托福阅读典型例题汇编.doc

阅读典型例题汇编
1. “The cities predicted the future, ” wrote historian Gary B. Nash, “even though they were but overgrown villages compared to the great centers of Europe, the Middle East, and China.”
Q: It can be inferred that in comparison with North American cities, cities in Europe, the Middle East, and China had
(A) large population
(B) little independence
(C) frequent social disorder
(D) few power sources
类型：（1）引号出现必有考题；（2）正话反说
(p16,25)

2. But the most spectacular thing about the sea cucumber is the way it defends itself.
Q: Of all characteristics of the sea cucumber, which of the following seems to fascinate the author most?
(A) What it does when threatened
(B) Where it lives
(C) How it hides from predators
(D) What it eats
类型：最高级
(p44,19)

3.Certainly no creature in the sea is odder than the common sea cucumber.
Q: Compared with other sea creatures the sea cucumber is very
(A) dangerous
(B) intelligent
(C) strange
(D) fat
类型：最高级
(p44,20)

4. Most of our knowledge of the earth’s interior comes not from mines or boreholes, but from the study of seismic waves—powerful pulses of energy released by earthquakes.
Q: What is today’s richest source of information about the Earth’s interior for geologists?
(A) Boreholes
(B) Shells
(C) Seismic waves
(D) Mines
类型：特殊句型必有考题not…but
(P9,44)

5. They had wonderfully convenient features that made them superior to the cultivated eastern grasses. Variously known as buffalo grass, grama grass, or mesquite grass, not only were they immune to drought; but they were actually preserved by the lack of summer and autumn rains. They were not juicy like the cultivated eastern grasses, but had short, hard stems. And they did not need to be cured in a barn, but dried right where they grew on the ground.
Q: Which of the following was NOT mentioned as a characteristic of western grasses?
(A) They were tough stems
(B) They were not affected by dry weather
(C) They can be grown indoors
(D) They contain little moisture
类型：特殊句型：not only…but, not…but
(P119, 49)

6. Jules Henri Poincare said: “Science is built with facts just as a house is built with bricks, but a collection of facts cannot be called science any more than a pile of bricks can be called a house.”
Q: Bricks are mentioned in lines 14-16 to indicate how
(A) mathematicians approach science
(B) building a house is like performing experiments
(C) science is more than a collection of facts
(D) scientific experiments have led to improved technology
类型：（1）引号出现必有考题；（2）特殊句型：A not…any more than B，A、B均被否定
(p204,35)

7. What geologists call the Basin and Range Province in the United States roughly coincides in its northern portions with the geographic province known as the Great Basin.
Q: What is the geographic relationship between the Basin and Range Province and the Great Basin?
(A) The Great Basin is west of the Basin and Range Province
(B) The Great Basin is larger than Basin and Range Province
(C) The Great Basin is in the northern part of Basin and Range Province
(D) The Great Basin is mountainous; the Basin and Range Province is flat desert.
类型：特殊句型：A coincides in its northern portions with B, B处于A的北部并包含在A之内
(p280,12)

8.Coincident with concerns about the accelerating loss of species and habitats has been a growing appreciation of the importance of biological diversity, the number of species in a particular ecosystem, to the health of the Earth and human well-being.
类型：超难句不考。句型：Coincident with A has been a growing B, 与A一同增长的是B
(p278)

9. Despite the road improvements of the turnpike era (1790-1830), Americans continued as in colonial times to depend wherever possible on water routes for travel and transportation.
类型：文章段首主题句，揭示全文主要讲“water routes for travel and transportation”
(p86)

10. The range of the New York canal system was still further extended when the states of Ohio and Indiana inspired by the success of the Erie Canal, provided water connections between Lake Erie and the Ohio River.
Q: According to the passage, Indiana and Ohio supported the development of the New York canal system by
(A) helping to build the Erie Canal
(B) building branches to connect it with the Ohio River
(C) providing much of the water for the Erie Canal
(D) contributing financially to the construction costs
类型：通过大写字母、人名、地名等标志词定位原文
(p88,41)

11. On a 1948 vacation, Hazen fortuitously collected a clump of soil from the edge of W. B. Nourse’s cow pasture in Fauquier Country, Virginia, that, when tested, revealed the presence of the microorganisms.
Q: Who was W. B. Nourse?
(A) A microbiologist
(B) A teacher of Hazen’s
(C) A collector of fungi
(D) A farmer
类型：通过大写字母、人名、地名等标志词定位原文
(p263,28)

12. The harpsichord with its bright, vigorous tone was the favorite instrument for supporting the bass of the small orchestra of the period and for concert use, but the 1 character of the tone could not be varied save by mechanical or structural devices.
Q: According to the passage, what deficiency did the harpsichord have?
(A) It was fragile.
(B) It lacked variety in tone.
(C) It sound metallic.
(D) It could not produce a strong sound.
类型：通过特殊字词定位原文harpsichord
(p82,7)

13. The principal reason for this is that none of them possesses chlorophyll, and since they cannot synthesize their own carbohydrates, they obtain their supplies either from the breakdown of dead organic matter or from other living organisms.
Q: According to the passage, how do fungi obtain carbohydrates?
(A) They absorb carbohydrates from their own cell walls.
(B) They synthesize chlorophyll to produce carbohydrates.
(C) They produce carbohydrates by breaking down chitin.
(D) They acquired carbohydrates from other organic matter, both living and dead.
类型：通过特殊字词定位原文carbohydrates
(p167,33)

14.Q: Which of the following statements does the passage support?
(A) Water is pushed to the top of trees.
(B) Botanists have proven that living cells act as pumps.
(C) Atmospheric pressure draws water to the tops of tall trees.
(D) Botanists have changed their theories of how water moves in plants.
类型：对于永恒的真理和废话，可以直接选答案。Botanists have changed their theories永远对。
(p201,21)

15.Q: The author mentions all of the following as cause of declines in population growth after 1957 EXCEPT

(A) people being better educated
(B) people getting married earlier
(C) better standards of living
(D) couples buying houses
类型：对于永恒的真理和废话，可以直接选答案。
(p42,9)

16.Q: What does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) Western migration after the Civil War
(B) The climate of the United States
(C) The raising of cattle
(D) A type of wild vegetation
类型：主题题最后做，从其他题的语境(motif)和文章内容可推出主题。本文47、48、49三题均以 “grass”出题，其他为词汇（3题），指代（1题），可得出本文主要讲“草”。
(p118,41)

17.Q: What does the passage mainly discuss?
(E) The influence of ice on the diet
(F) The development of refrigeration
(G) The transportation of goods to market
(H) Source of ice in the nineteenth
类型：主题题最后做，从其他题的语境(motif)和文章内容可推出主题。本文2、4、6、8、10题都与icebox有关。可得出本文主要讲refrigeration（冷藏法）。
(p1,1)

18. The commonsense notion that the best icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting was of course mistaken, for it was the melting of the ice that performed the cooling.
Q: According to the information in the second paragraph, an ideal icebox would
(A) completely prevent ice from melting
(B) stop air from circulating
(C) allow ice to melt slowly
(D) use blankets to conserve ice
类型：细节题，严格在原文中寻找答案，不能使用背景知识。
(p2,8)

19. The engine that became standard on western steamboats was of s different and novel design. It was the work primarily of an unsung hero of American industrial progress, Oliver Evans (1755-1819).
Q: Who developed the kind of steam engine used on western steamboats?
(A) Watt
(B) Boulton
(C) Fulton
(D) Evans
类型：细节题，严格在原文中寻找答案，不能使用背景知识。
(p3,13)

20. It was the work primarily of an unsung hero of American industrial progress, Oliver Evans (1755-1819).
Q: What opinion of Evans is suggested by the use of term “unsung hero” in line 14?
(A) More people should recognize the importance of his work.
(B) More of this inventions should be used today.
(C) He should be credited with inventing the steam engine
(D) More should be learned about his early life.
类型：细节题，严格在原文中寻找答案，不能使用背景知识。Unsung(无名英雄)与中国人的理解不同。C不对，文中提到invent steam engine的是Watt。
(p4,15)

21. It had the natural advantage of a comparatively level route between the Huston River and Lake Erie, through the only break in the entire Appalachian Mountain chain.
Q: According to the passage, where was the Erie Canal located?
(A) Between Ohio and Indiana
(B) Along the Appalachian Mountains
(C) Between Lake Erie and the Ohio River
(D) Across New York State
类型：细节题，严格在原文中寻找答案，不能使用背景知识。Across 二维穿过，through三维穿过＝along。
(P87, 36)

22. Since architecture was not yet a specialized profession in the colonies, the design of buildings was left either to amateur designers or to carpenters who undertook to interpret architectural manuals imported from England.
Q: According to the passage, who was responsible for designing houses in eighteenth--century North America?
(A) Professional architects
(B) Customers
(C) Interior decorators
(D) Carpenters
类型：细节题，严格在原文中寻找答案。
(p241,13)

23. In 1909, for example, the Edison Company began issuing with their films such indications of mood as “pleasant”, “sad”, “lively”.
Q: According to the passage, what kind of business was the Edison Company?
(A) It produced electricity.
(B) It distributed films.
(C) It published musical arrangements.
(D) It made musical instruments.
类型：细节题，严格在原文中寻找答案。
(p239,6)

24. The Great Basin is hemmed in on the west by the Sierra Nevada and on the east by the Rocky Mountains; it has no outlet to the sea. The prevailing winds in the Great Basin are from the west. Warm, moist air from the Pacific Ocean is forced upward as it crosses the Sierra Nevada. At the higher altitudes it cools and the moisture it carriers is precipitated as rain or snow on the western slopes of the mountains. That which reaches the Basin is air wrung dry of moisture.
Q: According to the passage, what does the Great Basin lack?
(A) Snow
(B) Dry air
(C) Winds from the west
(D) Access to the ocean
类型：细节题，严格在原文中寻找答案。原文中明确出现 “it has no outlet to the sea”. 文中提到“雨和雪降到山脉的西坡”，没有直接说Basin缺snow，不能靠推理选（A）。如果使用inferred 则本题变为推理题型，应选（A）而不选（D），注意推理题一定要推理，不能照搬原文。
(p281,13)

25. 原文见上题（24）
Q: It can be inferred that the climate in the Great Basin is dry because
(A) the weather patterns are so turbulent
(B) the altitude prevents precipitation
(C) the winds are not strong enough to carry moisture
(D) precipitation falls in the nearby mountains
类型：推理题，一定要推理，不能照搬原文。24、25揭示了细节题与推理题的差异。
(p281,15)

26. Beneath the crust lies the mantle, a very different layer that extends approximately halfway to the Earth’s center. There the rock is the subject of a battle between increasing heat and growing pressure.
Q: Which of the following is a primary characteristic of the Earth’s mantle?
(A) Light, solid rock
(B) Uniformity of composition
(C) Dramatically increasing pressure
(D) Compressed, incandescent gas
类型：细节题，严格在原文中寻找答案。原文中出现increasing heat和growing pressure两个要素，选项中有其一即可。
(p9,46)

27. It was in the cities that the elements that can be associated with the modern capitalism first appeared – the use of money and commercial paper in placed of barter, open competition in place of social deference and hierarchy, with an attendant rise in social disorder, and the appearance of factories using coal or water power in place of independent craftspeople working with hand tools.
Q: Which of the following is mentioned as an element of modern capitalism?
(A) Open competition
(B) Social deference
(C) Social hierarchy
(D) Independent craftspeople
类型：细节题，严格在原文中寻找答案。原文中出现money and commercial paper, open competition, using coal or water power三项现代资本主义的特征，选项中有其一即可。
(p15,24)

28. In these abbreviated forms (televised speeches). Much of what constituted the traditional political discourse of earlier ages has been lost in 15 or 30 seconds, a speaker cannot establish the historical context that shaped the issue in question, cannot detail the probable causes of the problem, and cannot examine alternative proposals to argue that one is preferable to others.
Q: According to the passage, as compared with televised speeches, traditional political discourse was more successful at
(A) Allowing news coverage of political candidates
(B) Placing political issues within a historical context
(C) Making political seem more intimate to citizens
(D) Providing detailed information about a candidate’s private behavior.
类型：细节题，严格在原文中寻找答案。文中提出televised speech因为时间缩短带来三个缺点，相应为traditional political discourse的成功之处，选项中有其一即可。
(P221, 19)

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