2023年新托福黄金阅读真题目.doc

新托福黄金精选阅读（原黄金29篇）真题[8.2版本]
【2023年7月5日】
更新TPO18-22旳15篇文章

Introduction
Many students sent me E-mail, asking me to recommend some reading materials. Of assorted iBT preparing materials, Barron, Longman, Delta, etc, which is the best? As often as not, I feel at a loss: does brand equal to quality? These branded institutions are highly publicized, however, their passages and questions are not necessarily of quality. Does the brand “Sanlu” mean something to you? “QUALITY and safety are the foundations of social harmony,” proclaim posters at the headquarters of the Sanlu Group, until recently one of China’s biggest producers of milk powder. Now we all know that Sanlu Scandal has been more than an embarrassment. To say that these “branded” passages are not of quality does not mean they are not stylish, elegant or carefully-written; in fact, I discovered that the passage types, sentence patterns, arguing methods, and arrangement of questions are not quite consistent with, and sometimes even wildly divergent from those of ETS. I reflect that practicing with these materials cannot expect a satisfactory result. At this, we should collect ETS’s original passages and questions. Such passages available include:

1. 13 passages in Official Guide (OG);
2. 22 sets from TPO, with 3 passages included in each set, 66 passages in total;
3. 3 passages provided by ETS to the applicants for a test on line in the early time of iBT,
4. 1 passage extracted from the simulated exam software provided by ETS;
(3 passages in TPO are abstracted from OG, so they are exactly the same)

Then, I cannot resist the temptation to make such a text: I typed every letter of the 13 passages in OG into computer; I paid dollars for the TPO and completed it myself, filming the screen and capturing every page. Then I typed all the passages with the help of videos and captured pictures. The 3 passages in the on-line test happened to be available to me; and as for the one passage in the simulated exam, though with a little difficulty, I nevertheless succeeded make an electronic text of it. Of course, I finished all these questions and attached the answer to end of this text. Eventually, the final “deluxe” edition of this text, including 80 passages in aggregate (3 passages in TPO are abstracted from OG, so they are exactly the same. Then taking 3 from 83 leaves 80 passages at last. ) I insist that before carefully finished and studied these 80 passages, we should not let ourselves distracted by any other materials. Sometimes, I yelled to my students, only a joke, “If you had not studied these passages and questions 3 times at least, how could you be barefaced enough to sit in the exam room? Shame on you to waste your mother’s money buying other costly books!”

In addition, have you got ants in your pants every time you make a stab at writing? Do you go berserk for your personal statement? If you are preparing for the iBT, SAT, GRE, etc, writing, essays, or your personal statement, these passages can also be of help: polished by ETS, words, sentence, and structures of these passages are “epic…”, and worth imitating for none-native English users. Frequently, friends asked me to help with their personal statement, complaining why what they had written looked so naïve, immature and awkward, even littered with those “glorious noble” GRE words (Actually, these words made their personal statement even freak!). And they asked, “Wenyong, my brother, how you forged your impressive writing skills?” I said, “Read! Read! And read again! The more you read, the better you write. “Are these iBT passages really so amazing?” I affected a tone of a comedian, “try them!”

How good can these passages be? “They are golden, they are precious, they are diamonds!”
Yours
Wenyong

目录
OG 8
Applied Arts and Fine Arts 8
The Origins of Cetaceans 14
Desert Formation 21
Early Cinema 30
Aggression 39
Artisans and Industrialization 48
Swimming Machines 57
Nineteenth-Century Politics in the United States 65
The Expression of Emotions 74
Geology and Landscape 83
TPO-1 92
Groundwater 92
The Origins of Theater 99
Timberline Vegetation on Mountains 106
TPO-3 113
Architecture 113
Depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer 120
The Long-Term Stability of Ecosystems 127
Online Test 134
Opportunists and Competitors 134
Lascaux Cave Paintings 141
Electricity from Wind 148
TPO-4 155
Deer Populations of the Puget Sound 155
Cave Art in Europe 162
Petroleum Resources 169
Offical Model Exam 176
Meteorite Impact and Dinosaur Extinction 176
TPO-5 183
Minerals and Plants 183
The Origin of the Pecific Island People 190
The Cambrian Explosion 198
TPO-6 205
Powering the Industrial Revolution 205
William Smith 212
Infantile Amnesia 219
TPO-7 226
The Geologic History of the Mediterranean 226
Ancient Rome and Greece 233
Agriculture, Iron, and the Bantu Peoples 240
TPO-8 247
The Rise of Teotihuacán 247
Extinction of the Dinosaurs 254
Running Water on Mars 262
TPO-9 269
Colonizing the Americas via the Northwest Coast 269
Reflection in Teaching 277
The Arrival of Plant Life in Hawaii 284
OG 291
Feeding Habits of East African Herbivores 291
Loie Fuller 298
Green Icebergs 305
TPO-10 312
Chinese Pottery 312
Variations in the Climate 319
Seventeenth-Century European Economic Growth 326
TPO-11 333
Ancient Egyptian Sculpture 333
Orientation and Navigation 340
Begging by Nestlings 347
TPO-12 354
Which Hand Did They Use? 354
Transition to Sound in Film 362
Water in the Desert 370
TPO-13 377
Types of Social Groups 377
Biological Clocks 384
Methods of Studying Infant Perception 391
TPO-14 398
Children and Advertising 398
Maya Water Problems 406
Pastoralism in Ancient Inner Eurasia 413
TPO-15 420
A Warm-Blooded Turtle 420
Mass Extinctions 427
Glacier Formation 434
TPO-16 441
Trade and the Ancient Middle East 441
Development of the Periodic Table 448
Planets in Our Solar System 456
TPO-17 462
Europe's Early Sea Trade with Asia 462
Animal Signals in the Rain Forest 469
Symbiotic Relationships 476
TPO-18 483
Industrialization in the Netherlands and Scandinavia 483
The mystery of yawning 490
Lightning 497
TPO-19 504
The Roman Army's Impact on Britain 504
Succession, Climax, and Ecosystems 511
Discovering the Ice Ages 518
TPO-20 525
Westward Migration 525
Early Settlements in the Southwest Asia 532
Fossil Preservation 539
TPO-21 546
Geothermal Energy 546
The Origins of Agriculture 554
Autobiographical Memory 562
TPO-22 569
Spartina 569
The Birth of Photography 576
The Allende Meteorite 584
托福阅读知识体系 592
乐闻携尔教学培训课程简介 593
乐闻携尔近期课程信息 597

OG
Applied Arts and Fine Arts
Although we now tend to refer to the various crafts according to the materials used to construct them-clay, glass, wood, fiber, and metal-it was once common to think of crafts in terms of function, which led to their being known as the "applied arts." Approaching crafts from the point of view of function, we can divide them into simple categories: containers, shelters and supports. There is no way around the fact that containers, shelters, and supports must be functional. The applied arts are thus bound by the laws of physics, which pertain to both the materials used in their making and the substances and things to be contained, supported, and sheltered. These laws are universal in their application, regardless of cultural beliefs, geography, or climate. If a pot has no bottom or has large openings in its sides, it could hardly be considered a container in any traditional sense. Since the laws of physics, not some arbitrary decision, have determined the general form of applied-art objects, they follow basic patterns, so much so that functional forms can vary only within certain limits. Buildings without roofs, for example, are unusual because they depart from the norm. However, not all functional objects are exactly alike; that is why we recognize a Shang Dynasty vase as being different from an Inca vase. What varies is not the basic form but the incidental details that do not obstruct the object's primary function.

Sensitivity to physical laws is thus an important consideration for the maker of applied-art objects. It is often taken for granted that this is also true for the maker of fine-art objects. This assumption misses a significant difference between the two disciplines. Fine-art objects are not constrained by the laws of physics in the same way that applied-art objects are. Because their primary purpose is not functional, they are only limited in terms of the materials used to make them. Sculptures must, for example, be stable, which requires an understanding of the properties of mass, weight distribution, and stress. Paintings must have rigid stretchers so that the canvas will be taut, and the paint must not deteriorate, crack, or discolor. These are problems that must be overcome by the artist because they tend to intrude upon his or her conception of the work. For example, in the early Italian Renaissance, bronze statues of horses with a raised foreleg usually had a cannonball under that hoof. This was done because the cannonball was needed to support the weight of the leg. In other words, the demands of the laws of physics, not the sculptor's aesthetic intentions, placed the ball there. That this device was a necessary structural compromise is clear from the fact that the cannonball quickly disappeared when sculptors learned how to strengthen the internal structure of a statue with iron braces (iron being much stronger than bronze).

Even though the fine arts in the twentieth century often treat materials in new ways, the basic difference in attitude of artists in relation to their materials in the fine arts and the applied arts remains relatively constant. It would therefore not be too great an exaggeration to say that practitioners of the fine arts work to overcome the limitations of their materials, whereas those engaged in the applied arts work in concert with their materials.

Paragraph 1: Although we now tend to refer to the various crafts according to the materials used to construct them-clay, glass, wood, fiber, and metal-it was once common to think of crafts in terms of function, which led to their being known as the "applied arts." Approaching crafts from the point of view of function, we can divide them into simple categories: containers, shelters and supports. There is no way around the fact that containers, shelters, and supports must be functional. The applied arts are thus bound by the laws of physics, which pertain to both the materials used in their making and the substances and things to be contained, supported, and sheltered. These laws are universal in their application, regardless of cultural beliefs, geography, or climate. If a pot has no bottom or has large openings in its sides, it could hardly be considered a container in any traditional sense. Since the laws of physics, not some arbitrary decision, have determined the general form of applied-art objects, they follow basic patterns, so much so that functional forms can vary only within certain limits. Buildings without roofs, for example, are unusual because they depart from the norm. However, not all functional objects are exactly alike; that is why we recognize a Shang Dynasty vase as being different from an Inca vase. What varies is not the basic form but the incidental details that do not obstruct the object's primary function.

3. The word they in the passage refers to
○Applied-art objects
○The laws of physics
○Containers
○The sides of pots

4. Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence? Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information
○Functional applied-art objects cannot vary much from the basic patterns determined by the laws of physics.
○The function of applied-art objects is determined by basic patterns in the laws of physics.
○Since functional applied-art objects vary only within certain limits, arbitrary decisions cannot have determined their general form.
○The general form of applied-art objects is limited by some arbitrary decision that is not determined by the laws of physics.

Paragraph 2: Sensitivity to physical laws is thus an important consideration for the maker of applied-art objects. It is often taken for granted that this is also true for the maker of fine-art objects. This assumption misses a significant difference between the two disciplines. Fine-art objects are not constrained by the laws of physics in the same way that applied-art objects are. Because their primary purpose is not functional, they are only limited in terms of the materials used to make them. Sculptures must, for example, be stable, which requires an understanding of the properties of mass, weight distribution, and stress. Paintings must have rigid stretchers so that the canvas will be taut, and the paint must not deteriorate, crack, or discolor. These are problems that must be overcome by the artist because they tend to intrude upon his or her conception of the work. For example, in the early Italian Renaissance, bronze statues of horses with a raised foreleg usually had a cannonball under that hoof. This was done because the cannonball was needed to support the weight of the leg. In other words, the demands of the laws of physics, not the sculptor's aesthetic intentions, placed the ball there. That this device was a necessary structural compromise is clear from the fact that the cannonball quickly disappeared when sculptors learned how to strengthen the internal structure of a statue with iron braces (iron being much stronger than bronze).

5. According to paragraph 2, sculptors in the Italian Renaissance stopped using cannonballs in bronze statues of horses because
○They began using a material that made the statues weigh less
○They found a way to strengthen the statues internally
○The aesthetic tastes of the public had changed over time
○The cannonballs added too much weight to the statues

6. Why does the author discuss the bronze statues of horses created by artists in the early Italian Renaissance?
○To provide an example of a problem related to the laws of physics that a fine artist must overcome
○To argue that fine artists are unconcerned with the laws of physics
○To contrast the relative sophistication of modern artists in solving problems related to the laws of physics
○To note an exceptional piece of art constructed without the aid of technology

7. 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