Passage 7

Passage 7
There is evidence of agriculture in Africa prior to 3000 B.C. It may have

developed independently, but many scholars believe that the spread of agriculture
and iron throughout Africa linked it to the major centers of the Near East and
Mediterranean world. The drying up of what is now the Sahara desert had pushed
many peoples to the south into sub - Sahara Africa. These peoples settled at first in
scattered hunting - and - gathering bands, although in some places near lakes and
rivers, people who fished, with a more secure food supply, lived in larger
population concentrations. Agriculture seems to have reached these people from
the Near East, since the first domesticated crops were millets and sorghums whose
origins are not African but west Asian. Once the idea of planting diffused, Africans
began to develop their own crops, such as certain varieties of rice, and they
demonstrated a continued receptiveness to new imports. The proposed areas of the
domestication of African crops lie in a band that extends from Ethiopia across
southern Sudan to West Africa. Subsequently, other crops, such as bananas, were
introduced from Southeast Asia.
Livestock also came from outside Africa. Cattle were introduced from Asia, as
probably were domestic sheep and goats. Horses were apparently introduced by the
Hyksos invaders of Egypt (1780-1560 B.C.) and then spread across the Sudan to
West Africa. Rock paintings in the Sahara indicate that horses and were used to
traverse the desert and that by 300-200 B.C., there were trade routes across the
Sahara. Horses were adopted by peoples of the West African savannah, and later
their powerful cavalry forces allowed them to carve out large empires. Finally, the
camel was introduced around the first century A.D. This was an important
innovation, because the camel's abilities to thrive in harsh desert conditions and to
carry large loads cheaply made it an effective and efficient means of transportation.
The camel transformed the desert from a barrier into a still difficult, but more
accessible, route of trade and communication.
Iron came from West Asia, although its routes of diffusion were somewhat
different than those of agriculture. Most of Africa presents a curious case in which
societies moved directly from a technology of stone to iron without passing
through the intermediate stage of copper or bronze metallurgy, although some
early copper - working sites have been found in West Africa. Knowledge of iron
making penetrated into the forest and savannahs of West Africa at roughly the
same time that iron making was reaching Europe. Evidence of iron making has
been found in Nigeria, Ghana, and Mali.
This technological shift cause profound changes in the complexity of African

societies. Iron represented power. In West Africa the blacksmith who made tools
and weapons had an important place in society, often with special religious powers
and functions. Iron hoes, which made the land more productive, and iron weapons,
which made the warrior more powerful, had symbolic meaning in a number of
West Africa societies. Those who knew the secrets of making iron gained ritual
and sometimes political power.
Unlike in the Americas, where metallurgy was a very late and limited
development, Africans had iron from a relatively early date, developing ingenious
furnaces to produce the high heat needed for production and to control the amount
of air that reached the carbon and iron ore necessary for making iron. Much of
Africa moved right into the Iron Age, taking the basic technology and adapting it
to local conditions and resources.
The diffusion of agriculture and later of iron was accompanied by a great

movement of people who may have carried these innovations. These people
probably originated in eastern Nigeria. Their migration may have been set in
motion by an increase in population caused by a movement of peoples fleeing the
desiccation, or drying up, of the Sahara. They spoke a language, proto - Bantu
("Bantu "means" the people"), which is the parent tongue of a language of a large
number of Bantu languages still spoken throughout sub - Sahara Africa. Why and
how these people spread out into central and southern Africa remains a mystery ,
but archaeologists believe that their iron weapons allowed them to conquer their
hunting - gathering opponents, who still used stone implements. Still, the process is
uncertain, and peaceful migration or simply rapid demographic growth may have
also caused the Bantu explosion.
1. The word "diffused" in the passage is closest in meaning to…………….

a. Emerged
b. Was understood
c. Spread
d. Developed
2. According to paragraph 1, why do researchers doubt that agriculture
developed independently in Africa?
a. African lakes and rivers already provided enough food for people to
survive without agriculture
b. The Earliest examples of cultivated plants discovered in Africa are native
to Asia
c. Africa's native plants are very difficult to domesticate
d. African communities were not large enough to support agriculture
3. In paragraph 1, what does the author imply about changes in the
African environment during this time period?
a. The climate was becoming milder, allowing for a greater variety of crops
to be grown
b. Although periods of dying forced people south, they returned once their
food supply was secure
c. Population growth along rivers and lakes was dramatically decreasing the
availability of fish
d. A region that had once supported many people was becoming a desert
where few could survive
4. According to paragraph 2, camels were important because they………..
a. Were the first domesticated animal to be introduced to Africa
b. Allowed the people of the West African savannahs to carve out large
empires
c. Helped African peoples defend themselves against Egyptian invaders
d. Made it cheaper and easier to cross the Sahara
5. According to paragraph 2, which of the following were subjects of rock
paintings in the Sahara?
a. Horses and chariots
b. Sheep and goats
c. Hyksos invaders from Egypt
d. Camels and cattle
6. What function does paragraph 3 serve in the organization of the
passage as a whole?
a. It contrasts the development of iron technology in West Asia and West
Africa
b. It discusses a non-agricultural contribution to Africa from Asia
c. It introduces evidence that a knowledge of copper working reached
Africa and Europe at the same time
d. It compares the rates at which iron technology developed in different
parts of Africa
7. The word "profound" in the passage is closest in meaning
to…………….
a. Fascinating
b. Far-reaching
c. Necessary
d. Temporary
8. The word "ritual" in the passage is closest in meaning to…………..
a. Military
b. Physical
c. Ceremonial
d. Permanent
9. According to paragraph 4, all of the following were social effects of the
new metal technology in Africa EXCEPT………….
a. Access to metal tools and weapons created greater social equality
b. Metal weapons increased the power of warriors
c. Iron tools helped increase the food supply
d. Technical knowledge gave religious power to its holders
10. 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.
a. While American iron makers developed the latest furnaces, African iron
makers continued using earlier techniques
b. Africans produced iron much earlier than Americans , inventing
technologically sophisticated heating systems
c. Iron making developed earlier in Africa than in the Americas because of
the ready availability of carbon and iron ore
d. Both Africa and the Americas developed the capacity for making iron
early, but African metallurgy developed at a slower rate
11.The word "fleeing" in the passage is closest in meaning to…………..
a. Afraid of
b. Displaced by
c. Running away from
d. Responding to
12.Paragraph 6 mentions all of the following as possible causes of the
"Bantu explosion" EXCEPT……………
a. Superior weapons
b. Better hunting skills
c. Peaceful migration
d. Increased population
Practice 7: Choose from the possible answers the word or phrase to complete
the sentence below.
1. Paying for large purchases by credit card instead of in cash has become the
………….. in many parts of the world.
a. norm b. source c. task d. estimate d. geography
2. Although speech is mostly continuous sound, written language is divided up
into……………units which we call words.
a. rational b. discrete c. instinct d. preposition e. underlying
3. One of the roles of the Managing Director is to…………..the work of
different departments to ensure that they work well together.
a. underlie b. repress c. challenge d. co-ordinate e. postulated
4. In……………………, we study physical features of the world such as rivers
and mountains and how we make use of them.
a. anthropology
b. equilibrium
c. geography
d. tradition
e. fundamental
5. The purpose of a bibliography at the end of an essay is to show
the……………..of information used in writing the essay.
a. stable b. period c. quote d. task e. sources
6. Remember that some verbs may need to be followed by a ……………..,
such as lead to, result in, and so on.
a. series b. preposition c. quote d. matrix e. sources
7. Although we cannot be sure, most ……………point to a significant increase
in average air temperatures in the next 100 years.
a. estimates b. surplus c. temporary d. fundamental d.
mathematics
8. Everyone knows that diseases such as malaria are on the increase again, but
what we are not so sure about is the……….cause of this.
a. enable b. invoke c. achieving d. scheme e. underlying
9. Most economic theories assume that people act on a……………basis, but
this does not take account of the fact that we often use our emotions instead.
a. luxury b. rational c. expert d. preposition e. task
10. Most countries in the Far East have developed very quickly, while at the
opposite …………many Third World countries have not grown at all.
a. scheme b. task c. triangle d. pole e. tradition

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Passage 7

There is evidence of agriculture in Africa prior to 3000 B.C. It may have

This technological shift cause profound changes in the complexity of African

The diffusion of agriculture and later of iron was accompanied by a great

1. The word "diffused" in the passage is closest in meaning to…………….

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