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TOEFL全真试题(3-2) |
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| 作者:佚名 来源:互联网 点击数: 更新时间:2006-6-30
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Reading Comprehension
Time: 55 minutes (including the reading of the directions). Now set your clock for 55 minutes.
Questions 1-9
In science, a theory is a reasonable explanation of observed evnets that are related.
A theory often involves an imaginary model that helps scientists picture the way an
obseved event could could be produced. A good example of this is found in the kinetic
molecular theory, in which gases are pictured as being made up of many small particles
that are in constant motion.
A useful theoty, in addition to explaining past observations, helps to predict events
that have not as yet been ovserved. After a theory has been publized, scientists design
experiments to test the theory. If observations confirm the scientists predictions, the
theory is supported. If observations do not confirm the predictions, the scientists must
search further. There may be a fault in the experiment, or the theory may have to be
revised or rejected.
Science involves imagination and creative thinking as well as collecting information
and performing experiments. Facts by thenselves are not science. As the mathematician
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."
Most scientists start an investigation by finding out what other scientists have
learned avout a particular problem. After kmown facts have been gathered, the scientist
comes to the part of the investigation that requires considerable imagination. Possible
solutions to the problem are formulated. these possible solutions are called hypotheses.
In a way, any hypothesis is a leap into the unknown. It extents the scientist s
thinking beyond the known facts. The scientist plans experiments, performs calculations
and makes observations to test hypotheses. For without hypotheses, further investigation
lacks purpose and direction. Wheb hypotheses are confirmed, they are incorporated
into theories.
1. The word "related" in line 1 is closest in meaning to
(A) connected
(B) described
(C) completed
(D) identified
2. The word "this" in line 3 refers to
(A) a good example
(B) an imaginary model
(C) the kinetic molecular theory
(D) an observed event
3. Axxording to the second paragraph, a useful theory is one that helps scientists to
(A) find errors in past experiments
(B) make predictions
(C) observe events
(D) publicize new findings
4. The word "supported" in line 9 is closest in meaning to
(A) finished
(B) adjusted
(C) investigated
(D) upheld
5. Bricks are mentioned in lines 14-16 to indicate how
(A) mathematicinans 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
6. In the fourth paragraph, the author implies that imagination is most important to scientists when they
(A) evaluate previous work on a problem
(B) formulate possible solutions to a problem
(C) gather known facts
(D) close an investigation
7. In line 21, the author refers to a hypotheses as "a leap into the unknown" in order to show that hypotheses
(A) are sometimes ill-conceived
(B) can lead to dangerous resultss
(C) go beyond available facts
(D) require effort to formulate
8. In the last paragraph, what does the author imply a major function of hypotheses?
(A) Sifting through known facts
(B)Communicating a scientist s thoughts to others
(C) Providing direction for scientific research
[6] [7] [8] [NextPage]
(D) Linking together different theories
9. Which of the following statements is supported by the passage?
(A) Theories are simply imaginary models of past events.
(B) It is better to revise a hypothesis than to reject it.
(C) A scientist s most difficult task is testing hypotheses.
(D) A good scientist needs to be creative.
Question 10-20
By the mid-nineteenth century, the term "icebox" had entered the American
language, but ice was still only beginning to affect the diet of ordinary citizens in the
United States. The ice trade grew with the growth of cities. Ice was used in hotels,
taverns, and hospitals, and by some forward-looking city dealers in fresh meat, fresh
fish, and butter. After the Civil War(1860-1865), as ice used to refrigerate freight
cars, it also came into household use. Even before 1880, half the ice sold in New York,
Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and one-third oof that sold in Boston and Chicago, went to
families for their own use. This had become possible because a new household
convenience, the icebox, a precursor of the modern refrigerator, had been invented.
Making an efficient icebox was not as easy as we might now suppose. In the early
nineteenth century, the knowledge of the physics of heat, which was essential to a
science of refrigeration, was rudimentary. 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. Nevertheless, early efforts to
economize ice included wrapping the ice in blankets, which kept the ice from doing its
job. Not until near the end of the nineteenth century did inventors achieve the delicate
balance of insulation and circulation needed for an efficient icebox.
But as early as 1803, an ingenious Maryland farmer. Thomas Moore, had been on
the right track. He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of washington, for
which the village of Georgetown was the market center. When he used an icebox of his
own design to transport his butter to market, he found that customers would pass up the
rapidly melting stuff in the tubs of his competitors to pay a premium price for his
butter, still fresh and hard in neat, one-pound bricks. One advantage of his icebox,
Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have to travel to market at night in
order to keep their produce cool.
10. What does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) The influence of ice on the diet
(B) The development of refrigeration
(C) The transportation of goods to market
(D) Sources of ice in the nineteenth century
11. According to the passage, when did the word "icebox" become part of the language of the United States?
(A) In 1803
(B) Sometime before 1850
(C) During the Civil War
(D) Near the end of the nineteenth century
12. The phrase "forward-looking" in line 4 is closest in meaning to
(A) progressive
(B) popular
(C) thrifty
(D) well-established
13. The author mentions fish in line 5 because
(A) many fish dealers also sold ice
(B) fish was shipped in refrigerated freight cars
(C) fish dealers were among the early commercial users of ice
(D) fish was not part of the ordinary person s diet before the invention of the icebox
14. The word "it" in line 6 refers to
(A) fresh meat
(B) the Civil War
(C) ice
(D) a refrigerator
15. According to the passage, which of the following was an obstacle to the deveopment of the
icebox?
(A) Competition among the owners of refrigerated freight cars
(B) The lack of a network for the distribution of ice
[6] [7] [8] [NextPage]
(C) The use of insufficient insulation
(D) Inadequate understanding of physics
16. The word "rudimentary" in line 12 is closest in meaning to
(A) growing
(B) undeveloped
(C) necessary
(D) uninteresting
17. 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
18 The author describes Thomas Moore as having been "on the right track" (line 18-19) to indicate
that
(A) the road to the market passed close to Moore s farm
(B) Moore was an honest merchant
(C) Moore was a prosperous farmer
(D) Moore s design was fairly successful
19. According to the passage, Moore s icebox allowed him to
(A) charge more for his butter
(B) travel to market at night
(C) manufacture butter more quickly
(D) produce ice all year round
20. The "produce" mentioned in line 25 could include
(A) iceboxes
(B) butter
(C) ice
(D) markets
Question 21-30
Aside from perpetuating itself, the sole purpose of the American Academy and
Instiute of Arts and Letters is to "foster, assist and sustain an interest" in literature,
music, and art. This it does by enthusiastically handing out money. Annual cash awards
are given to deserving artists in various categories of creativity: architecture, musical
composition, theater, novels, serious poetry, light verse,painting,sculpture. One award
subsidizes a promising American writer s visit to Rome. There is even an award for a
very good work of fiction that falled commercially-once won by the young John
Updike for The poorhouse Fair and, more recently, by Alice Walker for In Love and
Trouble.
The awards and prizes total about $750,000 a year, but most of them range in size
from $5,000 to $12,500, a welcome sum to many young practitioners whose work may
not bring in that much in a year. One of the advantages of the awards is that
many go to the struggling artists, rather than to those who are already successful.
Members of the Academy and Institute are not eligible for any cash prizes. Another
advantage is that, unlike the National Endowment for the Arts or similar institutions
throughout the world, there is no government money involved.
Awards are made by committee. Each of the three departments--Literature
(120 members), Art(83), Music(47)--has a committee dealing with its own field.
Committee membership rotates every year, so that new voices and opinions are
constantly heard.
The most financially rewarding of all the Academy-Institute awards are the Mildred
and Harold Strauss Livings. Harold Strauss, a devoted editor at Alfred A. Knopf, the
New York publishing house, and Mildred Strauss, his wife, were wealthy any childless.
They left the Academy-Institute a unique bequest: for five consecutive years, two
distinguished (and financially needy) writers would receive enough money so they
could devote themselves entirely to "prose literature" (no plays, no poetry, and no
paying job that might distract). In 1983, the first Strauss Livings of $35,000 a year
went to short-story writer Raymond Carver and novelist-essayist Cynthia Ozick. By
1988, the fund had grown enough so that two winners, novelists Diane Johnson and
Robert Stone, each got $50,000 a year for five years.
21. What does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) Award-winning works of literature
(B) An organization that supports the arts
(C) The life of an artist
(D) Individual patrons of the arts
22. The word "sole" in line 1 is closest in meaning to
[6] [7] [8]
(A) only
(B) honorable
(C) common
(D) official
23. The word "subsidizes" in line 6 is closest in meaning to
(A) assures
(B) finances
(C) schedules
(D) publishes
24. Which of the following can be inferred about Alice Walker s book in Love and Trouble?
(A) It sold more copies than The Poorhouse Fair.
(B) It described the author s visit to Rome.
(C) It was a commercial success.
(D) It was published after The Poorhouse Fair.
25. Each year the awards and prizes offered by the Academy-Institute total approximately
(A) $12,500
(B) $53,000
(C) $50,000
(D) $750,000
26. The word "many" in line 13 refers to
(A) practitioners
(B) advantages
(C) awards
(D) strugglers
27.What is one of the advantages of the Academy-Institute awards mentioned in passage?
(A) They are subsidized by the government.
(B)They are often given to unknown artists.
(C)They are also given to Academy-Istitute members.
(D) They influence how the National Endowment for the Arts makes its award decisions.
28. The word "rotates" in line 19 is closest in meaning to
(A) alternates
(B) participates
(C) decides
(D) meets
29. The word "they" in line 25 refers to
(A) Mildred and Harold Strauss
(B) years
(C) writers
(D) plays
30. Where in the passage does the author cite the goal of the Academy-Institute?
(A) Lines 1-3
(B) Lines 12-13
(C) Line 19-20
(D) Line 22-23.
Questions 31-41
Archaeological records-paintings, drawings and carvings of humans engaged in
activities involving the use of hands-indicate that humans have been predominantly
right-handed for more than 5,000 years. In ancient Egyptian artwork, for example, the
right hand is depicted as the dominant one in about 90 percent of the examples. Fracture
or wear patterns on tools also indicate that a majority of ancient people were right-handed.
Cro-Magnon cave paintings some 27,000 years old commonly show outlines of human
hands made by placing one hand against the cave wall and applying paint with the
other. Children today make similar outlines of their hands with crayons on paper. With
few exceptions, left hands of Cro-Magnans are displayed on cave walls, indicating that
the paintings were usually done by right-handers.
Anthropological evidence pushes the record of handedness in early human ancestors
back to at least 1.4 million years ago. One important line of evidence comes from
flaking patterns of stone cores used in toolmaking: implements flaked with a
clockwise motion (indicating a right-handed toolmaker) can be distinguished from
those flaked with a counter-clockwise rotation (indicating a left-handed toolmaker).
Even scratches found on fossil human teeth offer clues. Ancient humans are thought
to have cut meat into strips by holding it between their teeth and slicing it with stone
knives, as do the present-day Inuit. Occasionally the knives slip and leave scratches on
the users teeth. Scratches made with a left-to-right stroke direction (by right-handers)
are more common than scratches in the opposite direction (made by left-handers).
Still other evidence comes from cranial morphology: scientists think that physical
differences between the right and left sides of the interior of the skull indicate subtle
physical differences between the two sides of the brain. The variation between the
hemispheres corresponds to which side of the body is used to perform specific
activities. Such studies, as well as studies of tool use, indicate that right- or left-sided
dominance is not exclusive to modern Homo sapiens. Population of Neanderthals,
[6] [7] [8] |
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