TOEFL新托福阅读背景知识精选篇(2)

The first aim of the American army led by George .ashington was to force the British, called .edcoats because of the colour of their uniform, to leave Boston. On 17 June 1775 the British fought and won the Battle of .unker Hill, but they lost so many soldiers that their position in Boston was weak and in March 1776 they were forced to leave. The Continental Congress suggested that Britain and America should make an agreement, but Britain refused and so, on 4 July 1776, members of the Congress signed the .eclaration of Independence. This document, written by the future President Thomas .efferson, gave the Americans' reasons for wanting to be independent. It included ideas that were rather new, e.g. that ordinary people had certain rights that governments should respect. Since the British king .eorge III refused to accept this, Americans had the right, and the duty, to form their own government.

Later in the same year the British took control of .ew York and .hode Island, and Washington's army moved away into .ennsylvania. The defeats discouraged many Americans, but at Christmas, when soldiers were not expecting an attack, Washington surprised the British by taking his army across the Delaware River to Trenton, .ew Jersey, and defeating the Hessians, German soldiers paid by the British to fight for them. A story often told is that, before crossing the river, Washington threw down a silver dollar, thinking that if any guards were near they would hear the noise and come. Since nobody came, he knew it was safe to attack.

Washington's army spent the winter at .alley Forge, Pennsylvania. It was very cold and the new government of the United States did not have money to provide soldiers with warm clothes and food. Many became ill, and many more lost their enthusiasm for the war. But in the spring of 1777 they received help from two different sources. A German, General von Steuben, came to train the American soldiers, and the Marquis de .afayette brought French soldiers to fight on the American side. With this help, the Americans won a victory at .arat.a, New York. France and also Spain supported the United States because they thought that if Britain became weaker in North America, it would also be weaker in Europe.

Over the next few years, neither side was strong enough to defeat the other completely. But in 1781 Washington saw a perfect opportunity to win. The British General .ornwallis had taken his army to .orktown, Virginia, where he was too far away to get supplies or help. Washington marched south to meet him, while French ships made sure that the British could not receive help by sea. Cornwallis realized how bad his position was and surrendered.

In 1783, after a period of talks, Britain rec.nized the United States of America, making the US completely independent and giving it the western parts of North America.

新托福阅读背景知识：小说《海狼》

The Sea-Wolf/海狼

体裁：长篇小说

写作时间：1903年

人物介绍：Wolf Larsen/海狼拉尔森，the schooner Ghost/魔鬼号船长;Humphrey Van Weyden/亨甫莱 凡 卫登，文学批评家;Maud Brewster/默德 布利斯特，女诗人

全文阅读：The Sea-Wolf/海狼

内容简介：一艘渡船在旧金山湾失事，三十五岁的文学评论家Humphrey被捕海豹船"魔鬼号"船长海狼Larsen救起。由于船上大副的死亡，缺少人手的Larsen强迫Humphrey在船上做茶房。Humphrey目睹了水手和猎人们的争斗，Larsen的冷酷无情。比一般水手都强壮的Larsen以自己的铁拳统治着这名符其实的"魔鬼号"。然而Humphrey也发现，Larsen也并非全无头脑，只是他那抛开任何微小的利他行为，只想到像酵母一样，大的吞掉小的，强的吞掉弱的，以获得个人的持续生存的人生理论是Humphrey这样满脑子理想、情操一类事物的文明人所无法接受的。Humphrey在船上学到了航海知识，身体也强壮起来。

魔鬼号偶然救起了在轮船失事中幸存的Maud Brewster。Humphrey心中燃起了爱的火花，他终于和Maud找机会逃走，由于偏离了航线，不得不在一个海豹聚集的小岛上暂时安顿下来，过了一段艰苦的努力生存的日子。众叛亲离的Larsen和魔鬼号也撞上了这个小岛。船上的水手和猎人不堪Larsen的压迫，又禁不住有人故意的金钱诱惑，全部抛开魔鬼号去为Larsen的敌人工作。Larsen也不再是那个身体强壮，坚不可摧的样子了，经常的头痛，可能是头部的瘤造成了他的迅速虚弱甚至失明。Humphrey和Maud努力将魔鬼号修好，其间受到Larsen多次阻挠。船终于修好了，Larsen则出现了偏瘫，生命之火慢慢地熄灭了。 Humphrey与Maud将Larsen海葬，不久之后，他们获救了。

《海狼》在直到1999年的八十多年间中，曾十几次被搬上银幕，杰克伦敦在1913年的版本中，出演一位水手。

读书笔记：

《海狼》从纯文学的角度来讲，并不是一部非常成功的作品，海狼拉尔森是一个怪人，有强壮的身体和灵活的头脑，以野蛮人的方式与野蛮人欧斗，又以文明人的方式与文明人交谈。他的头脑中满是野蛮的思想，他读文明书只是为了从中找出可以支持自己观点的论据。情节上，几乎没有什么波动，只是讲船上争来斗去的琐事，尤其后期爱情的出现是那么突兀，与书前半部硬冷的基调完全不同。亨甫莱对拉尔森态度的变化也很奇怪，而且没有预兆，完全为爱情而爱情，使亨甫莱十足像个傻瓜。还有那莫名其妙的头疼加失明，为无坚可摧的拉尔森的失败找到了借口。

JL大多并不以情节取胜，他更善于细致刻划某一场景、画面或短小的一串动作，而不是错综复杂的人物关系和立体丰满的人物形象。

此书有诸多不足，但仍然值得一读。它谈到那永远无人可解的难题："人为什么要活着?"按拉尔森的说法，"生命像是酵母，酶，一种活动的东西......大吞小才可以维持他们的活动，强食弱才能保持他们的力量。""(水手)为了要吃要喝而活动，因为可以继续活动，就是这么样。他们为肚子而生活，为生活而吃饱肚子，这是一个循环。"

拉尔森有一套很奇怪的理论，亨甫莱称他为唯物主义者，而拉尔森的唯物主义不仅不相信上帝、永生的存在，甚至不相信人的精神。在他的眼里，人与世界上千千万万动物一样，纯粹是为生存而生存，什么理想、道德，一切不能用来补充力量的空谈都是屁话。

对于生与死，拉尔森秉持着JL一贯的态度，只不过表达方式有所变化："蠕动是卑劣的，但是停止蠕动，像是泥土顽石，是不堪设想的......生命本身就是不如意，但是向前望到死亡，更是不如意。"--说句题外话，我无法相信持此种观点的JL会自杀，当然人的观点是可能变化的。

对拉尔森最好的总结是书中这句原话，"我相信他十足是个原人，生晚了几千年，或者说许多代，在这文明达到高峰的世纪，是一种时代错误。

不知不觉由拉尔森想到原始与文明的对立。文明使我们大多数人在作为一个自然人的层面上，变得柔弱，随着大脑的高度发达，与工具的不断发展，人类已经很退化了。而且文明不可避免地夹杂着虚伪、欺诈。原始与文明，到底怎样是进化，怎样是退化呢?

新托福阅读背景知识：吉他简史(英文版)

A Brief History of the Guitar

There is evidence that a four string, guitar-like instrument was played by the Hittites (who occupied a region now known as Asia Minor and Syria) around 1400 BC. It had characteristically soft, curved sides--one of the primary features of anything identifiable as a guitar or predecessor. The Greeks also produced a similar instrument which was later modified by the Romans, though both versions appear to have lacked the curved sides. What is interesting here is that it seems this Roman cithara appeared in Hispania (now known as Spain) centuries before the Moorish invasion.

It had long been assumed that it was only after this invasion and the introduction of the Arabic due in the South that a guitar-like instrument first appeared in Spain. But with the Roman cithara arriving centuries prior, we might say that although the due influenced the development of the guitar it is not the true ancestor. According to this theory, the Spanish guitar derived from the tan bur of the Hittites, kithara with a "k" of the Greeks and then the cithara with a "c" of the Romans.

However, following the arrival of the Moors, the Roman cithara and the Arabic due must have mixed and exerted mutual influences on one another for many centuries. Although there is no specific documentation, it is likely that makers of us and cithara’s would have seen each other's work, if only through presentation by traveling troubadours. By 1200 AD, the four string guitar had evolved into two types: the guitars maraca (Moorish guitar) which had a rounded back, wide fingerboard and several sound holes, and the guitars Latina (Latin guitar) which resembled the modern guitar with one sound hole and a narrower neck.

In the late 1400's, the visual was born by adding doubled strings and increasing its size. It was a large plucked instrument with a long neck (vibrating string length: 72 to 79 cm) with ten or eleven frets and six courses. It was the visual which became the preferred instrument of the Spanish and Portuguese courts and remained so until the late 1600's when orchestral and keyboard instruments became more prominent.

Although the guitar existed concurrently during this period, the visual and lute had overshadowed it until the end of the 17th century when the lute had acquired too many strings, was too hard to play and tune, and the visual was slowly replaced by the four and five course guitars (which had seven and nine strings respectively: one single high string, and three or four remaining courses--or pairs--of strings). It was perhaps the addition of the fifth course in the late 16th century that gave the guitar more flexibility and range and thus improved the potential of the repertoire that led to its ascent.

By the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, some guitars already used six single strings and employed fan struts under the soundboard. These struts were added for structural support to allow thinning of the top for greater resonance and for better distribution of sound across the board. Other contemporaneous developments included the use of a reinforced, raised neck using ebony or rosewood for the fingerboard, and the appearance of machine tuners in place of the wooden pegs. (It is noteworthy that the raised fingerboard had a great impact on the technique of the instrument since the strings were then too far from the soundboard to rest one's finger on the face for support.) These guitars would be unmistakably recognized by us as early classical guitars.

Beginning with the early 19th century, in the works of Agustin Caro, Manuel Gonzalez, Antonio de Lorca, Manuel Gutierrez from Spain and other European makers including Rene Lakota, and Johann Stauffer, we find the direct predecessors of the modern classical guitar. By 1850, the guitar was prepared for its most important breakthrough since its inception, the work of Antonio Torres Jordon. With the encouragement of Julian Arcos and his own brilliant intuitions, Torres refined the strutting of the guitar to include as many as seven struts spread out like a fan under the soundboard. He increased the body size and the width of the neck considerably. These improvements allowed for greater volume and bass response as well as the development of a left hand technique for richer repertoire. The guitar was now prepared for the demands of the solo performer and the concert stage.

Although there have been continued developments since the middle 1800's, our modern guitar retains most of what was developed nearly 150 years ago. No one can say if we have reached the end of the evolution of the guitar, but until now, many of the best guitars from the point of view of volume, projection and sheer beauty of tone were made by the great makers, Torres, Ramirez and Arias from the second half of the last century!

新托福阅读背景知识：植物适应沙漠

Plant adaptation to the desert(背景材料)

Cactus adaptations.

The secret to the superior endurance of cacti lies in their adaptations. Over millions of years, through natural selection, only the strongest and best adapted species survived.

As you know, it is very dry in the desert. Plants that adapt to this are known as xerophytes (from zeros, dry and python, plant). There are plants that avoid the dry season by sprouting from seed just after the spring rain and growing very fast so that by the time the dry season comes, they have already produced a lot of seeds and died. These seeds lie on the soil for the dry season and sprout again in spring and the cycle repeats. Other xerophytes simply drop their leaves and stay dormant for the winter. But there is another special type of xerophytes which stores water in its fleshy tissues. Such plants are called succulents (from success, juicy). The cactus is a typical example of a succulent.

If you cut a cactus open, you see a juicy, slimy tissue. This is where the moisture is stored for the dry season. The part between the middle circle (and pith) and just under the very green part of the plant (or palisade parenchyma) just under the skin is allocated for the storage of water and food for the plant. This is a type of spongy parenchyma and can take up to 85% of the plant's volume. This is a major adaptation in the desert. Because the plant remains completely alive during the dry season and there is no need for it to dry up and lose everything, makes it possible for the plant to grow to large sizes. Another advantage is that the plant retains supplies (in the form of starch) for the winter so that it can flower right away in spring without accumulating more supplies (as most plants need to do in spring). The whole purpose of storing supplies for the winter is mostly to energize flowering in spring but it also lets the cactus start growing much sooner.

Flowering plants breathe and transpire (evaporate water from their surface) through closeable microscopic pores called stoats on the leaves or stems. To do this, their pores have to be open. In most plants these are open all day and on warm nights. But for cacti this is inconvenient as in daytime it is very hot and thus the plant would lose a lot of water through evaporation. So the cactus must close them in the daytime. But then it cannot breathe or photosynthesize (the process where sugars are made from carbon dioxide and water and releasing oxygen using the sun's energy). Succulents have an adaptation to that. Their stoats are closed during the day and are open at night, when it is not that hot and store carbon dioxide in its tissues as crass lean acid and then turn it back to carbon dioxide in the daytime. This process is called crass lean acid metabolism or CAM and it is a very smart way of respiring in the desert.

If we look at the outside of the plant, we notice that there is a tough leathery skin covering the plant, we can also notice the presence of ribs and spines and sometimes fur. These are all very smart adaptations. They serve mainly for surviving heat but are also used as defense.

The tough leathery skin is very impermeable to water, thus reducing evaporation from the surface of the plant. This skin often has a layer of plant wax on it which is often lightly colored (Pilosocereus azures is an example of a plant with such wax), white or blue. This reflects light and also reduces evaporation from the inside.

新托福阅读背景知识：马斯洛需要层次理论

马斯洛的需要层次理论

马斯洛认为，人类的需要是分层次的，由低到高。它们是：

自我实现的需要

尊重 的 需 要

社交 的 需 要

安全 的 需 要

生理 的 需 要

生理上的需要是人们最原始、最基本的需要，如吃饭、穿衣、住宅、医疗等等。若不满足，则有生命危险。这就是说，它是最强烈的不可避免的最底层需要，也是推动人们行动的强大动力。显然，这种生理需要具有自我和种族保护的意义，以饥渴为主，是人类个体为了生存而必不可少的需要。当一个人存在多种需要时，例如同时缺乏食物、安全和爱情，总是缺乏食物的饥饿需要占有最大的优势，这说明当一个人为生理需要所控制时，那么其他一切需要都被推到幕后。

安全的需要要求劳动安全、职业安全、生活稳定、希望免于灾难、希望未来有保障等，具体表现在：①物质上的：如操作安全、劳动保护和保健待遇等②经济上的：如失业、意外事故、养老等③心理上的：希望解除严酷监督的威胁、希望免受不公正待遇，工作有应付能力和信心。安全需要比生理需要较高一级，当生理需要得到满足以后就要保障这种需要。每一个在现实中生活的人，都会产生安全感的欲望、自由的欲望、防御的实力的欲望。

社交的需要也叫归属与爱的需要，是指个人渴望得到家庭、团体、朋友、同事的关怀爱护理解，是对友情、信任、温暖、爱情的需要。社交的需要生理和安全需要更细微、更难捉摸。它包括：①社交欲。希望和同事保持友谊与忠诚的伙伴关系，希望得到互爱等②归属感。希望有所归属，成为团体的一员，在个人有困难时能互相帮助，希望有熟识的友人能倾吐心里话、说说意见，甚至发发牢骚。而爱不单是指两性间的爱，而是广义的，体现在互相信任、深深理解和相互给予上，包括给予和接受爱。社交的需要与个人性格、经历、生活区域、民族、生活习惯、宗教信仰等都有关系，这种需要是难以察悟，无法度量的。

尊重的需要可分为自尊、他尊和权力欲三类，包括自我尊重、自我评价以及尊重别人。与自尊有关的，如自尊心、自信心，对独立、知识、成就、能力的需要等。尊重的需要也可以如此划分：①渴望实力、成就、适应性和面向世界的自信心、以及渴望独立与自由;②渴望名誉与声望。声望为来自别人的尊重、受人赏识、注意或欣赏。满足自我尊重的需要导致自信、价值与能力体验、力量及适应性增强等多方面的感觉，而阻挠这些需要将产生自卑感、虚弱感和无能感。基于这种需要，愿意把工作做得更好，希望受到别人重视，借以自我炫耀，指望有成长的机会、有出头的可能。显然，尊重的需要很少能够得到完全的满足，但基本上的满足就可产生推动力。这种需要一旦成为推动力，就将会令人具有持久的干劲。

自我实现的需要是最高等级的需要。满足这种需要就要求完成与自己能力相称的工作，最充分地发挥自己的潜在能力，成为所期望的人物。这是一种创造的需要。有自我实现需要的人，似乎在竭尽所能，使自己趋于完美。自我实现意味着充分地、活跃地、忘我地、集中全力全神贯注地体验生活。成就感与成长欲不同，成就感追求一定的理想，往往废寝忘食地工作，把工作当是一种创作活动，希望为人们解决重大课题，从而完全实现自己的抱负。

在马斯洛看来，人类价值体系存在两类不同的需要，一类是沿生物谱系上升方向逐渐变弱的本能或冲动，称为低级需要和生理需要。一类是随生物进化而逐渐显现的潜能或需要，称为高级需要。

人都潜藏着这五种不同层次的需要，但在不同的时期表现出来的各种需要的迫切程度是不同的。人的最迫切的需要才是激励人行动的主要原因和动力。人的需要是从外部得来的满足逐渐向内在得到的满足转化。

在高层次的需要充分出现之前，低层次的需要必须得到适当的满足。

低层次的需要基本得到满足以后，它的激励作用就会降低，其优势地位将不再保持下去，高层次的需要会取代它成为推动行为的主要原因。有的需要一经满足，便不能成为激发人们行为的起因，于是被其他需要取而代之。

这五种需要不可能完全满足，愈到上层，满足的百分比愈少。

任何一种需要并不因为下一个高层次需要的发展而告消失，各层次的需要相互依赖与重叠，高层次的需要发展后，低层次的需要仍然存在，只是对行为影响的比重减轻而已。

高层次的需要比低层次的需要具有更大的价值。热情是由高层次的需要激发。人的最高需要即自我实现就是以最有效和最完整的方式表现他自己的潜力，惟此才能使人得到高峰体验。

人的五种基本需要在一般人身上往往是无意识的。对于个体来说，无意识的动机比有意识的动机更重要。对于有丰富经验的人，通过适当的技巧，可以把无意识的需要转变为有意识的需要。

马斯洛还认为：在人自我实现的创造性过程中，产生出一种所谓的“高峰体验”的情感，这个时候是人处于最激荡人心的时刻，是人的存在的最高、最完美、最和谐的状态，这时的人具有一种欣喜若狂、如醉如痴、销魂的感觉。

试验证明，当人呆在漂亮的房间里面就显得比在简陋的房间里更富有生气、更活泼、更健康;一个善良、真诚、美好的人比其他人更能体会到存在于外界中的真善美。当人们在外界发现了最高价值时，就可能同时在自己的内心中产生或加强这种价值。总之，较好的人和处于较好环境的人更容易产生高峰体验。

马斯洛(Abraham Harold Maslow, 1908-1970)是一位美国心理学家，早期曾经从事动物社会心理学的研究，1940年在美国社会心理学杂志上发表《灵长类优势品质和社会行为》一文。之后转入人类的社会心理学研究。1943年出版了《人类动机的理论》，1954年出版《动机与人格》，1962年出版了《存在心理学导言》一书。马斯洛的观点属于人本主义心理学，其哲学基础是存在主义。

评：由于我对需要的看法是来自存在需求和发展需求，划分的方法不同，导致我对马斯洛的需要层次理论有不同的看法和意见。总的来说，划分为生物、安全、社交、尊重、自我实现五个层次也是可以的，有其科学性。而且其精髓在于激励人们的主动性创造性，这是相当进步的。我所不赞成的主要来自这几个方面：

1、低级需要与高级需要的划分。我认为，作为生物的本能的需要是低级需要，这是在自然界中生存选择形成的;作为人的需要是高级需要，这是在人类社会中形成发展或被强化的，通常可以在教育的影响下发展。

2、各种层次之间的相互关系。事实上，信念可以超越各种包括生理、安全、社交、他尊等需要，这是自我实现、自尊、自我评价等需要带来的。爱的需要同样可以克服包括生理、安全、尊重的需要等。

3、有很多需要不会被满足，会纵深发展。比如爱无止境。

4、需要并不是按级发展的，会产生越级现象。但这不是例外，而是很正常的，常发性的。