新托福综合写作：2012年12月01日北美真题——解答篇
解题4步骤
1. 阅读短文，抓关键信息
The archaeological site located in the north-east of England, discovered in 1939, is considered by many to be the grave of King Raedwald. Raedwald was a prominent king of the East Anglia, one of several Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in Great Britain in the post-Roman centuries before the Norman Conquest. A number of considerations support this deduction.

A pair of spoons found in the luxurious grave can be reliably dated to A.D. 620 by modern technology. Since Raedwald is generally thought to have died in A.D. 624, the likelihood is high that the spoons and the grave are all his. East Anglia, moreover, was a fairly small kingdom, so there could not have been a great many important persons all dying at the same time.

Second, the spoons were engraved with the names Augustine and Paulinus. Both of these figures were well-known Roman Catholic missionaries at the time. This makes the inference likely that the spoons were a baptismal gift. This is highly significant because Raedwald is known to have converted to Catholicism at the behest of Augustine around A.D. 597. It should be remembered too that at this time Catholic kings or noblemen were a distinct minority in Britain. Therefore, we can safely conclude that the grave occupant is King Raedwald.

Last, the grave is very luxurious. Anglo-Saxon England was a poor country with a low standard of living. Clearly the occupant of the grave lived at the very pinnacle of his society. This, taken together with the other evidence, argues compellingly that the grave is King Raedwald’s.

2. 记笔记，转述关键信息
假说
【原文摘要】 north-east of England, grave of King Raedwald
【笔记转述】 The reading passage gives several deductions to support the discovery of a grave found in the north-east of England that belongs to King Raedwald.

根据1
【原文摘要】 spoons / A.D. 620 by tech~
Rae~ × / A.D. 624 → his
【笔记转述】 The date of a pair of spoons is identified by technology to be around A.D. 620, while King Raedwald died in A.D. 624. Therefore, the occupant of the grave is King Raedwald.

根据2
【原文摘要】 spoons / name / Catholic mission~
gift → Rae~ → Catholicism
【笔记转述】 The spoons engraved with the names of two Catholic missionaries indicated that they might be gifts to Raedwald, because the king converted to Catholicism.

根据3
【原文摘要】 grave luxurious & England poor
∴ king
【笔记转述】 The grave is luxurious; however, the north-east of England at that time was poor. So its occupant must be a king or a nobleman.

3. 听讲座，抓关键信息
Did you enjoy today’s reading? I did, and I even hope its conclusions are correct. But as archaeologists, we take nothing on trust and try to back every claim with evidence. So when we take a closer look at the evidence, we find that the grave found in the north-east of England might not belong to King Raedwald. And some archaeologists have the following considerations.

First, let’s look at those spoons. You should know that the technology used for dating those spoons might not be reliable. Other technologies have identified that the spoons date back to twenty-five years after Raedwald died. Plus, we know the historical records regarding the year of his death are not entirely accurate. Some records say that the king did not die in A.D. 624. The time is suspiciously accurate. Therefore, those spoons could have belonged to other important East Anglican nobleman of the period.

The same goes for the names. Bishops like Augustine and Paulinus at the time typically gave such gifts to important converts. Nothing specifically links them to King Raedwald. Also, some archaeologists suggest that the spoons which were Catholic artifacts do not prove their dead owner was a Catholic. Maybe the spoons were funeral objects the missionaries gave to any tomb occupant, and not necessarily to King Raedwald alone.

The fact that the grave is luxurious does not strongly support the claim that the grave is Raedwald’s. We have access to relatively few noblemen’s graves from this period. And, sadly, most of them were plundered by robbers. So we have very little to compare this grave with. Maybe there were others just as rich or richer. The evidence scarcely implies that the grave was necessarily that of the king.

4. 记笔记，转述关键信息
反驳
【原文摘要】 grave ×King’s
【笔记转述】 The grave is not King Raedwald’s.

理由1
【原文摘要】 tech~ × 靠
spoon 25 yr after Rae~ ×
yr death ×准
【笔记转述】 The technology might not be reliable. The spoons have also been dated to twenty-five years after the king died.

理由2
【原文摘要】 spoons = gifts → ☆ converts
× → King
【笔记转述】 The spoons engraved with two missionaries’ names might be gifts to anybody who converted to Catholicism, not necessarily King Raedwald.

理由3
【原文摘要】 奢grave× → Rae~
maybe others / rich
【笔记转述】 The luxurious grave might not be the king’s. Perhaps there used to be other rich noblemen buried in such a grave.