题目 1 · free-response
3 分Read the passage below and answer parts a, b, and c.
"Between the tenth and fourteenth centuries, the Indian Ocean emerged as the world's most dynamic zone of cross-cultural interaction. While state navies occasionally attempted to assert hegemony, commerce was largely self-regulated by autonomous networks of diasporic merchants—Gujaratis, Persians, Arabs, and Malays—who established enclaves in major port cities along the rim. These expatriate trade quarters served not merely as commercial depots, but as crucial hubs for the transmission of religious doctrines, navigational knowledge, and financial innovations such as letters of credit.
Rulers of coastal emporia rarely sought to impose rigid territorial control; rather, they competed vigorously to attract foreign merchant communities through low customs tariffs, equitable commercial courts, and secure warehousing. In doing so, political authority in the maritime world was derived not from agrarian land revenue or coercive military conquest, but from the ability to tap into the vast flow of interregional trade."
— T. K. Henderson, Monsoons and Markets: The Maritime Silk Roads in World History, 2015
a) Identify ONE claim made by the author in the first paragraph regarding maritime commercial networks in the Indian Ocean.
b) Identify ONE piece of specific historical evidence NOT directly mentioned in the passage that supports the author's argument regarding cross-cultural or technological transmission across the Indian Ocean in the period circa 1200–1450.
c) Explain ONE way in which a specific state or empire in Afro-Eurasia in the period circa 1200–1450 derived power or wealth from maritime trade networks as described in the second paragraph.
"Between the tenth and fourteenth centuries, the Indian Ocean emerged as the world's most dynamic zone of cross-cultural interaction. While state navies occasionally attempted to assert hegemony, commerce was largely self-regulated by autonomous networks of diasporic merchants—Gujaratis, Persians, Arabs, and Malays—who established enclaves in major port cities along the rim. These expatriate trade quarters served not merely as commercial depots, but as crucial hubs for the transmission of religious doctrines, navigational knowledge, and financial innovations such as letters of credit.
Rulers of coastal emporia rarely sought to impose rigid territorial control; rather, they competed vigorously to attract foreign merchant communities through low customs tariffs, equitable commercial courts, and secure warehousing. In doing so, political authority in the maritime world was derived not from agrarian land revenue or coercive military conquest, but from the ability to tap into the vast flow of interregional trade."
— T. K. Henderson, Monsoons and Markets: The Maritime Silk Roads in World History, 2015
a) Identify ONE claim made by the author in the first paragraph regarding maritime commercial networks in the Indian Ocean.
b) Identify ONE piece of specific historical evidence NOT directly mentioned in the passage that supports the author's argument regarding cross-cultural or technological transmission across the Indian Ocean in the period circa 1200–1450.
c) Explain ONE way in which a specific state or empire in Afro-Eurasia in the period circa 1200–1450 derived power or wealth from maritime trade networks as described in the second paragraph.
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解题
a) Acceptable claims from the first paragraph include:
- Long-distance commerce in the Indian Ocean was primarily organized and self-regulated by autonomous diasporic merchant communities (such as Arabs, Persians, Gujaratis, and Malays) rather than centralized state navies.
- Diasporic merchant settlements in port cities functioned as vital centers for the transmission of religious beliefs, navigational knowledge, and business practices.
- The Indian Ocean was a highly dynamic zone of cross-cultural interaction and exchange prior to the fifteenth century.
b) Specific historical evidence supporting the author's argument includes:
- The spread and adoption of maritime technologies such as the lateen sail, the sternpost rudder, the magnetic compass, and the astrolabe, which allowed sailors to navigate monsoon wind patterns safely.
- The voluntary conversion to Islam among rulers and coastal populations in Southeast Asian trading hubs (e.g., the Sultanate of Malacca) and the Swahili Coast of East Africa (e.g., Kilwa and Mombasa) through contact with Muslim merchants.
- The development of syncretic cultural traditions and languages, such as Swahili, which blended Bantu grammar and vocabulary with Arabic terms as a consequence of sustained trade contacts.
c) Explanation of how an Afro-Eurasian state derived power or wealth from trade includes:
- The Sultanate of Malacca strategically controlled the narrow Strait of Malacca, levying reasonable customs duties on passing ships and providing secure warehousing, which generated immense royal revenue and made the sultanate a dominant commercial power without needing vast territorial conquests.
- Swahili city-states (such as Kilwa, Mogadishu, and Sofala) levied taxes on ivory, gold, and timber brought from the African interior and exchanged them for porcelain and textiles, enriching urban ruling elites who built stone palaces and mosques to display their prestige.
- Calicut on the Malabar Coast attracted global merchants by maintaining fair commercial courts, low export duties, and dependable maritime infrastructure, enriching the local Zamorin rulers.
- Long-distance commerce in the Indian Ocean was primarily organized and self-regulated by autonomous diasporic merchant communities (such as Arabs, Persians, Gujaratis, and Malays) rather than centralized state navies.
- Diasporic merchant settlements in port cities functioned as vital centers for the transmission of religious beliefs, navigational knowledge, and business practices.
- The Indian Ocean was a highly dynamic zone of cross-cultural interaction and exchange prior to the fifteenth century.
b) Specific historical evidence supporting the author's argument includes:
- The spread and adoption of maritime technologies such as the lateen sail, the sternpost rudder, the magnetic compass, and the astrolabe, which allowed sailors to navigate monsoon wind patterns safely.
- The voluntary conversion to Islam among rulers and coastal populations in Southeast Asian trading hubs (e.g., the Sultanate of Malacca) and the Swahili Coast of East Africa (e.g., Kilwa and Mombasa) through contact with Muslim merchants.
- The development of syncretic cultural traditions and languages, such as Swahili, which blended Bantu grammar and vocabulary with Arabic terms as a consequence of sustained trade contacts.
c) Explanation of how an Afro-Eurasian state derived power or wealth from trade includes:
- The Sultanate of Malacca strategically controlled the narrow Strait of Malacca, levying reasonable customs duties on passing ships and providing secure warehousing, which generated immense royal revenue and made the sultanate a dominant commercial power without needing vast territorial conquests.
- Swahili city-states (such as Kilwa, Mogadishu, and Sofala) levied taxes on ivory, gold, and timber brought from the African interior and exchanged them for porcelain and textiles, enriching urban ruling elites who built stone palaces and mosques to display their prestige.
- Calicut on the Malabar Coast attracted global merchants by maintaining fair commercial courts, low export duties, and dependable maritime infrastructure, enriching the local Zamorin rulers.
评分标准
Each point is earned independently (Total: 3 points).
[Part a] 1 point:
- Requires identifying a specific argument or claim stated in the first paragraph.
- Responses that merely restate single words without describing an argument earn 0 points.
[Part b] 1 point:
- Requires identifying a specific historical development, technology, or cultural practice outside the stimulus that supports the passage's argument on maritime exchange.
- Examples outside the 1200–1450 era or outside the Indian Ocean basin (such as transatlantic triangular trade) earn 0 points.
[Part c] 1 point:
- Requires an explanation (causal reasoning) of how a named state or ruler in Afro-Eurasia (circa 1200–1450) utilized commercial policies, tariffs, or harbor facilities to build wealth, stability, or political influence.
- Purely descriptive mentions of a state without explaining the mechanism of wealth/power generation do not earn the point.
[Part a] 1 point:
- Requires identifying a specific argument or claim stated in the first paragraph.
- Responses that merely restate single words without describing an argument earn 0 points.
[Part b] 1 point:
- Requires identifying a specific historical development, technology, or cultural practice outside the stimulus that supports the passage's argument on maritime exchange.
- Examples outside the 1200–1450 era or outside the Indian Ocean basin (such as transatlantic triangular trade) earn 0 points.
[Part c] 1 point:
- Requires an explanation (causal reasoning) of how a named state or ruler in Afro-Eurasia (circa 1200–1450) utilized commercial policies, tariffs, or harbor facilities to build wealth, stability, or political influence.
- Purely descriptive mentions of a state without explaining the mechanism of wealth/power generation do not earn the point.