98 老托福阅读真题
2012-01-11 12:48阅读：
Section Three: Reading
Comprehension
Questions
1-10
Potash (the old name for
potassium carbonate) is one of the two alkalis (the
other
being soda, sodium carbonate)
that were used from remote antiquity in the making of
glass, and from the early
Middle Ages in the making of soap: the former being
the
product of heating a mixture of
alkali and sand, the latter a product of alkali and
(5)
vegetable oil. Their importance in
the communities of
colonial North America need
hardly be
stressed.
Potash and soda are not
interchangeable for all purposes, but for glass-or
soap-
making either would do. Soda
was obtained largely from the ashes of certain
Mediterranean sea
plants, potash from those of
inland vegetation. Hence potash was
(10)
more familiar to the early European settlers
of the North American continent.
The settlement at Jamestown in
Virginia was in many ways a microcosm of the
economy of colonial North
America, and potash was one of its first concerns. It
was
required for the glassworks,
the first factory in the British colonies, and was
produced
in sufficient quantity to
permit the inclusion of potash in the first cargo shipped out
of
(15)
Jamestown. The second ship to arrive in the
settlement from England included among
its passengers experts in
potash making.
The method of making potash was
simple enough. Logs was piled up and burned
in the open, and the ashes
collected. The ashes were placed in a barrel with holes in
the
bottom, and water was poured
over them. The solution draining from the barrel was
(20)
boiled down in iron kettles. The resulting
mass was further heated to fuse the mass
into what was called
potash.
In North America, potash making
quickly became an adjunct to the clearing of land
for agriculture, for it was
estimated that as much as half the cost of clearing land
could
be recovered by the sale of
potash. Some potash was exported from Maine and New
(25)
Hampshire in the seventeenth century, but
the market turned out to be mainly domestic,
consisting mostly of shipments
from the northern to the southern colonies. For
despite
the beginning of the trade at
Jamestown and such encouragements as a series of acts
'to encourage the making of
potash,' beginning in 1707 in South Carolina, the
softwoods in the South proved
to be poor sources of the substance.
1. What aspect of potash does
the passage mainly discuss?
(A) How it was
made
(B) Its value as a product for
export
(C) How it differs from other
alkalis
(D) Its importance in colonial
North America
2. All of the following
statements are true of both potash and soda EXPECT:
(A) They are
alkalis.
(B) They are made from sea
plants.
(C) They are used in making
soap.
(D) They are used in making
glass.
3.They phrase 'the latter' in
line 4 refers to
(A) alkali
(B) glass
(C) sand
(D) soap
4.The word 'stressed' in line 6
is closest in meaning to
(A) defined
(B) emphasized
(C) adjusted
(D) mentioned
5. The word 'interchangeable'
in line 7 is closest in meaning to
(A) convenient
(B) identifiable
(C) equivalent
(D) advantageous
6. It can be inferred from the
passage that potash was more common than soda in colonial North
America because
(A) the materials needed for
making soda were not readily available
(B) making potash required less
time than making soda
(C) potash was better than soda
for making glass and soap
(D) the colonial glassworks
found soda more difficult to use
7. According to paragraph 4,
all of the following were needed for making potash
EXCEPT
(A) wood
(B) fire
(C) sand
(D) water
8. The word 'adjunct' in line
22 is closest in meaning to
(A) addition
(B) answer
(C) problem
(D) possibility
9. According to the passage, a
major benefit of making potash was that
(A) it could be exported to
Europe in exchange for other goods
(B) it helped finance the
creation of farms
(C) it could be made with a
variety of materials
(D) stimulated the development
of new ways of glassmaking
10. According to paragraph 5,
the softwoods in the South posed which of the following problems
for southern settles?
(A) The softwoods were not very
plentiful.
(B) The softwoods could not be
used to build houses.
(C) The softwoods were not very
marketable.
(D) The softwoods were not very
useful for making potash.
Questions
11-21
The first flying vertebrates
were true reptiles in which one of the fingers of the
front limbs became very
elongated, providing support for a flap of stretched
skin
that served as a wing. These
were the pterosaurs, literally the 'winged lizards.'
The
earliest pterosaurs arose near
the end of the Triassic period of the Mesozoic Era,
some
(5)
70 million years before the first
known fossils of true birds occur, and they presumably
dominated the skies until they
were eventually displaced by birds. Like the
dinosaurs,
some the pterosaurs became
gigantic; the largest fossil discovered is of an
individual
that had a wingspan of 50 feet
or more, larger than many airplanes. These flying
reptiles had large,
tooth-filled jaws, but their bodies were small and probably
without
(10)
the necessary powerful muscles for sustained wing
movement. They must have been
expert gliders, not skillful
fliers, relying on wind power for their locomotion.
Birds, despite sharing common
reptilian ancestors with pterosaurs, evolved quite
separately and have been much
more successful in their dominance of the air. They
are an example of a common
theme in evolution, the more or less parallel
development
(15)
of different types of body structure and
function for the same reason-in this case,
for flight. Although the fossil
record, as always, is not complete enough to determine
definitively the evolutionary
lineage of the birds or in as much detail as one would
like, it is better in this case
than for many other animal groups. That is because of
the
unusual preservation in a
limestone quarry in southern Germany of Archaeopteryx,
a
(20)
fossil that many have called the link
between dinosaurs and birds. Indeed, had it not
been for the superb
preservation of these fossils, they might well have been
classified
as dinosaurs. They have the
skull and teeth of a reptile as well as a bony tail, but in
the
line-grained limestone in which
these fossils occur there are delicate impressions of
206 feathers and fine details
of bone structure that make it clear that Archaeopteryx was
a
(25)
bird. All birds living today, from the great
condors of the Andes to the tiniest wrens,
race their origin back to the
Mesozoic dinosaurs.
11. What does the passage
mainly discuss?
(A) Characteristics of
pterosaur wings
(B) The discovery of fossil
remains of Archaeopteryx
(C) Reasons for the extinction
of early flying vertebrates
(D) The development of flight
in reptiles and birds
12. Which of the following is
true of early reptile wings?
(A) They evolved from strong
limb muscles.
(B) They consisted of an
extension of skin.
(C) They connected the front
and back limbs.
(D) They required fingers of
equal length.
13. The word 'literally' in
line 3 is closest in meaning to
(A) creating
(B) meaning
(C) related to
(D) simplified
14. It can be inferred from the
passage that birds were probably dominant in the skies
(A) in the early Triassic
period
(B) before the appearance of
pterosaurs
(C) after the decline of
pterosaurs
(D) before dinosaurs could be
found on land.
15. The author mentions
airplanes in line 8 in order to
(A) illustrate the size of
wingspans in some pterosaurs
(B) compare the energy needs of
dinosaurs with those of modern machines
(C) demonstrate the differences
between mechanized flight and animal flight
(D) establish the practical
applications of the study of fossils
16. The word 'They' in line 10
refers to
(A) powerful
muscles
(B) bodies
(C) jaws
(D) flying
reptiles
17. According to the passage,
pterosaurs were probably 'not skillful fliers' (line 11)
because
(A) of their limited
wingspan
(B) of their disproportionately
large bodies
(C) they lacked muscles needed
for extended flight
(D) climate conditions of the
time provided insufficient wind power
18. In paragraph 2, the author
discusses the development of flight in birds as resulting
from
(A) a similarity in body
structure to pterosaurs
(B) an evolution from
pterosaurs
(C) the dominance of birds and
pterosaurs over land animals
(D) a separate but parallel
development process to that of pterosaurs
19. The word 'classified' in
line 21 is closest in meaning to
(A) perfected
(B) replaced
(C) categorized
(D) protected
20. Which of the following
helped researchers determine that Archaeopteryx was not a
dinosaurs?
(A) Its tail
(B) Its teeth
(C) The shape of its
skull
(D) Details of its bone
structure
21. What is the significance of
the discovery that was made in southern Germany?
(A) It is thought to
demonstrate that birds evolved from dinosaurs.
(B) It is proof that the
climate and soils of Europe have changed over time.
(C) It suggests that dinosaurs
were dominant in areas rich in limestone.
(D) It supports the theory that
Archaeopteryx was a powerful dinosaur.
Questions
22-31
In July of 1994, an astounding
series of events took place. The world anxiously
watched as, every few hours, a
hurtling chunk of comet plunged into the atmosphere
of Jupiter. All of the
twenty-odd fragments, collectively called comet
Shoemaker-
Levy 9 after its discoverers,
were once part of the same object, now dismembered and
(5)
strung out along the same orbit.
This cometary train, glistening like a string of
pearls,
had been first glimpsed only a
few months before its fateful impact with Jupiter, and
rather quickly scientists had
predicted that the fragments were on a collision
course
with the giant planet. The
impact caused an explosion clearly visible from Earth,
a
bright flaming fire that
quickly expanded as each icy mass incinerated itself.
When
(10)
each fragment slammed at 60 kilometers per
second into the dense atmosphere, its
immense kinetic energy was
transformed into heat, producing a superheated
fireball
that was ejected back through
the tunnel the fragment had made a few seconds
earlier.
The residues from these
explosions left huge black marks on the face of Jupiter,
some
of which have stretched out to
form dark ribbons.
(15)
Although this impact event was of considerable scientific import,
it especially
piqued public curiosity and
interest. Photographs of each collision made the
evening
television newscast and were
posted on the Internet. This was possibly the most
open
scientific endeavor in history.
The face of the largest planet in the solar system was
changed before our very eyes.
And for the very first time, most of humanity came to
(20)
fully appreciate the fact that we ourselves
live on a similar target, a world subject to
catastrophe by random assaults
from celestial bodies. That realization was a surprise
to many, but it should not have
been. One of the great truths revealed by the last few
decades of planetary
exploration is that collisions between bodies of all sizes
are
relatively commonplace, at
least in geologic terms, and were even more frequent
in
(25)
the early solar system.
22. The passage mentions which
of the following with respect to the fragments of comet
Shoemaker-Levy 9?
(A) They were once combine in a
larger body.
(B) Some of them burned up
before entering
(C) Some of them are still
orbiting Jupiter.
(D) They have an unusual
orbit.
23. The word 'collectively' in
line 3 is closest in meaning to
(A) respectively
(B) popularly
(C) also
(D) together
24. The author compares the
fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 to all of the following
EXCEPT
(A) a dismembered
body
(B) a train
(C) a pearl
necklace
(D) a giant planet
25. Before comet Shoemaker-Levy
9 hit Jupiter in July 1994, scientists
(A) had been unaware of its
existence
(B) had been tracking it for
only a few months
(C) had observed its breakup
into twenty-odd fragments
(D) had decided it would not
collide with the planet
26.Before the comet fragments
entered the atmosphere of Jupiter, they were most
likely
(A) invisible
(B) black
(C) frozen
(D) exploding
27. Superheated fireballs were
produced as soon as the fragments of comet shoemaker- Levy
9
(A) hit the surface of
Jupiter
(B) were pulled into Jupiter's
orbit the atmosphere of Jupiter.
(C) were ejected back through
the tunnel
(D) entered the atmosphere of
Jupiter
28. The phrase 'incinerated
itself' in line 9 is closest in meaning to
(A) burned up
(B) broke into smaller
pieces
(C) increased its
speed
(D) grew in size
29. Which of the following is
mentioned as evidence of the explosions that is still visible on
Jupiter?
(A) fireballs
(B) ice masses
(C) black marks
(D) tunnels
30. Paragraph 2 discusses the
impact of the comet Shoemaker-levy 9 primarily in terms
of
(A) its importance as an event
of-great scientific significance
(B) its effect on public
awareness of the possibility of damage to Earth
(C) the changes it made to the
surface of Jupiter
(D) the effect it had on
television broadcasting
31. The 'target' in line 20
most probably referred to
(A) Earth
(B) Jupiter
(C) the solar
system
(D) a comet
Questions
32-42
The year 1850 may be considered
the beginning of a new epoch in America art,
with respect to the development
of watercolor painting. In December of that year, a
group of thirty artists
gathered in the studio of John Falconer in New York City
and
drafted both a constitution and
bylaws, establishing The Society for the Promotion
(5)
of Painting in Water Color. In addition to
securing an exhibition space in the Library
Society building in lower
Manhattan, the society founded a small school for the
instruction of watercolor
painting Periodic exhibitions of the members'
paintings
also included works by noted
English artists of the day, borrowed from embryonic
private collections in the
city. The society's activities also included organized
(10)
sketching excursions along he Hudson River.
Its major public exposure came in 1853,
when the society presented
works by its members in the 'Industry of All Nations'
section of the Crystal Palace
Exposition in New York.
The society did not prosper,
however, and by the time of its annual meeting in
1854 membership had fallen to
twenty-one. The group gave up its quarters in the
(15)
Library Society building and returned to
Falconer's studio, where it broke up amid
dissension. No further attempt
to formally organize the growing numbers of watercolor
painters in New York City was
made for more than a decade. During that decade,
though, Henry Warren's Painting
in Water Color was published in New York City
in 1856-the book was a
considerable improvement over the only other manual of
(20)
instruction existing at the time, Elements
of Graphic Art, by Archibald Roberson,
published in 1802 and by the
1850's long out of print.
In 1866 the National Academy of
Design was host to an exhibition of watercolor
painting in its elaborate
neo-Venetian Gothic building on Twenty-Third Street in
New York City. The exhibit was sponsored by an
independent group called The Artists
(25)
Fund Society. Within a few months of this
event, forty-two prominent artists living in
and near New York City founded
The American Society of Painters in Water Colors.
32. This passage is mainly
about
(A) the most influential
watercolor painters in the mid-1800's
(B) efforts to organize
watercolor painters in New York City during the
mid-1800's
(C) a famous exhibition of
watercolor paintings in New York City in the
mid-1800's
(D) styles of watercolor
painting in New York City during the mid-1800's
33. The year 1850 was
significant in the history of watercolor painting mainly
because
(A) a group of artists
established a watercolorpainting society
(B) watercolor painting was
first introduced to New York City
(C) John Falconer established
his studio for watercolor painters
(D) The first book on
watercolor painting was published
34.The word 'securing' in line
5 is closest in meaning to
(A) locking
(B) creating
(C) constructing
(D) acquiring
35. All of the following can be
inferred about the Society for the promotion of Painting
in
Water Color
EXCEPT:
(A) The society exhibited
paintings in lower Manhattan.
(B) Instruction in watercolor
painting was offered by members of the society
(C) The society exhibited only
the paintings of its members.
(D) Scenes of the Hudson River
appeared often in the work of society members.
36. The exhibition at the
Crystal Palace of the works of the Society for the Promotion of
Painting in Water Color was significant for which of the following
reasons?
(A) It resulted in a dramatic
increase in the popularity of painting with
watercolor.
(B) It was the first time an
exhibition was funded by a private source.
(C) It was the first important
exhibition of the society's work.
(D) It resulted in a large
increase in the membership of the society.
37. The word 'it' in line 15
refers to
(A) time
(B) group
(C) building
(D) studio
38. Which of the following is
true of watercolor painters in New York City in the late
1850's?
(A) They increased in number
despite a lack of formal organization.
(B) They were unable to exhibit
their paintings because of the lack of exhibition
space.
(C) The Artists Fund Society
helped them to form The American Society of Painters in Water
Colors.
(D) They formed a new society
because they were not allowed to join groups run by other kinds of
artists.
39. Henry Warren's Painting in
Water Color was important to artists because it
(A) received an important
reward
(B) was the only textbook
published that taught painting
(C) was much better than an
earlier published
(D) attracted the interest of
art collectors
40. The word 'considerable' in
line 19 is closest in meaning to
(A) sensitive
(B) great
(C) thoughtful
(D) planned
41. The year 1866 was
significant for watercolor painting for which of the following
reasons?
(A) Elements of Graphic Art was
republished.
(B) Private collections of
watercolors were first publicly exhibited.
(C) The neo-Venetian Gothic
building on Twenty-Third Street in New York City was
built.
(D) The National Academy of
Design held an exhibition of watercolor paintings.
42. The word 'prominent' in
line 25 is closest in meaning to
(A) wealthy
(B) local
(C) famous
(D) organized
Questions
42-50
Pennsylvania's colonial ironmasters forged iron and a
revolution that had both
industrial and political
implications. The colonists in North America wanted the
right
to the profits gained from
their manufacturing. However, England wanted all of
the
colonies' rich ores and raw
materials to feed its own factories, and also wanted
the
(5)
colonies to be a market for its
finished goods. England passed legislation in 1750 to
prohibit colonists from making
finished iron products, but by 1771, when entrepreneur
Mark Bird established the
Hopewell blast furnace in Pennsylvania, iron making
had
become the backbone of American
industry. It also had become one of the major issues
that fomented the revolutionary
break between England and the British colonies. By
(10)
the time the War of Independence broke out in 1776,
Bird, angered and determined,
was manufacturing cannons and
shot at Hopewell to be used by the Continental Army.
After the war, Hopewell, along
with hundreds of other 'iron plantations,' continued
to form the new nation's
industrial foundation well into the nineteenth century.
The
rural landscape became dotted
with tall stone pyramids that breathed flames and
(15)
smoke, charcoal-fueled iron furnaces that produced
the versatile metal so crucial to
the nation's growth.
Generations of ironmasters, craftspeople, and workers
produced
goods during war and
peace-ranging from cannons and shot to domestic items
such
as cast-iron stoves, pots, and
sash weights for windows.
The region around Hopewell had
everything needed for iron production: a wealth
(20)
of iron ore near the surface, limestone for removing
impurities from the iron, hardwood
forests to supply the charcoal
used for fuel, rushing water to power the bellows that
pumped blasts of air into the
furnace fires, and workers to supply the labor. By the
1830's, Hopewell had developed
a reputation for producing high quality cast-iron
stoves, for which there was a
steady market. As Pennsylvania added more links to its
(25)
transportation system of roads, canals, and
railroads, it became easier to ship parts
made by Hopewell workers to
sites all over the east coast. There they were
assembled
into stoves and sold from Rhode
Island to Maryland as the 'Hopewell stove'. By the
time the last fires burned out
at Hopewell ironworks in 1883, the community had
produced some 80,000 cast-iron
stoves.
43. The word 'implications' in
line 2 is closest in meaning to
(A) significance
(B) motives
(C) foundations
(D) progress
44. It can be inferred that the
purpose of the legislation passed by England in 1750 was
to
(A) reduce the price of
English-made iron goods sold in the colonies
(B) prevent the outbreak of the
War of Independence
(C) require colonists to buy
manufactured
(D) keep the colonies from
establishing new markets for their raw materials.
45. The author compares iron
furnaces to which of the following?
(A) Cannons
(B) Pyramids
(C) Pots
(D) Windows
46. The word 'rushing' in line
21 is closest in meaning to
(A) reliable
(B) fresh
(C) appealing
(D) rapid
47. Pennsylvania was an ideal
location for the Hopewell ironworks for all of the following
reasons EXCEPT
(A) Many workers were available
in the area.
(B) The center of operations of
the army was nearby.
(C) The metal ore was easy to
acquire
(D) There was an abundance of
wood.
48. The passage mentions
'roads, canals, and railroads' in line 25 in order to explain
that
(A) improvements in
transportation benefited the Hopewell ironworks
(B) iron was used in the
construction of various types of transportation
(C) the transportation system
of Pennsylvania was superior to that of other states.
(D) Hopewell never became a
major transportation center
49. The word 'they' in line 26
refers to
(A) links
(B) parts
(C) workers
(D) sites
50. The word 'some' in line 29
is closest in meaning to
(A) only
(B) a maximum of
(C) approximately
(D) a variety of
