TOEFL阅读真题精选

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托福阅读真题1

There are only a few clues in the rock record about climate in the Proterozoic eon. Much of our information about climate in the more recent periods of geologic history comes from the fossil record, because we have a reasonably good understanding of the types of environment in which many fossil organisms flourished. The scarce fossils of the Proterozoic, mostly single-celled bacteria, provide little evidence in this regard. However, the rocks themselves do include the earliest evidence for glaciation, probably a global ice age.

The inference that some types of sedimentary rocks are the result of glacial activity is based on the principle of uniformitarianism, which posits that natural processes now at work on and within the Earth operated in the same manner in the distant past. The deposits associated with present-day glaciers have been well studied, and some of their characteristics are quite distinctive. In 2.3-billion-year-old rocks in Canada near Lake Huron (dating from the early part of the Proterozoic age), there are thin laminae of fine-grained sediments that resemble varves, the annual layers of sediment deposited in glacial lakes. Typically, present-day varves show two-layered annual cycle, one layer corresponding to the rapid ice melting and sediment transport of the summer season, and the other, finer-grained, layer corresponding to slower winter deposition. Although it is not easy to discern such details in the Proterozoic examples, they are almost certainly glacial varves. These fine-grained, layered sediments even contain occasional large pebbles or dropstones, a characteristic feature of glacial environments where coarse material is sometimes carried on floating ice and dropped far from its source, into otherwise very fine grained sediment. Glacial sediments of about the same age as those in Canada have been found in other parts of North America and in Africa, India, and Europe. This indicates that the glaciation was global, and that for a period of time in the early Proterozoic the Earth was gripped in an ice age.

Following the early Proterozoic glaciation, however, the climate appears to have been fairly benign for a very long time. There is no evidence for glaciation for the next 1.5 billion years or so. Then, suddenly, the rock record indicates a series of glacial episodes between about 850 and 600 million year ago, near the end of the Proterozoic eon.

1. Which of the following does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) How patterns in rock layers have been used to construct theories about the climate of the

Proterozoic age

(B) What some rare fossils indicate about glacial conditions during the late Proterozoic age

(D) The number of glacial episodes that the Earth has experienced since the Proterozoic age

2. According to the passage , the fossil record of the Proterozoic eon is

(A) highly regarded because it preserves the remains of many kinds of organisms

(B) less informative than the fossil record of more recent periods

(D) more useful to researchers than otheraspects of the rock record

3. The word scarce in line 4 is closest in meaning to

(A) ancient

(B) tiny

(D) rare

4. It can be inferred from the passage that the principle of uniformitarianism indicates

(A) similar conditions produce similar rock formations

(B) rock layers in a given region remain undisturbed over time

(D) each continent has its own distinctive pattern of sediment layers

5. The word resemble in line 14 is closest in meaning to

(A) result from

(B) penetrate

(D) replace have similar origins

6. According to the passage , the layers in varves are primarily formed by

(A) fossilized bacteria

(B) pieces of ancient dropstones

(D) annual cycles of sediment transport and deposition

7. The phrase the other in line 17 refers to another

(A) annual cycle

(B) glacial lake

(D) season

8. According to the passage , the presence of dropstones indicates that

(A) the glacial environment has been unusually servere

(B) the fine-grained sediment has built up very slowly

(D) coarse rock material has been carried great distances

9. Why does the author mention Canada, North America, Africa, India, and Europe in lines 23-24?

(A) To demonstrate the global spread of dropstones

(B) To explain the principles of varve formation

(D) To illustrate the varied climatic changes of the Proterozoic eon in different parts of the globe

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

(A) fossil record (line 3)

(B) laminae (line 13)

(D) glacial episodes (line 28)

PASSAGE 92 ABDAC DCCCC

托福阅读真题2

In 1900 the United States had only three cities with more than a million residents — New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. By 1930, it had ten giant metropolises. The newer ones experienced remarkable growth, which reflected basic changes in the economy.

The population of Los Angeles (114,000 in 1900) rose spectacularly in the early decades of the twentieth century, increasing a dramatic 1,400 percent from 1900 to 1930. A number of circumstances contributed to the meteoric rise of Los Angeles. The agricultural potential of the area was enormous if water for irrigation could be found, and the city founders had the vision and dating to obtain it by constructing a 225-mile aqueduct, completed in 1913, to tap the water of the Owens River. The city had a superb natural harbor, as well as excellent rail connections. The climate made it possible to shoot motion pictures year-round; hence Hollywood. Hollywood not only supplied jobs; it disseminated an image of the good life in Southern California on screens all across the nation. The most important single industry powering the growth of Los Angeles, however, was directly linked to the automobile. The demand for petroleum to fuel gasoline engines led to the opening of the Southern California oil fields, and made Los Angeles North America's greatest refining center.

Los Angeles was a product of the auto age in another sense as well: its distinctive spatial organization depended on widespread private ownership of automobiles. Los Angeles was a decentralized metropolis, sprawling across the desert landscape over an area of 400 square miles. It was a city without a real center. The downtown business district did not grow apace with the city as a whole, and the rapid transit system designed to link the center with outlying areas withered away from disuse. Approximately 800,000 cars were registered in Los Angeles County in 1930, one per 2.7 residents. Some visitors from the east coast were dismayed at the endless urban sprawl and dismissed Los Angeles as a mere collection of suburbs in search of a city. But the freedom and mobility of a city built on wheels attracted floods of migrants to the city.

1. What is the passage mainly about?

(A) The growth of cities in the United States in the early 1900's

(B) The development of the Southern California oil fields

(D) Industry and city planning in Los Angeles

2. The author characterizes the growth of new large cities in the United States after 1900 as

resulting primarily from

(A) new economic conditions

(B) images of cities shown in movies

(D) a large migrant population

3. The word meteoric in line 6 is closest in meaning to

(A) rapid

(B) famous

(D) methodical

(A) aqueduct

(B) vision

(D) agricultural potential

5. According to the passage , the most important factor in the development of agriculture around

Los Angeles was the

(A) influx of new residents to agricultural areas near the city

(B) construction of an aqueduct

(D) development of new connections to the city's natural harbor

6. According to the passage , the initial success of Hollywood' s motion picture industry was due

largely to the

(A) availability of many skilled workers

(B) beauty of the countryside

(D) region's climate and good weather

7. It can be inferred from the passage that in 1930 the greatest number of people in the Los

Angeles area were employed in

(A) farming

(B) oil refining

(D) the motion picture industry

8. According to the passage , the Southern California oil fields were initially exploited due to

(A) the fuel requirements of Los Angeles' rail system

(B) an increase in the use of gasoline engines in North America

(D) innovative planning on the part of the city founders

9. The phrase apace with in line 21 is closest in meaning to

(A) anew with

(B) apart from

(D) at the middle of

10. It can be inferred from the passage that the spatial organization of Los Angeles contributed to

the relative decline there of

(A) public transportation

(B) industrial areas

(D) oil fields

11. The visitors from the east coast mentioned in the passage thought that Los Angeles

(A) was not accurately portrayed by Hollywood images

(B) lacked good suburban areas in which to live

(D) was not really a single city

PASSAGE 93 CAACB DCBCA D

托福阅读真题3

Industrialization came to the United State after 1790 as North American entrepreneurs increased productivity by reorganizing work and building factories. These innovations in manufacturing boosted output and living standards to an unprecedented extent; the average per capita wealth increased by nearly 1 percent per year — 30 percent over the course of a generation. Goods that had once been luxury items became part of everyday life.

The impressive gain in output stemmed primarily from the way in which workers made goods, since the 1790's, North American entrepreneurs — even without technological improvements — had broadened the scope of the outwork system that made manufacturing more efficient by distributing materials to a succession of workers who each performed a single step of the production process. For example, during the 1820's and 1830's the shoe industry greatly expanded the scale and extend of the outwork system. Tens of thousands of rural women, paid according to the amount they produced, fabricated the uppers of shoes, which were bound to the soles by wage-earning journeymen shoemakers in dozens of Massachusetts towns, whereas previously journeymen would have made the entire shoe. This system of production made the employer a powerful shoe boss and eroded workers' control over the pace and conditions of labor. However, it also dramatically increased the output of shoes while cutting their price.

For tasks that were not suited to the outwork system, entrepreneurs created an even more important new organization, the modem factory, which used power-driven machines and assembly-line techniques to turn out large quantities of well-made goods. As early as 1782 the prolific Delaware inventor Oliver Evans had built a highly automated, laborsaving flour mill driven by water power. His machinery lifted the grain to the top of the mill, cleaned it as it fell into containers known as hoppers, ground the grain into flour, and then conveyed the flour back to the top of the mill to allow it to cool as it descended into barrels. Subsequently, manufacturers made use of new improved stationary steam engines to power their mills. This new technology enabled them to build factories in the nation's largest cities, taking advantage of urban concentrations of inexpensive labor, good transportation networks, and eager customers.

1. What is the passage mainly about?

(A) The difficulties of industrialization in North America

(B) The influence of changes in manufacturing on the growth of urban centers

(D) Improved ways of organizing the manufacturing of goods

2. The word boosted in line 3 is closest in meaning to

(A) ensured

(B) raised

(D) discouraged

3. The word scope in line 9 is closest in meaning to

(A) value

(B) popularity

(D) diversity

4. The author mentions the shoe industry in the second paragraph to provide an example of how

(A) entrepreneurs increased output by using an extended outwork system

(B) entrepreneurs used technological improvements to increase output

(D) changes in the outwork system improved the quality of shoes

5. All of the following are mentioned as effects of changes in the shoe industry during the 1820's

and 1830's EXCEPT

(A) an increase in the worker's dependence on entrepreneurs

(B) an increase in the wages paid to journeymen shoemakers

(D) a decrease in the price of shoes

6. All of the following are true of the outwork system EXCEPT

(A) It involved stages of production.

(B) It was more efficient than the systems used before 1790.

(D) It did not necessarily involve any technological improvements.

7. The word prolific in line 23 is closest in meaning to

(A) efficient

(B) productive

(D) progressive

8. According to the passage , how did later mills differ from the mills differ from the mill built by

Oliver Evans?

(A) They were located away from large cities.

(B) They used new technology to produce power.

(D) They combined technology with the outwork system.

9. The word it in line 25 refers to

(A) water power

(B) machinery

(D) mill

10. The passage mentions which of the following as a result of improvements in factory

machinery?

(A) It become easier for factory' owners to find workers and customers.

(B) Manufacturers had to employ more highly skilled workers.

(D) Factories could operate more than one engine at a time.

11. The word eager in line 30 is closest in meaning to

(A) wealthy

(B) knowledgeable

(D) enthusiastic

PASSAGE 94 DBCAB CBBCA D

TOEFL阅读真题精选

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TOEFL阅读真题精选

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