TOEFL托福阅读真题

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托福阅读真题1

PASSAGE 13

Any rock that has cooled and solidified from a molten state is an igneous rock. Therefore, if the Earth began as a superheated sphere in space, all the rocks making up its crust may well have been igneous and thus the ancestors of all other rocks. Even today, approximately 95 percent of the entire crust is igneous. Periodically, molten material wells out of the Earth's interior to invade the surface layers or to flow onto the surface itself. This material cools into a wide variety of igneous rocks. In the molten state, it is called magma as it pushes into the crust and lava when it runs out onto the surface.

All magma consists basically of a variety of silicate minerals (high in silicon-oxygen compounds), but the chemical composition of any given flow may differ radically from that of any other. The resulting igneous rocks will reflect these differences. Igneous rocks also vary in texture as well as chemistry. Granite, for instance, is a coarse-grained igneous rock whose individual mineral crystals have formed to a size easily seen by the naked eye. A slow rate of cooling has allowed the crystals to reach this size. Normally, slow cooling occurs when the crust is invaded by magma that remains buried well below the surface. Granite may be found on the surface of the contemporary landscape, but from its coarse texture we know that it must have formed through slow cooling at a great depth and later been laid bare by erosion. Igneous rocks with this coarse-grained texture that formed at depth are called plutonic.

On the other hand, if the same magma flows onto the surface and is quickly cooled by the atmosphere, the resulting rock will be fine-grained and appear quite different from granite, although the chemical composition will be identical. This kind of rock is called rhyolite. The most finely grained igneous rock is volcanic glass or obsidian, which has no crystals. Some researchers believe this is because of rapid cooling; others believe it is because of a lack of water vapor and other gases in the lava. The black obsidian cliffs of Yellowstone National Park are the result of a lava flow of basalt running head on into a glacier. Some of the glacier melted on contact, but suddenly there also appeared a huge black mass of glassy stone.

1. In the first paragraph, the author mentions that 95% of the Earth's crust is composed of

igneous rock to support the idea that

(A) the Earth began as a molten mass

(B) a thin layer of magma flows beneath the Earth's crust

(C) the minerals found in igneous rock are very common

(D) igneous rock is continually being formed

2. The word invade in line 5 is closest in meaning to

(A) move into

(B) neutralize

(C) cover

(D) deposit

3. The word contemporary in line 15 is closest in meaning to

A) vast

(B) natural

(C) existing

(D) uneven

4. The word it in line 16 refers to

(A) granite

(B) surface

(C) landscape

(D) texture

5. Granite that has been found above ground has been

(A) pushed up from below the crust by magma

(B) produced during a volcanic explosion

(C) gradually exposed due to erosion

(D) pushed up by the natural shifting of the Earth

6. Which of the following is produced when magma cools rapidly?

(A) granite

(B) plutonic rock

(C) rhyolite

(D) mineral crystals

7. The word finely in line 22 is closest in meaning to

(A) minutely

(B) loosely

(C) sensitively

(D) purely

8. Which of the following is another name for volcanic glass?

(A) Plutonic rock

(B) Crystal

(C) Lava

(D) Obsidian

托福阅读真题2

PASSAGE 14

Television has transformed politics in the United States by changing the way in which information is disseminated, by altering political campaigns, and by changing citizen's patterns of response to politics. By giving citizens independent access to the candidates, television diminished the role of the political party in the selection of the major party candidates. By centering politics on the person of the candidate, television accelerated the citizen's focus on character rather than issues.

Television has altered the forms of political communication as well. The messages on which most of us rely are briefer than they once were. The stump speech, a political speech given by traveling politicians and lasting 11/2 to 2 hours, which characterized nineteenth-century political discourse, has given way to the 30-second advertisement and the 10 second sound bite in broadcast news. Increasingly the audience for speeches is not that standing in front of the politician but rather the viewing audience who will hear and see a snippet of the speech on the news.

In these abbreviated forms, 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. In snippets, politicians assert but do not argue.

Because television is an intimate medium, speaking through it require a changed political style that was more conversational, personal, and visual than that of the old-style stump speech. Reliance on television means that increasingly our political world contains memorable pictures rather than memorable words. Schools teach us to analyze words and print. However, in a word in which politics is increasingly visual, informed citizenship requires a new set of skills.

Recognizing the power of television's pictures, politicians craft televisual, staged events, called pseudo-event, designed to attract media coverage. Much of the political activity we see on television news has been crafted by politicians, their speechwriters, and their public relations advisers for televised consumption. Sound bites in news and answers to questions in debates increasingly sound like advertisements.

1. What is the main point of the passage ?

(A) Citizens in the United States are now more informed about political issues because of

television coverage.

(B) Citizens in the United States prefer to see politicians on television instead of in person.

(C) Politics in the United States has become substantially more controversial since the

introduction of television.

(D) Politics in the United States has been significantly changed by television

.2. The word disseminated in line 2 is closest in meaning to

(B) discussed

(A) analyzed　　　　(C) spread

(D) stored

3. It can be inferred that before the introduction of television, political parties

(A) had more influence over the selection of political candidates

(B) spent more money to promote their political candidates

(C) attracted more members

(D) received more money

4. The word accelerated in line 5 is closest in meaning to

(A) allowed

(B) increased

(C) required

(D) started

5. The author mentions the stump speech in line 7 as an example of

(A) an event created by politicians to attract media attention

(B) an interactive discussion between two politicians

(C) a kind of political presentation typical of the nineteenth century

(D) a style of speech common to televised political events

6. The phrase given way to in line 10 is closest in meaning to

(A) added interest to

(B) modified

(C) imitated

(D) been replaced by

7. The word that in line 12 refers to

(A) audience

(B) broadcast news

(C) politician

(D) advertisement

8. 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 politics seem more intimate to citizens

(D) providing detailed information about a candidates private behavior

9. The author states that politicians assert but do not argue (line 18) in order to suggest that

politicians

(A) make claims without providing reasons for the claims

(B) take stronger positions on issues than in the past

(C) enjoy explaining the issue to broadcasters

(D) dislike having to explain their own positions on issues to citizens

10. The word Reliance in line 21 is closest in meaning to

(A) abundance

(B) clarification

(C) dependence

(D) information

11. The purpose of paragraph 4 is to suggest that

(A) politicians will need to learn to become more personal when meeting citizens

(B) politicians who are considered very attractive are favored by citizens over politicians who are

less attractive

(C) citizens tend to favor a politician who analyzed the issue over one who does not

(D) citizens will need to learn how to evaluate visual political images in order to become better

informed

12. According to paragraph 5, staged political events are created so that politicians can

(A) create more time to discuss political issues

(B) obtain more television coverage for themselves

(C) spend more time talking to citizens in person

(D) engages in debates with their opponents

13. Which of the following statements is supported by the passage ?

(A) Political presentations today are more like advertisements than in the past.

(B) Politicians today tend to be more familiar with the views of citizens than in the past.

(C) Citizens today are less informed about a politician's character than in the past.

(D) Political speeches today focus more on details about issues than in the past.

托福阅读真题3

PASSAGE 15

Fungi, of which there are over 100,000 species, including yeasts and other single-celled organisms as well as the common molds and mushrooms, were formerly classified as members of the plant kingdom. However, in reality they are very different from plants and today they are placed in a separate group altogether. 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. Furthermore the walls of fungal cells are not made of cellulose, as those of plants are, but of another complex sugarlike polymer called chitin, the material from which the hard outer skeletons of shrimps, spiders, and insects are made. The difference between the chemical composition of the cell walls of fungi and those of plants is of enormous importance because it enables the tips of the growing hyphae, the threadlike cells of the fungus, to secrete enzymes that break down the walls of plant cells without having any effect on those of the fungus itself. It is these cellulose-destroying enzymes that enable fungi to attack anything made from wood, wood pulp, cotton, flax, or other plant material.

The destructive power of fungi is impressive. They are a major cause of structural damage to building timbers, a cause of disease in animals and humans, and one of the greatest causes of agricultural losses. Entire crops can be wiped out by fungal attacks both before and after harvesting. Some fungi can grow at +50 C, while o°thers can grow at -5 C, so ev°en food in cold storage may not be completely safe from them. On the other hand, fungi bring about the decomposition of dead organic matter, thus enriching the soil and returning carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. They also enter into a number of mutually beneficial relationships with plants and other organisms. In addition, fungi are the source of many of the most potent antibiotics used in clinical medicine, including penicillin.

1. What does paragraph 1 mainly discuss?

(A) differences between simple and complex fungi

(B) functions of chlorophyll in plants

(C) functions of sugar in the walls of fungal cells

(D) differences between fungi and plants

2. Which of the following is mentioned as a major change in how scientists approach the study of fungi?

(A) Fungi are no longer classified as plants

(B) Some single-cell organisms are no longer classified as fungi.

(C) New methods of species identification have been introduced

(D) Theories about the chemical composition of fungi have been revised.

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

(A) true

(B) main

(C) logical

(D) obvious

4. According to the passage , how do fungi obtain carbohydrates?

(A) The absorb carbohydrates from their own cell walls.

(B) They synthesize chlorophyll to produce carbohydrates.

(C) They produce carbohydrates by breaking down chitin.

(D) They acquire carbohydrates from other organic matter, both living and dead.

5. The passage mentions shrimps, spiders, and insects in line 9 because their skeletons

(A) can be destroyed by fungi

(B) have unusual chemical compositions

(C) contain a material found in the walls of fungal cells

(D) secrete the same enzymes as the walls of fungal cells do

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

(A) chlorophyll (line 5)

(B) polymer (line 8)

(C) hyphae (line 12)

(D) enzymes (line 14)

7. The word those in line 13 refers to

(A) tips

(B) hyphae

(C) enzymes

(D) walls

8. Fungi have all of the following characteristics EXCEPT

(A) They grow hyphae.

(B) They secrete enzymes.

(C) They synthesize cellulose.

(D) They destroy crops.

9. The word Entire in line 18 is closest in meaning to

(A) certain

(B) whole

(C) mature

(D) diseased

10. The passage describes the negative effects of fungi on all the following EXCEPT

(A) buildings

(B) animals

(C) food

(D) soil

11. The phrase bring about in line 21 is closest in meaning to

(A) cause

(B) join

(C) take

(D) include

12. The passage mentions penicillin in line 25 as an example of

(A) a medicine derived from plants

(B) a beneficial use of fungi

(C) a product of the relationship between plants and fungi

(D) a type of fungi that grows at extreme temperatures.