NEW TOEFL Reading Practice Test #4

NEW TOEFL 2026 Reading Official Academic Passage 4

NEW TOEFL Reading Academic Passage #4 - The development of Agriculture [Passage]

The transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture, often called the Neolithic Revolution, was one of the most significant developments in human history. This shift occurred independently in several regions around the world between 10,000 and 5,000 years ago. However, the traditional narrative of agriculture as unambiguous progress has been challenged by recent archaeological and anthropological research.

Evidence suggests that early agriculture was not necessarily easier or more reliable than hunting and gathering. Agricultural communities were more vulnerable to crop failures from drought, pests, or disease. Their dependence on a narrow range of crops made them susceptible to malnutrition compared to hunter-gatherers, who consumed a diverse diet. Skeletal remains from early agricultural societies show evidence of increased disease, nutritional deficiencies, and decreased stature compared to their hunter-gatherer predecessors. Agricultural work was also more labor-intensive, requiring long hours of planting, tending, and harvesting crops.

Why, then, did societies adopt agriculture? One theory suggests that population pressure made agriculture necessary. As populations grew, hunting and gathering could no longer support the increased numbers, forcing communities to intensify food production through farming. Another possibility is that agriculture, despite its drawbacks, allowed for food storage and population concentration, which facilitated the development of complex social hierarchies, specialization of labor, and eventually, urban civilizations. Agriculture may have been adopted not because it improved individual lives, but because it enabled new forms of social organization that became self-reinforcing. Once a society committed to agriculture, the larger populations and different social structures made reverting to hunting and gathering nearly impossible.

NEW TOEFL Reading Academic Passage #4 - The development of Agriculture [Quiz]

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New Toefl 2026 Reading Official Academic Passage 4 Development of Agriculture

New TOEFL Reading Academic Passage #4 - The Development of Agriculture

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1. Question 1: The main purpose of the passage is to:

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2. Question 2: According to the passage, early agricultural societies compared to hunter-gatherer societies:

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3. Question 3: The word "susceptible" in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to:

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4. Question 4: What does the passage suggest about the relationship between population size and the adoption of agriculture?

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5. Question 5: According to the passage, why might societies have continued with agriculture despite its disadvantages?

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