文章大意:本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了研究人员发现人类对环境的影响不仅仅发生在后工业时代,早在中世纪,东非人对土地的集约利用就已经使他们的自然栖息地发生了永久的改变。
Humanity’s impact on the environment is often framed in the context of the post-industrial age but new research shows how intensive land use by East Africans in the Middle Ages changed their natural habitat forever.
Unguja Ukuu, a historic settlement located on Zanzibar Island, in Zanzibar, Tanzania, was a key port of trade in the Indian Ocean by the first millennium (一千年) AD when the island was populated by farming societies establishing trade links with the Indian Ocean, China and beyond.
For thousands of years, the Indian Ocean was a place where globalization started to develop, with extensive trade and exchange networks operating between East Africa, Southern Arabia and Southeast Asia, which predicted modern global shipping networks.
According to Dr Ania Kotarba-Morley, the lead author of a study, the islands of Zanzibar experienced many changes in their environment and culture as they became a center for maritime trade, cross-cultural interactions, and global exchange.
As a result, people started getting rid of remains and waste, taking part in more agricultural activities and using more land, Unfortunately, these human activities had a negative impact on the sediment (沉积物) buildup along the island, “Our study outlines clearly how human activities in a natural environment impacted coastal landforms and sediments on a remote East African island already over 1,000 years ago and directly changed the fortunes of the coastal inhabitants in the area as a result,” said Dr Ania.
The researchers applied a variety of standards and new techniques to find new patterns which improve our understanding of the changes in the make-up of the sediment along the coastline of local creeks (小海湾) and the bay on the island, directly impacted by human activity.
To help understand how and why these ancient ports thrived or declined, it is important to know how the coastal landscape influenced the way traders undertook their commercial activities, or drove decisions, including mooring (停泊) locations and investments of labour and capital by local communities and any central authorities.
The researchers say these processes might be responsible for the decline, and eventual abandonment of Unguja Ukuu at the turn of the second millennium AD—a period of regional socio-political and economic transformation of coastal African societies that marked the appearance of maritime Swahili culture.
8. What can we infer about Zanzibar Island in the first millennium AD?
A.It had the busiest port of trade. | B.It had developed agriculture. |
C.It was the center of the world trade. | D.It was the settlement of the first Africans. |
9. What did Dr Ania’s research find?
A.Agricultural activities promoted global exchange. |
B.The Indian Ocean was the birthplace of globalization. |
C.The building of Unguja Ukuu destroyed the shoreline. |
D.Ancient humans influenced the African island environment. |
10. What changes did the researchers focus on in the study?
A.The fish numbers. | B.The bay on the island. |
C.The coastal landscape. | D.The make-up of the local creeks. |
11. What happened at the turn of the second millennium AD?
A.Unguja Ukuu was deserted. | B.The Swahili culture disappeared. |
C.The cross-cultural interaction started. | D.The trade links were established in the world. |