increasing population, they exhausted their resource base, the
trading economy broke down or they succumbed to invasion and conflict; and
yet others that climate change caused an environmental change that affected
food and water provision. ‘It is unlikely that there was a single cause for
the decline of the civilisation. But the fact is, until now, we have had
little solid evidence from the area for most of the key elements,’ said
Petrie. ‘A lot of the archaeological debate has really only been well-argued
speculation.’
|
D
|
A research team
led by Petrie, together with Dr Ravindanath Singh of Banaras Hindu University
in India, found early in their investigations that many of the archaeological
sites were not where they were supposed to be, completely altering
understanding of the way that this region was inhabited in the past. When they
carried out a survey of how the larger area was settled in relation to
sources of water, they found inaccuracies in the published geographic
locations of ancient settlements ranging from several hundred metres to many kilometres.
They realised that any attempts to use the existing data were likely to be
fundamentally flawed. Over the course of several seasons of fieldwork they
carried out new surveys finding an astonishing 198 settlement sites that were
previously unknown.
|
E
|
Now, research
published by Dr Yama Dixit and Professor David Hodell, both from Cambridge’s
Department of Earth Sciences, has provided the first definitive evidence for
climate change affecting the plains of north-western India, where hundreds of
Harappan sites are known to have been situated. The researchers gathered
shells of Melanoides tuberculata
snails from the sediments of an ancient lake and used geochemical analysis as
a means of tracing the climate history of the region. ‘As today, the major
source of water into the lake is likely to have been the summer monsoon,’ says
Dixit. ‘But we have observed that there was an abrupt change about 4,100
years ago, when the amount of the evaporation from the lake exceeded the
rainfall – indicative of a drought.’ Hodell adds. ‘We estimate that the weakening
of the Indian summer monsoon climate lasted about 200 years before recovering
to the previous conditions, which we still see today.
|
F
|
It has long
been thought that other great Bronze Age civilisations also declined at a
similar time, with a global-scale climate event being seen as the cause. While
it is possible that these local-scale processes were linked, the real archaeological
interest lies in understanding the impact of these larger-scale events on
different environments and different populations. ‘Considering the vast area
of the Harappan Civilisation with its variable weather systems,’ explains
Singh, ‘it is essential that we obtain more climate data from areas close to
the two great cities at Mohenjodaro and Harappa and also from the Indian
Punjab.
|
G
|
Petrie and
Singh’s team is now examining archaeological records and trying to understand
details of how people led their lives in the region five millennia ago. They are
analysing grains cultivated at the time, and trying to work out whether they
were grown under extreme conditions of water stress, and whether they were
adjusting the combinations of crops they were growing for different weather
systems. They are also looking at whether the types of pottery used, and
other aspects of their material culture, were distinctive to specific regions
or were more similar across larger areas. This gives us insight into the
types of interactive networks that the population was involved in, and
weather those changed.
|
H
|
Petrie believes
that archaeologists are in a unique position to investigate how past
societies responded to environmental and climatic change. ‘By investigating
responses to environmental pressures and threats, we can learn from the past
to engage with the public, and the relevant governmental and administrative
bodies, to be more proactive in issues such as the management and
administration of water supply, the balance of urban and rural development,
and the importance of preserving cultural heritage in the future.
|
Questions
27-31
Reading
Passage 3 has eight paragraphs, A-H.
Which
paragraph contains the following information?
Write
the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet
NB You
may use any letter more than once
27
|
proposed explanations for the decline of the
Harappan Civilisation
|
28
|
reference to a present-day
application of some archaeological research findings
|
29
|
a difference
between the Harappan Civilisation and another culture of the same period.
|
30
|
a description
of some features of Harappan urban design
|
31
|
reference to
the discovery of errors made by previous archaelogists
|
Questions
32-36
Complete
the summary below.
Choose
ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write
your answers in boxes 32-36 on your answer sheet.
Looking at evidence of climate change
|
Yama Dixit and
Savid Hodell have found the first definitive evidence of climate change
affecting the plains of north-western India thousands of years ago. By collecting
the 32 ______________ of snails and analysing them, they discovered evidence
of a change in water levels in a 33 ______________ in the region. This occurred
when there was less 34 ______________ than evaporation, and suggests that
there was an extended period of drought.
Petrie and
Singh’s team are using archaeological records to look at 35 ______________
from five millennia ago, in order to know whether people had adapted their
agricultural practices to changing climatic conditions. They are also
examining objects including 36 _____________, so as to find out about lnks
between inhabitants of different parts of the region and whether these
changed over time.
|
Questions
37-40
Look
at the following statements (Questions 37-40) and the list of researchers
below.
Match
each statement with the correct researcher, A, B, C or D.
Write
your correct letter, A, B, C or D,
in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.
NB
You may use any letter more than once.
37
|
Finding further information about changes to environmental conditions
in the region is vital.
|
38
|
Examining previous patterns of behaviour may have
long-term benefits.
|
39
|
Rough
calculations indicate the approximate length of a period of water shortage.
|
40
|
Information about the decline of the Harappan
Civilisation has been lacking
|
List
of Researchers
|
|
A
|
Cameron Petrie
|
B
|
Ravidanath Singh
|
C
|
Yama Dixit
|
D
|
David Hodell
|
ANSWER
KEY
27
|
C
|
28
|
H
|
29
|
A
|
30
|
B
|
31
|
D
|
32
|
shells
|
33
|
lake
|
34
|
rainfall
|
35
|
grains
|
36
|
pottery
|
37
|
B
|
38
|
A
|
39
|
D
|
40
|
A
|
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