TOEFL托福阅读真题汇总

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托福阅读真题1

PASSAGE 22

Throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, citizens of the United States maintained a bias against big cities. Most lived on farms and in small towns and believed cities to be centers of corruption, crime, poverty, and moral degradation. Their distrust was caused, in part, by a national ideology that proclaimed farming the greatest occupation and rural living superior to urban living. This attitude prevailed even as the number of urban dwellers increased and cities became an essential feature of the national landscape. Gradually, economic reality overcame ideology. Thousands abandoned the precarious life on the farm for more secure and better paying jobs in the city. But when these people migrated from the countryside, they carried their fears and suspicious with them. These new urbanities, already convinced that cities were overwhelmed with great problems, eagerly embraced the progressive reforms that promised to bring order out of the chaos of the city.

One of many reforms came in the area of public utilities. Water and sewerage systems were usually operated by municipal governments, but the gas and electric networks were privately owned. Reformers feared that the privately owned utility companies would charge exorbitant rates for these essential services and deliver them only to people who could afford them. Some city and state governments responded by regulating the utility companies, but a number of cities began to supply these services themselves. Proponents of these reforms argued that public ownership and regulation would insure widespread access to these utilities and guarantee a fair price.

While some reforms focused on government and public behavior, others looked at the cities as a whole. Civic leaders, convinced that physical environment influenced human behavior, argued that cities should develop master plans to guide their future growth and development. City planning was nothing new, but the rapid industrialization and urban growth of the late nineteenth century took place without any consideration for order. Urban renewal in the twentieth century followed several courses. Some cities introduced plans to completely rebuild the city core. Most other cities contented themselves with zoning plans for regulating future growth. Certain parts of town were restricted to residential use, while others were set aside for industrial or commercial development.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) A comparison of urban and rural life in the early twentieth century

(B) The role of government in twentieth century urban renewal

(C) Efforts to improve urban life in the early twentieth century

(D) Methods of controlling urban growth in the twentieth century

2. The word bias in line 2 is closest in meaning to

(A) diagonal

(B) slope

(C) distortion

(D) prejudice

3. The first paragraph suggests that most people who lived in rural areas

(A) were suspicious of their neighbors

(B) were very proud of their lifestyle

(C) believed city government had too much power

(D) wanted to move to the cities

4. In the early twentieth century, many rural dwellers migrated to the city in order to

(A) participate in the urban reform movement

(B) seek financial security

(C) comply with a government ordinance

(D) avoid crime and corruption

5. The word embraced in line 11 is closest in meaning to

(A) suggested

(B) overestimated

(C) demanded

(D) welcomed

6. What concern did reformers have about privately owned utility companies?

(A) They feared the services would not be made available to all city dwellers.

(B) They believed private ownership would slow economic growth

(C) They did not trust the companies to obey the government regulations.

(D) They wanted to ensure that the services would be provided to rural areas.

7. The word exorbitant in line 16 is closest in meaning to

(A) additional

(B) expensive

(C) various

(D) modified

8. All of the following were the direct result of public utility reforms EXCEPT

(A) local governments determined the rates charged by private utility companies

(B) some utility companies were owned and operated by local governments

(C) the availability of services was regulated by local government

(D) private utility companies were required to pay a fee to local governments

9. The word Proponents in line 18 is closest in meaning to

(A) Experts

(B) Pioneers

(C) Reviewers

(D) Supporters

10. Why does the author mention industrialization (line 24)?

(A) To explain how fast urban growth led to poorly designed cities

(B) To emphasize the economic importance of urban areas

(C) To suggest that labor disputes had become an urban problem

(D) To illustrate the need for construction of new factories

答案:CDBBD ABDDA

托福阅读真题2

PASSAGE 23

Although only 1 person in 20 in the Colonial period lived in a city, the cities had a disproportionate influence on the development of North America. They were at the cutting edge of social change. It was in the cities that the elements that can be associated with modern capitalism first appeared — the use of money and commercial paper in place of barter, open competition in place of social deference and hierarchy, with an attendant rise in social disorder, and the appearance of factories using coat or water power in place of independent craftspeople working with hand tools. The cities predicted the future, wrote historian Gary. B. Nash, even though they were but overgrown villages compared to the great urban centers of Europe, the Middle East and China.

Except for Boston, whose population stabilized at about 16,000 in 1760, cities grew by exponential leaps through the eighteenth century. In the fifteen years prior to the outbreak of the War for independence in 1775, more than 200,000 immigrants arrived on North American shores. This meant that a population the size of Boston was arriving every year, and most of it flowed into the port cities in the Northeast. Philadelphia's population nearly doubted in those years, reaching about 30,000 in 1774, New York grew at almost the same rate, reaching about 25,000 by 1775.

The quality of the hinterland dictated the pace of growth of the cities. The land surrounding Boston had always been poor farm country, and by the mid-eighteenth century it was virtually stripped of its timber. The available farmland was occupied, there was little in the region beyond the city to attract immigrants. New York and Philadelphia, by contrast, served a rich and fertile hinterland laced with navigable watercourses. Scots, Irish, and Germans landed in these cities and followed the rivers inland. The regions around the cities of New York and Philadelphia became the breadbaskets of North America, sending grain not only to other colonies but also to England and southern Europe, where crippling droughts in the late 1760's created a whole new market.

1. Which of the following aspects of North America in the eighteenth century does the passage

mainly discuss?

(A) The effects of war on the growth of cities

(B) The growth and influence of cities

(C) The decline of farming in areas surrounding cities

(D) The causes of immigration to cities

2. Why does the author say that the cities had a disproportionate influence on the development

of North America (lines 1-2)?

(A) The influence of the cities was mostly negative

(B) The populations of the cities were small, but their influence was great.

(C) The cities were growing at a great rate.

(D) Most people pretended to live in cities

3. The phrase in place of in lines 4-5 is closest in meaning to

(A) connected to

(B) in addition to

(C) because of

(D) instead of

4. The word attendant in line 6 is closest in meaning to

(A) avoidable

(B) accompanying

(C) unwelcome

(D) unexpected

5. Which of the following is mentioned as an element of modern capitalism?

(A) Open competition

(B) Social deference

(C) Social hierarchy

(D) Independent craftspeople

6. It can be inferred that in comparison with North American cities, cities in Europe, the Middle

East, and China had

(A) large populations

(B) little independence

(C) frequent social disorder

(D) few power sources

7. The phrase exponential leaps in line 12 is closest in meaning to

(A) long wars

(B) new laws

(C) rapid increases

(D) exciting changes

8. The word it in line 15 refers to

(A) population

(B) size

(C) Boston

(D) Year

9. How many immigrants arrived in North America between 1760 and 1775?

(A) About 16,000

(B) About 25,000

(C) About 30,000

(D) More than 200,000

10. The word dictated in line 18 is closest in meaning to

(A) spoiled

(B) reduced

(C) determined

(D) divided

11. The word virtually in line 20 is closest in meaning to

(A) usually

(B) hardly

(C) very quickly

(D) almost completely

12. The region surrounding New York and Philadelphia is contrasted with the region surrounding

Boston in terms of

(A) quality of farmland

(B) origin of immigrants

(C) opportunities for fishing

(D) type of grain grown

13. Why does the author describe the regions around the cities of New York and Philadelphia as

breadbaskets?

(A) They produced grain especially for making bread.

(B) They stored large quantities of grain during periods of drought

(C) They supplied grain to other parts of North America and other countries.

(D) They consumed more grain than all the other regions of North America.

答案:BBDBA ACADC DAC

托福阅读真题3

PASSAGE 24

The spectacular aurora light displays that appear in Earth's atmosphere around the north and south magnetic poles were once mysterious phenomena. Now, scientists have data from satellites and ground-based observations from which we know that the aurora brilliance is an immense electrical discharge similar to that occurring in a neon sign.

To understand the cause of auroras, first picture the Earth enclosed by its magnetosphere, a huge region created by the Earth's magnetic field. Outside the magnetosphere, blasting toward the earth is the solar wind, a swiftly moving plasma of ionized gases with its own magnetic filed. Charged particles in this solar wind speed earthward along the solar wind's magnetic lines of force with a spiraling motion. The Earth's magnetosphere is a barrier to the solar winds, and forces the charged particles of the solar wind to flow around the magnetosphere itself. But in the polar regions, the magnetic lines of force of the Earth and of the solar wind bunch together. Here many of the solar wind's charged particles break through the magnetosphere and enter Earth's magnetic field. They then spiral back and forth between the Earth's magnetic poles very rapidly. In the polar regions, electrons from the solar wind ionize and excite the atoms and molecules of the upper atmosphere, causing them to emit aurora radiations of visible light.

The colors of an aurora depend on the atoms emitting them. The dominant greenish white light comes from low energy excitation of oxygen atoms. During huge magnetic storms oxygen atoms also undergo high energy excitation and emit crimson light. Excited nitrogen atoms contribute bands of color varying from blue to violet. Viewed from outer space, auroras can be seen as dimly glowing belts wrapped around each of the Earth's magnetic poles. Each aurora hangs like a curtain of light stretching over the polar regions and into the higher latitudes. When the solar flares that result in magnetic storms and aurora activity are very intense, aurora displays may extend as far as the southern regions of the United States.

Studies of auroras have given physicists new information about the behavior of plasmas, which has helped to explain the nature of outer space and is being applied in attempts to harness energy from the fusion of atoms.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The methods used to observe auroras from outer space

(B) The formation and appearance of auroras around the Earth's poles

(C) The factors that cause the variety of colors in auroras

(D) The periodic variation in the display of auroras

2. The word phenomena in line 2 is closest in meaning to

(A) ideas

(B) stars

(C) events

(D) colors

3. The word picture in

(A) frame

(B) imagine

(C) describe

(D) explain

4. The passage describes the magnetosphere as a barrier (line 10) because

(A) its position makes it difficult to be observed from Earth

(B) it prevents particles from the solar wind from easily entering Earth's atmosphere

(C) it increases the speed of particles from the solar wind

(D) it is strongest in the polar regions

5. The word them in line 16 refers to

(A) polar regions

(B) electrons

(C) atoms and molecules

(D) aurora radiations

6. According to the passage , which color appears most frequently in an aurora display?

(A) greenish-white

(B) crimson

(C) blue

(D) violet

7. The word emit in line 20 is closest in meaning to

(A) change from

(B) connect with

(C) add to

(D) give off

8. The word glowing in line 22 is closest in meaning to

(A) shining

(B) moving

(C) charging

(D) hanging

9. Auroras may be seen in the southern regions of the United Sates when

(A) magnetic storms do not affect Earth

(B) solar flares are very intense

(C) the speed of the solar wind is reduced

(D) the excitation of atoms is low

10. The passage supports which of the following statements about scientists'n derstanding of

auroras?

(A) Before advances in technology, including satellites, scientists knew little about auroras.

(B) New knowledge about the fusion of atoms allowed scientists to learn more about auroras.

(C) Scientists cannot explain the cause of the different colors in auroras.

(D) Until scientists learn more about plasma physics, little knowledge about auroras will be available.

11. Which of the following terms is defined in the passage ?

(A) magnetosphere (line 6)

(B) electrons (line 15)

(C) ionize (line 15)

(D) fusion (line 29)

BCBBC ADABA A

line 5 is closest in meaning to

TOEFL托福阅读真题汇总

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