托福TPO4阅读真题及答案Part2（精选11篇）由网友“巧克丽”投稿提供，下面是小编为大家推荐的托福TPO4阅读真题及答案Part2，欢迎大家分享。
篇1：托福TPO4阅读真题及答案Part2
Cave Art in Europe
The earliest discovered traces of art are beads and carvings, and then paintings, from sites dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period. We might expect that early artistic efforts would be crude, but the cave paintings of Spain and southern France show a marked degree of skill. So do the naturalistic paintings on slabs of stone excavated in southern Africa. Some of those slabs appear to have been painted as much as 28,000 years ago, which suggests that painting in Africa is as old as painting in Europe. But painting may be even older than that. The early Australians may have painted on the walls of rock shelters and cliff faces at least 30,000 years ago, and maybe as much as 60,000 years ago.
The researchers Peter Ucko and Andree Rosenfeld identified three principal locations of paintings in the caves of western Europe: (1) in obviously inhabited rock shelters and cave entrances; (2) in galleries immediately off the inhabited areas of caves; and (3) in the inner reaches of caves, whose difficulty of access has been interpreted by some as a sign that magical-religious activities were performed there.
The subjects of the paintings are mostly animals. The paintings rest on bare walls, with no backdrops or environmental trappings. Perhaps, like many contemporary peoples, Upper Paleolithic men and women believed that the drawing of a human image could cause death or injury, and if that were indeed their belief, it might explain why human figures are rarely depicted in cave art. Another explanation for the focus on animals might be that these people sought to improve their luck at hunting. This theory is suggested by evidence of chips in the painted figures, perhaps made by spears thrown at the drawings. But if improving their hunting luck was the chief motivation for the paintings, it is difficult to explain why only a few show signs of having been speared. Perhaps the paintings were inspired by the need to increase the supply of animals. Cave art seems to have reached a peak toward the end of the Upper Paleolithic period, when the herds of game were decreasing.
The particular symbolic significance of the cave paintings in southwestern France is more explicitly revealed, perhaps, by the results of a study conducted by researchers Patricia Rice and Ann Paterson. The data they present suggest that the animals portrayed in the cave paintings were mostly the ones that the painters preferred for meat and for materials such as hides. For example, wild cattle (bovines) and horses are portrayed more often than we would expect by chance, probably because they were larger and heavier (meatier) than other animals in the environment. In addition, the paintings mostly portray animals that the painters may have feared the most because of their size, speed, natural weapons such as tusks and horns, and the unpredictability of their behavior. That is, mammoths, bovines, and horses are portrayed more often than deer and reindeer. Thus, the paintings are consistent with the idea that the art is related to the importance of hunting in the economy of Upper Paleolithic people. Consistent with this idea, according to the investigators, is the fact that the art of the cultural period that followed the Upper Paleolithic also seems to reflect how people got their food. But in that period, when getting food no longer depended on hunting large game animals (because they were becoming extinct), the art ceased to focus on portrayals of animals.
Upper Paleolithic art was not confined to cave paintings. Many shafts of spears and similar objects were decorated with figures of animals. The anthropologist Alexander Marshack has an interesting interpretation of some of the engravings made during the Upper Paleolithic. He believes that as far back as 30,000 B.C., hunters may have used a system of notation, engraved on bone and stone, to mark phases of the Moon. If this is true, it would mean that Upper Paleolithic people were capable of complex thought and were consciously aware of their environment. In addition to other artworks, figurines representing the human female in exaggerated form have also been found at Upper Paleolithic sites. It has been suggested that these figurines were an ideal type or an expression of a desire for fertility.
Paragraph 1: The earliest discovered traces of art are beads and carvings, and then paintings, from sites dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period. We might expect that early artistic efforts would be crude, but the cave paintings of Spain and southern France show amarked degree of skill. So do the naturalistic paintings on slabs of stone excavated in southern Africa. Some of those slabs appear to have been painted as much as 28,000 years ago, which suggests that painting in Africa is as old as painting in Europe. But painting may be even older than that. The early Australians may have painted on the walls of rock shelters and cliff faces at least 30,000 years ago, and maybe as much as 60,000 years ago.
篇2：托福TPO4阅读真题及答案Part2
1.The word “marked” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○considerable
○surprising
○limited
○adequate
2.Paragraph 1 supports which of the following statements about painting in Europe?
○It is much older than painting in Australia.
○It is as much as 28,000 years old.
○It is not as old as painting in southern Africa.
○It is much more than 30,000 years old.
Paragraph 2: The researchers Peter Ucko and Andree Rosenfeld identified three principallocations of paintings in the caves of western Europe: (1) in obviously inhabited rock shelters and cave entrances; (2) in galleries immediately off the inhabited areas of caves; and (3) in the inner reaches of caves, whose difficulty of access has been interpreted by some as a sign that magical-religious activities were performed there.
3.The word “principal” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○major
○likely
○well protected
○distinct
4.According to paragraph 2, what makes some researchers think that certain cave paintings were connected with magical-religious activities?
○The paintings were located where many people could easily see them, allowing groups of people to participate in the magical-religious activities.
○Upper Paleolithic people shared similar beliefs with contemporary peoples who use paintings of animals in their magical-religious rituals.
○Evidence of magical-religious activities has been found in galleries immediately off the inhabited areas of caves.
○The paintings were found in hard-to-reach places away from the inhabited parts of the cave.
Paragraph 3: The subjects of the paintings are mostly animals. The paintings rest on bare walls, with no backdrops or environmental trappings. Perhaps, like many contemporary peoples, Upper Paleolithic men and women believed that the drawing of a human image could cause death or injury, and if that were indeed their belief, it might explain why human figures are rarely depicted in cave art. Another explanation for the focus on animals might be that these people sought to improve their luck at hunting. This theory is suggested by evidence of chips in the painted figures, perhaps made by spears thrown at the drawings. But if improving their hunting luck was the chief motivation for the paintings, it is difficult to explain why only a few show signs of having been speared. Perhaps the paintings were inspired by the need to increase the supply of animals. Cave art seems to have reached a peak toward the end of the Upper Paleolithic period, when the herds of game were decreasing.
5.The word “trappings” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○conditions
○problems
○influences
○decorations
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.
○Upper Paleolithic people, like many contemporary peoples, believed that if they drew a human image in their cave art, it would cause death or injury.
○Many contemporary people believe that the drawing of a human image can cause death or injury, so they, like Upper Paleolithic people, rarely depicted human figures in their cave art.
○If Upper Paleolithic people, like many contemporary peoples, believed that the drawing of a human image could cause death or injury, this belief might explain why human figures are rarely depicted in cave art.
○Although many contemporary peoples believe that the drawing of a human image can cause death or injury, researchers cannot explain why Upper Paleolithic people rarely depicted human figures in their cave art.
7.According to paragraph 3, scholars explained chips in the painted figures of animals by proposing that
○Upper Paleolithic artists used marks to record the animals they had seen
○the paintings were inspired by the need to increase the supply of animals for hunting
○the artists had removed rough spots on the cave walls
○Upper Paleolithic people used the paintings to increase their luck at hunting
8.Why does the author mention that Upper Paleolithic cave art seemed to have “reached a peak toward the end of the Upper Paleolithic period, when the herds of game were decreasing”?
○To argue that Upper Paleolithic art ceased to include animals when herds of game became scarce
○To provide support for the idea that the aim of the paintings was to increase the supply of animals for hunting
○To emphasize the continued improvement in the quality of cave art throughout the Upper Paleolithic period
○To show the direct connection between the decrease in herds of game and the end of the Upper Paleolithic period
Paragraph 4: The particular symbolic significance of the cave paintings in southwestern France is more explicitly revealed, perhaps, by the results of a study conducted by researchers Patricia Rice and Ann Paterson. The data they present suggest that the animals portrayed in the cave paintings were mostly the ones that the painters preferred for meat and for materials such as hides. For example, wild cattle (bovines) and horses are portrayed more often than we would expect by chance, probably because they were larger and heavier (meatier) than other animals in the environment. In addition, the paintings mostly portray animals that the painters may have feared the most because of their size, speed, natural weapons such as tusks and horns, and the unpredictability of their behavior. That is, mammoths, bovines, and horses are portrayed more often than deer and reindeer. Thus, the paintings are consistent with the idea that the art is related to the importance of hunting in the economy of Upper Paleolithic people. Consistent with this idea, according to the investigators, is the fact that the art of the cultural period that followed the Upper Paleolithic also seems to reflect how people got their food. But in that period, when getting food no longer depended on hunting large game animals (because they were becoming extinct), the art ceased to focus on portrayals of animals.
9.According to paragraph 4, scholars believe that wild cattle, horses, and mammoths are the animals most frequently portrayed in cave paintings for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
○These animals were difficult to hunt because their unpredictable behavior.
○People preferred these animals for their meat and for their skins.
○The painters admired the beauty of these large animals.
○People feared these animals because of their size and speed.
10.According to paragraph 4, which of the following may best represent the attitude of hunters toward deer and reindeer in the Upper Paleolithic period?
○Hunters did not fear deer and reindeers as much as they did large game animals such as horses and mammoths.
○Hunters were not interested in hunting deer and reindeer because of their size and speed.
○Hunters preferred the meat and hides of deer and reindeer to those of other animals.
○Hunters avoided deer and reindeer because of their natural weapons, such as horns.
11.According to paragraph 4, what change is evident in the art of the period following the Upper Paleolithic?
○This new art starts to depict small animals rather than large ones.
○This new art ceases to reflect the ways in which people obtained their food.
○This new art no longer consists mostly of representations of animals.
○This new art begins to show the importance of hunting to the economy.
Paragraph 5: Upper Paleolithic art was not confined to cave paintings. Many shafts of spears and similar objects were decorated with figures of animals. The anthropologist Alexander Marshack has an interesting interpretation of some of the engravings made during the Upper Paleolithic. He believes that as far back as 30,000 B.C., hunters may have used a system of notation, engraved on bone and stone, to mark phases of the Moon. If this is true, it would mean that Upper Paleolithic people were capable of complex thought and were consciously aware of their environment. In addition to other artworks, figurines representing the human female in exaggerated form have also been found at Upper Paleolithic sites. It has been suggested that these figurines were an ideal type or an expression of a desire for fertility.
12.According to paragraph 5, which of the following has been used as evidence to suggest that Upper Paleolithic people were capable of complex thought and conscious awareness of their environment?
○They engraved animal figures on the shafts of spears and other objects.
○They may have used engraved signs to record the phases of the Moon.
○Their figurines represented the human female in exaggerated form.
○They may have used figurines to portray an ideal type or to express a desire for fertility.
Paragraph 3: The subjects of the paintings are mostly animals. The paintings rest on bare walls, with no backdrops or environmental trappings. Perhaps, like many contemporary peoples, Upper Paleolithic men and women believed that the drawing of a human image could cause death or injury, and if that were indeed their belief, it might explain why human figures are rarely depicted in cave art. Another explanation for the focus on animals might be that these people sought to improve their luck at hunting. █This theory is suggested by evidence of chips in the painted figures, perhaps made by spears thrown at the drawings. █But if improving their hunting luck was the chief motivation for the paintings, it is difficult to explain why only a few show signs of having been speared. █Perhaps the paintings were inspired by the need to increase the supply of animals. Cave art seems to have reached a peak toward the end of the Upper Paleolithic period, when the herds of game were decreasing. █
13.Look at the four squares [█] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
Therefore, if the paintings were connected with hunting, some other explanation is needed.
Where would the sentence best fit?
14.Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that explain the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
Upper Paleolithic cave paintings in Western Europe are among humanity's earliest artistic efforts.
● ●●
Answer choices
○Researchers have proposed several different explanations for the fact that animals were the most common subjects in the cave paintings.
○The art of the cultural period that followed the Upper Paleolithic ceased to portray large game animals and focused instead on the kinds of animals that people of that period preferred to hunt.
○Some researchers believe that the paintings found in France provide more explicit evidence of their symbolic significance than those found in Spain, southern Africa, and Australia.
○The cave paintings focus on portraying animals without also depicting the natural environments in which these animals are typically found.
○Some researchers have argued that the cave paintings mostly portrayed large animals that provided Upper Paleolithic people with meat and materials.
○Besides cave paintings, Upper Paleolithic people produced several other kinds of artwork, one of which has been thought to provide evidence of complex thought
篇3：托福TPO4阅读真题及答案Part2
参考答案：
1. ○1
2. ○2
3. ○1
4. ○4
5. ○4
6. ○3
7. ○4
8.○2
9. ○3
10. ○1
11. ○3
12. ○2
13. ○3
14. Researchers have proposed…
Some researchers believe…
Besides cave paintings…
托福TPO4阅读题目翻译：Part2
参考翻译：欧洲的岩洞艺术
迄今为止，发现的最早的并且有迹可寻的工艺品是珠链和雕刻，然后还有绘画，人类在旧石器时代晚期的遗址上发现了它们。虽然我们可能会认为早期的艺术成就都是不成熟的，但西班牙与法国南部的岩洞画显示出了高超的技艺，在非洲南部发掘出的自然石板画也是如此。其中的一些石板画看上去像是在28 0前画出的，这表明非洲绘画与欧洲绘画一样时间久远，但可能更早些。至少30 000年前，也可能追溯至60 000年前，早期澳大利亚人就已经在岩石遮蔽的墙上和悬崖断面上作画了。
研咳嗽北颂豲阿寇 和安德烈o罗森菲尔德指出西欧洞画的三个主要地点：(1)在明显有遮蔽可供人类居住的岩石和洞穴入口处，(2)在居住的洞穴一出门的走廊上，(3)在洞穴所能及的最深处，有人认为之所以在最深处作画是因为当时的人们曾在这里进行神秘的宗教活动。
这些绘画的主题大部分都是动物。这些画画在裸露的岩石上，没有任何背景和环境装饰。或许，同许多当代人一样，后石器时代的人们也相信画人物像会引起伤害或死亡。如果这确实是他们的信念，那就解释了为什么在洞穴绘画中很少描绘人物。对于画中以动物题材为主的另一个解释是，人们在探索如何提高打猎的命中率。墙上所画的动物身上有一些伤口，很可能是原始人向它们扔矛时留下的，这个证据也证实了以上判断。但如果提高打猎命中率真的是岩壁画的主要动机，那么就很难解释为什么只有少数画上有被矛戳过的痕迹。或许是出于增加猎物的需求而画的画。在后期旧石器时代猎群数量减少时，岩洞画艺术似乎达到了顶峰。
也许研究者帕特丽夏o赖斯和安o派特森所做研究的结果更清楚地揭示了法国西南部的岩洞画的特殊象征性意义。研究显示，绘画者喜欢食用的动物或喜欢用作兽皮的动物是岩洞画中经常被描绘的动物。比如，野牛(牛)和马的出现比我们预料的更为频繁，可能因为它们比其它动物更大更沉(肉更多)。另外，画作中主要描绘了绘画者害怕的动物，它们的体形、速度、与生俱来的武器如长牙和角，以及它们行为的不可预知性都令绘画者感到恐惧。于是，和鹿、驯鹿相比，猛犸、牛和马会更经常画在墙上。因此，在旧石器时代晚期的人的经济中，岩洞艺术与打猎的重要性有关，这些画作也与这个观点相符合。看起来旧石器时代晚期的文化期的艺术也反映了人们如何得到食物，根据调查者的研究，这一事实也与前文的想法一致。但在那个时期，当不再依靠猎取大型猎物获得食物时(因为它们开始变得稀少)，岩洞艺术便不再以描绘动物为主了。
旧石器时代晚期的艺术不仅仅局限于洞穴绘画。许多矛杆和类似的东西上都画了动物作为装饰。人类学家亚历山大o马斯哈克对旧石器时代晚期的一些雕刻品有一个有趣的解释。他认为在公元前30 000年，猎人们可能使用了一种刻在骨头或石头上的标志法来标记不同的月相。如果此论述是真的，这就意味着旧石器时代晚期的人们已经有了复杂的思维并对他们的环境有了一个理性的认识。人们还在旧石器时代晚期的遗址上发现了以夸张的形式描绘妇女的小雕塑。这也暗示了这些小雕塑是一种理想形象或者说表达了当时的人类期望多生育的愿望。
篇4：托福TPO4阅读真题Part1参考答案
Deer Populations of the Puget Sound
Two species of deer have been prevalent in the Puget Sound area of Washington State in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The black-tailed deer, a lowland, west-side cousin of the mule deer of eastern Washington, is now the most common. The other species, the Columbian white-tailed deer, in earlier times was common in the open prairie country; it is now restricted to the low, marshy islands and flood plains along the lower Columbia River.
Nearly any kind of plant of the forest understory can be part of a deer's diet. Where the forest inhibits the growth of grass and other meadow plants, the black-tailed deer browses on huckleberry, salal, dogwood, and almost any other shrub or herb. But this is fair-weather feeding. What keeps the black-tailed deer alive in the harsher seasons of plant decay and dormancy? One compensation for not hibernating is the built-in urge to migrate. Deer may move from high-elevation browse areas in summer down to the lowland areas in late fall. Even with snow on the ground, the high bushy understory is exposed; also snow and wind bring down leafy branches of cedar, hemlock, red alder, and other arboreal fodder.
The numbers of deer have fluctuated markedly since the entry of Europeans into Puget Sound country. The early explorers and settlers told of abundant deer in the early 1800s and yet almost in the same breath bemoaned the lack of this succulent game animal. Famous explorers of the north American frontier, Lewis and Clark arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River on November 14, 1805, in nearly starved circumstances. They had experienced great difficulty finding game west of the Rockies and not until the second of December did they kill their first elk. To keep 40 people alive that winter, they consumed approximately 150 elk and 20 deer. And when game moved out of the lowlands in early spring, the expedition decided to return east rather than face possible starvation. Later on in the early years of the nineteenth century, when Fort Vancouver became the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company, deer populations continued to fluctuate. David Douglas, Scottish botanical explorer of the 1830s, found a disturbing change in the animal life around the fort during the period between his first visit in 1825 and his final contact with the fort in 1832. A recent Douglas biographer states:“ The deer which once picturesquely dotted the meadows around the fort were gone [in 1832], hunted to extermination in order to protect the crops.”
Reduction in numbers of game should have boded ill for their survival in later times. A worsening of the plight of deer was to be expected as settlers encroached on the land, logging, burning, and clearing, eventually replacing a wilderness landscape with roads, cities, towns, and factories. No doubt the numbers of deer declined still further. Recall the fate of the Columbian white-tailed deer, now in a protected status. But for the black-tailed deer, human pressure has had just the opposite effect. Wildlife zoologist Helmut Buechner(1953), in reviewing the nature of biotic changes in Washington through recorded time, says that “since the early 1940s, the state has had more deer than at any other time in its history, the winter population fluctuating around approximately 320,000 deer (mule and black-tailed deer), which will yield about 65,000 of either sex and any age annually for an indefinite period.”
The causes of this population rebound are consequences of other human actions. First, the major predators of deer-wolves, cougar, and lynx-have been greatly reduced in numbers. Second, conservation has been insured by limiting times for and types of hunting. But the most profound reason for the restoration of high population numbers has been the fate of the forests. Great tracts of lowland country deforested by logging, fire, or both have become ideal feeding grounds of deer. In addition to finding an increase of suitable browse, like huckleberry and vine maple, Arthur Einarsen, longtime game biologist in the Pacific Northwest, found quality of browse in the open areas to be substantially more nutritive. The protein content of shade-grown vegetation, for example, was much lower than that for plants grown in clearings.
Paragraph 1: Two species of deer have been prevalent in the Puget Sound area of Washington State in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The black-tailed deer, a lowland, west-side cousin of the mule deer of eastern Washington, is now the most common. The other species, the Columbian white-tailed deer, in earlier times was common in the open prairie country; it is now restricted to the low, marshy islands and flood plains along the lower Columbia River.
篇5：托福TPO4阅读真题Part1参考答案
1. According to paragraph 1, which of the following is true of the white-tailed deer of Puget Sound?
○It is native to lowlands and marshes.
○It is more closely related to the mule deer of eastern Washington than to other types of deer.
○It has replaced the black-tailed deer in the open prairie.
○It no longer lives in a particular type of habitat that it once occupied.
Paragraph 2: Nearly any kind of plant of the forest understory can be part of a deer's diet. Where the forest inhibits the growth of grass and other meadow plants, the black-tailed deer browses on huckleberry, salal, dogwood, and almost any other shrub or herb. But this is fair-weather feeding. What keeps the black-tailed deer alive in the harsher seasons of plant decay and dormancy? One compensation for not hibernating is the built-in urge to migrate. Deer may move from high-elevation browse areas in summer down to the lowland areas in late fall. Even with snow on the ground, the high bushy understory is exposed; also snow and wind bring down leafy branches of cedar, hemlock, red alder, and other arboreal fodder.
2. It can be inferred from the discussion in paragraph 2 that winter conditions
○ cause some deer to hibernate
○ make food unavailable in the highlands for deer
○ make it easier for deer to locate understory plants
○ prevent deer from migrating during the winter
3. The word “inhibits” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○ consists of
○ combines
○ restricts
○ establishes
Paragraph 3: The numbers of deer have fluctuated markedly since the entry of Europeans into Puget Sound country. The early explorers and settlers told of abundant deer in the early 1800s and yet almost in the same breath bemoaned the lack of this succulent game animal. Famous explorers of the north American frontier, Lewis and Clark arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River on November 14, 1805, in nearly starved circumstances. They had experienced great difficulty finding game west of the Rockies and not until the second of December did they kill their first elk. To keep 40 people alive that winter, they consumed approximately 150 elk and 20 deer. And when game moved out of the lowlands in early spring, the expedition decided to return east rather than face possible starvation. Later on in the early years of the nineteenth century, when Fort Vancouver became the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company, deer populations continued to fluctuate. David Douglas, Scottish botanical explorer of the 1830s, found a disturbing change in the animal life around the fort during the period between his first visit in 1825 and his final contact with the fort in 1832. A recent Douglas biographer states:“ The deer which once picturesquely dotted the meadows around the fort were gone [in 1832], hunted to extermination in order to protect the crops.”
4. The phrase “in the same breath” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○ impatiently
○ humorously
○ continuously
○ immediately
5. The author tells the story of the explorers Lewis and Clark in paragraph 3 in order to illustrate which of the following points?
○The number of deer within the Puget Sound region has varied over time.
○Most of the explorers who came to the Puget Sound area were primarily interested in hunting game.
○There was more game for hunting in the East of the United States than in the West.
○Individual explorers were not as successful at locating games as were the trading companies.
6. According to paragraph 3, how had Fort Vancouver changed by the time David Douglas returned in 1832?
○The fort had become the headquarters for the Hudson's Bay Company.
○Deer had begun populating the meadows around the fort.
○Deer populations near the fort had been destroyed.
○Crop yields in the area around the fort had decreased.
Paragraph 4: Reduction in numbers of game should have boded ill for their survival in later times. A worsening of the plight of deer was to be expected as settlers encroached on the land, logging, burning, and clearing, eventually replacing a wilderness landscape with roads, cities, towns, and factories. No doubt the numbers of deer declined still further. Recall the fate of the Columbian white-tailed deer, now in a protected status. But for the black-tailed deer, human pressure has had just the opposite effect. Wildlife zoologist Helmut Buechner(1953), in reviewing the nature of biotic changes in Washington through recorded time, says that “since the early 1940s, the state has had more deer than at any other time in its history, the winter population fluctuating around approximately 320,000 deer (mule and black-tailed deer), which will yield about 65,000 of either sex and any age annually for an indefinite period.”
7. Why does the author ask readers to recall “the fate of the Columbian white-tailed deer” in the discussion of changes in the wilderness landscape?
○To provide support for the idea that habitat destruction would lead to population decline
○To compare how two species of deer caused biotic changes in the wilderness environment
○To provide an example of a species of deer that has successfully adapted to human settlement
○To argue that some deer species must be given a protected status
8. The phrase “indefinite period” in the passage is closest in meaning to period
○ whose end has not been determined
○ that does not begin when expected
○ that lasts only briefly
○ whose importance remains unknown
9. Which of the following statements about deer populations is supported by the information in paragraph 4?
○Deer populations reached their highest point during the 1940s and then began to decline.
○The activities of settlers contributed in unexpected ways to the growth of some deer populations in later times.
○The cleaning of wilderness land for construction caused biotic changes from which the black-tailed deer population has never recovered.
○Since the 1940s the winter populations of deer have fluctuated more than the summer populations have.
Paragraph 5: The causes of this population rebound are consequences of other human actions. First, the major predators of deer-wolves, cougar, and lynx-have been greatly reduced in numbers. Second, conservation has been insured by limiting times for and types of hunting. But the most profound reason for the restoration of high population numbers has been the fate of the forests. Great tracts of lowland country deforested by logging, fire, or both have become ideal feeding grounds of deer. In addition to finding an increase of suitable browse, like huckleberry and vine maple, Arthur Einarsen, longtime game biologist in the Pacific Northwest, found quality of browse in the open areas to be substantially more nutritive. The protein content of shade-grown vegetation, for example, was much lower than that for plants grown in clearings.
10.The word “rebound” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○ decline
○ recovery
○ exchange
○ movement
11.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.
○Arthur Einarsen's longtime family with the Pacific Northwest helped him discover areas where deer had an increase in suitable browse.
○Arthur Einarsen found that deforested feeding grounds provided deer with more and better food.
○Biologist like Einarsen believe it is important to find additional open areas with suitable browse for deer to inhabit.
○According to Einarsen, huckleberry and vine maple are examples of vegetation that may someday improve the nutrition of deer in the open areas of the Pacific Northwest.
12.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 5 as a factor that has increased deer populations?
○A reduction in the number of predators
○Restrictions on hunting
○The effects of logging and fire
○Laws that protected feeding grounds of deer
Paragraph 2: Nearly any kind of plant of the forest understory can be part of a deer's diet. Where the forest inhibits the growth of grass and other meadow plants, the black-tailed deer browses on huckleberry, salal, dogwood, and almost any other shrub or herb. But this is fair-weather feeding. What keeps the black-tailed deer alive in the harsher seasons of plant decay and dormancy? One compensation for not hibernating is the built-in urge to migrate. █Deer may move from high-elevation browse areas in summer down to the lowland areas in late fall. █Even with snow on the ground, the high bushy understory is exposed; also snow and wind bring down leafy branches of cedar, hemlock, red alder, and other arboreal fodder.
Paragraph 3: █The numbers of deer have fluctuated markedly since the entry of Europeans into Puget Sound country. █The early explorers and settlers told of abundant deer in the early 1800s and yet almost in the same breath bemoaned the lack of this succulent game animal. Famous explorers of the north American frontier, Lewis and Clark arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River on November 14, 1805, in nearly starved circumstances. They had experienced great difficulty finding game west of the Rockies and not until the second of December did they kill their first elk. To keep 40 people alive that winter, they consumed approximately 150 elk and 20 deer. And when game moved out of the lowlands in early spring, the expedition decided to return east rather than face possible starvation. Later on in the early years of the nineteenth century, when Fort Vancouver became the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company, deer populations continued to fluctuate. David Douglas, Scottish botanical explorer of the 1830s, found a disturbing change in the animal life around the fort during the period between his first visit in 1825 and his final contact with the fort in 1832. A recent Douglas biographer states:“ The deer which once picturesquely dotted the meadows around the fort were gone [in 1832], hunted to extermination in order to protect the crops.”
13.Look at the four squares [█] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
There food is available and accessible throughout the winter.
Where would the sentence best fit?
14.Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
Deer in the Puget Sound area eat a wide variety of foods and migrate seasonally to find food.
●
●
●
Answer Choices
○ The balance of deer species in the Puget Sound region has changed over time, with the Columbian white-tailed deer now outnumbering other types of deer.
○ Deer populations naturally fluctuate, but early settlers in the Puget Sound environment caused an overall decline in the deer populations of the areas at that time.
○ In the long term, black-tailed deer in the Puget Sound area have benefitted from human activities through the elimination of their natural predators, and more and better food in deforested areas.
○ Because Puget Sound deer migrate, it was and still remains difficult to determine accurately how many deer are living at any one time in the western United States.
○ Although it was believed that human settlement of the American West would cause the total number of deer to decrease permanently, the opposite has occurred for certain types of deer.
○ Wildlife biologists have long been concerned that the loss of forests may create nutritional deficiencies for deer.
篇6：托福TPO4阅读真题Part1参考答案
参考答案：
1. ○4
2. ○ 2
3. ○ 3
4. ○4
5. ○1
6. ○3
7. ○1
8. ○ 1
9. ○2
10. ○ 2
11. ○2
12. ○4
13. ○2
14. Deer populations naturally…
In the long term…
Although it was believed…
托福TPO4阅读翻译：Part1
参考翻译：普吉特海湾的鹿群
在太平洋西北区的美国华盛顿州，有两种鹿在普吉特海湾非常普遍。最常见的黑尾鹿是华盛顿东部杂交鹿在西部的表亲，它们生活在低地。另一种哥伦比亚白尾鹿，从前在开阔的草原上很常见，而现在只能在低矮的沼泽岛屿地带和哥伦比亚河下游的河滩地区才能看到它们。
森林里，几乎任何植物都是鹿的食物。在森林抑制草和其它草甸植物生长的地方，黑尾鹿可以吃越橘、北美白珠树、山茱萸和其他几乎所有灌木和草;但这些只能在好天气里才能吃得到;在植物衰败、隐匿的严寒季节，黑尾鹿们是如何过冬的呢?避免冬眠的一种方法就是天生的迁徙习性。它们会在夏天迁徙到高海拔觅食区，直到秋天结束再回到低地。即便地面还有残雪，高的灌木也会露出来;风雪天气会把雪松、铁衫、红桤木和其它乔木多叶的树枝带下来。
自从欧洲人进入了普吉特海湾，鹿群的数量发生了显著的变化。早期的探险家和殖民者说起在19世纪早期那儿有大量的鹿群，与此同时惋惜现在这种诱人动物的稀少。著名的北美探险先驱者刘易斯和克拉克在落基山西部经历种.种困难，并且直到第二年12月他们才杀死了第一只麋鹿。为了让40人在冬天里存活，他们消耗了150只麋鹿和20只小鹿。当猎物在早春时期迁徙出了低地，远征队决定返回东部而不是去面对潜在的饥饿。此后在19世纪最初几年里，温哥华堡成为哈德逊湾公司的总部，鹿的数量持续波动。19世纪30年代，苏格兰植物学探险家大卫o道格拉斯发现了他在1825年第一次的探访和1832年的最后接触之间出现在温哥华堡附近令人不安的变化。在道格拉斯近期的传记中陈述到：在1832年曾经如画般点缀在温哥华堡附近草地上的鹿群已经消失了，为了保护农作物猎杀致灭绝。
鹿群数量的减少预示了它们今后生存的艰辛。当殖民者入侵它们的领地时，人类在它们生活的土地上进行采伐、焚烧，清除障碍，最终将公路、城市、城镇和工厂代替了荒野风景。毋庸置疑，鹿群的数量进一步减少。回想起来，哥伦比亚白尾鹿的命运，现在已经处于被保护地位。而对黑尾鹿来说，人类的压力反而产生了相反的效果。野生动物学家赫尔穆特o布希纳(1953)通过已有记录评论了华盛顿地区生物的自然变化，他说：“20世纪40年代早期，美国拥有比以往任何历史时期都多的鹿群，鹿群冬季的数量在接近32万只鹿(杂交和黑尾鹿)左右波动，在此之后的每一年不同年龄段的公鹿和母鹿数量分别会增加至65 000只。
这种鹿群数量的反弹是由于人类其他活动造成。首先，狼、美洲豹和山猫等鹿群的主要猎食者急剧减少。其次，通过限制捕猎时间和捕猎种类来保护鹿群。但鹿群数量恢复的主要原因在于森林减少。大部分的低地的树木被砍伐、焚烧，进而成为了鹿群理想的生活场地。以便他们去寻找更适合的嫩叶，比如越橘类和枫叶。太平洋西北的生物学家亚瑟o埃纳森还发现在空旷地区的高质量的嫩叶大部分都是很有营养的，就像在遮蔽中生长的植物，他们所包含的蛋白质比那些在空旷地区生长的植物的蛋白质低得多。
篇7：托福TPO8阅读真题Part2及题目答案
托福TPO8阅读真题Part2
Extinction of the Dinosaurs
Paleozoic Era 334 to 248 million years ago
Mesozoic Era 245 to 65 million years ago
-Triassic Period
-Jurassic Period
-Cretaceous Period
Cenozoic Era 65 million years ago to the present
Paleontologists have argued for a long time that the demise of the dinosaurs was caused by climatic alterations associated with slow changes in the positions of continents and seas resulting from plate tectonics. Off and on throughout the Cretaceous (the last period of the Mesozoic era, during which dinosaurs flourished), large shallow seas covered extensive areas of the continents. Data from diverse sources, including geochemical evidence preserved in seafloor sediments, indicate that the Late Cretaceous climate was milder than today's. The days were not too hot, nor the nights too cold. The summers were not too warm, nor the winters too frigid. The shallow seas on the continents probably buffered the temperature of the nearby air, keeping it relatively constant.
At the end of the Cretaceous, the geological record shows that these seaways retreated from the continents back into the major ocean basins. No one knows why. Over a period of about 100,000 years, while the seas pulled back, climates around the world became dramatically more extreme: warmer days, cooler nights; hotter summers, colder winters. Perhaps dinosaurs could not tolerate these extreme temperature changes and became extinct.
If true, though, why did cold-blooded animals such as snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodiles survive the freezing winters and torrid summers? These animals are at the mercy of the climate to maintain a livable body temperature. It's hard to understand why they would not be affected, whereas dinosaurs were left too crippled to cope, especially if, as some scientists believe, dinosaurs were warm-blooded. Critics also point out that the shallow seaways had retreated from and advanced on the continents numerous times during the Mesozoic, so why did the dinosaurs survive the climatic changes associated with the earlier fluctuations but not with this one? Although initially appealing, the hypothesis of a simple climatic change related to sea levels is insufficient to explain all the data.
Dissatisfaction with conventional explanations for dinosaur extinctions led to a surprising observation that, in turn, has suggested a new hypothesis. Many plants and animals disappear abruptly from the fossil record as one moves from layers of rock documenting the end of the Cretaceous up into rocks representing the beginning of the Cenozoic (the era after the Mesozoic). Between the last layer of Cretaceous rock and the first layer of Cenozoic rock, there is often a thin layer of clay. Scientists felt that they could get an idea of how long the extinctions took by determining how long it took to deposit this one centimeter of clay and they thought they could determine the time it took to deposit the clay by determining the amount of the element iridium (Ir) it contained.
Ir has not been common at Earth's since the very beginning of the planet's history. Because it usually exists in a metallic state, it was preferentially incorporated in Earth's core as the planet cooled and consolidated. Ir is found in high concentrations in some meteorites, in which the solar system's original chemical composition is preserved. Even today, microscopic meteorites continually bombard Earth, falling on both land and sea. By measuring how many of these meteorites fall to Earth over a given period of time, scientists can estimate how long it might have taken to deposit the observed amount of Ir in the boundary clay. These calculations suggest that a period of about one million years would have been required. However, other reliable evidence suggests that the deposition of the boundary clay could not have taken one million years. So the unusually high concentration of Ir seems to require a special explanation.
In view of these facts, scientists hypothesized that a single large asteroid, about 10 to 15 kilometers across, collided with Earth, and the resulting fallout created the boundary clay. Their calculations show that the impact kicked up a dust cloud that cut off sunlight for several months, inhibiting photosynthesis in plants; decreased surface temperatures on continents to below freezing; caused extreme episodes of acid rain; and significantly raised long-term global temperatures through the greenhouse effect. This disruption of food chain and climate would have eradicated the dinosaurs and other organisms in less than fifty years.
Paragraph 1: Paleontologists have argued for a long time that the demise of the dinosaurs was caused by climatic alterations associated with slow changes in the positions of continents and seas resulting from plate tectonics. Off and on throughout the Cretaceous (the last period of the Mesozoic era, during which dinosaurs flourished), large shallow seas covered extensive areas of the continents. Data from diverse sources, including geochemical evidence preserved in seafloor sediments, indicate that the Late Cretaceous climate was milder than today's. The days were not too hot, nor the nights too cold. The summers were not too warm, nor the winters too frigid. The shallow seas on the continents probably buffered the temperature of the nearby air, keeping it relatively constant.
托福TPO8阅读题目Part2
1. According to paragraph 1, which of the following is true of the Late Cretaceous climate?
○Summers were very warm and winters were very cold.
○Shallow seas on the continents caused frequent temperature changes.
○The climate was very similar to today's climate.
○The climate did not change dramatically from season to season.
Paragraph 2: At the end of the Cretaceous, the geological record shows that these seaways retreated from the continents back into the major ocean basins. No one knows why. Over a period of about 100,000 years, while the seas pulled back, climates around the world became dramatically more extreme: warmer days, cooler nights; hotter summers, colder winters. Perhaps dinosaurs could not tolerate these extreme temperature changes and became extinct.
2. Which of the following reasons is suggested in paragraph 2 for the extinction of the dinosaurs?
○Changes in the lengths of the days and nights during the late Cretaceous period
○Droughts caused by the movement of seaways back into the oceans
○The change from mild to severe climates during the Late Cretaceous period
○An extreme decrease in the average yearly temperature over 10,ooo years
Paragraph 3: If true, though, why did cold-blooded animals such as snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodiles survive the freezing winters and torrid summers? These animals are at the mercy of the climate to maintain a livable body temperature. It's hard to understand why they would not be affected, whereas dinosaurs were left too crippled to cope, especially if, as some scientists believe, dinosaurs were warm-blooded. Critics also point out that the shallow seaways had retreated from and advanced on the continents numerous times during the Mesozoic, so why did the dinosaurs survive the climatic changes associated with the earlier fluctuations but not with this one? Although initially appealing, the hypothesis of a simple climatic change related to sea levels is insufficient to explain all the data.
3. Why does the author mention the survival of ”snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodiles“ in paragraph 3?
○To argue that dinosaurs may have become extinct because they were not cold-blooded animals
○To question the adequacy of the hypothesis that climatic change related to sea levels caused the extinction of the dinosaurs
○To present examples of animals that could maintain a livable body temperature more easily than dinosaurs
○To support a hypothesis that these animals were not as sensitive to climate changes in the Cretaceous period as they are today
4. The word ”cope“ in the passage is closest in meaning to
○ adapt
○ move
○ continue
○ compete
5. According to paragraph 3, which of the following is true of changes in climate before the Cretaceous period and the effect of these changes on dinosaurs?
○Climate changes associated with the movement of seaways before the Cretaceous period did not cause dinosaurs to become extinct.
○Changes in climate before the Cretaceous period caused severe fluctuations in sea level, resulting in the extinction of the dinosaurs.
○Frequent changes in climate before the Cretaceous period made dinosaurs better able to maintain a livable body temperature.
○Before the Cretaceous period there were few changes in climate, and dinosaurs flourished.
6.The word ”fluctuations“ in the passage is closest in meaning to
○ extremes
○ retreats
○ periods
○ variations
Paragraph 4: Dissatisfaction with conventional explanations for dinosaur extinctions led to a surprising observation that, in turn, has suggested a new hypothesis. Many plants and animals disappear abruptly from the fossil record as one moves from layers of rock documenting the end of the Cretaceous up into rocks representing the beginning of the Cenozoic (the era after the Mesozoic). Between the last layer of Cretaceous rock and the first layer of Cenozoic rock, there is often a thin layer of clay. Scientists felt that they could get an idea of how long the extinctions took by determining how long it took to deposit this one centimeter of clay and they thought they could determine the time it took to deposit the clay by determining the amount of the element iridium (lr) it contained.
7. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? In correct choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
○The fossil record suggests that there was an abrupt extinction of many plants and animals at the end of the Mesozoic era.
○Few fossils of the Mesozoic era have survived in the rocks that mark the end of the Cretaceous.
○Fossils from the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic up to the beginning of the Cenozoic era have been removed from the layers of rock that surrounded them.
○Plants and animals from the Mesozoic era were unable to survive in the Cenozoic era.
Paragraph 4: Dissatisfaction with conventional explanations for dinosaur extinctions led to a surprising observation that, in turn, has suggested a new hypothesis. Many plants and animals disappear abruptly from the fossil record as one moves from layers of rock documenting the end of the Cretaceous up into rocks representing the beginning of the Cenozoic (the era after the Mesozoic). Between the last layer of Cretaceous rock and the first layer of Cenozoic rock, there is often a thin layer of clay. Scientists felt that they could get an idea of how long the extinctions took by determining how long it took to deposit this one centimeter of clay and they thought they could determine the time it took to deposit the clay by determining the amount of the element iridium (Ir) it contained.
8. In paragraph 4, all the following questions are answered EXCEPT:
○Why is there a layer of clay between the rocks of the Cretaceous and Cenozoic?
○Why were scientists interested in determining how long it took to deposit the layer of clay at the end of the Cretaceous?
○What was the effect of the surprising observation scientists made?
○Why did scientists want more information about the dinosaur extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous?
Paragraph 5: Ir has not been common at Earth's since the very beginning of the planet's history. Because it usually exists in a metallic state, it was preferentially incorporated in Earth's core as the planet cooled and consolidated. Ir is found in high concentrations in some meteorites, in which the solar system's original chemical composition is preserved. Even today, microscopic meteorites continually bombard Earth, falling on both land and sea. By measuring how many of these meteorites fall to Earth over a given period of time, scientists can estimate how long it might have taken to deposit the observed amount of Ir in the boundary clay. These calculations suggest that a period of about one million years would have been required. However, other reliable evidence suggests that the deposition of the boundary clay could not have taken one million years. So the unusually high concentration of Ir seems to require a special explanation.
9. The word ”bombard“ in the passage is closest in meaning to
○ approach
○ strike
○ pass
○ circle
10. Paragraph 5 implies that a special explanation of Ir in the boundary clay is needed because
○the Ir in microscopic meteorites reaching Earth during the Cretaceous period would have been incorporated into Earth's core
○the Ir in the boundary clay was deposited much more than a million years ago
○the concentration of Ir in the boundary clay is higher than in microscopic meteorites
○the amount of Ir in the boundary clay is too great to have come from microscopic meteorites during the time the boundary clay was deposited
Paragraph 6: In view of these facts, scientists hypothesized that a single large asteroid, about 10 to 15 kilometers across, collided with Earth, and the resulting fallout created the boundary clay. Their calculations show that the impact kicked up a dust cloud that cut off sunlight for several months, inhibiting photosynthesis in plants; decreased surface temperatures on continents to below freezing; caused extreme episodes of acid rain; and significantly raised long-term global temperatures through the greenhouse effect. This disruption of food chain and climate would have eradicated the dinosaurs and other organisms in less than fifty years.
11. The word ”disruption“ in the passage is closest in meaning to
○ exhaustion
○ disturbance
○ modification
○ disappearance
12. Paragraph 6 mentions all of the following effects of the hypothesized asteroid collision EXCEPT
○ a large dust cloud that blocked sunlight
○ an immediate drop in the surface temperatures of the continents
○ an extreme decrease in rainfall on the continents
○ a long-term increase in global temperatures
Paragraph 5: Ir has not been common at Earth's since the very beginning of the planet's history. Because it usually exists in a metallic state, it was preferentially incorporated in Earth's core as the planet cooled and consolidated. Ir is found in high concentrations in some meteorites, in which the solar system's original chemical composition is preserved. Even today, microscopic meteorites continually bombard Earth, falling on both land and sea. By measuring how many of these meteorites fall to Earth over a given period of time, scientists can estimate how long it might have taken to deposit the observed amount of Ir in the boundary clay. ■ These calculations suggest that a period of about one million years would have been required. ■However, other reliable evidence suggests that the deposition of the boundary clay could not have taken one million years. ■So the unusually high concentration of Ir seems to require a special explanation. ■
13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
Consequently, the idea that the Ir in the boundary clay came from microscopic meteorites cannot be accepted.
Where would the sentence best fit?
14. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
For a long time scientists have argued that the extinction of the dinosaurs was related to climate change.
●
●
●
Answer choices
○A simple climate change does not explain some important data related to the extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous.
○The retreat of the seaways at the end of the Cretaceous has not been fully explained.
○The abruptness of extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous and the high concentration of Ir found in clay deposited at that time have fueled the development of a new hypothesis.
○Extreme changes in daily and seasonal climates preceded the retreat of the seas back into the major ocean basins.
○Some scientists hypothesize that the extinction of the dinosaurs resulted from the effects of an asteroid collision with Earth.
○Boundary clay layers like the one between the Mesozoic and Cenozoic are used by scientists to determine the rate at which an extinct species declined
托福TPO8阅读答案Part2
参考答案：
1. ○4
2. ○3
3. ○2
4. ○1
5. ○1
6. ○4
7. ○1
8.○1
9. ○2
10. ○4
11. ○2
12. ○3
13. ○3
14. A simple climate change
The abruptness of extinctions
Some scientists hypothesize
托福TPO8阅读翻译：Part2
参考翻译：恐龙的灭绝
很长时间以来，古生物学家们认为恐龙的灭亡是与因地质构造而引起的海洋和大陆位置变迁相关的气候变化所致。在整个白垩纪(中生代的最后的一段时间，这时恐龙正值繁盛)，广阔的浅海覆盖了大量的陆地。各方面的数据，包括海床沉积中的地理化学证据，都表明白垩纪后期的气候比现在的气候要温和得多。白天不是很热，夜间也不是很寒冷。夏天不是太炎热，而冬天也不是太寒冷。大陆上的浅海可能使其附近的空气少受影响，以保持相对稳定的温度。
在白垩纪后期，地质资料表明这些浅海都从大陆退回到主要的海洋盆地内了，没有人明白为什么。大约在100 0内，海洋收缩了，世界的气候也随之变得更极端：白天更热，夜间更冷，夏天更炎热，冬天更寒冷。恐龙或许就是因为无法忍受这种严峻的气温变化因而灭绝。
如果真是这样，那么为什么冷血动物，比如蛇类、蜥蜴、乌龟和鳄鱼却能够幸免于寒冬和酷夏呢?这些动物都是依赖于气温以使其身体保持适合生存的温度。很难理解它们为什么毫不受影响，然而恐龙却如此的无能以至于无法适应，尤其是有些科学家认为恐龙是热血动物。批评者们也指出浅海在中生代曾有过无数次的进入大陆而又退回盆地的过程，所以为什么恐龙在前面的海洋起伏中能幸免于难，而在这一次中却不能呢?尽管最初人们这样认为，但是简单的与海平面高度有关的气候变化假设是不足以解释所有数据的。
对传统的关于恐龙灭绝解释的不满使得人们反过来惊奇的发现，从而产生了新的假设。当人们对比白垩纪后期的岩层资料和新生代(中生代后面的一个时期)早期的资料时发现很多植物和动物都突然地消失了。在白垩纪最后的一层岩石和新生代的第一层岩石之间，常有一层很薄的粘土。科学家们感觉到他们可以通过确定这层一厘米厚的粘土层中元素铱的含量来推测其的沉积时间，进而推测大灭绝所用的时间。
自从地球以来，铱元素在地球的表面上就不常见。因为它通常是以金属状态存在，并随着地球的冷却和固结而优先地合并到地核中了。在一些陨石中，依可能会高度富集，而这里常保存着太阳系内原始的化学组成。直到今天，小型的陨石也在连续不断地撞击地球，并掉落在陆地和海洋中。通过确定在一段给定时间内掉落在地球上的这种陨石的数量，科学家们就可以确定沉积隔层粘土的形成时间。这种计算表明形成这种沉积可能需要一百万年。然而其他可靠的证据则表明沉积这层粘土不可能花费了一百万年。所以这种不正常的铱的富集可能需要一种特殊的解释。
考虑到这些事实，科学家们就假设有一个较大的小行星，直径差不多有10到15公里，曾与地球相撞，所以碰撞扬起的灰尘等就形成了这层粘土层。他们的计算表明撞击扬起的灰尘遮挡了阳光达几个月之久，阻止了植物的光合作用，将陆地上的气温降到了零点之下，导致酸雨，通过温室效应造成了长期的、严重的全球升温。这种对食物链和气候的极大扰乱将可使恐龙和其他生物在不到50年的时间内绝迹。
篇8：托福阅读真题及答案
北美地区6月8日托福考试真题回忆
206月8日北美地区托福考试都考了哪些题目?以下是年6月8日北美地区托福真题，大家可以练习使用。
托福机经阅读
我遇到了加试，还不是经典加试，人品差哇。
有一篇是讲地球的形成的，先讲了星球大概形成的一个过程。然后具体说了地球内部的硅浮上来，重物质下去。还讲了地幔和地壳的形成。然后还有什么一开始是一些神马物质，后来这些物质就走掉了，还有水汽，还有其他氢啊神马的进来，然后形成最终状态。
有个著名的帝国破灭了，分成了东和西。然后东比较好，需要防卫的边界线不是很多，还有很多资源;西的话就比较悲惨，要各种防卫，内忧外患。还有西的话君主特别年轻，8岁和5岁还是神马的就登基了，然后权臣当道，等他们成年了，也没有发言权了。然后就说很多人都是为了自己的利益来的，牺牲民众的利益，外敌就入侵了。
还有一篇讲一个国家内战求民主，但是结果很不理想，想要的木有达到。穷苦民众无力去撼动大地主的利益，然后教堂啥的影响很小，商人首创严重，大地主反而获利很大。还讲了这个国家对周边国家的一些影响，有些国家出乎意料还从中受益了。
还有一篇一点印象都木有了!
托福机经听力
有一道是去找教授的，我没听太清楚。姑娘写了篇论文，和教授分析自己的论文。貌似选择的题目是和网络还有杂志相关的，我没听清楚到底是网络对纸质媒介的影响，还是网络规范的制定神马的，这里有题目的。姑娘说自己找了很多资料，教授表示挺惊讶的，估计觉着资料很难找。然后姑娘天马行空，想写的东西特别多，还想比较1970年的和现在的情况。教授让她不要弄那么大的题目，最后她绝对专注于目前。
还有一篇是讲一个男孩选了两门生物课，一门钢琴课。然后导师劝他放弃其中一门课。男孩说自己非常喜欢生物，也很爱音乐，但是自己确实没有那么多的时间，每天两个小时的弹琴也没有能保证。导师也说他是个很好的学生，但是最近的成绩确实不够理想。让他想清楚自己到底想做神马。学校里有选不同方向的学生，但是他们一般两个方向都是相关的。她问男孩是不是想弹钢琴去讲生物神马的。男孩一开始不肯放弃，后来被劝着劝着觉着导师挺有道理的，决定回家仔细想想放弃哪一门。
有一篇讲百老汇的。说18x.x年有一个新的方式出现了。那段时间新兴了很多中产阶级，需要娱乐，这里有题。新出来的和普通的不一样，有很多新点子，引入了芭蕾神马的，还全美巡演，还有移动舞台，给观众全新的体验。
还有一篇讲电影的，教授说这些名字你们都很熟悉吧，但是你们不一定知道全部的信息。然后就具体讲了迪士尼的动画。说了其中一部，非常重要，重要的原因貌似是第一部盈利的，这里有题。然后讲了一个拍摄的新技巧，说镜头拉近，附近的东西会变大，树啊栅栏啊啥的都变大了，但是太阳不会变大。这个就挺难弄的，如果让画家画的话太费力了。然后有个人去看了部舞台剧，舞台剧是有背景的，给了灵感，这里有题。然后就弄了滤片啥的在相机里拍摄，就解决问题啦。
托福机经口语
1、有三个了解大学的选择
a. 周末学校一日游
b. 周末两天在playground玩
c. 参加大学的课程
问选择哪种去最好的了解学校
2、有人送了一块地，问是用来养花种菜呢还是建儿童游乐园
3、阅读：有人给学校写了封建议信，刊登在学校的报纸上。学校附近有一个小咖啡厅兮兮的东西，提供饮料和小cookie。这是非常好的，但是有两个建议，一个是提供一些耐吃的食物，三明治神马的;一个是建议多一些轻音乐。
对话：一男一女，女孩说觉得这个建议非常赞啊。说那里是休息的一个好地方，吃点东西神马的太便利了。但是饿的时候小cookie木有用，确实需要一些其他的吃的;然后音乐太吵了，自己在那里完全没有办法看书，只能回宿舍。
4、阅读：一个协同作战之类的词，讲动物之间一般会一起做一样的事情。而且协同作战还会让他们更团结，抵抗外敌。
听力：教授举了某种动物做例子，说在迁徙的时候，如果一只口渴停下来喝水，其他不渴的也会停下来喝，喝完再一起继续迁徙。为嘛他们要一起呢，因为在dry open grass上有很危险的敌人，有狮子神马的。如果单独行动太危险了，很有可能丧命。
5、一男一女对话。男孩很苦恼，遇到问题了。他现在住的屋子的房东准备把屋子卖了，然后有个看上的买家非常着急要买，他还有一周多一些的时间可以搬家。他现在有两个选择方案，一个是他的朋友在学校附近有个屋子在招租，但是他觉着这样他就没法定下心来学习了;还有就是和父母住一起，但是父母住的地方忒远了。很难抉择。
6、有关动物的。说动物有两个适应特性，一个是Physical适应，一个是habit适应还是神马的。讲了一个动物在极度寒冷的地方，为了保持自身的热量如何很好地用两种方法来适应。一个是他们的颜色是黑色的，黑色能吸收更多的太阳光，热量传到身体里面。一个是它们平时站在冰块上，于是它们采取不同于寻常的站立方式，木有用两只脚，而是用了脚后跟。
托福机经写作
1、阅读材料
科学家们和在两个相隔1500Mile的地方发现一个我不认识的物种，这个动物正常情况下是黑色带有少许白色斑点，结果两次发现的是全白色的，这个发现非常神奇。但是科学家们仔细分析了下，说这两个东西不是同一物种，并从三个方面给出了分析。
a. 轻微的颜色差异：第一次非常白，第二次微白;
b. 相隔太远：两次相隔了1500mile，他们在岸边不会走这么远;
c. 年龄估计：第一次估计是20岁，那就意味着第二次得要30岁，科学家表示不太可能，我没太能弄懂这个的意思，但是就是这么说的。
综上所述，这两个物种不是同一个。
听力材料
教授的观点是认为他们是同一个物种，从三点分别驳斥了这些科学家的观点
a. 这个生物生活的地方会长貌似是藻类alga,然后这个藻类不同季节的生长情况不太一样。不同季节会对这个动物的颜色有一定的影响，有可能白还是不白时候是被这个藻类覆盖了。
b. 这个生物按生活习性分为两类，一类是hunting，一类是fishing，有可能被发现的是fishing的，它待在冰上，随着冰漂移mi也是很容易滴，所以在这两个地方发现同一个是很有可能的。
c. 年龄有可能被预估错误了，这个生物到20岁以后就没啥变化了，20岁和30岁长得很像的。科学家认为是20岁，万一是25捏?反正就是年龄预估这事不靠谱。
综上所述，教授认为，很有可能是同一个物种
2、有些人认为成绩应该由许多小assignment的成绩综合，有些人认为应该1-2次大成绩。写出自己的观点，并给出案例和分析。
托福阅读真题及答案
Timberline Vegetation on Mountains
The transition from forest to treeless tundra on a mountain slope is often a dramatic one. Within a vertical distance of just a few tens of meters, trees disappear as a life-form and are replaced by low shrubs, herbs, and grasses. This rapid zone of transition is called the upper timberline or tree line. In many semiarid areas there is also a lower timberline where the forest passes into steppe or desert at its lower edge, usually because of a lack of moisture.
The upper timberline, like the snow line, is highest in the tropics and lowest in the Polar Regions. It ranges from sea level in the Polar Regions to 4,500 meters in the dry subtropics and 3,500-4,500 meters in the moist tropics. Timberline trees are normally evergreens, suggesting that these have some advantage over deciduous trees (those that lose their leaves) in the extreme environments of the upper timberline. There are some areas, however, where broadleaf deciduous trees form the timberline. Species of birch, for example, may occur at the timberline in parts of the Himalayas.
At the upper timberline the trees begin to become twisted and deformed. This is particularly true for trees in the middle and upper latitudes, which tend to attain greater heights on ridges, whereas in the tropics the trees reach their greater heights in the valleys. This is because middle- and upper- latitude timberlines are strongly influenced by the duration and depth of the snow cover. As the snow is deeper and lasts longer in the valleys, trees tend to attain greater heights on the ridges, even though they are more exposed to high-velocity winds and poor, thin soils there. In the tropics, the valleys appear to be more favorable because they are less prone to dry out, they have less frost, and they have deeper soils.
There is still no universally agreed-on explanation for why there should be such a dramatic cessation of tree growth at the upper timberline. Various environmental factors may play a role. Too much snow, for example, can smother trees, and avalanches and snow creep can damage or destroy them. Late-lying snow reduces the effective growing season to the point where seedlings cannot establish themselves. Wind velocity also increases with altitude and may cause serious stress for trees, as is made evident by the deformed shapes at high altitudes. Some scientists have proposed that the presence of increasing levels of ultraviolet light with elevation may play a role, while browsing and grazing animals like the ibex may be another contributing factor. Probably the most important environmental factor is temperature, for if the growing season is too short and temperatures are too low, tree shoots and buds cannot mature sufficiently to survive the winter months.
Above the tree line there is a zone that is generally called alpine tundra. Immediately adjacent to the timberline, the tundra consists of a fairly complete cover of low-lying shrubs, herbs, and grasses, while higher up the number and diversity of species decrease until there is much bare ground with occasional mosses and lichens and some prostrate cushion plants. Some plants can even survive in favorable microhabitats above the snow line. The highest plants in the world occur at around 6,100 meters on Makalu in the Himalayas. At this great height, rocks, warmed by the sun, melt small snowdrifts.
The most striking characteristic of the plants of the alpine zone is their low growth form. This enables them to avoid the worst rigors of high winds and permits them to make use of the higher temperatures immediately adjacent to the ground surface. In an area where low temperatures are limiting to life, the importance of the additional heat near the surface is crucial. The low growth form can also permit the plants to take advantage of the insulation provided by a winter snow cover. In the equatorial mountains the low growth form is less prevalent.
Paragraph 1: The transition from forest to treeless tundra on a mountain slope is often a dramatic one. Within a vertical distance of just a few tens of meters, trees disappear as a life-form and are replaced by low shrubs, herbs, and grasses. This rapid zone of transition is called the upper timberline or tree line. In many semiarid areas there is also a lower timberline where the forest passes into steppe or desert at its lower edge, usually because of a lack of moisture.
1. The word “dramatic” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○gradual
○complex
○visible
○striking
2. Where is the lower timberline mentioned in paragraph 1 likely to be found?
○In an area that has little water
○In an area that has little sunlight
○Above a transition area
○On a mountain that has on upper timberline.
3. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 1 about both the upper and lower timberlines?
○Both are treeless zones.
○Both mark forest boundaries.
○Both are surrounded by desert areas.
○Both suffer from a lack of moisture.
Paragraph 2: The upper timberline, like the snow line, is highest in the tropics and lowest in the Polar Regions. It ranges from sea level in the Polar Regions to 4,500 meters in the dry subtropics and 3,500-4,500 meters in the moist tropics. Timberline trees are normally evergreens, suggesting that these have some advantage over deciduous trees (those that lose their leaves) in the extreme environments of the upper timberline. There are some areas, however, where broadleaf deciduous trees form the timberline. Species of birch, for example, may occur at the timberline in parts of the Himalayas.
4. Paragraph 2 supports which of the following statements about deciduous trees?
○They cannot grow in cold climates.
○They do not exist at the upper timberline.
○They are less likely than evergreens to survive at the upper timberline.
○They do not require as much moisture as evergreens do.
Paragraph 3: At the upper timberline the trees begin to become twisted and deformed. This is particularly true for trees in the middle and upper latitudes, which tend to attain greater heights on ridges, whereas in the tropics the trees reach their greater heights in the valleys. This is because middle- and upper- latitude timberlines are strongly influenced by the duration and depth of the snow cover. As the snow is deeper and lasts longer in the valleys, trees tend to attain greater heights on the ridges, even though they are more exposed to high-velocity winds and poor, thin soils there. In the tropics, the valleys appear to be more favorable because they are less prone to dry out, they have less frost, and they have deeper soils.
5. The word “attain” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○require
○resist
○achieve
○endure
6. The word “they” in the passage refers to
○valleys
○trees
○heights
○ridges
7. The word “prone” in the passage is closest in meaning to，bj.xhd.cn/toefl/来源：北京新航道托福培训
○adapted
○likely
○difficult
○resistant
8. According to paragraph 3, which of the following is true of trees in the middle and upper latitudes?
○Tree growth is negatively affected by the snow cover in valleys.
○Tree growth is greater in valleys than on ridges.
○Tree growth on ridges is not affected by high-velocity winds.
○Tree growth lasts longer in those latitudes than it does in the tropics.
Paragraph 4：There is still no universally agreed-on explanation for why there should be such a dramatic cessation of tree growth at the upper timberline. Various environmental factors may play a role. Too much snow, for example, can smother trees, and avalanches and snow creep can damage or destroy them. Late-lying snow reduces the effective growing season to the point where seedlings cannot establish themselves. Wind velocity also increases with altitude and may cause serious stress for trees, as is made evident by the deformed shapes at high altitudes. Some scientists have proposed that the presence of increasing levels of ultraviolet light with elevation may play a role, while browsing and grazing animals like the ibex may be another contributing factor. Probably the most important environmental factor is temperature, for if the growing season is too short and temperatures are too low, tree shoots and buds cannot mature sufficiently to survive the winter months.
9. Which of the sentences below best express the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? In correct choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
○Because of their deformed shapes at high altitudes, trees are not likely to be seriously harmed by the strong winds typical of those altitudes.
○As altitude increases, the velocity of winds increase, leading to a serious decrease in the number of trees found at high altitudes.
○The deformed shapes of trees at high altitudes show that wind velocity, which increase with altitude, can cause serious hardship for trees.
○Increased wind velocity at high altitudes deforms the shapes of trees, and this may cause serious stress for trees.
10. In paragraph 4, what is the author’s main purpose in the discussion of the dramatic cessation of tree growth at the upper timberline?
○To argue that none of several environment factors that are believed to contribute to that phenomenon do in fact play a role in causing it.
○To argue in support of one particular explanation of that phenomenon against several competing explanations
○To explain why the primary environmental factor responsible for that phenomenon has not yet been identified
○To present several environmental factors that may contribute to a satisfactory explanation of that phenomenon
Paragraph 6: The most striking characteristic of the plants of the alpine zone is their low growth form. This enables them to avoid the worst rigors of high winds and permits them to make use of the higher temperatures immediately adjacent to the ground surface. In an area where low temperatures are limiting to life, the importance of the additional heat near the surface is crucial. The low growth form can also permit the plants to take advantage of the insulation provided by a winter snow cover. In the equatorial mountains the low growth form is less prevalent.
11. The word “prevalent” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○predictable
○widespread
○successful
○developed
12. According to paragraph 6, all of the following statements are true of plants in the alpine zone EXCEPT:
○Because they are low, they are less exposed to strong winds.
○Because they are low, the winter snow cover gives them more protection from the extreme cold.
○In the equatorial mountains, they tend to be lower than in mountains elsewhere.
○Their low growth form keeps them closer to the ground, where there is more heat than further up.
Paragraph 5: Above the tree line there is a zone that is generally called alpine tundra. █Immediately adjacent to the timberline, the tundra consists of a fairly complete cover of low-lying shrubs, herbs, and grasses, while higher up the number and diversity of species decrease until there is much bare ground with occasional mosses and lichens and some prostrate cushion plants. █Some plants can even survive in favorable microhabitats above the snow line. The highest plants in the world occur at around 6,100 meters on Makalu in the Himalayas. █At this great height, rocks, warmed by the sun, melt small snowdrifts. █
13. Look at the four squares [█] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
This explains how, for example, alpine cushion plants have been found growing at an altitude of 6,180 meters.
Where would the sentence best fit?
14. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
At the timberline, whether upper or lower, there is a profound change in the growth of trees and other plants.
Answer choices
○Birch is one of the few species of tree that can survive in the extreme environments of the upper timberline.
○There is no agreement among scientists as to exactly why plant growth is sharply different above and below the upper timberline.
○The temperature at the upper timberline is probably more important in preventing tree growth than factors such as the amount of snowfall or the force of winds.
○The geographical location of an upper timberline has an impact on both the types of trees found there and their physical characteristics.
○High levels of ultraviolet light most likely play a greater role in determining tree growth at the upper timberline than do grazing animals such as the ibex.
○Despite being adjacent to the timberline, the alpine tundra is an area where certain kinds of low trees can endure high winds and very low temperatures.
参考答案：
1. ○4
2. ○1
3. ○2
4. ○3
5. ○3
6. ○2
7. ○2
8. ○1
9. ○3
10. ○4
11. ○2
12. ○3
13. ○4
14. There is no agreement among…
The temperature at the upper …
The geographical location of…
托福阅读真题及答案
The Origins of Theater
In seeking to describe the origins of theater, one must rely primarily on speculation, since there is little concrete evidence on which to draw. The most widely accepted theory, championed by anthropologists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, envisions theater as emerging out of myth and ritual. The process perceived by these anthropologists may be summarized briefly. During the early stages of its development, a society becomes aware of forces that appear to influence or control its food supply and well-being. Having little understanding of natural causes, it attributes both desirable and undesirable occurrences to supernatural or magical forces, and it searches for means to win the favor of these forces. Perceiving an apparent connection between certain actions performed by the group and the result it desires, the group repeats, refines and formalizes those actions into fixed ceremonies, or rituals.
Stories (myths) may then grow up around a ritual. Frequently the myths include representatives of those supernatural forces that the rites celebrate or hope to influence. Performers may wear costumes and masks to represent the mythical characters or supernatural forces in the rituals or in accompanying celebrations. As a person becomes more sophisticated, its conceptions of supernatural forces and causal relationships may change. As a result, it may abandon or modify some rites. But the myths that have grown up around the rites may continue as part of the group’s oral tradition and may even come to be acted out under conditions divorced from these rites. When this occurs, the first step has been taken toward theater as an autonomous activity, and thereafter entertainment and aesthetic values may gradually replace the former mystical and socially efficacious concerns.
Although origin in ritual has long been the most popular, it is by no means the only theory about how the theater came into being. Storytelling has been proposed as one alternative. Under this theory, relating and listening to stories are seen as fundamental human pleasures. Thus, the recalling of an event (a hunt, battle, or other feat) is elaborated through the narrator’s pantomime and impersonation and eventually through each role being assumed by a different person.
A closely related theory sees theater as evolving out of dances that are primarily pantomimic, rhythmical or gymnastic, or from imitations of animal noises and sounds. Admiration for the performer’s skill, virtuosity, and grace are seen as motivation for elaborating the activities into fully realized theatrical performances.
In addition to exploring the possible antecedents of theater, scholars have also theorized about the motives that led people to develop theater. Why did theater develop, and why was it valued after it ceased to fulfill the function of ritual? Most answers fall back on the theories about the human mind and basic human needs. One, set forth by Aristotle in the fourth century B.C., sees humans as naturally imitative—as taking pleasure in imitating persons, things, and actions and in seeing such imitations. Another, advanced in the twentieth century, suggests that humans have a gift for fantasy, through which they seek to reshape reality into more satisfying forms than those encountered in daily life. Thus, fantasy or fiction (of which drama is one form) permits people to objectify their anxieties and fears, confront them, and fulfill their hopes in fiction if not fact. The theater, then, is one tool whereby people define and understand their world or escape from unpleasant realities.
But neither the human imitative instinct nor a penchant for fantasy by itself leads to an autonomous theater. Therefore, additional explanations are needed. One necessary condition seems to be a somewhat detached view of human problems. For example, one sign of this condition is the appearance of the comic vision, since comedy requires sufficient detachment to view some deviations from social norms as ridiculous rather than as serious threats to the welfare of the entire group. Another condition that contributes to the development of autonomous theater is the emergence of the aesthetic sense. For example, some early societies ceased to consider certain rites essential to their well-being and abandoned them, nevertheless, they retained as parts of their oral tradition the myths that had grown up around the rites and admired them for their artistic qualities rather than for their religious usefulness.
Paragraph 1: In seeking to describe the origins of theater, one must rely primarily on speculation, since there is little concrete evidence on which to draw. The most widely accepted theory, championed by anthropologists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, envisions theater as emerging out of myth and ritual. The process perceived by these anthropologists may be summarized briefly. During the early stages of its development, a society becomes aware of forces that appear to influence or control its food supply and well-being. Having little understanding of natural causes, it attributes both desirable and undesirable occurrences to supernatural or magical forces, and it searches for means to win the favor of these forces. Perceiving an apparent connection between certain actions performed by the group and the result it desires, the group repeats, refines and formalizes those actions into fixed ceremonies, or rituals.
1. The word “championed” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○changed
○debated
○created
○supported
2. The word “attributes” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○ascribes
○leaves
○limits
○contrasts
3. According to paragraph 1, theories of the origins of theater
○are mainly hypothetical
○are well supported by factual evidence
○have rarely been agreed upon by anthropologists
○were expressed in the early stages of theater’s development
4. According to paragraph 1, why did some societies develop and repeat ceremonial actions?
○To establish a positive connection between the members of the society
○To help society members better understand the forces controlling their food supply
○To distinguish their beliefs from those of other societies
○To increase the society’s prosperity
Paragraph 2: Stories (myths) may then grow up around a ritual. Frequently the myths include representatives of those supernatural forces that the rites celebrate or hope to influence. Performers may wear costumes and masks to represent the mythical characters or supernatural forces in the rituals or in accompanying celebrations. As a person becomes more sophisticated, its conceptions of supernatural forces and causal relationships may change. As a result, it may abandon or modify some rites. But the myths that have grown up around the rites may continue as part of the group’s oral tradition and may even come to be acted out under conditions divorced from these rites. When this occurs, the first step has been taken toward theater as an autonomous activity, and thereafter entertainment and aesthetic values may gradually replace the former mystical and socially efficacious concerns.
5. The word “this” in the passage refers to
○the acting out of rites
○the divorce of ritual performers from the rest of society
○the separation of myths from rites
○the celebration of supernatural forces
6. The word “autonomous” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○artistic
○important
○independent
○established
7. According to paragraph 2, what may cause societies to abandon certain rites?
○Emphasizing theater as entertainment
○Developing a new understanding of why events occur
○Finding a more sophisticated way of representing mythical characters
○Moving from a primarily oral tradition to a more written tradition，来源：北京新航道托福培训
Paragraph 5: In addition to exploring the possible antecedents of theater, scholars have also theorized about the motives that led people to develop theater. Why did theater develop, and why was it valued after it ceased to fulfill the function of ritual? Most answers fall back on the theories about the human mind and basic human needs. One, set forth by Aristotle in the fourth century B.C., sees humans as naturally imitative—as taking pleasure in imitating persons, things, and actions and in seeing such imitations. Another, advanced in the twentieth century, suggests that humans have a gift for fantasy, through which they seek to reshape reality into more satisfying forms than those encountered in daily life. Thus, fantasy or fiction (of which drama is one form) permits people to objectify their anxieties and fears, confront them, and fulfill their hopes in fiction if not fact. The theater, then, is one tool whereby people define and understand their world or escape from unpleasant realities.
8. All of following are mentioned in paragraph 5 as possible reasons that led societies to develop theater EXCEPT:
○Theater allows people to face that they are afraid of.
○Theater gives an opportunity to imagine a better reality.
○Theater is a way to enjoy imitating other people.
○Theater provides people the opportunity to better understand the human mind.
9. Which of the following best describes the organization of paragraph 5?
○The author presents two theories for a historical phenomenon.
○The author argues against theories expressed earlier in the passage.
○The author argues for replacing older theories with a new one.
○The author points out problems with two popular theories.
Paragraph 6: But neither the human imitative instinct nor a penchant for fantasy by itself leads to an autonomous theater. Therefore, additional explanations are needed. One necessary condition seems to be a somewhat detached view of human problems. For example, one sign of this condition is the appearance of the comic vision, since comedy requires sufficient detachment to view some deviations from social norms as ridiculous rather than as serious threats to the welfare of the entire group. Another condition that contributes to the development of autonomous theater is the emergence of the aesthetic sense. For example, some early societies ceased to consider certain rites essential to their well-being and abandoned them, nevertheless, they retained as parts of their oral tradition the myths that had grown up around the rites and admired them for their artistic qualities rather than for their religious usefulness.
10. The word “penchant” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○compromise
○inclination
○tradition
○respect
11. Why does the author mention “comedy”?
○To give an example of early types of theater
○To explain how theater helps a society respond to threats to its welfare
○To help explain why detachment is needed for the development of theater
○To show how theatrical performers become detached from other members of society
12. 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.
○A society’s rites were more likely to be retained in the oral tradition if its myths were admired for artistic qualities.
○The artistic quality of a myth was sometimes an essential reason for a society to abandon it from the oral tradition.
○Some early societies stopped using myths in their religious practices when rites ceased to be seen as
useful for social well-being.
○Myths sometimes survived in a society’s tradition because of their artistic qualities even after they were no longer deemed religiously beneficial.
Paragraph 3: █Although origin in ritual has long been the most popular, it is by no means the only theory about how the theater came into being. █Storytelling has been proposed as one alternative. █Under this theory, relating and listening to stories are seen as fundamental human pleasures. █Thus, the recalling of an event (a hunt, battle, or other feat) is elaborated through the narrator’s pantomime and impersonation and eventually through each role being assumed by a different person.
13. Look at the four squares [█] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
To enhance their listeners’ enjoyment, storytellers continually make their stories more engaging and memorable.
Where would the sentence best fit?
14. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
Anthropologists have developed many theories to help understand why and how theater originated.
Answer choices
○The presence of theater in almost all societies is thought to have occurred because early storytellers traveled to different groups to tell their stories.
○Many theorists believe that theater arises when societies act out myths to preserve social well-being.
○The more sophisticated societies became, the better they could influence desirable occurrences through ritualized theater.
○Some theories of theater development focus on how theater was used by group leaders to group leaders govern other members of society.
○Theater may have come from pleasure humans receive from storytelling and moving rhythmically.
○The human capacities for imitation and fantasy are considered possible reasons why societies develop theater.
参考答案：
1. ○4
2. ○1
3. ○1
4. ○4
5. ○3
6. ○3
7. ○2
8. ○4
9. ○1
10. ○2
11. ○3
12. ○4
13. ○4
14. Many theorists believe that…
Theater may have come from…
The human capacities for imitation…
篇9：TPO5托福阅读真题原文及答案解析Part2
托福TPO5阅读真题文本：Part2
The Origin of the Pacific Island People
The greater Pacific region, traditionally called Oceania, consists of three cultural areas: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Melanesia, in the southwest Pacific, contains the large islands of New Guinea, the Solomons, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia. Micronesia, the area north of Melanesia, consists primarily of small scattered islands. Polynesia is the central Pacific area in the great triangle defined by Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand. Before the arrival of Europeans, the islands in the two largest cultural areas, Polynesia and Micronesia, together contained a population estimated at 700,000.
Speculation on the origin of these Pacific islanders began as soon as outsiders encountered them, in the absence of solid linguistic, archaeological, and biological data, many fanciful and mutually exclusive theories were devised. Pacific islanders are variously thought to have come from North America, South America, Egypt, Israel, and India, as well as Southeast Asia. Many older theories implicitly deprecated the navigational abilities and overall cultural creativity of the Pacific islanders. For example, British anthropologists G. Elliot Smith and W. J. Perry assumed that only Egyptians would have been skilled enough to navigate and colonize the Pacific. They inferred that the Egyptians even crossed the Pacific to found the great civilizations of the New World (North and South America). In 1947 Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl drifted on a balsa-log raft westward with the winds and currents across the Pacific from South America to prove his theory that Pacific islanders were Native Americans (also called American Indians). Later Heyerdahl suggested that the Pacific was peopled by three migrations: by Native Americans from the Pacific Northwest of North America drifting to Hawaii, by Peruvians drifting to Easter Island, and by Melanesians. In 1969 he crossed the Atlantic in an Egyptian-style reed boat to prove Egyptian influences in the Americas. Contrary to these theorists, the overwhelming evidence of physical anthropology, linguistics, and archaeology shows that the Pacific islanders came from Southeast Asia and were skilled enough as navigators to sail against the prevailing winds and currents.
The basic cultural requirements for the successful colonization of the Pacific islands include the appropriate boat-building, sailing, and navigation skills to get to the islands in the first place, domesticated plants and gardening skills suited to often marginal conditions, and a varied inventory of fishing implements and techniques. It is now generally believed that these prerequisites originated with peoples speaking Austronesian languages (a group of several hundred related languages) and began to emerge in Southeast Asia by about 5000 B.C.E. The culture of that time, based on archaeology and linguistic reconstruction, is assumed to have had a broad inventory of cultivated plants including taro, yarns, banana, sugarcane, breadfruit, coconut, sago, and rice. Just as important, the culture also possessed the basic foundation for an effective maritime adaptation, including outrigger canoes and a variety of fishing techniques that could be effective for overseas voyaging.
Contrary to the arguments of some that much of the pacific was settled by Polynesians accidentally marooned after being lost and adrift, it seems reasonable that this feat was accomplished by deliberate colonization expeditions that set out fully stocked with food and domesticated plants and animals. Detailed studies of the winds and currents using computer simulations suggest that drifting canoes would have been a most unlikely means of colonizing the Pacific. These expeditions were likely driven by population growth and political dynamics on the home islands, as well as the challenge and excitement of exploring unknown waters.
Because all Polynesians, Micronesians, and many Melanesians speak Austronesian languages and grow crops derived from Southeast Asia, all these peoples most certainly derived from that region and not the New World or elsewhere. The undisputed pre-Columbian presence in Oceania of the sweet potato, which is a New World domesticate, has sometimes been used to support Heyerdahl's ”American Indians in the Pacific“ theories. However, this is one plant out of a long list of Southeast Asian domesticates. As Patrick Kirch, an American anthropologist, points out, rather than being brought by rafting South Americans, sweet potatoes might just have easily been brought back by returning Polynesian navigators who could have reached the west coast of South America.
Paragraph1: The greater Pacific region, traditionally called Oceania, consists of three cultural areas: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Melanesia, in the southwest Pacific, contains the large islands of New Guinea, the Solomons, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia. Micronesia, the area north of Melanesia, consists primarily of small scattered islands. Polynesia is the central Pacific area in the great triangle defined by Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand. Before the arrival of Europeans, the islands in the two largest cultural areas, Polynesia and Micronesia, together contained a population estimated at 700,000.
托福TPO5阅读题目：Part2
1. According to paragraph 1, all of the following are true statements about Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia EXCEPT:
○ Collectively, these regions are traditionally known as Oceania.
○ These islands of Micronesia are small and spread out.
○ Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand mark the boundaries of Polynesia.
○ Melanesia is situated to the north of Micronesia.
Paragraph 2: Speculation on the origin of these Pacific islanders began as soon as outsiders encountered them, in the absence of solid linguistic, archaeological, and biological data, many fanciful and mutually exclusive theories were devised. Pacific islanders are variously thought to have come from North America, South America, Egypt, Israel, and India, as well as Southeast Asia. Many older theories implicitly deprecated the navigational abilities and overall cultural creativity of the Pacific islanders. For example, British anthropologists G. Elliot Smith and W. J. Perry assumed that only Egyptians would have been skilled enough to navigate and colonize the Pacific. They inferred that the Egyptians even crossed the Pacific to found the great civilizations of the New World (North and South America). In 1947 Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl drifted on a balsa-log raft westward with the winds and currents across the Pacific from South America to prove his theory that Pacific islanders were Native Americans (also called American Indians). Later Heyerdahl suggested that the Pacific was peopled by three migrations: by Native Americans from the Pacific Northwest of North America drifting to Hawaii, by Peruvians drifting to Easter Island, and by Melanesians. In 1969 he crossed the Atlantic in an Egyptian-style reed boat to prove Egyptian influences in the Americas. Contrary to these theorists, theoverwhelming evidence of physical anthropology, linguistics, and archaeology shows that the Pacific islanders came from Southeast Asia and were skilled enough as navigators to sail against the prevailing winds and currents.
2. By stating that the theories are ”mutually exclusive“ the author means that
○ if one of the theories is true, then all the others must be false
○ the differences between the theories are unimportant
○ taken together, the theories cover all possibilities
○ the theories support each other
3. The word ”overwhelming“ in the passage is closest in meaning to
○ powerful
○ favorable
○ current
○ reasonable
4. According to paragraph 2, which of the following led some early researchers to believe that the Pacific islanders originally came from Egypt?
○ Egyptians were known to have founded other great civilizations.
○ Sailors from other parts of the world were believed to lack the skills needed to travel across the ocean.
○ Linguistic, archaeological, and biological data connected the islands to Egypt.
○ Egyptian accounts claimed responsibility for colonizing the Pacific as well as the Americas.
5. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 2 about early theories of where the first inhabitants of the Pacific islands came from?
○ They were generally based on solid evidence.
○ They tried to account for the origin of the characteristic features of the languages spoken by Pacific islanders.
○ They assumed that the peoples living in Southeast Asia did not have the skills needed to sail to the Pacific islands.
○ They questioned the ideas of G. Elliot Smith and W. J. Perry.
Paragraph 3: The basic cultural requirements for the successful colonization of the Pacific islands include the appropriate boat-building, sailing, and navigation skills to get to the islands in the first place, domesticated plants and gardening skills suited to often marginal conditions, and a varied inventory of fishing implements and techniques. It is now generally believed that these prerequisites originated with peoples speaking Austronesian languages (a group of several hundred related languages) and began to emerge in Southeast Asia by about 5000 B.C.E. The culture of that time, based on archaeology and linguistic reconstruction, is assumed to have had a broad inventory of cultivated plants including taro, yarns, banana, sugarcane, breadfruit, coconut, sago, and rice. Just as important, the culture also possessed the basic foundation for an effective maritime adaptation, including outrigger canoes and a variety of fishing techniques that could be effective for overseas voyaging.
6. The word ”implements“ in the passage is closest in meaning to
○ skills
○ tools
○ opportunities
○ practices
7. All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 3 as required for successful colonization of the Pacific islands EXCEPT
○ knowledge of various Austronesian languages
○ a variety of fishing techniques
○ navigational skills
○ knowledge of plant cultivation
8. In paragraph 3, why does the author provide information about the types of crops grown and boats used in Southeast Asia during the period around 5000 B. C. E.?
○ To evaluate the relative importance of agriculture and fishing to early Austronesian peoples
○ To illustrate the effectiveness of archaeological and linguistic methods in discovering details about life in ancient times
○ To contrast living conditions on the continent of Asia with living conditions on the Pacific islands
○ To demonstrate that people from this region had the skills and resources necessary to travel to and survive on the Pacific islands
Paragraph 4: Contrary to the arguments of some that much of the pacific was settled by Polynesians accidentally marooned after being lost and adrift, it seems reasonable that this feat was accomplished by deliberate colonization expeditions that set out fully stocked with food and domesticated plants and animals. Detailed studies of the winds and currents using computer simulations suggest that drifting canoes would have been a most unlikely means of colonizing the Pacific. These expeditions were likely driven by population growth and political dynamics on the home islands, as well as the challenge and excitement of exploring unknown waters. Because all Polynesians, Micronesians, and many Melanesians speak Austronesian languages and grow crops derived from Southeast Asia, all these peoples most certainly derived from that region and not the New World or elsewhere. The undisputed pre-Columbian presence in Oceania of the sweet potato, which is a New World domesticate, has sometimes been used to support Heyerdahl's ”American Indians in the Pacific“ theories. However, this is one plant out of a long list of Southeast Asian domesticates. As Patrick Kirch, an American anthropologist, points out, rather than being brought by rafting South Americans, sweet potatoes might just have easily been brought back by returning Polynesian navigators who could have reached the west coast of South America.
9. 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.
○ Some people have argued that the Pacific was settled by traders who became lost while transporting domesticated plants and animals.
○ The original Polynesian settlers were probably marooned on the islands, but they may have been joined later by carefully prepared colonization expeditions.
○ Although it seems reasonable to believe that colonization expeditions would set out fully stocked, this is contradicted by much of the evidence.
○ The settlement of the Pacific islands was probably intentional and well planned rather than accidental as some people have proposed.
10. The word ”undisputed“ in the passage is closest in meaning to
○ mysterious
○ unexpected
○ acknowledged
○ significant
11. According to paragraph 4, which of the following is NOT an explanation for why a group of people might have wanted to colonize the Pacific islands?
○ As their numbers increased, they needed additional territory.
○ The winds and currents made the islands easy to reach.
○ The political situation at home made emigration desirable.
○ They found exploration challenging and exciting.
12. Why does the author mention the views of ”Patrick Kirch“?
○ To present evidence in favor of Heyerdahl's idea about American Indians reaching Oceania
○ To emphasize the familiarity of Pacific islanders with crops from many different regions of the world
○ To indicate that supposed proof for Heyerdahl's theory has an alternative explanation
○ To demonstrate that some of the same crops were cultivated in both South America and Oceania
Paragraph 2: Speculation on the origin of these Pacific islanders began as soon as outsiders encountered them, in the absence of solid linguistic, archaeological, and biological data, many fanciful and mutually exclusive theories were devised. Pacific islanders are variously thought to have come from North America, South America, Egypt, Israel, and India, as well as Southeast Asia. ■Many older theories implicitly deprecated the navigational abilities and overall cultural creativity of the Pacific islanders. ■For example, British anthropologists G. Elliot Smith and W. J. Perry assumed that only Egyptians would have been skilled enough to navigate and colonize the Pacific. ■They inferred that the Egyptians even crossed the Pacific to found the great civilizations of the New World (North and South America). ■In 1947 Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl drifted on a balsa-log raft westward with the winds and currents across the Pacific from South America to prove his theory that Pacific islanders were Native Americans (also called American Indians). Later Heyerdahl suggested that the Pacific was peopled by three migrations: by Native Americans from the Pacific Northwest of North America drifting to Hawaii, by Peruvians drifting to Easter Island, and by Melanesians. In 1969 he crossed the Atlantic in an Egyptian-style reed boat to prove Egyptian influences in the Americas. Contrary to these theorists, the overwhelming evidence of physical anthropology, linguistics, and archaeology shows that the Pacific islanders came from Southeast Asia and were skilled enough as navigators to sail against the prevailing winds and currents.
13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
Later theories concentrate on journeys in the other direction.
Where could the sentence best fit?
Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some answer c
14. hoices do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or
15. are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
Together, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia make up the region described as the Pacific islands, or Oceania.
●
●
●
Answer Choices
○The first Europeans to reach the area assumed that the islands' original inhabitants must have drifted to Oceania, perhaps from Egypt or the Americas.
○It is now believed that the process of colonization required a great deal of skill, determination, and planning and could not have happened by chance.
○Using linguistic and archaeological evidence, anthropologists have determined that the first Pacific islanders were Austronesian people from Southeast Asia.
○New evidence suggests that, rather than being isolated, Pacific islanders engaged in trade and social interaction with peoples living in Southeast Asia.
○Although early colonizers of the islands probably came from agriculture-based societies, they were obliged to adopt an economy based on fishing.
○Computer simulations of the winds and currents in the Pacific have shown that reaching the Pacific islands was probably much easier than previously thought
托福TPO5阅读真题翻译：Part2
参考答案：
1.○4
2.○1
3.○1
4.○2
5.○3
6.○2
7.○1
8.○4
9.○4
10.○3
11.○2
12.○3
13.○4
14. The first Europeans to…
It is now believed that…
Using linguistic and…
托福TPO5阅读翻译Part2
参考翻译：太平洋群岛居民的起源
广义的太平洋地区，传统上被称作大洋洲，由三块文化区域组成：美拉尼西亚，密克罗尼西亚和波利尼西亚。美拉尼西亚在西南太平洋，包含了新几内亚岛、所罗门、瓦努阿图和新喀里多尼亚的广大岛屿。密克罗尼西亚在美拉尼西亚的北边，主要由一些分散的岛屿组成。波利尼西亚是太平洋中心地区，位于由夏威夷、复活节群岛和新西兰的三大岛屿组成的三角区域中。在欧洲人到来之前，最大的波利尼西亚和密克罗尼西亚岛屿群一共有差不多70万人口。
对于太平洋群岛居民起源的思索开始于外来者和岛民们接触的最初，由于缺乏可靠的语言学、考古学和生物学资料，出现了很多奇异并且互斥的理论。之前太平洋岛民曾被认为来自北美洲、南美洲、埃及、以色列、印度以及东南亚。许多古老的理论含蓄地贬低了太平洋群岛居民的航海能力和综合文化创造力。比如说，英国人类学家G. Elliot Smith 和W. J. Perry认为只有埃及人才能熟练地航海和统治太平洋。他们推断埃及人甚至曾经穿越过太平洋去寻找新世界的文明(北美洲和南美洲)。1947年，挪威探险家Thor Heyerdahl为了证明他的太平洋群岛居民是美国本土居民(也被称作美国印第安人)的理论，用一只带有标志的轻质木筏，借助风力和水流从南美洲漂流过了太平洋。后来Heyerdahl表明太平洋人来自三个移民群体：从北美洲西北部太平洋地区漂流到夏威夷的美国本土居民，从秘鲁去往复活节岛的漂流者，还有美拉尼西亚人。1969年，他驾驶一条埃及样式的芦苇船穿过大西洋，证明埃及人在美洲的影响。与这些理论相矛盾的是，有关物理人类学、语言学和考古学的权威证据表明，太平洋岛居民来自东南亚，并且他们有足够的能力来逆着风和洋流航行。
成功地将太平洋群岛殖民地化需要的基础文化条件包括：适当的造船、航行和航海技术以首先到达岛屿;适应贫瘠条件的驯化植物和园艺技术;各种各样的捕鱼器具和技术。现在普遍认为这些先决条件是那些说南岛语(一个有几百种亲属语种的语系)的人所带来的，他们公元前5 0前就出现在东南亚。通过考古学和语言学的重建发现，那个时候的文明拥有广泛的植物储存，包括芋头、纱、香蕉、甘蔗、面包果、椰子、西米和稻米。同样重要的是，当时的社会也具备适应海洋的基础，包括桅杆船和各种各样有利于越洋航行的捕鱼技术。
与那个太平洋人很多都是波利尼西亚人偶然迷失并漂流而定居下来的说法相反的是，这些功绩是通过有意的殖民远征来实现的，他们那些准备周详，出发时满载食物、已培育好的植物和以驯化的动物。通过电脑模拟对风向和洋流进行的详细研究表明，船只漂流是最不可能的殖民太平洋的途径。远征可能是由本土的人口增长、_以及探索未知水域的挑战和兴奋所驱动的。因为所有的波利尼西亚人、密克罗尼西亚人和很多美拉尼西亚人说南岛语，种植的庄稼起源于东南亚，所以所有的这些人最有可能来自那个地方，而不是新世界或者其他地方。甘薯，一种新世界的品种，在哥伦比亚发现美洲大陆前它就在大洋洲的出现，这是无可置疑的，这有时候被用来证明Heyerdahl的太平洋岛民是美国印第安人的理论。然而，这是一种在东南亚培育的植物的长名单之外的植物。正如美国人类学家Patrick Kirch所指出的，比起从南美漂流过来，甘薯更容易被那些到过南美的玻利尼西亚返航者携带来。
篇10：托福TPO3阅读真题原文题目及答案Part2
Depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer
The vast grasslands of the High Plains in the central United States were settled by farmers and ranchers in the 1880s. This region has a semiarid climate, and for 50 years after its settlement, it supported a low-intensity agricultural economy of cattle ranching and wheat farming. In the early twentieth century, however, it was discovered that much of the High Plains was underlain by a huge aquifer (a rock layer containing large quantities of groundwater). This aquifer was named the Ogallala aquifer after the Ogallala Sioux Indians, who once inhabited the region.
The Ogallala aquifer is a sandstone formation that underlies some 583,000 square kilometers of land extending from northwestern Texas to southern South Dakota. Water from rains and melting snows has been accumulating in the Ogallala for the past 30,000 years. Estimates indicate that the aquifer contains enough water to fill Lake Huron, but unfortunately, under the semiarid climatic conditions that presently exist in the region, rates of addition to the aquifer are minimal, amounting to about half a centimeter a year.
The first wells were drilled into the Ogallala during the drought years of the early 1930s. The ensuing rapid expansion of irrigation agriculture, especially from the 1950s onward, transformed the economy of the region. More than 100,000 wells now tap the Ogallala. Modern irrigation devices, each capable of spraying 4.5 million liters of water a day, have produced a landscape dominated by geometric patterns of circular green islands of crops. Ogallala water has enabled the High Plains region to supply significant amounts of the cotton, sorghum, wheat, and corn grown in the United States. In addition, 40 percent of American grain-fed beef cattle are fattened here.
This unprecedented development of a finite groundwater resource with an almost negligible natural recharge rate-that is, virtually no natural water source to replenish the water supply-has caused water tables in the region to fall drastically. In the 1930s, wells encountered plentiful water at a depth of about 15 meters; currently, they must be dug to depths of 45 to 60 meters or more. In places, the water table is declining at a rate of a meter a year, necessitating the periodic deepening of wells and the use of ever-more-powerful pumps. It is estimated that at current withdrawal rates, much of the aquifer will run dry within 40 years. The situation is most critical in Texas, where the climate is driest, the greatest amount of water is being pumped, and the aquifer contains the least water. It is projected that the remaining Ogallala water will, by the year 2030, support only 35 to 40 percent of the irrigated acreage in Texas that is supported in 1980.
The reaction of farmers to the inevitable depletion of the Ogallala varies. Many have been attempting to conserve water by irrigating less frequently or by switching to crops that require less water. Others, however, have adopted the philosophy that it is best to use the water while it is still economically profitable to do so and to concentrate on high-value crops such as cotton. The incentive of the farmers who wish to conserve water is reduced by their knowledge that many of their neighbors are profiting by using great amounts of water, and in the process are drawing down the entire region's water supplies.
In the face of the upcoming water supply crisis, a number of grandiose schemes have been developed to transport vast quantities of water by canal or pipeline from the Mississippi, the Missouri, or the Arkansas rivers.
Unfortunately, the cost of water obtained through any of these schemes would increase pumping costs at least tenfold, making the cost of irrigated agricultural products from the region uncompetitive on the national and international markets. Somewhat more promising have been recent experiments for releasing capillary water (water in the soil) above the water table by injecting compressed air into the ground. Even if this process proves successful, however, it would almost triple water costs. Genetic engineering also may provide a partial solution, as new strains of drought-resistant crops continue to be developed. Whatever the final answer to the water crisis may be, it is evident that within the High Plains, irrigation water will never again be the abundant, inexpensive resource it was during the agricultural boom years of the mid-twentieth century.
Paragraph 1: The vast grasslands of the High Plains in the central United States were settled by farmers and ranchers in the 1880s. This region has a semiarid climate, and for 50 years after its settlement, it supported a low-intensity agricultural economy of cattle ranching and wheat farming. In the early twentieth century, however, it was discovered that much of the High Plains was underlain by a huge aquifer (a rock layer containing large quantities of groundwater). This aquifer was named the Ogallala aquifer after the Ogallala Sioux Indians, who once inhabited the region.
篇11：托福TPO3阅读真题原文题目及答案Part2
1.According to paragraph 1, which of the following statements about the High Plains is true?
○Until farmers and ranchers settled there in the 1880s, the High Plains had never been inhabited.
○The climate of the High Plains is characterized by higher-than-average temperatures.
○The large aquifer that lies underneath the High Plains was discovered by the Ogallala Sioux Indians.
○Before the early 1900s there was only a small amount of farming and ranching in the High Plains.
Paragraph 2: The Ogallala aquifer is a sandstone formation that underlies some 583,000 square kilometers of land extending from northwestern Texas to southern South Dakota. Water from rains and melting snows has been accumulating in the Ogallala for the past 30,000 years. Estimates indicate that the aquifer contains enough water to fill Lake Huron, but unfortunately, under the semiarid climatic conditions that presently exist in the region, rates of addition to the aquifer are minimal, amounting to about half a centimeter a year.
2. According to paragraph 2, all of the following statements about the Ogallala aquifer are true EXCEPT:
○The aquifer stretches from South Dakota to Texas.
○The aquifer's water comes from underground springs.
○Water has been gathering in the aquifer for 30,000 years.
○The aquifer's water is stored in a layer of sandstone.
3. 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.
○Despite the current impressive size of the Ogallala aquifer, the region's climate keeps the rates of water addition very small.
○Although the aquifer has been adding water at the rate of only half a centimeter a year, it will eventually accumulate enough water of fill Lake Huron.
○Because of the region's present climatic conditions, water is being added each year to the aquifer.
○Even when the region experiences unfortunate climatic conditions, the rates of addition of water continue to increase.
Paragraph 3: The first wells were drilled into the Ogallala during the drought years of the early 1930s. The ensuing rapid expansion of irrigation agriculture, especially from the 1950s onward, transformed the economy of the region. More than 100,000 wells now tap the Ogallala. Modern irrigation devices, each capable of spraying 4.5 million liters of water a day, have produced a landscape dominated by geometric patterns of circular green islands of crops. Ogallala water has enabled the High Plains region to supply significant amounts of the cotton, sorghum, wheat, and corn grown in the United States. In addition, 40 percent of American grain-fed beef cattle are fattened here.
4. The word ”ensuing“ in the passage is closest in meaning to
○continuing
○surprising
○initial
○subsequent
5. In paragraph 3, why does the author provide the information that 40 percent of American cattle are fattened in the High Plains?
○To suggest that crop cultivation is not the most important part of the economy of the High Plains
○To indicate that not all economic activity in the High Plains is dependent on irrigation
○To provide another example of how water from the Ogallala has transformed the economy of the High Plains
○To contrast cattle-fattening practices in the High Plains with those used in other region of the United States
Paragraph 4: This unprecedented development of a finite groundwater resource with an almost negligible natural recharge rate-that is, virtually no natural water source to replenish the water supply-has caused water tables in the region to fall drastically. In the 1930s, wells encountered plentiful water at a depth of about 15 meters; currently, they must be dug to depths of 45 to 60 meters or more. In places, the water table is declining at a rate of a meter a year, necessitating the periodic deepening of wells and the use of ever-more-powerful pumps. It is estimated that at current withdrawal rates, much of the aquifer will run dry within 40 years. The situation is most critical in Texas, where the climate is driest, the greatest amount of water is being pumped, and the aquifer contains the least water. It is projected that the remaining Ogallala water will, by the year 2030, support only 35 to 40 percent of the irrigated acreage in Texas that is supported in 1980.
6. The word ”unprecedented“ in the passage is closest in meaning to
○difficult to control
○without any restriction
○unlike anything in the past
○rapidly expanding
7. The word ”virtually“ in the passage is closest in meaning to
○clearly
○perhaps
○frequently
○almost
8. According to paragraph 4, all of following are consequences of the heavy use of the Ogallala aquifer for irrigation EXCEPT:
○The recharge rate of the aquifer is decreasing.
○Water tables in the region are becoming increasingly lower.
○Wells now have to be dug to much greater depths than before.
○Increasingly powerful pumps are needed to draw water from the aquifer.
9. According to paragraph 4, compared with all other states that use Ogallala water for irrigation, Texas
○has the greatest amount of farmland being irrigated with Ogallala water
○contains the largest amount of Ogallala water underneath the soil
○is expected to face the worst water supply crisis as the Ogallala runs dry
○uses the least amount of Ogallala water for its irrigation needs
Paragraph 5: The reaction of farmers to the inevitable depletion of the Ogallala varies. Many have been attempting to conserve water by irrigating less frequently or by switching to crops that require less water. Others, however, have adopted the philosophy that it is best to use the water while it is still economically profitable to do so and to concentrate on high-value crops such as cotton. The incentive of the farmers who wish to conserve water is reduced by their knowledge that many of their neighbors are profiting by using great amounts of water, and in the process are drawing down the entire region's water supplies.
10. The word ”inevitable" in the passage is closest in meaning to
○unfortunate
○predictable
○unavoidable
○final
11. Paragraph 5 mentions which of the following as a source of difficulty for some farmers who try to conserve water?
○Crops that do not need much water are difficult to grow in the High Plains.
○Farmers who grow crops that need a lot of water make higher profits.
○Irrigating less frequently often leads to crop failure.
○Few farmers are convinced that the aquifer will eventually run dry.
Paragraph 6: In the face of the upcoming water supply crisis, a number of grandiose schemes have been developed to transport vast quantities of water by canal or pipeline from the Mississippi, the Missouri, or the Arkansas rivers. Unfortunately, the cost of water obtained through any of these schemes would increase pumping costs at least tenfold, making the cost of irrigated agricultural products from the region uncompetitive on the national and international markets. Somewhat more promising have been recent experiments for releasing capillary water (water in the soil) above the water table by injecting compressed air into the ground. Even if this process proves successful, however, it would almost triple water costs. Genetic engineering also may provide a partial solution, as new strains of drought-resistant crops continue to be developed. Whatever the final answer to the water crisis may be, it is evident that within the High Plains, irrigation water will never again be the abundant, inexpensive resource it was during the agricultural boom years of the mid-twentieth century.
12.According to paragraph 6, what is the main disadvantage of the proposed plans to transport river water to the High Plains?
○The rivers cannot supply sufficient water for the farmer's needs.
○Increased irrigation costs would make the products too expensive.
○The costs of using capillary water for irrigation will increase.
○Farmers will be forced to switch to genetically engineered crops.
Paragraph 5: The reaction of farmers to the inevitable depletion of the Ogallala varies. Many have been attempting to conserve water by irrigating less frequently or by switching to crops that require less water. █Others, however, have adopted the philosophy that it is best to use the water while it is still economically profitable to do so and to concentrate on high-value crops such as cotton. █The incentive of the farmers who wish to conserve water is reduced by their knowledge that many of their neighbors are profiting by using great amounts of water, and in the process are drawing down the entire region's water supplies. █
Paragraph 6: In the face of the upcoming water supply crisis, a number of grandiose schemes have been developed to transport vast quantities of water by canal or pipeline from the Mississippi, the Missouri, or the Arkansas rivers. █Unfortunately, the cost of water obtained through any of these schemes would increase pumping costs at least tenfold, making the cost of irrigated agricultural products from the region uncompetitive on the national and international markets. Somewhat more promising have been recent experiments for releasing capillary water (water in the soil) above the water table by injecting compressed air into the ground. Even if this process proves successful, however, it would almost triple water costs. Genetic engineering also may provide a partial solution, as new strains of drought-resistant crops continue to be developed. Whatever the final answer to the water crisis may be, it is evident that within the High Plains, irrigation water will never again be the abundant, inexpensive resource it was during the agricultural boom years of the mid-twentieth century.
13.Look at the four squares [█] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage
But even if uncooperative farmers were to join in the conservation efforts, this would only delay the depletion of the aquifer.
Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square to add the sentence to the passage.
14.Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
The Ogallala aquifer is a large underground source of water in the High Plains region of the United States.
●
●
●
Answer choices
○The use of the Ogallala for irrigation has allowed the High Plains to become one of the most productive agricultural regions in the United States.
○Given the aquifer's low recharge rate, its use for irrigation is causing water tables to drop and will eventually lead to its depletion.
○Releasing capillary water and introducing drought-resistant crops are less-promising solutions to the water supply crisis than bringing in river water
○The periodic deepening of wells and the use of more-powerful pumps would help increase the natural recharge rate of the Ogallala.
○In Texas, a great deal of attention is being paid to genetic engineering because it is there that the most critical situation exists.
○Several solutions to the upcoming water supply crisis have been proposed, but none of them promises to keep the costs of irrigation low.
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