上海新航道托福小編為托福考生們準備了托福閱讀TPO27原文,希望各位考生們在TPO真題里能夠得到鍛煉，祝廣大托福考生能夠取得理想成績。

  Crafts in the Ancient Near East

  Some of the earliest human civilizations arose insouthern Mesopotamia, in what is now southern Iraq,in the fourth millennium B.C.E. In the second half ofthe millennium, in the south around the city of Uruk,there was an enormous escalation in the area occupied by permanent settlements. A largepart of that increase took place in Uruk itself, which became a real urban center surrounded bya set of secondary settlements. While population estimates are notoriously unreliable,scholars assume that Uruk inhabitants were able to support themselves from the agriculturalproduction of the field surrounding the city, which could be reached with a daily commute.ButUruk’s dominant size in the entire region, far surpassing that of other settlements, indicatesthat it was a regional center and a true city. Indeed, it was the first city in human history.

  一些最早的人類文明是在公元前四千年前的南美索不達米亞出現的，現在這片區域處于南伊拉克。在后五百年，在烏魯克城南方附近，被永久居留民占用的地域在大幅度增長。大部分的增長都發生在烏魯克城內，使其成為了一個真正的中心誠區，并被一些后續的定居點環繞著。雖然人口估計數通常是不可靠的，但學者們認為烏魯克居民可以通過日常與周圍地區的通勤，得到周圍地區產的農業產品以自給自足。但烏魯克在整個地區最大，遠遠超過了其它居民點，這說明它是這個地區的中心，是一個真正的城市。事實上，它是人類歷史上的第一個城市。

  The vast majority of its population remained active in agriculture, even those peopleliving within the city itself. But a small segment of the urban society started to specialize innonagricultural tasks as a result of the city’s role as a regional center. Within the productivesector, there was a growth of a variety of specialist craftspeople. Early in the Uruk period, theuse of undecorated utilitarian pottery was probably the result of specialized mass production.In an early fourth-millennium level of the Eanna archaeological site at Uruk, a pottery styleappears that is most characteristic of this process, the so-called beveled-rim bowl. It is arather shallow bowl that was crudely made in a mold; hence, in only a limited number ofstandard sizes. For some unknown reason, many were discarded, often still intact, andthousands have been found all over the Near East. The beveled-rim bowl is one of the mosttelling diagnostic finds for identifying an Uruk-period site. Of importance is the fact that it wasproduced rapidly in large amounts, most likely by specialists in a central location.

  絕大部分人依然從事農業活動，甚至包括城市居民。但由于該城市是區域的中心，其中的一小部分人開始全心從事非農業工作。生產方面，專業工匠的多樣性有了增長。在烏魯克時期早期，對未裝飾的實用陶器的使用可能就是專業化大量生產的結果。在烏魯克的發現的四千年前早期的Eanna考古遺址中，有一種陶器刻畫了這種專業化生產過程的特征，即所謂的斜面邊碗。這種碗相當的淺，是利用模具簡單制作的;因此，只有有限的幾種大小。由于一些未知原因，很多被丟棄的碗還是完整的保存下來了，而在近東的各地有上千件出土。這種碗是最好的判斷烏魯克時期遺址的發現之一。最重要的是這種碗被大量快速生產，最可能由中心位置的專業工匠制作。

  A variety of documentation indicates that certain goods, once made by a familymember as one of many duties, were later made by skilled artisans. Certain images depictgroups of people, most likely women, involved in weaving textiles, an activity we know fromlater third-millennium texts to have been vital in the economy and to have been centrallyadministered. Also, a specialized metal-producing workshop may have been excavated in asmall area at Uruk. It contained a number of channels lined by a sequence of holes, about 50centimeters deep, all showing burn marks and filled with ashes. This has been interpreted asthe remains of a workshop where molten metal was scooped up from the channel and pouredinto molds in the holes. Some type of mass production by specialists were involved here.

  多種文件記錄說明，曾經作為義務被家庭制作的商品，在后來由熟練技工制作。一些圖畫描述了成群的人們，大部分是女人，正在編制紡織品。這種活動，從其后三千年前出土的文獻可知，是當時經濟的重要部分，并且已被中央管理。并且一個專門從事金屬制造的工廠可能也已經小區域的在烏魯克地區開挖。它包括了一定數量隧道連接著一系列約50厘米深的洞，它們都有燃燒的痕跡，也盛滿了灰燼。這被認定是工廠的遺址，在這里融化的金屬從隧道中聚集，然后倒入洞里的模具中。這里包括一些由專業人士進行的大量生產活動。

  Objects themselves suggest that they were the work of skilled professionals. In the lateUruk period (3500-3100 B.C.E.), there first appeared a type of object that remainedcharacteristic for Mesopotamia throughout its entire history: the cylinder seal. This was asmall cylinder, usually no more than 3 centimeters high and 2 centimeters in diameter, ofshell, bone, faience (a glassy type of stoneware), or various types of stones, on which a scenewas carved into the surface. When rolled over a soft material----primarily the clay of bullae(round seals), tablets, or clay lumps attached to boxes, jars, or door bolts----the scene wouldappear in relief, easily legible. The technological knowledge needed to carved it was farsuperior to that for stamp seals, which had happened in the early Neolithic period(approximately 10,000-5000 B.C.E.). From the first appearance of cylinder seals, thecarved scenes could be highly elaborate and refined, indicating the work of specialist stone-cutters. Similarly, the late Uruk period shows the first monumental art, relief, and statuary inthe round, made with a degree of mastery that only a professional could have produced.

  產品的本身就說明了它們是由專業技工制作的。在烏魯克時期末期首次出現了一種在其整個歷史中象征美索不達米亞的物品：圓柱章。它是一個小的圓柱體，一般不高于3厘米，直徑2厘米，材料為貝殼，骨頭，陶器或是各種石頭，在其表面刻著一個場景。當它滾過柔軟的材料的時候---主要是被連接在箱子，罐子或是門栓上的粘土圓章，紀念碑，泥土塊--- 這個場景就會清晰簡單的出現在上面了。相對于新石器時期(大約是公元前10000-5000年前)的封章，這種雕刻技術依然是很先進的。從圓柱章的出現開始，被雕刻的圖像就非常精致精美，這表現了石頭切割者的專業技術。同樣的，在烏魯克時期晚期出現了第一個大師級別制作的永存的藝術和雕刻，這是只有非常專業的人才能做出的。

  托福閱讀試題

  1.Which of the sentences below best express the essential information inthe highlighted sentence in the passage paragraph 1? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

  A.Although scholars cannot accurately determine the size of the Uruk population, they know the citizens were not dependent on agriculture.

  B.scholars do not have enough evidence to determine whether the agriculture areas just outside of Uruk were large enough to feed the city’s population.

  C.Because city populations cannot feed themselves, scholars think the surrounding farms provided food to the people in Uruk.

  D.Scholars believe that the inhabitants of Uruk were able to support themselves from product grown in field surrounding the city.

  1.找到句子主謂賓，主語是scholars，謂語assume，賓語是從句說“當地住民可以自給自足……”根據這些信息去對照選項，很容易得到D。A選項說不依賴于農業，與原文矛盾;B說學者不能確定農業產品是否夠用，也不對;C的前半句就錯了，并且原句也沒有因果的邏輯關系，排除。

  2.The word “surpassing” in the passage is closest in meaning to

  A.proceeding.

  B.exceeding.

  C.challenging.

  D.outlasting.

  2.surpassing, 超出，優于。A. 在……之前;B. 超出;C.挑戰;D比……長久。根據詞義可選出B。從原文理解，這句話中出現了dominant size證明其占有主導地位，其size大于其他居民地，所以很容易得到“超過”的詞義。

  3.According to paragraph 1, all of the following are true of the ancient settlement at Uruk EXCEPT

  A.It was a permanent settlement.

  B.It was self-sufficient.

  C.It was one of a group of other larger settlements.

  D.It had easy access to the land where its crops were grown.

  3.A對應于原文第二句后半句，B對應第一題的高亮句，C與原文矛盾，Uruk 是最大的settlement，D對應高亮句，說他們可以自給自足。

  4.The word “intact” in the passage is closest in meaning to

  A.unsold.

  B.unused.

  C.undamaged.

  D.unpainted.

  4.原文這句話前半句說被拋棄了，后面又說被發現了。中間的still有輕微的轉折意味，所以應該是再說雖然被扔掉了，但是依然怎么樣，然后被大量發現了。可以通過帶入的方式來排除。A未售的，不對。B沒用過的，也不通順。C未受損的，通順，選。 D未上色的，文章沒提到，也跟原句邏輯不符。

  5.According to paragraph 2, which of the following best describes the beveled-rim bowls from the Eanna Archaeological site at Uruk.

  A.They were discarded because they became unpopular.

  B.They varied greatly in shape and decoration.

  C.They were each individually styled.

  D.They were made in only a few sizes.

  5.A，原文說不知道為什么被拋棄了，錯。B，原文說這種陶器長得都一樣(made in a mold)，而且沒有decoration。C，原文對其style進行了描述說它是一種很淺的用模具做得碗。因此可知它的style是很統一的。D正確對應原文“hence, in only a limited number of standard sizes”.

  6.Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 2 about craft production in the Uruk period?

  A.Specialists in nonagricultural tasks obtained a higher status than those engaged in agricultural production.

  B.People not needed for framing could perform other more specialized activities.

  C.Ancient crafts were beginning to be produced for both utilitarian and decorative purposes.

  D.Pottery making was the only known during the fourth millennium.

  6.A原文并沒說不從事農業的人有更高的社會地位。B原文第二句but…說有些人開始了specializedactivities，正確選。C對應原文第四句，說這種碗是“undecorated， utilitarian”，所以C錯。 D原文第三句說到了growth of variety，而選項說單一，所以矛盾，不選。

  7.According to paragraph 3, which of the following is true of textile production after the fourth millennium?

  A.It had an important commercial value.

  B.It existed but was not well organized.

  C.It is not documented in the archaeological record.

  D.It was carried on by individuals in their own homes.

  7.根據textile production定位至第二句。已用紅色部分標出。原文寫到的，have been centrallyadministered。于此可判斷B，D錯誤，C根據from later third millennium texts證明是被documented，所以C不對。正確答案為A，對應vital in the economy。

  8.The word “interpreted” in the passage(paragraph 3)is closest in meaning to

  A.documented.

  B.debated.

  C.displayed.

  D.understood.

  8.interpreted是解釋的意思。A有文件證明;B是爭論;C是顯示;D是理解。這里帶入后可以知道D選項最合適，has been interpreted as……后面是對metal producing workshop的作用進行了解釋。

  9.What is the purpose of paragraph 3?

  A.To contrast the productivity of crafts workers in the third and fourth millennia.

  B.To provide additional evidence of mass production by crafts workers.

  C.To suggest that an early form of urban settlement may have exist before Uruk.

  D.To contrast the development of weaving and pottery in Uruk.

  9.前面幾段都提到了各種類型的mass production，這段第一句也又一次提到了certain goods were latermade by skilled artisian。A，D都不對，因為原文沒有對比的邏輯。C也不符合上下文邏輯，文章本段主題也不是這個。B正確。

  10.The word “legible” in the passage(paragraph 4)is closest in meaning to

  A.printable

  B.enjoyable

  C.recognizable

  D.available

  10.原詞為清晰的意思。A是可排版的，B是有趣味的，C是可看清的，可辨認的，D是可利用的。C正確。根據那一句的詞義，說出現的怎么樣，也可以輕易退出應該用清晰的出現。

  11.Paragraph 4 suggests which of the following about the significances of Mesopotamian cylinder seals?

  A.They were designed more for home than for legal use.

  B.They demonstrate that their creators were professionals.

  C.They were the first example of seals made from materials other than stone.

  D.They were the first example of carved seals.

  11.整段文章都在寫cylinder seal ，本段的第一句話也就是中心句說Objects themselves suggest thatthey were the work of skilled professionals,證明這段是在舉例說明去professional skill，因此選擇B。

  12.According to paragraph 4, one of the artistic achievements of the late Uruk culture was

  A.Its sophisticated sculpture and relief carving.

  B.Its architecturally complex monuments.

  C.Its invention of stamp seals carved from stone.

  D.Its use of highly refined glassy stoneware.

  12.A

  13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit? When viewed on the curved surface of the cylinder, the image looked distorted, but the carved image served only as a mold.

  Objects themselves suggest that they were the work of skilled professionals. In the late Uruk period(3500-3100 B.C.E.), there first appeared a type of object that remained characteristic for Mesopotamia throughout its entire history: the cylinder seal. ■【A】This was a small cylinder, usually no more than 3 centimeters high and 2 centimeters in diameter, of shell, bone, faience (a glassy type of stoneware), or various types of stones, on which a scene was carved into the surface. ■【B】When rolled over a soft material----primarily the clay of bullae (round seals), tablets, or clay lumps attached to boxes,jars, or door bolts----the scene would appear in relief, easily legible. ■【C】The technological knowledge needed to carved it was far superior to that for stamp seals, which had happened in the early Neolithic period (approximately 10,000-5000 B.C.E.). ■【D】From the first appearance of cylinder seals, the carved scenes could be highly elaborate and refined, indicating the work of specialist stone-cutters. Similarly, the late Uruk period shows the first monumental art, relief, and statuary in the round, made with a degree of mastery that only a professional could have produced.

  13.這里要插入的句子是說這個印章的表面非常的扭曲，但只是作為了一個模型。這里出現了轉折。那證明后面應該會出現與其相反的態度的描述。A處剛開始描述印章的樣子，到B處插入句子非常流暢，自然而然的說到了印章的表面。B處之后出現了轉折說印在軟質地材料上的圖案非常清晰。邏輯合理。C，D邏輯都不通。

  14. Directions: 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 sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

  Uruk, located in ancientMesopotamia, flourished in the fourth millennium B.C.E. and was the first cityin human history.

  A.A variety of evidence indicates that Uruk, while it supported itself primarily by agriculture, also had specialized craft workers.

  B.The monumental sculptures of Uruk were made by the specialist stone cutters who also produced small-scale relief scenes on shell, bone and faience.

  C.The large number, standardized sizes, and simple molded construction of a type of pottery produced in Uruk demonstrate specialized, centrally organized mass production.

  D.Cylinder seals from the late Uruk period are far superior to the stamp earlier Neolithic period.

  E.Archaeological evidence from across the Near East indicates that Uruk was a center for the production and export of highly decorated pottery made by craft specialists in private homes.

  F.The carved designs on cylinder seals produced in Uruk are of such technical and artistic excellence that they could only have been produced by professional artisans.

  14.A正確，選，對應文章第一段的高亮句(第一題)和第二段第二句。B無明顯錯誤，對應最后一段的倒數第三局，但只是細節，不選。C原文并沒有說做這個monumental sculpture的人和做印章的是一樣的人。D錯誤，highly decorated pottery與原文矛盾，原文第二段第四句說undecorated utilitarian pottery.E正確，選，對應原文第二段。F正確，選。對應原文最后一段。

  The Formation of Volcanic I

  Earth’s surface is not made up of a single sheetof rock that forms a crust but rather a number of“tectonic plates” that fit closely, like the pieces of agiant jigsaw puzzle. Some plates carry islands orcontinents others form the seafloor. All are slowly moving because the plates float on a densersemi-liquid mantle, the layer between the crust and Earth’s core. The plates have edges thatare spreading ridges (where two plates are moving apart and new seafloor is being created),subduction zones (where two plates collide and one plunges beneath the other), or transformfaults (where two plates neither converge nor diverge but merely move past one another). Itis at the boundaries between plates that most of Earth’s volcanism and earthquake activityoccur.

  地球的外殼并不是由單塊巖石形成的，而是許多的“構造板塊”嚴密的組合在一起的，就像是一個巨大的拼圖。一些板塊承載著島嶼或是大陸，其它的則形成海底。所有板塊都在緩慢移動，因為它們都漂浮在密度更大的半液態的介于地殼和地核之間的地幔上。板塊的邊緣是擴張脊(兩個板塊分離，新的海底形成的地方)，俯沖帶(兩板塊碰撞，一個傾入到另一個下面)，或者是形成斷層(兩板塊既不聚集也不分散，但只是互相錯位)。板塊邊界是地球上的火山和地震的高發地。

  Generally speaking, the interiors of plates are geologically uneventful. However, there areexceptions. A glance at a map of the Pacific Ocean reveals that there are many islands far outat sea that are actually volcanoes----many no longer active, some overgrown with coral----thatoriginated from activity at points in the interior of the Pacific Plate that forms the Pacificseafloor.

  一般地，板塊內部在地質上是平靜的，但也有例外。掃一眼太平洋的地圖就知道那里有許多在大海深處的島嶼，它們其實都是火山，其中有許多已經不活動了，一些長滿了珊瑚。這些火山都起源于當時太平洋板塊內部一些部位在形成太平洋海底時的地質活動。

  How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian Islandsprovide a very instructive answer. Like many other island groups, they form a chain. TheHawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. In the 1840s Americangeologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii islands seem to share a similar geologicevolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probable older, toward thenorthwest.Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of the theory of plate tectonics.Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progression could result if the islandswere formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic source in the interior. Wilsonsuggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest from Hawaii is simply thesurface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath the tectonic plate in themantle. Today’s most northwest island would have been the first to form. They as the platemoved slowly northwest, new volcanic islands would have forms as the plate moved over thevolcanic source. The most recent island, Hawaii, would be at the end of the chain and is nowover the volcanic source.

  為什么火山活動發生在離板塊邊緣這么遠的地方呢?夏威夷群島提供了一個非常有啟發性的答案。就像其它的群島一樣，它們形成了一個島鏈。夏威夷群島鏈從夏威夷島向西北擴張。在十八世紀40年代，地質學家James Daly觀察到不同的夏威夷島嶼看起來經歷了相似的演變過程，但它們所受腐蝕一個比一個嚴重，所以越往西北方向的島嶼形成時間可能越早。1963年，在大陸板塊理論的早期，加拿大的地質學家Tuzo Wilson意識到島嶼年齡的增加可能是因為這些島嶼是板塊表面從一個板塊內部的固定火山源上方移動的結果。Wilson解釋說，夏威夷向西北延伸的火山長鏈只是一個長期存于板塊下、地幔中的火山源在板塊表面的表現。現今最靠西北的島嶼可能是最先形成的。它們隨著板塊向西北移動。新的火山會隨著板塊的移動在火山源處形成。最年輕的島嶼，夏威夷島，應該是在島鏈的末端，現在應該在火山源上。

  Although this idea was not immediately accepted, the dating of lavas in the Hawaii (andother) chains showed that their ages increase away from the presently active volcano, just asDaly had suggested. Wilson’s analysis of these data is now a central part of plate tectonics.Most volcanoes that occur in the interiors of plates are believed to be produced by mantleplumes, columns of molten rock that rise from deep within the mantle. A volcano remains anactive “hot spot” as long as it is over the plume. The plumes apparently originate at greatdepths, perhaps as deep as the boundary between the core and the mantle, and many havebeen active for a very long time. The oldest volcanoes in the Hawaii hot-spot trail have agesclose to 80 million years. Other islands, including Tahiti and Easter Islands in the pacific,Reunion and Mauritius in the India Ocean, and indeed most of the large islands in the world’soceans, owe their existence to mantle plumes.

  雖然這個理論并沒有被很快接受，夏威夷和其它群島巖漿的年齡測試表明了它們的年齡都從活躍的火山開始依次增加，正如Daly所說。Wilson對數據的分析已經成為了板塊構造論的核心部分。大多的發生在板塊內部的火山爆發都是由地幔柱造成的;地幔柱是從地幔深處涌出的熔巖柱體。只要火山在一個地幔柱上面，它就是一個活動的“熱點”。地幔柱很顯然是起源于很深的地方，很可能位于地核和地幔的交界處，并且已經活躍了很久。由夏威夷熱點形成的最老的火山已經有近8千萬年的時間了。其它的島嶼，包括太平洋的塔希提島和東部群島，印度洋留尼汪島和毛里求斯群島，實際上，多數世界上大洋中大島都是由地幔柱的擴展形成的。

  The oceanic volcanic islands and their hot-spot trails are thus especially useful forgeologist because they record the past locations of the plate over a fixed source. They thereforepermit the reconstruction of the process of seafloor spreading, and consequently of thegeography of continents and of ocean basins in the past. For example, given the currentposition of the Pacific Plate, Hawaii is above the Pacific Ocean hot spot. So the position of ThePacific Plate 50 million years ago can be determined by moving it such that a 50-million-year-oil volcano in the hot-spot trail sits at the location of Hawaii today. However because the oceanbasins really are short-lived features on geologic times scale, reconstruction the world’sgeography by backtracking along the hotspot trail works only for the last 5 percent or so ofgeologic time.

  海洋火山島和它們的熱點軌跡對于地質學家尤其有用，因為它們記錄了過去的板塊在固定火山源上方的位置。他們因此可以重現海底擴張的過程，以及大陸和大洋盆地過去的地理位置發展過程。比如，根據太平洋板塊現在的位置，夏威夷島在太平洋熱點上面。所以太平洋板塊5千萬年前的位置可以通過移動太平洋板塊使得一座有5五千萬年歷史的島嶼位于夏威夷島現在所在的熱點上以獲得。但是，由于海洋盆地在地質年代上是相對短命的，用熱點追蹤的方法重建世界的地形只適用于最近的百分之五左右的地質時間。

  托福閱讀試題

  1.The author mentions “spreading ridges”, “subduction zones”, and“transform faults” inorder to

  A.illustrate that the boundaries of tectonic platesare neat, thin lines.

  B.explain why some tectonic plates carry islands or continents while others form the seafloor.

  C.explain the complex nature of the edges of tectonic plates.

  D.provide examples of areas of tectonic plates where little geologic action occurs.

  1.原文這部分介紹了各種不同的edges的現象，并做了詳細的解釋，前面也說到plate的組成就像是jigsaw puzzle，從兩處可以看出應該是要體現其復雜性。A與原文矛盾，原文并沒有對B做出解釋，D原文給出的是geologic action常發的地方，而不是little ~ occurs。

  2.The word “converge” in the passage is closest in meaning to

  A.expand.

  B.form.

  C.rise.

  D.move closer.

  2.這一段描述的前兩種現象，一種是move closer，一種是move apart。對第三種的描寫是neither…nor…既不也不，因此應該是與前兩種都不同，所以應該是既不聚合，也不分開，根據詞根可以判斷diverge是分開，converge是聚合。所以答案為D。

  3.Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in thehighlighted sentence in the passage paragraph 2 ? Incorrect choices change themeaning in important ways or leave out essential information

  A.Volcanic activity is responsible for the formation of the Pacific seafloor in the interior of thePacific Plate.

  B.Many volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean are no longer active and have become islands thatsupport coral.

  C.There are many islands in the Pacific Ocean that originated as volcanoes in the interior of thePacific Plate.

  D.The map of the Pacific Ocean reveals fewer volcanic islands than there truly are becausemany are no longer active and some are completely overgrown with coral.

  3.根據這一段的第一句可以看出后面是在舉例說內陸平靜的exception。A，B，D選項都是句子的細節部分，不能表達出其目的。所以不選。

  4.The word “instructive” in the passage(paragraph 3)is closest in meaning to

  A.clear.

  B.detailed.

  C.informative.

  D.familiar.

  4.instructive是有意義的，教育性的。 A是清楚的，B是細節的，D是熟悉的。只有C是有益的，教育性的，意思吻合。前面是問句，后面說夏威夷群島提供了怎樣的解答，那么應該是這個例子可以回答這個問題。根據這層意思，可以推出答案。

  5.The word “eroded” in the passage(paragraph 3)is closest in meaning to

  A.worm down.

  B.scattered.

  C.developed.

  D.deserted.

  5.這句話說不同的島嶼看起來經歷了相似的演變過程，但有些隨著時間推移被更……，所以可能更古老。那么島嶼如果經歷的時間更長應該會被海水“侵蝕”的更厲害。所以答案選A，worn down 磨損。 B是分散的，C是發達的，成熟的;D是被遺棄的。

  6.In paragraph 3, what is the relationship between the scientific contribution ofJames Daly and Tuzo Wilson?

  A.Wilson provided an explanation for the observations made by Daly.

  B.Wilson challenged the theory proposed by Daly.

  C.Wilson found numerous examples of island chains that supported Daly’s theory.

  D.Wilson popularized the explanation of volcanic island formation formulated by Daly.

  6.根據兩個科學家的名字進行定位。從then in 1963這一句可以了解到兩者關系，說在板塊理論剛開始發展的時期，tuzo Wilson發現……那么肯定是使板塊理論進一步發展了。所以B不對。而C雖然邏輯關系對，但文中只給了夏威夷島一個例子。所以C不選。D說使解釋流行，之前daly只是給了理論，并沒解釋，所以不對。而A既符合邏輯關系，也對wilson的描寫是正確的。

  7.Why does the author provide the information that “the dating of lavas in the Hawaii(and other) chains showedthat their ages increase away from the presently activevolcano”?

  A.To point out differences between the Hawaii island chain and other volcanic island chains.

  B.To question the idea that all the islands in an island chain have been formed by volcanicactivity.

  C.To explain why Wilson hypothesis was initially difficult to accept.

  D.To provide evidence in support of Daly’s and Wilson’s ideas about how the Hawaii islandswere formed.

  7.這個題很簡單啦，往后面再多看一點點就知道答案啦。Just as Daly had suggested。

  8.According to paragraph 4, which of the following is true of mantleplumes?

  A.They exist close to the surface of tectonic plates.

  B.They cause most of the volcanic activity that occurs in the interiors of plates.

  C.They are rarely active for long period of time.

  D.They get increasingly older away from the present hot spots.

  8.根據mantle plumes定位，可定位地第一句(已用紅色標出)就說了它是導致板塊內部火山爆發的原因，往后讀可以看到它首先是起源于很深的地方，其次活動時間很長。因此A，C，D都不對。所以正確答案為B。

  9.According to paragraph 5, volcanic islands help geologists to

  A.reconstruct past geography.

  B.detect changes in mantle plumes.

  C.measure the rigidity of tectonic plates.

  D.explain why the seafloor spreads.

  9.定位到這一段的第二句。D選項雖然也對，但是A可以包括D。

  10.What can be inferred about the Pacific Plate from paragraph 5?

  A.The hot spots on the Pacific Plate are much older than the ones located on the other tectonicplates.

  B.Most of the volcanic sources beneath the Pacific Plate have become extinct.

  C.The Pacific Plate has moved a distance equal to the length of the Hawaiian Island chain in thepast 80 million years.

  D.The Pacific Plate is located above fewer mantle plumes than other plates are.

  10.定位到for example，定位句幾乎就是選項C的原義轉換啦。A，B，D原文都沒提到。

  11.The word “current” in the passage(paragraph 5)is closest in meaning to

  A.original.

  B.ideal.

  C.relative.

  D.present.

  11.current是現在的意思。A是原始的，B是理想的，C是相對的，D是現在的。根據原句中也可以判斷，因為后文說，通過大平洋板塊什么的位置，可以判斷其5千萬年前的位置，那么兩者應該是相反的。所以答案為D。

  12.According to paragraph 5, why are geologists unable to trace back theentiregeologic of continents from hot-spot trails?

  A.Hot spots have existed for only about 5 percent of geologic time.

  B.Hawaii did not exist 50 millions years ago.

  C.Oceanic basins that contained old hot-spot trails disappeared a long time ago.

  D.Hot-spot trails can be reconstructed only for island chains.

  12.定位到最后一句。說不能追蹤到整個變化過程是因為海洋盆地的變化相對比較快。

  13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could beadded to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit? This pattern remainedunexplained for a long time.

  How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian islands provide avery instructive answer. ■【A】Like many other island groups, they form a chain. ■【B】TheHawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. ■【C】In the 1840sAmerican geologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii islands seem to share asimilar geologic evolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probableolder,toward the northwest. ■【D】Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of thetheory of plate tectonics. Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progressioncould result if the islands were formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic sourcein the interior. Wilson suggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest fromHawaii is simply the surface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath thetectonic plate in the mantle. Today’s most northwest island would have been the first to form.They as the plate moved slowly northwest, new volcanic islands would have forms as the platemoved over the volcanic source. The most recent island, Hawaii, would be at the end of thechain and is now over the volcanic source.

  13.D的位置前面提到了大陸版塊構造論，但并沒給出解釋，后半部分給出了很多年后另一位科學家給出的解釋。

  14. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage isprovided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices thatexpress the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong inthe summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or areminor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

  Although volcanic activity is concentrated on the edge of tectonicplates, such activity canoccur in the interiors of plates as well.

  A.Our understanding of islands comes from Daly’s and Wilson’s observations of the HawaiianIslands, which was later confirmed by plate-tectonic theory.

  B.The hot-spot trails formed by volcanic island chains indicate the positions of tectonic platesas for back as the present ocean basins have existed.

  C.Whereas volcanic islands formed by mantle plumes are typically small, most of the world’slargest islands are formed at the edges of tectonic plates.

  D.It has only recently been discovered that tectonic plates are closely fitting rather than looselyconstructed, as geologist previously believed.

  E.Volcanic island chains such as the Hawaiian Islands form in the interior of a tectonic plate asthe plate moves over a fixed volcanic source in the mantle.

  F.The Pacific Plate has existed for as long as the Hawaiian Islands have existed, namely for morethan 80 million years.

  14.A正確 整篇文章都在說這個。。。一直是在說夏威夷島的火山現象證明了大陸板塊構造理論呀。B錯誤，不選。這個老早就發現了吧，當初daly提出的時候就說的是closely fitting的呀。C正確，對應文章最后一段的橘黃色標出部分。D正確，對應文章第二段紅色標出部分。E錯誤，不選。文章沒提到這些火山小。F錯誤。文章最后一段說到ocean basin是相對短暫的存在。并沒有存在超過8千萬年。

  Predator-Prey Cycles

  How do predators affect populations of the prey animals? The answer is not as simple as might be thought. Moose reached Isle Royale in Lake Superior by crossing over winter ice and multiplied freely there in isolation without predators. When wolves later reached the island, naturalists widely assumed that the wolves would play a key role in controlling the moose population. Careful studies have demonstrated, however, that this is not the case. The wolves eat mostly old or diseased animals that would not survive long anyway. In general, the moose population is controlled by food availability, disease and other factors rather than by wolves.

  捕食者是怎樣影響被捕食者的數量呢?答案并不是想象中那么簡單。麋鹿通過穿越冬天的冰層到達了在蘇必略湖的羅亞爾島，并由于沒有捕食者而自由繁殖。當狼在晚一點的時候到達那座島時，自然學家都認為，狼對控制麋鹿的數量將起到關鍵作用。但是，嚴密的研究說明并不是這樣。狼吃掉的大部分是年老的，或生病的動物，他們本身就不會存活很久。一般地，麋鹿的數量是由食物、疾病、和其它的一些條件，而不是狼控制的。

  When experimental populations are set up under simple laboratory conditions, the predator often exterminates its pre and then becomes extinct itself, having nothing left to eat. However, if safe areas like those prey animals have in the wild are provided, the prey population drops to low level but not extinction. Low prey population levels then provide inadequate food for the predators, causing the predator population to decrease. When this occurs, the prey population can rebound. In this situation the predator and prey population may continue in this cyclical pattern for some time.

  在簡單的實驗條件下，捕食者經常吃掉了所有的實驗設定的被捕食者，然后因為食物缺乏而自己滅絕了。但是，如果能給被捕食動物提供如同在野外的安全的區域，被捕食動物的數量會降低到很低的數值，但不會滅絕。被捕食者的數量的降低造成了捕食者的食物不足，使捕食者的數量下降。此時，被捕食者的數量又會反彈。這樣，一定時間內捕食者和被捕食者的數量會持續地循環。

  Population cycles are characteristic of small mammals, and they sometimes appear to be brought about by predators. Ecologists studying hare populations have found that the North American snow shoe hare follows a roughlyten-year cycle. Its numbers fall tenfold to thirty in a typical cycle, and a hundredfold change can occur. Two factors appear to be generating the cycle: food plants and predators.

  這種數量的循環是小型哺乳動物的特性，有時候這種循環是由捕食者帶來的。生態學家對野兔數量的研究發現，北美白靴兔一直遵守著大約以十年為周期的循環。在一個典型的循環中，其數量會以十倍到三十倍的減少，甚至會出現一百倍的改變。有兩種因素會導致這種循環：食物和捕食者。

  The preferred foods of snowshoe hares are willow and birch twigs. As hare density increases, the quantity of these twigs decreases, forcing the hares to feed on low-quality high-fiber food. Lower birth rates, low juvenile survivorship, and low growth rates follow, so there is a corresponding decline in hare abundance. Once the hare population has declined, it takes two to three year for the quantity of twigs to recover.

  白靴兔比較喜歡的食物是柳木和樺樹樹枝。野兔的密度增加時，這些樹枝的數量就減少，迫使野兔去吃一些低質量的，高纖維食物。隨之而來的是低生育率，低成活率，低生長率，所以野兔數量隨之減少。一旦野兔數量減少，樹枝的數量需要兩到三年恢復。

  A key predator of the snowshoe hare is the Canada lynx. The Canada lynx shows a ten-year cycle of abundance that parallels the abundance cycle of hares. As hare numbers fall, so do lynx numbers, as their food supply depleted.

  白靴兔的主要捕食者是加拿大山貓。加拿大山貓的數量呈現了平行于野兔的十年為周期的循環。野兔數量下降時，山貓的食物供給減少，數量也隨之減少。

  What causes the predator-prey oscillations? Do increasing number of hares lead to overharvesting of plants, which in turn results in reduced hare populations, or do increasing numbers of lynx lead to overharvesting hares? Field experiments carried out by Charles Krebs and coworkers in 1992 provide an answer. Krebs investigated experimental plots in Canada’s Yukon territory that contained hare populations. When food was added to those plots (no food effect) and predators were excluded (no predator effect) from an experimental area, hare numbers increased tenfold and stayed there—the cycle was lost. However, the cycle was retained if either of the factors was allowed to operate alone: if predators were excluded but food was not added (food effect alone), or if food was added in the presence of predators (predator effect alone). Thus both factors can affect the cycle, which, in practice, seems to be generated by conjunction of the two factors.

  什么造成了捕食者和被捕食者的周期振動呢?是野兔數量的增長使得植物被過度采食，隨之導致了野兔的減少還是山貓的增加導致了野兔被過度捕食?在1992年，Charles Krebs和其合作者的野外試驗提供了答案。Krebs研究了在加拿大Yuhon地區有野兔種群的試驗田。當食物被加到這片試驗田(沒有食品因素影響)并且將捕食者移去(也沒有捕食者因素影響)。野兔的數量增加了十倍并且保持穩定----不再循環。但是，在任意一個因素單獨存在時，循環都會出現：不管是捕食者被移除，食物不添加(也就是只有食物影響);還是食物在捕食者存在的情況下被添加(也就是只有捕食者影響)。因此，兩個因素都可以影響這個循環，即在現實中，循環是兩個因素同時作用的結果。

  Predators are an essential factor in maintaining communities that are rich and diverse in species. Without predators, the species that is the best competitor for food, shelter, nesting sites, and other environmental resources tends to dominate and exclude the species with which it competes. This phenomenon is known as “competitor exclusion”. However, if the community contains a predator of the strongest competitor species, then the population of that competitor is controlled. Thus even the less competitive species are able to survive. For example, sea stars prey on a variety of bivalve mollusks and prevent these bivalves from monopolizing habitats on the sea floor. This opens up space for many other organisms. When sea stars are removed, species diversity falls sharply. Therefore, from the stand point of diversity, it is usually a mistake to eliminate a major predator from a community

  捕食者是保持群體多樣性和數量的必要條件。沒有捕食者時，那種在對食物、庇護所、筑巢點和其它環境資源的爭奪中勝出的競爭者，趨向于統治，并且滅絕與其競爭的其它物種。這種現象被稱作“驅逐競爭者”。但是，如果種群中的具有最強競爭力的物種存在天敵，那這一物種數量就被控制。因此，競爭力比較弱的物種都會得以生存。比如，海星捕食各種雙殼的軟體動物，防止這些雙殼動物壟斷海底。這使得其它的很多生物有了生存空間。海星被移除后，物種多樣性大幅度降低。因此，從多樣性的角度說，從一個種群中消除一個主要捕食者通常是錯誤的決定。

  托福閱讀試題

  1.In paragraph 1, why does the author discussthe moose and wolves on Isle Royale?

  A.To provide an example of predators moving to newhabitats by following migrating prey.

  B.To show that the interactions between predator populations and prey populations are notalways might be expected.

  C.To suggest that prey populations are more influenced by predation than food availabilityand disease.

  D.To argue that studies of geographically isolated populations tend not to be useful tonaturalists.

  1.對應文章的第四句，Careful studies…not the case.這句話前面說人們覺得狼對控制鹿的數量控制起到了重要作用，這句話對其進行了否定，對應了B選項。A與原文沒有關系。C與原文第一段最后一句話矛盾。D也不對。

  2.The word “rebound” in the passage(paragraph 2)is closest inmeaning to

  A.escape.

  B.recover.

  C.survive.

  D.resist.

  2.原詞匯是反彈的意思。A是逃走，B是恢復，C是存活，D是反抗。這里B最符合原文意思。原文詞匯可以通過詞根詞綴分析。Bound本來就是跳躍的意思，加re前綴就是再次跳躍，也就是反彈。

  3.Paragraph 2 implies which of the following about experimental environments inwhich predators become extinct?

  A.They may yield results that do not accurate predict changes of populations in the wild.

  B.In these environments, the prey species is better adapted than the predator species.

  C.These environments are appropriate only for studying small populations of predators andprey.

  D.They are unrealistic because some predators are also the prey of other predators.

  3.第一句說了experimental environments的結果，但后面立刻出現了however。證明出現了轉折，后文在一定程度上否定了前面的觀點。所以選A。B和原文主題沒關系，C雖然沒有明顯錯誤，但沒有表現出真正的主題，重點是在真實生活中的情況。D原文也沒提到。

  4.Which of the following can be inferred from paragraphs 2 and 3 about the smallmammals that experience population cycles?

  A.Their population cycles are not affected by predators.

  B.Their predators’ populations periodically disappear.

  C.They typically undergo ten-year cycles.

  D.They have access to places safe from predators.

  4.A錯誤，對應第三段最后一句話;B錯誤，對應第二段的第二句話后面，證明在正常情況下捕食者不會消失。C對應第三段第二句，出現了ten-year cycle但是僅僅是對野兔的描寫，并不適用與全部哺乳動物。D對應第二段第二句，說被捕食者在現實生活中可以居于安全的遠離捕食者的地方。所以選D。

  5.The word “roughly” in the passage is closest in meaning to

  A.usually.

  B.repeating.

  C.approximately.

  D.observable.

  5.roughly是粗略地。A是通常的，B是重復的，C是大約的，D是可觀察的。根據詞義選C。

  6.The word “generating” in the passage is closest in meaning to

  A.producing.

  B.changing.

  C.speeding up.

  D.smoothing out.

  6.generate是導致，產生的意思。A是產生，B是改變，C是加速，D是漸出。根據意思選擇A。通過原文分析，前面說有兩個因素可以怎么樣這個cycle，那么應該是導致，產生的意思。

  7.According to paragraph 4, all of the following are true of the food of snowshoehares EXCEPT

  A.The preferred food fore hares consists of willow and birch twigs.

  B.High fiber food is the most nutritious for hares.

  C.Depletion of the supply of willow and birch twigs cause low birth and growth rates.

  D.The food supply takes two or three years to recover after a peak in hare populationdensity.

  7.排除題，選項A對應第一句，正確。選項B對應第二句，原文說high-fiber意味著low quality，所以B錯誤，選。C對應第三句，正確，不選。D對應最后一句，正確，不選。

  提供者：請選擇

  8.The word “conjunction”in the passage(paragraph 6)is closest in meaning to

  A.determination

  B.combination

  C.alternation

  D.transformation

  8.原文說的是由于野兔是山貓的食物，所以野兔數量下降，山貓數量也會隨之下降。所以選擇A。B的邏輯關系不對，并非野兔跟著山貓變化。C更不對，兩者數量是同時增減的。D也不符合原文。

  9.According to paragraph 5, which of the following statements bestcharacterizes theabundance cycle of the Canada lynx?

  A.It closely follows the cycle the snowshoe hare.

  B.When the numbers of lynx fall, the numbers of snowshoe hares soon decrease.

  C.When hare numbers decrease, lynx numbers increase.

  D.It is not clearly related to the availability of lynx food.

  9.這句話的前面一句話說的是兩個因素都會影響這個循環，而在現實中，兩個因素都存在。所以這里應該是共同作用的意思。所以B，結合。符合原義。A是決定，C是交替，D是轉化。

  10.According to paragraph 6, which of the following was true of the harepopulationcycle in Krebs’s experiment?

  A.The effects of providing food while at the same time introducing predators cancelled eachother, so there was no cycle.

  B.The cycle existed when either the food supply was limited or there were predators.

  C.There was a cycle when there were no predators and food was supplied.

  D.If the hares had places to hide from the lynx, the hare population increased tenfold andthen remained at that level.

  10.對應位置是紅色部分。總結就是兩個因素只要其中一個存在就會導致cycle。兩個同時都沒有的時候，就不存在cycle了。所以A說no cycle，那么條件中就多出了food effect，錯誤不選。B正確，兩因素都不存在，nocycle，選!C說cycle存在，可是兩因素都不存在。D跟兩個因素都沒關系，不選。

  11.According to paragraph 7, which ofthe following statements correctlycharacterizes the effect of sea stars on the ecosystem in which they are predators ofbivalves?

  A.Bivalve population are kept low, allowing species that compete with bivalves to survive.

  B.The numbers of most species of bivalves are greatly reduced, leaving the bivalve speciesthat is the strongest competitor to dominate among the survivors.

  C.Biological diversity begins to decrease because many bivalve species disappear.

  D.Sea stars dominate at first but then die off because of the depleted food supply.

  11.對應了原文這段倒數第二句和第三句。說海星的存在對雙殼動物是一個限制，使得別的生物有了生存的空間。符合A。 B不對，雙殼動物并不是dominate;C不對，bivalve控制后，diversity應該是上升的。D也不對，海星并不是死了啊。

  12.According to paragraph 7, which of the following is true of the phenomenon ofcompetitor exclusion?

  A.It results in more diverse communities.

  B.It requires the presence of predators.

  C.It affects all competitions equally.

  D.It happens only when there is a dominant competitor.

  12.根據competitor exclusion定位，這句話說this phenomenon，那么對于現象描寫應該在前面。往前找可以看到這個現象是要在“best competitor”存在的情況，這個競爭者還tend to dominate. 符合D。A并不是這個現象的直接作用，其直接作用是對其他competitor的限制。B雖然正確，但沒指出其唯一性。C沒提到。

  13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could beadded to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit? As a result, there are notenough of the strong competitions to monopolize the environment’s resources.

  Predators are an essential factorin maintaining communities that are rich and diverse inspecies. Without predators, the species that is the best competitor for food, shelter,nestingsites, and other environmental resources tends to dominate and exclude the specieswith which it competes. ■【A】This phenomenon is known as “competitor exclusion”. ■【B】However, if the community contains a predator of the strongest competitor species,then the population of that competitor is controlled. ■【C】Thus even the less competitivespecies are able to survive. ■【D】For example, seastars prey on a variety of bivalvemollusks and prevent these bivalves from monopolizing habitats on the sea floor. This opens upspace for many other organisms. When sea stars are removed, species diversity falls sharply.Therefore, from the stand point of diversity, it is usually a mistake toeliminate a majorpredator from a community.

  13.這里說as a result，那么首先前面要對某個現象進行描寫，后面要對there are not enough of thestrong competitors to monopolize the environment’s resources.進行遞進。C符合。

  14. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage isprovided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices thatexpress the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong inthe summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or areminor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

  The relationships between predatorsand prey are complex.

  A.Studies of the interactions between wolves and moose on Isle Royale in Lake Superior revealthat wolf predation is not the primary factor controlling the moose population.

  B.Predators help maintain biological diversity by limiting populations of a dominantcompetitor species, thereby preventing that species from excluding others.

  C.A species’ population tends to rise and falls in a cycle pattern if the food supply for thepopulation is limited, or if the population has a major predator.

  D.Ecologists are interested in studying predator-prey population cycles becauseunderstanding how predators and prey interact will allow better wildlife managementprograms.

  E.In predator-prey population cycles, predator populations increase or decrease followingsimilar population changes in the species they prey on.

  F.The removal of sea stars reduces the diversity of the community in which they arepredators, and is therefore a bad idea.

  14.A對應原文1-3段，雖然到第二段為止，都是符合這個選項的，但是第三段已經對這個進行了否定，錯誤，不選。B雖然意思正確，但是原文沒有提到生態學家要研究捕食者和被捕食者的關系的目的，不選。C正確，選，對應原文最后一段。D正確，選，原文第二段已經表達了這句話了，后面也不斷地重復。E正確，選，對應原文倒數第二段。F選項缺少了一環----雙殼動物，語義表達不完整，不選。