Table of Contents
Passage
A The Sumerians, an ancient people of the Middle East, had a story explaining the invention of writing more than 5,000 years ago. It seems a messenger of the King of Uruk arrived at the court of a distant ruler so exhausted that he was unable to deliver the oracle message. So the king set down the words of his next messages on a clay tablet. A charming story, whose retelling at a recent symposium at the University of Pennsylvania amused scholars. They smiled at the absurdity of a letter which the recipient would not have been able to read.
B They also doubted that the earliest writing was a direct, rendering of speech. riting more likely began as a separate, symbolic system of communication and only later merged with spoken language.
C Yet in the story the Sumerians, who lived in Mesopotamia, in what is ow southern Iraq, seemed to understand writing’s transforming function. s Dr Holly Pittman, director of the University’s Center for Ancient Studies, bserved, writing “arose out of the need to store and transmit information…over time and space”.
D In exchanging interpretations and information, the scholars acknowledged that they still had no fully satisfying answers to the questions of how and why writing developed. Many favoured an explanation of writing’s origins in the visual arts, pictures becoming increasingly abstract and eventually representing spoken words. Their views clashed with a widely held theory among archaeologists that writing developed from the pieces of clay that Sumerian accountants used as tokens to keep track of goods.
E Archaeologists generally concede that they have no definitive answer to the question of whether writing was invented only once, or arose independently in several places, such as Egypt, the Indus Valley, China, Mexico and Central America. The preponderance of archaeological data shows that the urbanizing Sumerians were the first to develop writing, in 3,200 or 3,300 BC. These are the dates for many clay tablets in an early form of cuneiform, a script written by pressing the end of a sharpened stick into wet clay, found at the site of the ancient city of Uruk. The baked clay tablets bore such images as pictorial symbols of the names of people, places and things connected with government and commerce. The Sumerian script gradually evolved from the pictorial to the abstract, but did not at first represent recorded spoken language.
F Dr Peter Damerow, a specialist in Sumerian cuneiform at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, said, It is likely that there were mutual influences of writing systems around the world. However, their great variety now shows that the development of writing, once initiated, attains a considerable degree of independence and flexibility to adapt to specific characteristics of the sounds of the language to be represented. Not that he accepts the conventional view that writing started as a representation of words by pictures. New studies of early Sumerian writing, he said, challenge this interpretation. The structures of this earliest writing did not, for example, match the structure of spoken language, dealing mainly in lists and categories rather than in sentences and narrative.
G For at least two decades, Dr Denise Schmandt-Besserat, a University of Texas archaeologist, has argued that the first writing grew directly out of a system practised by Sumerian accountants. They used clay tokens, each one shaped to represent a jar of oil, a container of grain or a particular kind of livestock. These tokens were sealed inside clay spheres, and then the number and type of tokens inside was recorded on the outside using impressions resembling the tokens. Eventually, the token impressions were replaced with inscribed signs, and writing had been invented.
H Though Dr Schmandt-Besserat has won much support, some linguists question her thesis, and others, like Dr Pittman, think it too narrow. They emphasis that pictorial representation and writing evolved together.‘There’s no question that the token system is a forerunner of writing’. Dr Pittman said, but I have an argument with her evidence for a link between tokens and signs, and she doesn’t open up the process to include picture making.
I Dr Schmandt-Besserat vigorously defended her ideas.‘My colleagues say that pictures were the beginning of writing’, she said,‘but show me a single icture that becomes a sign in writing. They say that designs on pottery were the beginning of writing, but show me a single sign of writing you can trace back to a pot — it doesn’t exist’. In its first 500 years, she asserted, cuneiform writing was used almost solely for recording economic information, and after that its uses multiplied and broadened.
J Yet other scholars have advanced different ideas. Dr. Piotr Michalowski, Professor of Near East Civilizations at the University of Michigan, said that the proto-writing of Sumerian Uruk was‘so radically different as to be a complete break with the past’. It no doubt served, he said, to store and communicate information, but also became a new instrument of power. Some scholars noted that the origins of writing may not always have been in economics. In Egypt, most early writing is high on monuments or deep in tombs. In this case, said Dr Pascal Vernus from a university in Paris, early writing was less administrative than sacred. It seems that the only certainty in this field is that many questions remain to be answered.
Questions
Questions 27-30 Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D
27 The researchers at the symposium regarded the story of the King of Uruk as ridiculous because
A writing probably developed independently of speech.
B clay tablets had not been invented at that time.
C the distant ruler would have spoken another language.
D evidence of writing has been discovered from an earlier period.
28 According to the writer, the story of the King of Uruk
A is a probable explanation of the origins of writing.
B proves that early writing had a different function to writing today.
C provides an example of symbolic writing.
D shows some awareness amongst Sumerians of the purpose by writing.
29 There was disagreement among the researchers at the symposium about
A the area where writing began.
B the nature of early writing materials.
C the way writing began.
D the meaning of certain abstract images.
30 The opponents of the theory that writing developed from tokens believe that it
A grew out of accountancy.
B evolved from pictures.
C was initially intended as decoration.
D was unlikely to have been connected with commerce.
Questions 31-36 Look at the following statements (Questions 31-36) and the list of people below. Match each statement with the correct person, A-E. Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 31-36 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
List of People
A Dr Holly Pittman
B Dr Peter Damerow
C Dr Denise Schmandt-Besserat
D Dr Piotr Michalowski
E Dr Pascal Vernus
31 There is no proof that early writing is connected to decorated household objects.
32 As writing developed, it came to represent speech.
33 Sumerian writing developed into a means of political control.
34 Early writing did not represent the grammatical features of speech.
35 There is no convincing proof that tokens and signs are connected.
36 The uses of cuneiform writing were narrow at first, and later widened.
Questions 37-40 Complete the summary using the list of words, A-M, below. Write the correct letter, A-M, in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet
The earliest form of writing Most archaeological evidence shows that the people of 37 ……………….. invented writing in around 3,300 BC. Their script was written on 38 ……………….. and was called 39 ……………….. Their script originally showed images related to political power and business, and later developed to become more 40 ………………..
A cuneiform
B pictorial
C tomb walls
D urban
E legible
F stone blocks
G simple
H Mesopotamia
I abstract
J papyrus sheets
K decorative
L clay tablets Uruk
M Egypt
Answers
Below are the answers, key words, synonyms and full explanations for the IELTS Reading passage The Origin of Ancient Writing (Passage 3, Questions 27–40).
Questions 27–30: Multiple Choice
27. The researchers regarded the story of the King of Uruk as ridiculous because
Answer: A — writing probably developed independently of speech
Key words: absurdity, recipient would not have been able to read
Synonyms: independent of speech = “the earliest writing was not a direct rendering of speech … a separate, symbolic system”
Explanation: The recipient could not “read” it because early writing was not a transcription of speech.
28. According to the writer, the story of the King of Uruk
Answer: D — shows some awareness among Sumerians of the purpose of writing
Key words: transforming function, store and transmit information
Synonyms: awareness of purpose = “the Sumerians … seemed to understand writing’s transforming function”
Explanation: The story shows the Sumerians grasped writing’s role in storing and transmitting information.
29. There was disagreement among the researchers about
Answer: C — the way writing began
Key words: no satisfying answers, how and why writing developed, views clashed
Synonyms: the way writing began = “how and why writing developed”; the visual-arts camp “clashed with” the token theory
Explanation: The scholars disagreed over how writing originated (pictures vs tokens).
30. The opponents of the token theory believe that writing
Answer: B — evolved from pictures
Key words: visual arts, pictures becoming increasingly abstract
Synonyms: evolved from pictures = “writing’s origins in the visual arts, pictures becoming increasingly abstract”
Explanation: Opponents favoured a visual-arts origin — writing grew from pictures.
Questions 31–36: Matching People (A–E)
A Dr Holly Pittman · B Dr Peter Damerow · C Dr Denise Schmandt-Besserat · D Dr Piotr Michalowski · E Dr Pascal Vernus
31. There is no proof that early writing is connected to decorated household objects.
Answer: C
Key words: trace back to a pot, doesn’t exist
Synonyms: decorated household objects = “designs on pottery … a single sign of writing you can trace back to a pot — it doesn’t exist”
Explanation: Schmandt-Besserat challenges the pottery-design theory.
32. As writing developed, it came to represent speech.
Answer: B
Key words: adapt to the sounds of the language
Synonyms: came to represent speech = writing “attains … flexibility to adapt to … the sounds of the language to be represented”
Explanation: Damerow says writing developed to represent the sounds of the spoken language.
33. Sumerian writing developed into a means of political control.
Answer: D
Key words: new instrument of power
Synonyms: means of political control = “became a new instrument of power”
Explanation: Michalowski notes proto-writing became an instrument of power.
34. Early writing did not represent the grammatical features of speech.
Answer: B
Key words: did not match the structure of spoken language, lists and categories
Synonyms: grammatical features = “the structure of spoken language … sentences and narrative”
Explanation: Damerow says early writing dealt in lists, not sentences/grammar.
35. There is no convincing proof that tokens and signs are connected.
Answer: A
Key words: argument with her evidence, link between tokens and signs
Synonyms: no convincing proof = “I have an argument with her evidence for a link between tokens and signs”
Explanation: Pittman doubts the evidence linking tokens to written signs.
36. The uses of cuneiform writing were narrow at first, and later widened.
Answer: C
Key words: first 500 years, economic information, multiplied and broadened
Synonyms: narrow then widened = “used almost solely for recording economic information, and after that its uses multiplied and broadened”
Explanation: Schmandt-Besserat says cuneiform’s uses started narrow, then expanded.
Questions 37–40: Summary Completion (choose from the word list A–M)
37. The people of ……… invented writing around 3,300 BC.
Answer: H — Mesopotamia
Key words: urbanizing Sumerians, first to develop writing
Synonyms: the people = “the urbanizing Sumerians … in Mesopotamia … were the first to develop writing”
Explanation: The Sumerians of Mesopotamia were the first writers.
38. Their script was written on ………
Answer: L — clay tablets
Key words: pressing a stick into wet clay
Synonyms: written on = “many clay tablets in an early form of cuneiform”
Explanation: The script was written on clay tablets.
39. …… and was called ………
Answer: A — cuneiform
Key words: sharpened stick, wet clay
Synonyms: was called = “an early form of cuneiform”
Explanation: The script is known as cuneiform.
40. Their script later developed to become more ………
Answer: I — abstract
Key words: evolved from the pictorial to the abstract
Synonyms: became more = “gradually evolved from the pictorial to the abstract”
Explanation: The script moved from pictorial images to more abstract signs.
Answer Key (Quick Reference)
| Q | Answer | Q | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | A | 34 | B |
| 28 | D | 35 | A |
| 29 | C | 36 | C |
| 30 | B | 37 | H (Mesopotamia) |
| 31 | C | 38 | L (clay tablets) |
| 32 | B | 39 | A (cuneiform) |
| 33 | D | 40 | I (abstract) |
