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Memphis: United Egypt's First Capital

[1] The city of Memphis, located on the Nile near the modern city of Cairo, was founded around 3100 B.C. as the first capital of a recently united Egypt. The choice of Memphis by Egypt's first kings reflects the site's strategic importance. ■First, and most obvious, the apex of the Nile River delta was a politically opportune location for the state's administrative center, standing between the united lands of Upper and Lower Egypt and offering ready access to both parts of the country. The older predynastic (pre-3100BC) centers of power, This and Hierakonpolis, were too remote from the vast expanse of the delta, which had been incorporated into the united state. ■Only a city within easy reach of both the Nile valley to the south and the more spread out, difficult terrain to the north could provide the necessary political control that the rulers of early dynastic Egypt (roughly 3000-2600 B.C.) required. ■

 

[2] The region of Memphis must have also served as an important node for transport and communications, even before the unification of Egypt. The region probably acted as a conduit for much, if not all, of the river-based trade between northern and southern Egypt. ■Moreover, commodities (such as wine, precious oils, and metals) imported from the Near East by the royal courts of predynastic Upper Egypt would have been channeled through the Memphis region on their way south. In short, therefore, the site of Memphis offered the rulers of the Early Dynastic Period an ideal location for controlling internal trade within their realm, an essential requirement for a state-directed economy that depended on the movement of goods.

 

[3] Equally important for the national administration was the ability to control communications within Egypt. The Nile provided the easiest and quickest artery of communication, and the national capital was, again, ideally located in this respect. Recent geological surveys of the Memphis region have revealed much about its topography in ancient times. It appears that the location of Memphis may have been even more advantageous for controlling trade, transport, and communications than was previously appreciated. Surveys and drill cores have shown that the level of the Nile floodplain has steadily risen over the last five millenniums. When the floodplain was much lower, as it would have been in predynastic and early dynastic times, the outwash fans (fan-shaped deposits of sediments) of various wadis (stream-beds or channels that carry water only during rainy periods) would have been much more prominent features on the east bank. The fan associated with the Wadi Hof extended a significant way into the Nile floodplain, forming a constriction in the vicinity of Memphis. The valley may have narrowed at this point to a mere three kilometers, making it the ideal place for controlling river traffic.

 

[4] Furthermore, the Memphis region seems to have been favorably located for the control not only of river-based trade but also of desert trade routes. The two outwash fans in the area gave access to the extensive wadi systems of the eastern desert. In predynastic times, the Wadi Digla may have served as a trade route between the Memphis region and the Near East, to judge from the unusual concentration of foreign artifacts found in the predynastic settlement of Maadi. Access to, and control of, trade routes between Egypt and the Near East seems to have been a preoccupation of Egypt's rulers during the period of state formation. The desire to monopolize foreign trade may have been one of the primary factors behind the political unification of Egypt. The foundation of the national capital at the junction of an important trade route with the Nile valley is not likely to have been accidental. Moreover, the Wadis Hof and Digla provided the Memphis region with accessible desert pasturage. As was the case with the cities of Hierakonpolis and Elkab, the combination within the same area of both desert pasturage and alluvial arable land (land suitable for growing crops) was a particularly attractive one for early settlement; this combination no doubt contributed to the prosperity of the Memphis region from early predynastic times.

 

Paragraph 1

1. The word “vast” in the passage is closet in meaning to

○ fertile

○ huge

○ unique

○ irregular

2. According to paragraph 1, why was Memphis a better choice for the capital of a united Egypt than either This or Hierakonpolis

○ Memphis was in a better location for maintaining administrative control.

○ Memphis had long been a regional administrative center by the time Egypt was united.

○ This and Hierakonpolis had never actually been incorporated into the unified state.

○ Egyptian rulers had failed to keep political control over This and Hierakonpolis in predynastic times.

3. Which of the following best describes how paragraph 1 is organized?

○ Two simultaneous developments are described, as well as the reasons why neither one would have occurred without the other.

○ A hypothesis is presented, and then points in favor of that hypothesis as well as points against it are discussed.

○ A major event is described, and then the most obvious effects of that event are presented.

○ A decision is described, and then one likely motivation for that decision is presented.

4. It can be inferred from paragraph 1 that one consequence of the unification of Egypt was

○ the reduction of the strategic importance of older centers of power

○ the opportunity for the recently united Egypt to become economically self-sufficient

○ the increase in political tensions between the rulers of Upper and Lower Egypt

○ the reduction of Egypt’s dependence upon the Nile for trade and communications

Paragraph 2

5. According to paragraph 2, when did Egypt import goods from the Near East?

○ Once internal trade was fully controlled from Memphis

○ Not until early dynastic Egypt established its state-directed economy

○ As early as predynastic times

○ Only when local supplies of those goods had been completely used up

6. 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.

○ Thus in Memphis, the rulers of the Early Dynastic Period were ideally placed to control internal trade, which they had to do in order to run their economy.

○ Therefore the rulers of the Early Dynastic Period thought Memphis was the ideal location for trade with nearby countries.

○ In short, a state-directed economy like that of the Early Dynastic Period requires choosing a single location to which goods can be moved just as Memphis, in this case.

○ In sum, then, a state-directed economy first developed during Egypt’s Early Dynastic Period because Memphis was an ideal location for controlling trade.

7. The word “appreciated” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○ proposed

○ understood

○ approved

○ expected

8. The word “vicinity” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○ center

○ fields

○ city

○ surrounding area

9. According to paragraph 3, recent research into the topography of the Memphis region in ancient times suggests which of the following?

○ The level of the Nile floodplains was much higher in predynastic and dynastic times than in later times.

○ The sediment deposits of wadis were not as noticeable in predynastic and dynastic times than in later times.

○ The Nile valley at the point of Memphis was narrower in predynastic and dynastic times than it was in later times.

○ Frequent rainy periods may have caused a significant reduction of trade traffic during the predynastic and dynastic times.

10. According to paragraph 4, which of the following is NOT a reason Memphis was chosen as the capital of a united Egypt

○ It was at the junction of a major trade route with the Nile valley.

○ It was near land that could be used for animal grazing and for growing crops.

○ The nearby outwash fans led into wadis that could be used as desert trade routes.

○ Since foreign traders had settled in nearby Maadi, trade between the two cities could be established.

11. The phrase “to have been accidental” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○ to have gone wrong

○ to have been helpful

○ to have occurred by chance

○ to have made a difference

12. In paragraph 4, why does the author mention the cities of Hierakonpolis and Elkab?

○ To give an indication of the level of prosperity that Memphis is thought to have enjoyed from its earliest days.

○ To compare the Memphis region to them in terms of their similar combinations of characteristics providing advantages for early settlement.

○ To identify the models that the founders of Memphis followed in laying out the national capital.

○ To suggest that the combination of desert pasturage and alluvial arable land in the same area was very common.

13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

While considerations of political power and ease of administration were decisive in choosing the location of the new capital, the site clearly had other advantages.

Where does the sentence best fit?

14. Prose summary

Answer Choices

○ River-based trade from northern Egypt and imported goods going south all passed through the Memphis region, making Memphis an ideal location for controlling trade.

○ After Memphis became the capital city, river-based trade along the Nile gained in importance, while land-based desert trade declined in importance.

○ Recent geological surveys suggest that the topographical features of the Memphis region made it particularly well-suited for controlling communications and trade.

○ The Nile, despite a constriction of its valley near Memphis, was the most advantageous route for communication and travel once the floodplain had begun to rise.

○ The rulers of unified Egypt enjoyed a monopoly over foreign trade because all such trade was required to go through the Wadi Digla, to which the rulers controlled all access.

○ While the location of Memphis was agriculturally favorable, it was particularly attractive because it enabled Egypt’s rulers to control trade moving through the desert from the Near East.

 

Population Growth in Nineteenth-Century Europe

[1] Because of industrialization, but also because of a vast increase in agricultural output without which industrialization would have been impossible, Western Europeans by the latter half of the nineteenth century enjoyed higher standards of living and longer, healthier lives than most of the world's peoples. In Europe as a whole, the population rose from188 million in 1800 to 400 million in1900. By 1900, virtually every area of Europe had contributed to the tremendous surge of population, but each major region was at a different stage of demographic change.

 

[2] Improvements in the food supply continued trends that had started in the late seventeenth century. New lands were put under cultivation, while the use of crops of American origin, particularly the potato, continued to expand. Setbacks did occur. Regional agricultural failures were the most common cause of economic recessions until 1850, and they could lead to localized famine as well. A major potato blight (disease) in1846-1847 led to the deaths of at least one million persons in Ireland and the emigration of another million, and Ireland never recovered the population levels the potato had sustained to that point. Bad grain harvests at the same time led to increased hardship throughout much of Europe.

 

[3] After 1850, however, the expansion of foods more regularly kept pace with population growth, though the poorer classes remained malnourished. Two developments were crucial. First, the application of science and new technology to agriculture increased. Led by German universities, increasing research was devoted to improving seeds, developing chemical fertilizers, and advancing livestock. After 1861, with the development of land-grant universities in the United States that had huge agricultural programs, American crop-production research added to this mix. Mechanization included the use of horse-drawn harvesters and seed drills, many developed initially in the United States. It also included mechanical cream separators and other food-processing devices that improved supply.

 

[4] The second development involved industrially based transportation. With trains and steam shipping, it became possible to move foods to needy regions within Western Europe quickly. Famine(as opposed to malnutrition) became a thing of the past. Many Western European countries, headed by Britain, began also to import increasing amounts of food, not only from Eastern Europe, a traditional source, but also from the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand. Steam shipping, which improved speed and capacity, as well as new procedures for canning and refrigerating foods (particularly after 1870), was fundamental to these developments.

 

[5] Europe's population growth included one additional innovation by the nineteenth century: it combined with rapid urbanization. More and more Western Europeans moved from countryside to city, and big cities grew most rapidly of all. By1850, over half of all the people in England lived in cities, a first in human history. In one sense, this pattern seems inevitable: growing numbers of people pressed available resources on the land, even when farmwork was combined with a bit of manufacturing, so people crowded into cities seeking work or other resources. Traditionally, however, death rates in cities surpassed those in the countryside by a large margin; cities had maintained population only through steady in-migration. Thus rapid urbanization should have reduced overall population growth, but by the middle of the nineteenth century this was no longer the case. Urban death rates remained high, particularly in the lower-class slums, but they began to decline rapidly.

 

[6] The greater reliability of food supplies was a factor in the decline of urban death rates. Even more important were the gains in urban sanitation, as well as measures such as inspection of housing. ■Reformers, including enlightened doctors, began to study the causes of high death rates and to urge remediation. ■Even before the discovery of germs, beliefs that disease spread by “miasmas” (noxious forms of bad air) prompted attention to sewers and open garbage; ■Edwin Chadwick led an exemplary urban crusade for underground sewers in England in the1830s. ■Gradually, public health provisions began to cut into customary urban mortality rates. By 1900, in some parts of Western, Europe life expectancy in the cities began to surpass that of the rural areas. Industrial societies had figured out ways to combine large and growing cities with population growth, a development that would soon spread to other parts of the world.

 

Paragraph 1

1. According to paragraph 1, which of the following is true about Europe in the nineteenth century

○ A large increase in food production led to industrialization.

○ Population changes occurred at the same pace in the major regions.

○ The standard of living rose to the level of that in most parts of the world.

○ The tremendous rise in population led to greater agricultural output in every region.

Paragraph 2

2. According to paragraph2, which of the following caused the food supply to increase in most of Western Europe during the nineteenth century

○ Replacement of seventeenth-century farming techniques with more modern ones

○ Improved grain harvests in most European countries

○ Reduced demand for food as a result of a decreased population

○ Use of new land to grow crops

3. In paragraph 2, why does the author mention the potato blight that occurred in Ireland?

○ To identify a crop that was more successful in the United States than it was in Western Europe

○ To support a claim about regional agricultural failures

○ To give an example of a problematic trend that had started in the late seventeenth century

○ To provide evidence that many countries in Europe experienced a loss of population in the nineteenth century

Paragraph 3

4. The phrase “kept pace with” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○ exceeded

○ matched the increase in

○ increased the rate of

○ caused

5. According to paragraph 3, all of the following factors helped the supply of food meet the needs of a growing population EXCEPT

○ increased agricultural research in Germany

○ introduction of new crops

○ development of food-processing devices

○ agricultural programs in universities in the United States

Paragraph 4

6. The word “capacity” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○ variety of goods

○ distance

○ reliability

○ available storage space

7. According to paragraph 4, famine became less of a problem in Western Europe during the nineteenth century because of

○ the decline of malnutrition

○ the construction of more food-storage facilities

○ faster means of transportation

○ improved agricultural methods in Eastern Europe

Paragraph 5

8. The world “inevitable” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○ unexplainable

○ undesirable

○ unavoidable

○ unpredictable

9. According to paragraph 5, which of the following factors led to rapid urbanization in the first half of the nineteenth century

○ The destruction of many farms due to bad harvests

○ The reduction in the amount of good-quality farmland

○ The rise in death rates in the countryside

○ The lack of jobs in the countryside

Paragraph 6

10. Paragraph 6 mentions all of the following as factors that contributed to the rapid decline of urban death rates EXCEPT

○ the greater reliability of food supplies

○ improvements in sanitation

○ advances in the treatment of disease

○ provisions for inspecting houses

11. The word “surpass” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○ exceed

○ influence

○ equal

○ differ from

12. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph6 about underground sewers

○ They became common in most of Western Europe in the 1830s.

○ They helped reduce deaths caused by disease in cities.

○ They led to the discovery that disease could be caused by germs.

○ They encouraged people to leave rural areas and move to the cities.

13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

Such individual efforts had substantial, concrete effects on society.

Where does the sentence best fit?

14. Prose summary

Answer Choices

○ Agricultural failures became less damaging after 1850 because of advances in science and technology as well as improvements in the transportation and preservation of foods.

○ Although agricultural failures led to deaths and emigration, population levels were restored within a short time.

○ The development of better food-processing technologies allowed many Western European countries to grow their own food without having to import it from other countries.

○ As the population in the countryside began increasing faster than the supply of food and living space, people began moving to the cities in search of jobs and other resources.

○ High death rates in the cities began to decline as food supplies became more reliable and as reformers prompted improvements in sanitation and housing.

○ The improvements in crop-growing methods created new jobs on the farms, causing people from the overcrowded cities to move to the countryside to fill those jobs.

 

The surface of Mars

[1] The surface of Mars shows a wide range of geologic features, including huge volcanoes — the largest known in the solar system — and extensive impact cratering. Three very large volcanoes are found on the Tharsis bulge, an enormous geologic area near Mars's equator. Northwest of Tharsis is the largest volcano of all: Olympus Mons, with a height of 25 kilometers and measuring some 700 kilometers in diameter at its base. The three large volcanoes on the Tharsis bulge are a little smaller — a “mere” 18 ki1ometers high.

 

[2] None of these volcanoes was formed as a result of collisions between plates of the Martian crust-there is no plate motion on Mars. Instead, they are shield volcanoes — volcanoes with broad, sloping slides formed by molten rock. All four show distinctive lava channels and other flow features similar to those found on shield volcanoes on Earth. Images of the Martian surface reveal many hundreds of volcanoes. Most of the largest volcanoes are associated with the Tharsis bulge, but many sma11er ones are found in the northern plains.

 

[3] The great height of Martian volcanoes is a direct consequence of the planet's low surface gravity. As lava flows and spreads to form a shield volcano, the volcano's eventual height depends on the new mountain's ability to support its own weight. The lower the gravity, the lesser the weight and the greater the height of the mountain. It is no accident that Maxwell Mons on Venus and the Hawaiian shield volcanoes on Earth rise to about the same height (about10 kilometers) above their respective bases-Earth and Venus have similar surface gravity. Mars's surface gravity is only 40 percent that of Earth, so volcanoes rise roughly 2.5 times as high. Are the Martian shield volcanoes still active? Scientists have no direct evidence for recent or ongoing eruptions, but if these volcanoes were active as recently as 100 million years ago(an estimate of the time of last eruption based on the extent of impact cratering on their slopes), some of them may still be at least intermittently active. Millions of years, though, may pass between eruptions.

 

[4] Another prominent feature of Mars's surface is cratering. The Mariner spacecraft found that the surface of Mars, as well as that of its two moons, is pitted with impact craters formed by meteoroids falling in from space. As on our Moon, the smaller craters are often filled with surface matter — mostly dust — confirming that Mars is a dry desert world. However, Martian craters get filled in considerably faster than their lunar counterparts. On the Moon, ancient craters less than100 meters across (corresponding to depths of about 20 meters) have been obliterated, primarily by meteoritic erosion. On Mars, there are relatively few craters less than 5 kilometers in diameter. The Martian atmosphere is an efficient erosive agent, with Martian winds transporting dust from place to place and erasing surface features much faster than meteoritic impacts alone can obliterate them.

 

[5] As on the Moon, the extent of large impact cratering (i.e. craters too big to have been filled in by erosion since they were formed) serves as an age indicator for the Martian surface. Age estimates ranging from four billion years for Mars's southern highlands to a few hundred million years in the youngest volcanic areas were obtained in this way.

 

[6] The detailed appearance of Martian impact craters provides an important piece of information about conditions just below the planet's surface. Martian craters are surrounded by ejecta (debris formed as a result of an impact) that looks quite different from its lunar counterparts. A comparison of the Copernicus crater on the Moon with the (fairly typical) crater Yuty on Mars demonstrates the differences. The ejecta surrounding the lunar crater is just what one would expect from an explosion ejecting a large volume of dust,,soil, and boulders. ■However, the ejecta on Mars gives the distinct impression of a liquid that has splashed or flowed out of crater. ■Geologists think that this fluidized ejecta crater indicates that a layer of permafrost, or water ice, lies just a few meters under the surface. ■Explosive impacts heated and liquefied the ice, resulting in the fluid appearance of the ejecta. ■

 

Paragraph 1

1. The word “enormous” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○ important

○ extremely large

○ highly unusual

○ active

2. According to paragraph 1, Olympus Mons differs from volcanoes on the Tharsis bulge in that Olympus Mons

○ has more complex geologic features

○ shows less impact cratering

○ is taller

○ was formed at a later time

Paragraph 2

3. The word “distinctive” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○ deep

○ complex

○ characteristic

○ ancient

4. According to paragraphs 1 and 2, which of the following is NOT true of the shield volcanoes on the Tharsis bulge?

○ They have broad, sloping sides.

○ They are smaller than the largest volcano on Mars.

○ They have channels that resemble the lava channels of volcanoes on Earth.

○ They are over 25 kilometers tall.

Paragraph 3

5. The word “roughly” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○ typically

○ frequently

○ actually

○ approximately

6. In paragraph 3, why does the author compare Maxwell Mons on Venus to the Hawaiian shield volcanoes on Earth?

○ to help explain the relationship between surface gravity and volcano height

○ to explain why Mars’s surface gravity is only 40 percent of Earth’s

○ to point out differences between the surface gravity of Earth and the surface gravity of Venus

○ to argue that there are more similarities than differences between volcanoes on different planets

7. 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.

○ Although direct evidence of recent eruptions is lacking, scientists believe that these volcanoes were active as recently as100 million years ago.

○ Scientists estimate that volcanoes active more recently than 100 years ago will still have extensive impact cratering on their slopes.

○ If, as some evidence suggests, these volcanoes erupted as recently as100 million years ago, they may continue to be intermittently active.

○ Although these volcanoes were active as recently as 100 million years ago, there is no direct evidence of recent or ongoing eruptions.

Paragraph 4

8. The word “considerably” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○ frequently

○ significantly

○ clearly

○ surprisingly

9. According to paragraph 4, what is demonstrated by the fact that craters fill in much faster on Mars than on the Moon?

○ Erosion from meteoritic impacts takes place more quickly on Mars than on the Moon.

○ There is more dust on Mars than on the Moon.

○ The surface of Mars is a dry desert.

○ Wind is a powerful eroding force on Mars.

10. In paragraph 4, why does the author point out that Mars has few ancient craters that are less than 5 kilometers in diameter?

○ To explain why scientists believe that the surface matter filling Martian craters is mostly dust

○ To explain why scientists believe that the impact craters on Mars were created by meteoroids

○ To support the claim that the Martian atmosphere is an efficient erosive agent

○ To argue that Mars experienced fewer ancient impacts than the Moon did

Paragraph 5

11. According to paragraph 5, what have scientists been able to determine from studies of large impact cratering on Mars?

○ Some Martian volcanoes are much older than was once thought.

○ The age of Mars's surface can vary from area to area.

○ Large impact craters are not reliable indicators of age in areas with high volcanic activity.

○ Some areas of the Martian surface appear to be older than they actually are.

Paragraph 6

12. According to paragraph 6, the ejecta of Mars's crater Yuty differs from the ejecta of the Moon's Copernicus crater in that the ejecta of the Yuty crater

○ has now become part of a permafrost layer

○ contains a large volume of dust, soil and boulders

○ suggests that liquid once came out of the surface at the crater site

○ was thrown a comparatively long distance from the center of the crater

13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

This surface feature has led to speculation about what may lie under Mars’s surface.

Where does the sentence best fit?

14. Prose summary

Answer Choices

○ Place motion on Mars, once considered to have played no role in shaping the planet’s surface, is now seen as being directly associated with the planet’s earliest volcanoes.

○ Mars has shield volcanoes, some of which are extremely tall because of the planet’s low surface gravity.

○ Although the erosive power of the Martian atmosphere ensures that Mars has fewer craters than the the Moon does, impact craters are prominent on Mars’s surface.

○ Scientists cannot yet reliably estimate the age of the Martian surface because there has been too much erosion of it.

○ Scientists have been surprised to discover that conditions just below the surface of Mars are very similar to conditions just below the surface of the Moon.

○ Studies of crater ejecta have revealed the possibility of a layer of permafrost below the surface of Mars.

 

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