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TOEFL阅读理解真题整合

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“艾希女王陛下”通过精心收集，向本站投稿了10篇TOEFL阅读理解真题整合，以下是小编为大家整理后的TOEFL阅读理解真题整合，欢迎参阅，希望可以帮助到有需要的朋友。

TOEFL阅读理解真题整合

篇1：TOEFL阅读理解真题整合

托福阅读真题1

Glaciers are large masses of ice on land that show evidence of past or present movement. They grow by the gradual transformation of snow into glacier ice.

A fresh snowfall is a fluffy mass of loosely packed snowflakes, small delicate ice crystals grown in the atmosphere. As the snow ages on the ground for weeks or months, the crystals shrink and become more compact, and the whole mass becomes squeezed together into a more dense form, granular snow. As new snow falls and buries the older snow, the layers of granular snow further compact to form firm, a much denser kind of snow, usually a year or more old, which has little pore space. Further burial and slow cementation — a process by which crystals become bound together in a mosaic of intergrown ice crystals — finally produce solid glacial ice. In this process of recrystallization, the growth of new crystals at the expense of old ones, the percentage of air is reduced from about 90 percent for snowflakes to less than 20 percent for glacier ice. The whole process may take as little as a few years, but more likely ten or twenty years or longer. The snow is usually many meters deep by the time the lower layers are converted into ice.

In cold glaciers those formed in the coldest regions of the Earth, the entire mass of ice is at temperatures below the melting point and no free water exists. In temperate glaciers, the ice is at the melting point at every pressure level within the glacier, and free water is present as small drops or as larger accumulations in tunnels within or beneath the ice.

Formation of a glacier is complete when ice has accumulated to a thickness (and thus weight) sufficient to make it move slowly under pressure, in much the same way that solid rock deep within the Earth can change shape without breaking. Once that point is reached, the ice flows downhill, either as a tongue of ice filling a valley or as thick ice cap that flows out in directions from the highest central area where the most snow accumulates. The trip down leads to the eventual melting of ice.

1. Which of the following does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The effect of glaciers on climate

(B) Damage from glaciers

(D) The location of glaciers

2. Which of the following will cause density within the glacier to increase?

(A) Increased water and air content

(B) Pressure from the weight of new snow

(D) Movement of the glacier

3. The word bound in line 9 is closest in meaning to

(A) covered

(B) chosen

(D) held

4. Which of the following will be lost is a glacier forms?

(A) Air

(B) Pressure

(D) Rocks

5. According to the passage , which of the following is the LEAST amount of time necessary for

glacial ice to form?

(A) several months

(B) several years

(D) a century

6. The word converted in line 15 is closest in meaning to

(A) changed

(B) delayed

(D) dissolved

7. What is the purpose of the material in paragraph three?

(A) To define two types of glaciers

(B) To contrast glacier ice with non-glacier ice

(D) To discuss the similarities between glacial types

8. In temperate glaciers, where is water found?

(A) Only near the surface

(B) In pools of various depths

(D) In tunnels

9. The word it in line 21 refers to

(A) formation

(B) ice

(D) weight

10. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that a glacier

(A) can revert to a fluffy mass

(B) maintains the same shape throughout the glacial process

(D) can contribute water to lakes, rivers, or oceans

PASSAGE 74 CBDAB AADBD

托福阅读真题2

Many prehistoric people subsisted as hunters and gatherers. Undoubtedly, game animals, including some very large species, provided major components of human diets. An important controversy centering on the question of human effects on prehistoric wildlife concerns the sudden disappearance of so many species of large animals at or near the end of the Pleistocene epoch. Most paleontologists suspect that abrupt changes in climate led to the mass extinctions. Others, however, have concluded that prehistoric people drove many of those species to extinction through overhunting. In their Pleistocene overkill hypothesis, they cite what seems to be a remarkable coincidence between the arrival of prehistoric peoples in North and South America and the time during which mammoths, giant ground sloths, the giant bison, and numerous other large mammals became extinct.

Perhaps the human species was driving others to extinction long before the dawn of history. Hunter-gatherers may have contributed to Pleistocene extinctions in more indirect ways. Besides overhunting, at least three other kinds of effects have been suggested: direct competition, imbalances between competing species of game animals, and early agricultural practices. Direct competition may have brought about the demise of large carnivores such as the saber-toothed cats. These animals simply may have been unable to compete with the increasingly sophisticated hunting skills of Pleistocene people.

Human hunters could have caused imbalances among game animals, leading to the extinctions of species less able to compete. When other predators such as the gray wolf prey upon large mammals, they generally take high proportions of each year's crop of young. Some human hunters, in contrast, tend to take the various age-groups of large animals in proportion to their actual occurrence. If such hunters first competed with the larger predators and then replaced them, they may have allowed more young to survive each year, gradually increasing the populations of favored species. As these populations expanded, they in turn may have competed with other game species for the same environmental niche, forcing the less hunted species into extinction. This theory, suggests that human hunters played an indirect role in Pleistocene extinctions by hunting one species more than another.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The effects of human activities on prehistoric wildlife

(B) The origins of the hunter-gatherer way of life

(D) The change in climate at the end of the Pleistocene epoch

2. The word Undoubtedly in line 1 is closest in meaning to

(A) occasionally

(B) unexpectedly

(D) certainly

3. The word components in line 2 is closest in meaning to

(A) parts

(B) problems

(D) varieties

4. Which of the following is mentioned as supporting the Pleistocene overkill hypothesis?

(A) Many of the animals that became extinct were quite large.

(B) Humans migrated into certain regions around the time that major extinctions occurred.

(D) Humans began to keep and care for certain animals.

5. The word Besides in line 14 is closest in meaning to

(A) caused by

(B) whereas

(D) in favor of

6. The author mentions saber-toothed cats in line 17 as an example of a carnivore that

(A) became extinct before the Pleistocene epoch

(B) was unusually large for its time

(D) caused the extinction of several species

7. The word they in line 22 refers to

(A) human hunters

(B) game animals

(D) large mammals

8. According to the passage , what is one difference between the hunting done by some humans

and the hunting done by gray wolves?

(A) Some humans hunt more frequently than gray wolves.

(B) Gray wolves hunt in larger groups than some humans.

(D) Some humans prey on animals of all ages, but gray wolves concentrate their efforts on young

animals.

9. The word favored in line 26 is closest in meaning to

(A) large

(B) escaping

(D) local

10. According to the passage , the imbalances discussed in paragraph 3 may have resulted from

(A) the effect of climate changes on large game animals

(B) large animals moving into a new environment

(D) older animals not being able to compete with younger animals

PASSAGE 75 ADABC CCDCC

托福阅读真题3

Under the Earth's topsoil, at various levels, sometimes under a layer of rock, there are deposits of clay. Look at cuts where highways have been built to see exposed clay beds; or look at a construction site, where pockets of clay may be exposed. Rivers also reveal clay along their banks, and erosion on a hillside may make clay easily accessible. What is clay made of? The Earth's surface is basically rock, and it is this rock that gradually decomposes into clay. Rain, streams, alternating freezing and thawing, roots of trees and plants forcing their way into cracks, earthquakes, volcanic action, and glaciers — all of these forces slowly break down the Earth's exposed rocky crust into smaller and smaller pieces that eventually become clay.

Rocks are composed of elements and compounds of elements. Feldspar, which is the most abundant mineral on the Earth's surface, is basically made up of the oxides silica and alumina combined with alkalis like potassium and some so-called impurities such as iron. Feldspar is an essential component of granite rocks, and as such it is the basis of clay. When it is wet, clay can be easily shaped to make a variety of useful objects, which can then be fired to varying degrees of hardness and covered with impermeable decorative coatings of glasslike material called glaze. Just as volcanic action, with its intense heat, fuses the elements in certain rocks into a glasslike rock called obsidian, so can we apply heat to earthen materials and change them into a hard, dense material. Different clays need different heat levels to fuse, and some, the low-fire clays, never become nonporous and watertight like highly fired stoneware. Each clay can stand only a certain amount of heat without losing its shape through sagging or melting. Variations of clay composition and the temperatures at which they are fired account for the differences in texture and appearance between a china teacup and an earthenware flowerpot.

1. The author's main point in paragraph 1 is that clay deposits

(A) conceal layers of rock

(B) can be found in various places

(D) must be removed from construction sites

2. It can be inferred from the passage that clay is LEAST likely to be plentiful in which of the following areas?

(A) in desert sand dunes

(B) in forests

(D) near rivers

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

(A) buried

(B) improved

(D) workable

4. According to the passage , rock breaks down into clay under all of the following conditions

EXCEPT when

(A) it is exposed to freezing and thawing

(B) roots of trees force their way into cracks

(D) natural forces wear away the Earth's crust

5. Why does the author mention feldspar in line 10?

(A) It is often used as a substitute for clay.

(B) It is damaged by the oxides in clay.

(D) It is a major component of clay.

6. The word it in line 13 refers to

(A) iron

(B) feldspar

(D) clay

7. Based on the information in the passage , it can be inferred that low-fire clays are MOST

appropriate for making objects that

(A) must be strong

(B) can be porous

(D) are highly decorated

8. The phrase account for in line 22 is closest in meaning to

(A) reduce

(B) explain

(D) list all of

9. The passage supports which of the following conclusions?

(A) Clay deposits are only found deep in the Earth.

(B) If clay contains too much iron it will melt when fired.

(D) If sufficient heat is applied, all clay will become nonporous.

PASSAGE 76 BACCD BBBC

篇2：TOEFL托福阅读理解真题整合

托福阅读真题1

A survey is a study, generally in the form of an interview or a questionnaire that provides information concerning how people think and act. In the United States, the best-known surveys are the Gallup poll and the Harris poll. As anyone who watches the news during presidential campaigns knows, these polls have become an important part of political life in the United States.

North Americans are familiar with the many person-on-the-street interviews on local television news shows. While such interviews can be highly entertaining, they are not necessarily an accurate indication of public opinion. First, they reflect the opinions of only those people who appear at a certain location. Thus, such samples can be biased in favor of commuters, middle-class shoppers, or factory workers, depending on which area the newspeople select. Second, television interviews tend to attract outgoing people who are willing to appear on the air, while they frighten away others who may feel intimidated by a camera. A survey must be based on a precise, representative sampling if it is to genuinely reflect a broad range of the population.

In preparing to conduct a survey, sociologists must exercise great care in the wording of questions. An effective survey question must be simple and clear enough for people to understand it. It must also be specific enough so that there are no problems in interpreting the results. Even questions that are less structured must be carefully phrased in order to elicit the type of information desired. Surveys can be indispensable sources of information, but only if the sampling is done properly and the questions are worded accurately.

There are two main forms of surveys: the interview and the questionnaire. Each of these forms of survey research has its advantages. An interviewer can obtain a high response rate because people find it more difficult to turn down a personal request for an interview than to throw away a written questionnaire. In addition, an interviewer can go beyond written questions and probe for a subject's underlying feelings and reasons. However, questionnaires have the advantage of being cheaper and more consistent.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The history of surveys in North America

(B) The principles of conducting surveys

(D) The importance of polls in American political life

2. The word they in line 8 refers to

(A) North Americans

(B) news shows

(D) opinions

3. According to the passage , the main disadvantage of person-on-the-street interviews is that

they

(A) are not based on a representative sampling

(B) are used only on television

(D) reflect political opinions

4. The word precise in line 13 is closest in meaning to

(A) planned

(B) rational

(D) accurate

5. According to paragraph 3, which of the following is most important for an effective survey?

(A) A high number of respondents

(B) Carefully worded questions

(D) A sociologist who is able to interpret the results

6. The word exercise in line 15 is closest in meaning to

(A) utilize

(B) consider

(D) defend

7. The word elicit in line 19 is closest in meaning to

(A) compose

(B) rule out

(D) bring out

8. It can be inferred from the passage that one reason that sociologists may become frustrated

with questionnaires is that

(A) respondents often do not complete and return questionnaires

(B) questionnaires are often difficult to read

(D) respondents are too eager to supplement questions with their own opinions

9. According to the passage , one advantage of live interviews over questionnaires is that live

interviews

(A) cost less

(B) can produce more information

(D) minimize the influence of the researcher

10. The word probe in line 26 is closest in meaning to

(A) explore

(B) influence

(D) apply

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

(A) Survey (line 1)

(B) Public opinion (line 8)

(D) Response rate (line 24)

PASSAGE 80 BCADB ADABA A

托福阅读真题2

The largest of the giant gas planets, Jupiter, with a volume 1,300 times greater than Earth's, contains more than twice the mass of all the other planets combined. It is thought to be a gaseous and fluid planet without solid surfaces, Had it been somewhat more massive, Jupiter might have attained internal temperatures as high as the ignition point for nuclear reactions, and it would have flamed as a star in its own right. Jupiter and the other giant planets are of a low-density type quite distinct from the terrestrial planets: they are composed predominantly of such substances as hydrogen, helium, ammonia, and methane, unlike terrestrial planets. Much of Jupiter's interior might be in the form of liquid, metallic hydrogen. Normally, hydrogen is a gas, but under pressures of millions of kilograms per square centimeter, which exist in the deep interior of Jupiter, the hydrogen atoms might lock together to form a liquid with the properties of a metal. Some scientists believe that the innermost core of Jupiter might be rocky, or metallic like the core of Earth.

Jupiter rotates very fast, once every 9.8 hours. As a result, its clouds, which are composed largely of frozen and liquid ammonia, have been whipped into alternating dark and bright bands that circle the planet at different speeds in different latitudes. Jupiter's puzzling Great Red Spot changes size as it hovers in the Southern Hemisphere. Scientists speculate it might be a gigantic hurricane, which because of its large size (the Earth could easily fit inside it), lasts for hundreds of years.

Jupiter gives off twice as much heat as it receives from the Sun. Perhaps this is primeval heat or heat generated by the continued gravitational contraction of the planet. Another starlike characteristic of Jupiter is its sixteen natural satellites, which, like a miniature model of the Solar System, decrease in density with distance — from rocky moons close to Jupiter to icy moons farther away. If Jupiter were about 70 times more massive, it would have become a star, Jupiter is the best-preserved sample of the early solar nebula, and with its satellites, might contain the most important clues about the origin of the Solar System.

1. The word attained in line 4 is closest in meaning to

(A) attempted

(B) changed

(D) reached

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

(A) burned

(B) divided

(D) grown

3. The word they in line 7 refers to

(A) nuclear reactions

(B) giant planets

(D) substances

4. According to the passage , hydrogen can become a metallic-like liquid when it is

(A) extremely hot

(B) combined with helium

(D) under great pressures

5. According to the passage , some scientists believe Jupiter and Earth are similar in that they

both have

(A) solid surfaces

(B) similar masses

(D) metallic cores

6. The clouds surrounding Jupiter are mostly composed of

(A) ammonia

(B) helium

(D) methane

7. It can be inferred from the passage that the appearance of alternating bands circling Jupiter is

caused by

(A) the Great Red Spot

(B) heat from the Sun

(D) Storms from the planet's Southern Hemisphere

8. The author uses the word puzzling in line 17 to suggest that the Great Red Spot is

(A) the only spot of its kind

(B) not well understood

(D) a problem for the planet's continued existence

9. Paragraph 3 supports which of the following conclusions?

(A) Jupiter gives off twice as much heat as the Sun.

(B) Jupiter has a weaker gravitational force than the other planets.

(D) Scientists might learn about the beginning of the Solar System by Studying Jupiter.

10. Why does the author mention primeval heat (lines 21)?

(A) To provide evidence that Jupiter is older than the Sun

(B) To provide evidence that Jupiter is older than the other planets

(D) To suggest a possible source of the quantity of heat that Jupiter gives off

11. According to the passage , Jupiter's most distant moon is

(A) the least dense

(B) the largest

(D) very rocky on the surface

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

(A) If Jupiter had fewer satellites, it would be easier for scientists to study the planet itself.

(B) If Jupiter had had more mass, it would have developed internal nuclear reactions.

(D) if Jupiter were larger, it would give off much less heat

PASSAGE 81 DABDD ACBDD AB.

托福阅读真题3

Ethology is concerned with the study of adaptive, or survival, value of behavior and its evolutionary history. Ethological theory began to be applied to research on children in the 1960's but has become even more influential today. The origins of ethology can be traced back to the work of Darwin. Its modern foundations were laid by two European zoologists, Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen.

Watching the behaviors diverse animal species in their natural habitats, Lorenz, and Tinbergen observed behavior patterns that promote survival. The most well-known of these is imprinting, the early following behavior of certain baby birds that ensures that the young will stay close to their mother and be fed and protected from danger. Imprinting takes place during an early, restricted time period of development. If the mother goose is not present during this time, but an object resembling her in important features is, young goslings may imprint on it instead. Observations of imprinting led to major concept that has been applied in child development — the critical period. It refers to a limited times span during which the child is biologically prepared to acquire certain adaptive behaviors but needs the support of suitably stimulating environment. Many researchers have conducted studies to find out whether complex cognitive and social behaviors must be learned during restricted time periods. For example, if children are deprived of adequate food or physical and social stimulation during the early years of life, will their intelligence be permanently impaired? If language is not mastered during the preschool years, is the child's capacity to acquire it reduced?

Inspired by observations of imprinting, in 1969 the British psychoanalyst John Bowlby applied ethological theory to the understanding of the relationship between an infant and its parents. He argued that attachment behaviors of babies, such as smiling, babbling, grasping, and crying, are built-in social signals that encourage the parents to approach, care for, and interact with the baby. By keeping a parent near, these behaviors help ensure that the baby will be fed, protected from danger, and provided with the stimulation and affection necessary for healthy growth. The development of attachment in human infants is a lengthy process involving changes in psychological structures that lead to a deep affectional tie between parent and baby.

1. What was Darwin's contribution to ethology?

(A) Darwin improved on the original principles of ethology.

(B) Darwin was the professor who taught Lorenz and Tinbergen.

(D) Darwin was the first person to apply ethological theory to children.

2. The word diverse in line 6 is closest in meaning to

(A) small

(B) varied

(D) particular

3. The word ensures in line 8 is closest in meaning to

(A) guarantees

(B) proves

(D) assumes

4. According to the passage , if a mother goose is not present during the time period when

imprinting takes place, which of the following will most likely occur?

(A) The gosling will not imprint on any object.

(B) The gosling may not find a mate when it matures.

(D) The gosling may imprint on another object.

5. The word it in line 12 refers to

(A) development

(B) goose

(D) object

6. The word suitably in line 16 is closest in meaning to

(A) willingly

(B) moderately

(D) emotionally

7. The author mentions all of the following as attachment behaviors of human infants EXCEPT

(A) grasping

(B) crying

(D) smiling

8. According to the passage , attachment behaviors of infants are intended to

(A) get the physical, emotional and social needs of the infant met

(B) allow the infant to become imprinted on objects that resemble the parent

(D) prepare the infant to cope with separation

9. The phrase affectional tie in line 30 is closest in meaning to

(A) cognitive development

(B) emotional attachment

(D) behavioral change

10. It can be inferred from the passage that ethological theory assumes that

(A) to learn about human behavior only human subjects should be studied

(B) failure to imprint has no influence on intelligence

(D) there are similarities between animal and human behavior

PASSAGE 82 CBADD CCABD

篇3：TOEFL阅读真题整合

托福阅读真题1

Elizabeth Hazen and Rachel Brown copatented one of the most widely acclaimed wonder drugs of the post-Second World War years. Hazen and Brown's work was stimulated by the wartime need to find a cure for the fungus infections that afflicted many military personnel. Scientists had been feverishly searching for an antibiotic toxic enough to kill the fungi but safe enough for human use, since, unfortunately, the new wonder drugs such as penicillin and streptomycin killed the very bacteria in the body that controlled the fungi. It was to discover a fungicide without that double effect that Brown, of New York State's Department of Health Laboratories at Albany, and Hazen, senior microbiologist at the Department of Health in New York, began their long-distance collaboration. Based upon Hazen's previous research at Columbia University, where she had built an impressive collection of fungus cultures, both were convinced that an antifungal organism already existed in certain soils.

They divided the work. Hazen methodically screened and cultured scores of soil samples, which she then sent to her partner, who prepared extracts, isolated and purified active agents, and shipped them back to New York, where Hazen could study their biological properties. On a 1948 vacation, Hazen fortuitously collected a clump of soil from the edge of W.B. Nourse's cow pasture in Fauquier County, Virginia, that, when tested, revealed the presence of the microorganisms. In farm owner Nourse's honor, Hazen named it Streptomyces Noursei, and within a year the two scientists knew that the properties of their substance distinguished it from previously described antibiotics. After further research they eventually reduced their substance to a fine, yellow powder, which they first named fungiciden. Then renamed nystatin (to honor the New York State laboratory) when they learned the previous name was already in use. Of their major discovery, Brown said lightly that it simply illustrated how unpredictable consequences can come from rather modest beginnings.

1. What is the main topic of the passage ?

(A) The lives of Hazen and Brown.

(B) The development of a safe fungicide.

(D) The development of penicillin.

2. What can be inferred from the passage about penicillin?

(A) It effectively treats fungus infections.

(B) It was developed before nystatin.

(D) One of its by-products is nystatin.

3. Why does the author mention Columbia University in line 10?

(A) Hazen and Brown developed nystatin there.

(B) Brown was educated there.

(D) It awarded a prize to Hazen and Brown.

4. The word both in line 11 refers to

(A) Hazen and Brown

(B) penicillin and streptomycin

(D) double effect

5. What substance did Brown and Hazen analyze?

(A) Dirt

(B) Streptomycin

(D) Penicillin

6. Who was W. B. Nourse?

(A) A microbiologist

(B) A teacher of Hazen's

(D) A farmer

PASSAGE 43 BBCAA D

托福阅读真题2

The nervous system of vertebrates is characterized by a hollow, dorsal nerve cord that ends in the head region as an enlargement, the brain. Even in its most primitive form this cord and its attached nerves are the result of evolutionary specialization, and their further evolution from lower to higher vertebrate classes is a process that is far from fully understood. Nevertheless, the basic arrangements are similar in all vertebrates, and the study of lower animals gives insight into the form and structure of the nervous system of higher animals. Moreover, for any species, the study of the embryological development of the nervous system is indispensable for an understanding of adult morphology.

In any vertebrate two chief parts of the nervous system may be distinguished. These are the central nervous system (the nerve cord mentions above), consisting of the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system, consisting of the cranial, spinal, and peripheral nerves, together with their motor and sensory endings. The term autonomic nervous system refers to the parts of the central and peripheral systems that supply and regulate the activity of cardiac muscle, smooth muscle, and many glands.

The nervous system is composed of many millions of nerve and glial cells, together with blood vessels and a small amount of connective tissue. The nerve cells, or neurons, are characterized by many processes and are specialized in that they exhibit to a great degree the phenomena of irritability and conductivity. The glial cells of the central nervous system are supporting cells collectively termed neuroglia. They are characterized by short processes that have special relationships to neurons, blood vessels, and connective tissue. The comparable cells in the peripheral nervous system are termed neurilemmal cells.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The parts of a neuron

(B) The structure of animals' nerve

(D) The development of the brain

2. According to the passage , the nerve cord of vertebrates is

(A) large

(B) hollow

(D) embryological

3. The author implies that a careful investigation of a biological structure in an embryo may

(A) Improved research of the same structure in other species

(B) A better understanding of the fully developed structure

(D) A method by which scientists can document the various stages of development

4. The two main parts of the central nervous system are the brain and the

(A) sensory endings

(B) cranial nerve

(D) peripheral nerves

5. All of the following are described as being controlled by the autonomic nervous system EXCEPT

(A) connective tissue

(B) cardiac muscle

(D) smooth muscle

6. In what lines does the author identify certain characteristic of nerve cells?

(A) lines 1-2

(B) lines 9-12

(D) lines 16-18

PASSAGE 44 CBBCA D

托福阅读真题3

PASSAGE 45

By the turn of the century, the middle-class home in North American had been transformed. The flow of industry has passed and left idle the loom in the attic, the soap kettle in the shed, Ellen Richards wrote in 1908. The urban middle class was now able to buy a wide array of food products and clothing — baked goods, canned goods, suits, shirts, shoes, and dresses. Not only had household production waned, but technological improvements were rapidly changing the rest of domestic work. Middle-class homes had indoor running water and furnaces, run on oil, coal, or gas, that produced hot water. Stoves were fueled by gas, and delivery services provided ice for refrigerators. Electric power was available for lamps, sewing machines, irons, and even vacuum cleaners. No domestic task was unaffected. Commercial laundries, for instance, had been doing the wash for urban families for decades; by the early 1900's the first electric washing machines were on the market.

One impact of the new household technology was to draw sharp dividing lines between women of different classes and regions. Technological advances always affected the homes of the wealthy first, filtering downward into the urban middle class. But women who lived on farms were not yet affected by household improvements. Throughout the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth, rural homes lacked running water and electric power. Farm women had to haul large quantities of water into the house from wells or pumps for every purpose. Doing the family laundry, in large vats heated over stoves, continued to be a full day's work, just as canning and preserving continued to be seasonal necessities. Heat was provided by wood or coal stoves. In addition, rural women continued to produce most of their families' clothing. The urban poor, similarly, reaped few benefits from household improvements. Urban slums such as Chicago's nineteenth ward often had no sewers, garbage collection, or gas or electric lines; and tenements lacked both running water and central heating. At the turn of the century, variations in the nature of women's domestic work were probably more marked than at any time before.

1. What is the main topic of the passage ?

(A) The creation of the urban middle class

(B) Domestic work at the turn of the century

(D) Overcrowding in American cities.

2. According to the passage , what kind of fuel was used in a stove in a typical middle-class household?

(A) oil

(B) coal

(D) wood

3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a household convenience in the passage ?

(A) the electric fan

(B) the refrigerator

(D) the washing machine

4. According to the passage , who were the first beneficiaries of technological advances?

(A) Farm women

(B) The urban poor

(D) The wealthy

5. The word reaped in line 23 is closest in meaning to

(A) gained

(B) affected

(D) accepted

6. Which of the following best characterizes the passage 's organization?

(A) analysis of a quotation

(B) chronological narrative

(D) comparison and contrast

7. Where in the passage does the author discuss conditions in poor urban neighborhoods?

(A) lines 3-5

(B) lines 6-7

(D) lines 22-23

PASSAGE 45 BCADA DD

篇4：TOEFL阅读理解真题精选

托福阅读真题1

Pheromones are substances that serve as chemical signals between members of the same species. They are secreted to the outside of the body and cause other individuals of the species to have specific reactions. Pheromones, which are sometimes called social hormones, affect a group of individuals somewhat like hormones do an individual animal. Pheromones are the predominant medium of communication among insects (but rarely the sole method). Some species have simple pheromone systems and produce only a few pheromones, but others produce many with various functions. Pheromone systems are the most complex in some of the so-called social insects, insects that live in organized groups.

Chemical communication differs from that by sight or sound in several ways. Transmission is relatively slow (the chemical signals are usually airborne), but the signal can be persistent, depending upon the volatility of the chemical, and is sometimes effective over a very long range. Localization of the signal is generally poorer than localization of a sound or visual stimulus and is usually effected by the animal's moving upwind in response to the stimulus. The ability to modulate a chemical signal is limited, compared with communication by visual or acoustic means, but some pheromones may convey different meanings and consequently result in different behavioral or physiological responses, depending on their concentration or when presented in combination. The modulation of chemical signals occurs via the elaboration of the number of exocrine glands that produce pheromones. Some species, such as ants, seem to be very articulate creatures, but their medium of communication is difficult for humans to study and appreciate because of our own olfactory, insensitivity and the technological difficulties in detecting and analyzing these pheromones. Pheromones play numerous roles in the activities of insects. They may act as alarm substances, play a role in individual and group recognition, serve as attractants between sexes, mediate the formation of aggregations, identify foraging trails, and be involved in caste determination. For example, pheromones involved in caste determination include the queen substance produced by queen honey bees. Aphids, which are particularly vulnerable to predators because of their gregarious habits and sedentary nature, secrete an alarm pheromone when attacked that causes nearby aphids to respond by moving away.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) How insects use pheromones to communicate

(B) How pheromones are produced by insects

(D) The different uses of pheromones among various insect species

2. The word serve in line 1 is closest in meaning to

(A) improve

(B) function

(D) rely

3. The purpose of the second mention of hormones in line 4 is to point out

(A) chemical signals that are common among insects

(B) specific responses of various species to chemical signals

(D) how insects produce different chemical substances

4. The word sole in line 6 is closest in meaning to

(A) obvious

(B) best

(D) final

5. The passage suggests that the speed at which communication through pheromones occurs is

dependent on how quickly they

(A) lose their effectiveness

(B) evaporate in the air

(D) are produced by the body

6. According to the passage , the meaning of a message communicated through a pheromone

may vary when the

(A) chemical structure of the pheromone is changed

(B) pheromone is excreted while other pheromones are also being excreted

(D) pheromone is released near certain specific organisms

7. The word detecting in line 23 is closest in meaning to

(A) controlling

(B) storing

(D) finding

8. According to paragraph 2, which of the following has made the study of pheromones difficult?

(A) Pheromones cannot be easily reproduced in chemical laboratories.

(B) Existing technology cannot fully explore the properties of pheromones.

(D) Pheromone signals are constantly changing.

9. The word They in line 24 refers to

(A) pheromones

(B) roles

(D) insects

10. The word sedentary in line 29 is closest in meaning to

(A) inactive

(B) inefficient

(D) unbalanced

11. Pheromone systems are relatively complex in insects that

(A) also communicate using sight and sound

(B) live underground

(D) live in organized groups

PASSAGE 95 ABCCB ADBAAD

托福阅读真题2

The Homestead Act of 1862 gave heads of families or individuals aged twenty-one or older the right to own 160 acres of public land in the western United States after five years of residence and improvement. This law was intended to provide land for small farmers and to prevent land from being bought for resale at a profit or being owned by large landholders. An early amendment to the act even prevented husbands and wives from filing separate claims. The West, land reformers had assumed, would soon contain many 160-acre family farms.

They were doomed to disappointment. Most landless Americans were too poor to become farmers even when they could obtain land without cost. The expense of moving a family to the ever-receding frontier exceeded the means of many, and the cost of tools, draft animals, a wagon, a well, fencing, and of building the simplest house, might come to $1,000 — a formidable barrier. As for the industrial workers for whom the free land was supposed to provide a safety valve, they had neither the skills nor the inclination to become farmers. Homesteaders usually came from districts not far removed from frontier conditions. And despite the intent of the law, speculators often managed to obtain large tracts. They hired people to stake out claims, falsely swear that they had fulfilled the conditions laid down in the law for obtaining legal title, and then deed the land over to their employers.

Furthermore, 160 acres were not enough for raising livestock or for the kind of commercial agriculture that was developing west of the Mississippi. The national government made a feeble attempt to make larger holdings available to homesteaders by passing the Timber Culture Act of 1873, which permitted individuals to claim an additional 160 acres if they would agree to plant a quarter of it in trees within ten years. This law proved helpful to some farmers in the largely treeless states of Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. Nevertheless, fewer than 25 percent of the 245,000 who took up land under the Act obtained final title to the property.

1. Which aspect of the Homestead Act of 1862 does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) How it transformed the western United States into a place of small farms

(B) Why it was an improvement over previous attempts at land reform

(D) How it failed in the largely treeless states of Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas

2. An amendment added to the Homestead Act of 1862 specified that

(A) five years of residence was required for landownership

(B) husbands and wives could not file separate claims

(D) land could not be resold for a profit

3. The word formidable in line 12 is closest in meaning to

(A) obvious

(B) predictable

(D) manageable

4. It can be inferred that the safety valve in line 13 refers to

(A) a new kind of machinery

(B) an alternative for urban workers

(D) a procedure designed to protect workers

5. The word intent in line 15 is closest in meaning to

(A) purpose

(B) power

(D) invention

6. According to the passage , why did the government pass the Timber Culture Act of 1873?

(A) to make larger tracts of land available to small farmers

(B) to settle Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas

(D) to increase the variety of trees growing in the western states

7. The word they in line 23 refers to

(A) larger holdings

(B) individuals

(D) trees

8. According to the passage , how many of the farmers who settled land under the Timber

Culture Act of 1873 received final title to the property?

(A) fewer than 25%

(B) more than 160

(D) 245,000

9. The passage mentions all of the following as reasons the Homestead Act of 1862 did not

achieve its aims EXCEPT:

(A) Most landless Americans could not afford the necessary tools and provisions.

(B) Industrial workers lacked the necessary farming skills.

(D) Homesteaders usually came from areas relatively close to the frontier.

10. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the Timber Culture Act of

1873?

(A) It especially helped farmers with large holdings of land.

(B) It was most important to farmers living in states that had plenty of trees.

(D) The majority of farmers did not need the extra 160 acres it provided.

PASSAGE 96 CBCDA ABACC

托福阅读真题3

The Moon, which has undergone a distinct and complex geological history, presents a striking appearance. The moon may be divided into two major terrains: the Maria (dark lowlands) and the Terrace (bright highlands). The contrast in the reflectivity (the capability of reflecting light) of these two terrains suggested to many early observers that the two terrains might have different compositions, and this supposition was confirmed by missions to the Moon such as Surveyor and Apollo. One of the most obvious differences between the terrains is the smoothness of the Maria in contrast to the roughness of the highlands. This roughness is mostly caused by the abundance of craters: the highlands are completely covered by large craters (greater than 40-50 km in diameter), while the craters of the Maria tend to be much smaller. It is now known that the vast majority of the Moon's craters were formed by the impact of solid bodies with the lunar surface.

Most of the near side of the Moon was thoroughly mapped and studied from telescopic pictures years before the age of space exploration. Earth-based telescopes can resolve objects as small as a few hundred meters on the lunar surface. Close observation of craters, combined with the way the Moon diffusely reflects sunlight, led to the understanding that the Moon is covered by a surface layer, or regolith, that overlies the solid rock of the Moon. Telescopic images permitted the cataloging of a bewildering array of land forms. Craters were studied for clues to their origin; the large wispy marks were seen. Strange, sinuous features were observed in the Maria. Although various land forms were catalogued, the majority of astronomers' attention was fixed on craters and their origins.

Astronomers have known for a fairly long time that the shape of craters changes as they increase in size. Small craters with diameters of less than 10-15 km have relatively simple shapes. They have rim crests that are elevated above the surrounding terrain, smooth, bowl-shaped interiors, and depths that are about one-sixth their diameters. The complexity of shape increases for larger craters.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) What astronomers learned from the Surveyor and Apollo space missions.

(B) Characteristics of the major terrains of the Moon.

(D) Techniques used to catalogue the Moon's land forms.

2. The word undergone in line 1 is closest in meaning to

(A) altered

(B) substituted

(D) preserved

3. According to the passage , the Maria differ from the Terrace mainly in terms of

(A) age

(B) manner of creation

(D) composition

4. The passage supports which of the following statements about the Surveyor and Apollo missions

(A) They confirmed earlier theories about the Moon's surface.

(B) They revealed that previous ideas about the Moon's craters were incorrect.

(D) They were unable to identify how the Moon's craters were made.

5. The word vast in line 11 is closest in meaning to

(A) special

(B) known

(D) great

6. All of the following are true of the Maria EXCEPT:

(A) They have small craters.

(B) They have been analyzed by astronomers.

(D) They tend to be darker than the terrace.

7. All of the following terms are defined in the passage EXCEPT

(A) Moon (line 1)

(B) reflectivity (line 3)

(D) Maria (line 2)

8. The author mentions wispy marks in line 19 as an example of

(A) an aspect of the lunar surface discovered through lunar missions

(B) a characteristic of large craters

(D) features that astronomers observed to be common to the Earth and the Moon

9. According to the passage , lunar researchers have focused mostly on

(A) the possibility of finding water on the Moon

(B) the lunar regolith

(D) craters and their origins

10. The passage probably continues with a discussion of

(A) the reasons craters are difficult to study

(B) the different shapes small craters can have

(D) some difference in the ways small and large craters were formed

PASSAGE 97 BCDAD CACDC

篇5：TOEFL阅读理解真题

托福阅读真题1

In eighteenth-century colonial America, flowers and fruit were typically the province of the botanical artist interested in scientific illustration rather than being the subjects of fine art. Early in the nineteenth century, however, the Peale family of Philadelphia established the still life, a picture consisting mainly of inanimate objects, as a valuable part of the artist's repertoire. The fruit paintings by James and Sarah Miriam Peale are simple arrangements of a few objects, handsomely colored, small in size, and representing little more than what they are. In contrast were the highly symbolic, complex compositions by Charles Bird King, with their biting satire and critical social commentary. Each of these strains comminuted into and well past mid-century.

John F. Francis (1808-86) was a part of the Pennsylvania still-life tradition that arose, at least in part, from the work of the Peales. Most of his still lifes date from around 1850 to 1875. Luncheon Still Life looks like one of the Peales' pieces on a larger scale, with greater complexity resulting from the number of objects. It is also indebted to the luncheon type of still life found in seventeenth-century Dutch painting. The opened bottles of wine and the glasses of wine partially consumed suggest a number of unseen guests. The appeal of the fruit and nuts to our sense of taste is heightened by the juicy orange, which has already been sliced. The arrangement is additive, that is, made up of many different parts, not always compositionally integrated, with all objects of essentially equal importance.

About 1848, Severin Roesen came to the United States from Germany and settled in New York City, where he began to paint large, lush still lifes of flowers, fruit, or both, often measuring over four feet across. Still Life with fruit and champagne is typical in its brilliance of color, meticulous rendering of detail, compact composition, and unabashed abundance. Rich in symbolic overtones, the beautifully painted objects carry additional meanings — butterflies or fallen buds suggest the impermanence of life, a bird's nest with eggs means fertility, and so on. Above all, Roesen's art expresses the abundance that America symbolized to many of its citizens.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The artwork of James and Sarah Miriam Peale

(B) How Philadelphia became a center for art in the nineteenth century

(D) How botanical art inspired the first still-life paintings

2. Which of the following is mentioned as a characteristic of the still lifes of James and Sarah

Miriam Peale?

(A) simplicity

(B) symbolism

(D) social commentary

3. The word biting in line 8 is closest in meaning to

(A) simple

(B) sorrowful

(D) sharp

4. The word It in line 13 refers to

(A) Luncheon Still Life

(B) one of the Peales' pieces

(D) the number of objects

5. The word heightened in line 16 is closest in meaning to

(A) complicated

(B) directed

(D) increased

6. The word meticulous in line 23 is closest in meaning to

(A) careful

(B) significant

(D) believable

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

(A) repertoire (line 5)

(B) satire (line 8)

(D) rendering (line 23)

8. All of the following are mentioned as characteristics of Roesen's still lifes EXCEPT that they

(A) are symbolic

(B) use simplified representations of flowers and fruit

(D) are large in size

9. Which of the following is mentioned as the dominant theme in Roesen's painting?

(A) Fertility

(B) Freedom

(D) Abundance

PASSAGE 89 CADAD ACBD

托福阅读真题2

Perhaps one of the most dramatic and important changes that took place in the Mesozoic era occurred late in that era, among the small organisms that populate the uppermost, sunlit portion of the oceans — the plankton. The term plankton is a broad one, designating all of the small plants and animals that float about or weakly propel themselves through the sea. In the late stages of the Mesozoic era, during the Cretaceous period, there was a great expansion of plankton that precipitated skeletons or shells composed of two types of mineral: silica and calcium carbonate.

This development radically changed the types of sediments that accumulated on the seafloor, because, while the organic parts of the plankton decayed after the organisms died, their mineralized skeletons often survived and sank to the bottom. For the first time in the Earth's long history, very large quantities of silica skeletons, which would eventually harden into rock, began to pile up in parts of the deep sea. Thick deposits of calcareous ooze made up of the tiny remains of the calcium carbonate-secreting plankton also accumulated as never before. The famous white chalk cliffs of Dover, in the southeast of England, are just one example of the huge quantities of such material that amassed during the Cretaceous period; there are many more. Just why the calcareous plankton were so prolific during the latter part of the Cretaceous period is not fully understood. Such massive amounts of chalky sediments have never since been deposited over a comparable period of time.

The high biological productivity of the Cretaceous oceans also led to ideal conditions for oil accumulation. Oil is formed when organic material trapped in sediments is slowly buried and subjected to increased temperatures and pressures, transforming it into petroleum. Sediments rich in organic material accumulated along the margins of the Tethys Seaway, the tropical east-west ocean that formed when Earth's single landmass (known as Pangaea) split apart during the Mesozoic era. Many of today's important oil fields are found in those sediments — in Russia, the Middle East, the Gulf of Mexico, and in the states of Texas and Louisiana in the United States.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) How sediments were built up in oceans during the Cretaceous period

(B) How petroleum was formed in the Mesozoic era

(D) The differences between plankton found in the present era and Cretaceous plankton

2. The passage indicates that the Cretaceous period occurred

(A) in the early part of the Mesozoic era

(B) in the middle part of the Mesozoic era

(D) after the Mesozoic era

3. The passage mentions all of the following aspects of plankton EXCEPT

(A) the length of their lives

(B) the level of the ocean at which they are found

(D) their size

4. The word accumulated in line 8 is closest in meaning to

(A) depended

(B) matured

(D) collected

5. According to the passage , the most dramatic change to the oceans caused by plankton during

the Cretaceous period concerned

(A) the depth of the water

(B) the makeup of the sediment on the ocean floor

(D) a decline in the quantity of calcareous ooze on the seafloor

6. The white chalk cliffs of Dover are mentioned in line 14 of the passage to

(A) show where the plankton sediment first began to build up

(B) provide an example of a plankton buildup that scientists cannot explain

(D) indicate the largest single plankton buildup on Earth

7. The word prolific in line 17 is closest in meaning to

(A) fruitful

(B) distinct

(D) energetic

8. The word ideal in line 20 is closest in meaning to

(A) common

(B) clear

(D) immediate

9. The word it in line 22 refers to

(A) biological productivity

(B) oil

(D) petroleum

PASSAGE 90 CCADB CACC

托福阅读真题3

The term art deco has come to encompass three distinct but related design trends of the 1920's and 1930's. The first was what is frequently referred to as zigzag moderne — the exotically ornamental style of such skyscrapers as the Chrysler Building in New York City and related structures such as the Paramount Theater in Oakland, California. The word zigzag alludes to the geometric and stylized ornamentation of zigzags, angular patterns, abstracted plant and animal motifs, sunbursts, astrological imagery, formalized fountains, and related themes that were applied in mosaic relief, and mural form to the exterior and interior of the buildings. Many of these buildings were shaped in the ziggurat form, a design resembling an ancient Mesopotamian temple tower that recedes in progressively smaller stages to the summit, creating a staircase-like effect. The second manifestation of art deco was the 1930's streamlined moderne style — a Futuristic-looking aerodynamic style of rounded corners and horizontal bands known as speed stripes. In architecture, these elements were frequently accompanied by round windows, extensive use of glass block, and flat rooftops.

The third style, referred to as either international stripped classicism, or simply classical moderne, also came to the forefront during the Depression, a period of severe economic difficult in the 1930's. This was a more conservative style, blending a simplified modernistic style with a more austere form of geometric and stylized relief sculpture and other ornament, including interior murals. Many buildings in this style were erected nationwide through government programs during the Depression.

Although art deco in its many forms was largely perceived as thoroughly modern, it was strongly influenced by the decorative arts movements that immediately preceded it. For example, like art nouveau (1890-1910), art deco also used plant motifs, but regularized the forms into abstracted repetitive patterns rather than presenting them as flowing, asymmetrical foliage, like the Viennese craftspeople of the Wiener Werkstatte, art deco designers worked with exotic materials, geometricized shapes, and colorfully ornate patterns. Furthermore, like the artisans of the Arts and Crafts Movement in England and the United States, art deco practitioners considered it their mission to transform the domestic environment through well-designed furniture and household accessories.

1. What aspect of art deco does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The influence of art deco on the design of furniture and household accessories

(B) Ways in which government programs encouraged the development of art deco

(D) Reasons for the popularity of art deco in New York and California

2. The word encompass in line 1 is closest in meaning to

(A) separate

(B) include

(D) enhance

3. The phrase The first in line 2 refers to

(A) the term art deco

(B) design trends

(D) skyscrapers

4. In line 9, the author mentions an ancient Mesopotamian temple tower in order to

(A) describe the exterior shape of certain art deco buildings

(B) explain the differences between ancient and modern architectural steles

(D) argue for a return to more traditional architectural design

5. The streamlined moderne style is characterized by all of the following EXCEPT

(A) animal motifs

(B) flat roofs

(D) speed stripes

6. The phrase came to the forefront in line 16 is closest in meaning to

(A) grew in complexity

(B) went through a process

(D) became important

7. According to the passage , which of the following statements most accurately describes the

relationship between art deco and art nouveau?

(A) They were art forms that competed with each other for government support during the

Depression era.

(B) They were essentially the same art form.

(D) Art deco became important in the United States while art nouveau became popular in

England.

8. According to the passage , a building having an especially ornate appearance would most

probably have been designed in the style of

(A) zigzag moderne

(B) streamlined moderne

(D) the Arts and Crafts Movement

9. According to the passage , which of the following design trends is known by more than one

name?

(A) Zigzag moderne

(B) Streamlined moderne

(D) Arts and Crafts Movement

10. The passage is primarily developed as

(A) the historical chronology of a movement

(B) a description of specific buildings that became famous for their unusual beauty

(D) an argument of the advantages of one artistic form over another

PASSAGE 91 CBBAA DCACC

篇6：TOEFL阅读理解真题

托福阅读真题1

Cities develop as a result of functions that they can perform. Some functions result directly from the ingenuity of the citizenry, but most functions result from the needs of the local area and of the surrounding hinterland (the region that supplies goods to the city and to which the city furnishes services and other goods). Geographers often make a distinction between the situation and the site of a city. Situation refers to the general position in relation to the surrounding region, whereas site involves physical characteristics of the specific location. Situation is normally much more important to the continuing prosperity of a city. If a city is well situated in regard to its hinterland, its development is much more likely to continue. Chicago, for example, possesses an almost unparalleled situation: it is located at the southern end of a huge lake that forces east-west transportation lines to be compressed into its vicinity, and at a meeting of significant land and water transport routes. It also overlooks what is one of the world's finest large farming regions. These factors ensured that Chicago would become a great city regardless of the disadvantageous characteristics of the available site, such as being prone to flooding during thunderstorm activity.

Similarly, it can be argued that much of New York City's importance stems from its early and continuing advantage of situation. Philadelphia and Boston both originated at about the same time as New York and shared New York's location at the western end of one of the world's most important oceanic trade routes, but only New York possesses an easy-access functional connection (the Hudson-Mohawk lowland) to the vast Midwestern hinterland. This account does not alone explain New York's primacy, but it does include several important factors. Among the many aspects of situation that help to explain why some cities grow and others do not, original location on a navigable waterway seems particularly applicable. Of course, such characteristic as slope, drainage, power resources, river crossings, coastal shapes, and other physical characteristics help to determine city location, but such factors are normally more significant in early stages of city development than later.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The development of trade routes through United States cities

(B) Contrasts in settlement patterns in United States

(D) The importance of geographical situation in the growth of United States cities

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

(A) wealth

(B) resourcefulness

(D) organization

3. The passage suggests that a geographer would consider a city's soil type part of its

(A) hinterland

(B) situation

(D) function

4. According to the passage , a city's situation is more important than its site in regard to the

city's

(A) long-term growth and prosperity

(B) ability to protect its citizenry

(D) need to import food supplies

5. The author mentions each of the following as an advantage of Chicago's location EXCEPT its

(A) hinterland

(B) nearness to a large lake

(D) flat terrain

6. The word characteristics in line 14 is closest in meaning to

(A) choices

(B) attitudes

(D) inhabitants

7. The primary purpose of paragraph 1 is to

(A) summarize past research and introduce a new study

(B) describe a historical period

(D) define a term and illustrate it with an example

8. According to the passage , Philadelphia and Boston are similar to New York City in

(A) size of population

(B) age

(D) availability of rail transportation

9. The word functional in line 20 is closest in meaning to

(A) alternate

(B) unknown

(D) usable

10. The word it in line 21 refers to

(A) account

(B) primacy

(D) hinterland

11. The word significant in line 26 is closest in meaning to

(A) threatening

(B) meaningful

(D) available

PASSAGE 71 DBCAD CDCDA B

托福阅读真题2

The Harlem Renaissance, a movement of the 1920's, marked the twentieth century's first period of intense activity by African Americans in the field of literature, art, and music in the United States. The philosophy of the movement combined realism, ethnic consciousness, and Americanism. Encouraged by the example of certain Americans of European descent such as Thomas Eakins, Robert Henri, and George Luks, who had included persons of African descent in their paintings as serious studies rather than as trivial or sentimental stereotypes, African American artists of this period set about creating a new portrayal of themselves and their lives in the United States. As they began to strive for social and cultural independence. Their attitudes toward themselves changed, and, to some extent, other segments of American society began to change their attitudes toward them. Thus, though the Harlem Renaissance was a short-lived movement, its impact on American art and culture continues to the present.

The district in New York City known as Harlem was the capital of the movement. In 1925 an issue of Survey Graphic magazine devoted exclusively to Harlem and edited by philosopher Alain Locke became the manifesto of the African American artistic movement. Locke strongly suggested that individuals, while accepting their Americanism, take pride in their African ancestral arts and urged artists to look to Africa for substance and inspiration. Far from advocating a withdrawal from American culture, as did some of his contemporaries, Locke recommended a cultural pluralism through which artists could enrich the culture of America. African Americans were urged by Locke to be collaborators and participators with other Americans in art, literature, and music; and at the same time to preserve, enhance, and promote their own cultural heritage.

Artists and intellectuals from many parts of the United States and the Caribbean had been attracted to Harlem by the pulse and beat of its unique and dynamic culture. From this unity created by the convergence of artists from various social and geographical backgrounds came a new spirit, which, particularly in densely populated Harlem, was to result in greater group awareness and self-determination. African American graphic artists took their place beside the poets and writers of the Harlem Renaissance and carried on efforts to increase and promote the visual arts.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) African American paintings in the 1920's

(B) An arts movement of the 1920's

(D) Some ways in which African culture inspired American literature, art and music

2. According to the passage , Tomas Eakins, Robert Henri, and George Luks were important because of

(A) the philosophical contributions they made to the Harlem Renaissance

(B) their development of a new style of African American art

(D) their independence from European artistic traditions

3. The word them in line 11 refers to

(A) Americans of European descent

(B) paintings

(D) attitudes

4. According to the passage , African American artists of the 1920's differed from earlier African

American artists in terms of their feelings about

(A) themselves

(B) other artists

(D) stereotypes

5. The word urged in line 17 is closest in meaning to

(A) prepared

(B) defined

(D) encouraged

6. Alain Locke believed all of the following to be important to the African American artistic

movement EXCEPT

(A) pride in African art

(B) cultural pluralism

(D) withdrawal from American culture

7. In mentioning the pulse and beat (line 25) of Harlem during the 1920's, the author is

characterizing the district as one that

(A) depended greatly on its interaction with other parts of the city

(B) grew economically in a short period of time

(D) was in danger of losing population

8. The word convergence in line 26 is closest in meaning to

(A) gathering

(B) promotion

(D) influence

9. According to the passage , all of the following were true of Harlem in the 1920's EXCEPT:

(A) Some Caribbean artists and intellectuals lived there.

(B) It attracted people from various regions of United States.

(D) It was a unique cultural center.

10. The phrase carried on in line 30 is closest in meaning to

(A) continued

(B) praised

(D) connected

PASSAGE 72 BCCAD DCACA

托福阅读真题3

ffeterd spanning in line 18d- The interrelationship of science, technology, and industry is taken for granted today — summed up, not altogether accurately, as research and development. Yet historically this widespread faith in the economic virtues of science is a relatively recent phenomenon, dating back in the United States about 150 years, and in the Western world as a whole not over 300 years at most. Even in this current era of large scale, intensive research and development, the interrelationships involved in this process are frequently misunderstood. Until the coming of the Industrial Revolution, science and technology evolved for the most part independently of each other. Then as industrialization became increasingly complicated, the craft techniques of preindustrial society gradually gave way to a technology based on the systematic application of scientific knowledge and scientific methods. This changeover started slowly and progressed unevenly. Until late in the nineteenth century, only a few industries could use scientific techniques or cared about using them. The list expanded noticeably after 1870, but even then much of what passed for the application of science was engineering science rather than basic science.

Nevertheless, by the middle of the nineteenth century, the rapid expansion of scientific knowledge and of public awareness — if not understanding — of it had created a belief that the advance of science would in some unspecified manner automatically generate economic benefits. The widespread and usually uncritical acceptance of this thesis led in turn to the assumption that the application of science to industrial purposes was a linear process, starting with fundamental science, then proceeding to applied science or technology, and through them to industrial use. This is probably the most common pattern, but it is not invariable. New areas of science have been opened up and fundamental discoveries made as a result of attempts to solve a specific technical or economic problem. Conversely, scientists who mainly do basic research also serve as consultants on projects that apply research in practical ways.

In sum, the science-technology-industry relationship may flow in several different ways, and the particular channel it will follow depends on the individual situation. It may at times even be multidirectional.

1. What is the author's main purpose in the passage ?

(A) To show how technology influenced basic science

(B) To describe the scientific base of nineteenth-century American industries

(D) To argue that basic science has no practical application

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

(A) completely

(B) realistically

(D) understandably

3. The word intensive in line 5 is closest in meaning to

(A) decreased

(B) concentrated

(D) advanced

4. The list mentioned in line 13 refers to

(A) types of scientific knowledge

(B) changes brought by technology

(D) applications of engineering science

5. The understanding of research and development in the late nineteenth century is based on

which of the following?

(A) Engineering science is not very important.

(B) Fundamental science naturally leads to economic benefits.

(D) Industrial needs should determine what areas fundamental science focuses on.

6. The word it in line 16 refers to

(A) understanding

(B) public awareness

(D) expansion

7. The word assumption in line 19 is closest in meaning to

(A) regulation

(B) belief

(D) confusion

8. Why does the author mention consultants in line 25?

(A) To show how new areas of science have given rise to new professions

(B) To distinguish between scientists who work in industry and those who do not

(D) To show how scientists who work in basic research contribute to applied science

9. Which of the following statements does the passage support?

(A) The development of science and of industry is now interdependent.

(B) Basic scientific research cannot generate practical applications.

(D) Science and technology are becoming more separate.

PASSAGE 73 CABCB CBDA

篇7：TOEFL真题整合

The Native Americans of northern California were highly skilled at basketry, using the reeds,grasses, barks, and roots they found around them to fashion articles of all sorts and sizes — not only trays, containers, and cooking pots, but hats, boats, fish traps, baby carriers, and ceremonial objects.

Of all these experts, none excelled the Pomo — a group who lived on or near the coast during the 1800's, and whose descendants continue to live in parts of the same region to this day. They made baskets three feet in diameter and others no bigger than a thimble. The Pomo people were masters of decoration. Some of their baskets were completely covered with shell pendants; others with feathers that made the baskets' surfaces as soft as the breasts of birds. Moreover, the Pomo people made use of more weaving techniques than did their neighbors. Most groups made all their basketwork by twining — the twisting of a flexible horizontal material, called a weft, around stiffer vertical strands of material, the warp. Others depended primarily on coiling — a process in which a continuous coil of stiff material is held in the desired shape with tight wrapping of flexible strands. Only the Pomo people used both processes with equal ease and frequency. In addition, they made use of four distinct variations on the basic twining process, often employing more than one of them in a single article.

Although a wide variety of materials was available, the Pomo people used only a few. The warp was always made of willow, and the most commonly used weft was sedge root, a woody fiber that could easily be separated into strands no thicker than a thread. For color, the Pomo people used the bark of redbud for their twined work and dyed bullrush root for black in coiled work. Though other materials were sometimes used, these four were the staples in their finest basketry.

If the basketry materials used by the Pomo people were limited, the designs were amazingly varied. Every Pomo basketmaker knew how to produce from fifteen to twenty distinct patterns that could be combined in a number of different ways.

托福阅读题目：

1. What best distinguished Pomo baskets

from baskets of other groups?

(A) The range of sizes, shapes, and designs

(B) The unusual geometric

(D) The rare materials used

2. The word “fashion” in line 2 is closest in meaning to

(A) maintain

(B) organize

(D) create

3. The Pomo people used each of the following materials to decorate baskets EXCEPT

(A) shells

(B) feathers

(D) bark

4. What is the author's main point in the second paragraph?

(A) The neighbors of the Pomo people tried to improve on the Pomo basket weaving techniques.

(B) The Pomo people were the most skilled basket weavers in their region.

(D) The Pomo baskets have been handed down for generations.

5. The word “others ” in line 9 refers to

(A) masters

(B) baskets

(D) surfaces

6.According to the passage , a weft is a

(A) tool for separating sedge root

(B) process used for coloring baskets

(D) pattern used to decorate baskets

7.According to the passage , what did the Pomo people use as the warp in their baskets?

(A) bullrush

(B) willow

(D) redbud

8. The word “article” in line 17 is close in meaning to

(A) decoration

(B) shape

(D) object

9. According to the passage . The relationship between redbud and twining is most similar to the

relationship between

(A) bullrush and coiling

(B) weft and warp

(D) sedge and weaving

10. The word “staples” in line 23 is closest in meaning to

(A) combinations

(B) limitations

(D) basic elements

11. The word “distinct” in lime 26 is closest in meaning to

(A) systematic

(B) beautiful

(D) compatible

12. Which of the following statements about Pomo baskets can be best inferred from the passage ?

(A) Baskets produced by other Native Americans were less varied in design than those of the

Pomo people.

(B) Baskets produced by Pomo weavers were primarily for ceremonial purposes.

(D) The basketmaking production of the Pomo people has increased over the years.

托福阅读答案：

BDCBB CBDAD CA

篇8：TOEFL真题整合

托福阅读文本：

The geology of the Earth's surface is dominated by the particular properties of water. Present on Earth in solid, liquid, and gaseous states, water is exceptionally reactive. It dissolves, transports,and precipitates many chemical compounds and is constantly modifying the face of the Earth.

Evaporated from the oceans, water vapor forms clouds, some of which are transported by wind over the continents. Condensation from the clouds provides the essential agent of continental erosion: rain. Precipitated onto the ground, the water trickles down to form brooks, streams, and rivers, constituting what are called the hydrographic network. This immense polarized network channels the water toward a single receptacle: an ocean. Gravity dominates this entire step in the cycle because water tends to minimize its potential energy by running from high altitudes toward the reference point, that is, sea level.

The rate at which a molecule of water passes though the cycle is not random but is a measure of the relative size of the various reservoirs. If we define residence time as the average time for a water molecule to pass through one of the three reservoirs — atmosphere, continent, and ocean — we see that the times are very different. A water molecule stays, on average, eleven days in the atmosphere, one hundred years on a continent and forty thousand years in the ocean. This last figure shows the importance of the ocean as the principal reservoir of the hydrosphere but also the rapidity of water transport on the continents.

A vast chemical separation process takes places during the flow of water over the continents. Soluble ions such as calcium, sodium, potassium, and some magnesium are dissolved and transported. Insoluble ions such as aluminum, iron, and silicon stay where they are and form the thin, fertile skin of soil on which vegetation can grow. Sometimes soils are destroyed and transported mechanically during flooding. The erosion of the continents thus results from two closely linked and interdependent processes, chemical erosion and mechanical erosion. Their respective interactions and efficiency depend on different factors.

托福阅读题目：

1. The word “modifying” in line 4 is closest in meaning to

(A) changing

(B) traveling

(D) destroying

2. The word “which” in line 5 refers to

(A) clouds

(B) oceans

(D) compounds

3.According to the passage , clouds are primarily formed by water

(A) precipitating onto the ground

(B) changing from a solid to a liquid state

(D) being carried by wind

4. The passage suggests that the purpose of the “hydrographic network” (line 8) is to

(A) determine the size of molecules of water

(B) prevent soil erosion caused by flooding

(D) regulate the rate of water flow from streams and rivers

5. What determines the rate at which a molecule of water moves through the cycle, as discussed in

the third paragraph?

(A) The potential energy contained in water

(B) The effects of atmospheric pressure on chemical compounds

(D) The relative size of the water storage areas

6. The word “rapidity” in line 19 is closest in meaning to

(A) significance

(B) method

(D) reliability

7. The word “they” in line 24 refers to

(A) insoluble ions

(B) soluble ions

(D) continents

8.All of the following are example of soluble ions EXCEPT

(A) magnesium

(B) iron

(D) calcium

9. The word “efficiency” in line 27 is closest in meaning to

(A) relationship

(B) growth

(D) effectiveness

托福阅读答案：

AACCD CABD

篇9：TOEFL真题整合

托福阅读文本：

The term “Hudson River school” was applied to the foremost representatives of nineteenth-century North American landscape painting. Apparently unknown during the golden days of the American landscape movement, which began around 1850 and lasted until the late 1860's, the Hudson River school seems to have emerged in the 1870's as a direct result of the struggle between the old and the new generations of artists, each to assert its own style as the representative American art. The older painters, most of whom were born before 1835, practiced in a mode often self-taught and monopolized by landscape subject matter and were securely established in and fostered by the reigning American art organization, the National Academy of Design. The younger painters returning home from training in Europe worked more with figural subject matter and in a bold and impressionistic technique; their prospects for patronage in their own country were uncertain, and they sought to attract it by attaining academic recognition in New York. One of the results of the conflict between the two factions was that what in previous years had been referred to as the “American”, “native”, or, occasionally, “New York” school — the most representative school of American art in any genre — had by 1890 become firmly established in the minds of critics and public alike as the Hudson River school.

The sobriquet was first applied around 1879. While it was not intended as flattering, it was hardly inappropriate. The Academicians at whom it was aimed had worked and socialized in New York, the Hudson's port city, and had painted the river and its shores with varying frequency. Most important, perhaps, was that they had all maintained with a certain fidelity a manner of technique and composition consistent with those of America's first popular landscape artist, Thomas Cole, who built a career painting the Catskill Mountain scenery bordering the Hudson River. A possible implication in the term applied to the group of landscapists was that many of them had, like Cole, lived on or near the banks of the Hudson. Further, the river had long served as the principal route to other sketching grounds favored by the Academicians, particularly the Adirondacks and the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire.

托福阅读题目：

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The NationalAcademy of Design

(B) Paintings that featured the Hudson River

(D) The training of American artists in European academies

2. Before 1870, what was considered the most representative kind of American painting?

(A) Figural painting

(B) Landscape painting

(D) Historical painting

3. The word “struggle” in line 5 is closest in meaning to

(A) connection

(B) distance

(D) competition

4. The word “monopolized” in line 7 is closest in meaning to

(A) alarmed

(B) dominated

(D) pursued

5. According to the passage , what was the function of the National Academy of Design for the painters born before 1835?

(A) It mediated conflicts between artists.

(B) It supervised the incorporation of new artistic techniques.

(D) It supported their growth and development.

6. The word “it” in line 12 refers to

(A) matter

(B) technique

(D) country

7. The word “factions” in line 13 is closest in meaning to

(A) sides

(B) people

(D) images

8. The word “flattering” in line 18 is closest in meaning to

(A) expressive

(B) serious

(D) flashy

9. Where did the younger generation of painters receive its artistic training?

(A) In Europe

(B) In the Adirondacks

(D) In New Hampshire

托福阅读答案：

BBDBD CACA

篇10：TOEFL真题整合

托福阅读文本：

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 (1861-1865), as ice was 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 of 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.

托福阅读题目：

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The influence of ice on the diet

(B) The development of refrigeration

(D) Sources of ice in the nineteenth century

2. 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

(D) near the end of the nineteenth century

3. The phrase “forward-looking” in line 4 is closest in meaning to

(A) progressive