TOEFL阅读题三点经验

2023-02-03 08:26:01| 收藏本文下载本文作者：文学博士翟天临

下面是小编帮大家整理的TOEFL阅读题三点经验（共含5篇），希望对大家带来帮助，欢迎大家分享。同时，但愿您也能像本文投稿人“文学博士翟天临”一样，积极向本站投稿分享好文章。

TOEFL阅读题三点经验

篇1：TOEFL阅读题三点经验

TOEFL阅读题三点经验

阅读理解部分是TOEFL考试的第四部分，这部分考试时间为55分钟，阅读长度为350词左右的文章5篇，做50道含四个选项的客观题。从题型来看，TOEFL阅读的特点是题量大，涉及的词汇面广；从题目顺序来看，阅读放在最后。一般来说，在做完写作、听力、语法三部分之后，考生已经开始感到有些疲倦。要想考好阅读，不光凭扎实的英语基础，而且还讲求做题策略。如何避免做题的误区、如何答好每一道题，这些都是每个考生十分关心的问题。笔者在长期的TOEFL教学中总结出了一些经验，在此愿意介绍给广大考生。

一、做题的误区

考生做TOEFL阅读时，时常表现出一些不良的做题习惯。有些考生读文章时喜欢在试题上划线，似乎不做记号，阅读就无法进行，思维就停止活动。而考试纪律明文规定不允许考生在试题的任何一部分做任何标志记号。

有些考生文章根本不读完，直接做题。这种方法相当于瞎子摸象，对文章只有局部的感觉，整个文章的概念无法获得。要提醒考生的是，近年考试中针对整个文章提问的题量有所增加。所，不看文章直接做题的方法是极其危险的。

有些考生则喜欢把文章一字不漏地细读之后再做题。这种方法仅适合于两种情况，其一，考生已具备相当的`阅读水平，长期以来运用这种方法效果甚佳；其二，某一篇具体的文章是考生所熟悉的内容，细读文章并不会花太多的时间。一般来说，大部分考生采用细读文章方法，做题时间严重不足。考生不应该忘记，阅读理解测试速度和理解两个方面。在做词汇题时，许多考生认为做不对题与自己的词汇量有关，认识单词能做对，不认识单词就会做错。事实上，那些认识的单词经常做错，不认识的单词反而能做对。原因是，做不认识单词时，考生会仔细研读词汇题的上下文，力求在上下文中突破。而做认识单词时，忽略上下文的重要性，往往是装模作样的看一下上下文，便匆匆做出抉择。所以，做好词汇题关键在于透彻分析上下文--词汇题的句子以及上下一句话，有时候，个别词汇题也许需要在文章其他段落寻找线索。

另一个问题是如何检查答案。有相当多的考生做完题之后，或多或少剩下一些时间，但不能有效利用。有的考生东看一篇文章，西看一道题，似乎在检查，却没有明确的目标，时候把正确的答案反而改错。我们认为在富裕的时间里，考生应重点检查两类题：一类是个别的理解题；另一类是个别词汇题。阅读有时候是一种不可思议的行为，有时候，你的脑子会因断电而僵在某一点上，不会有任何收获，但是当你放下这个难点，做完别题后再回过头来处理这个难题时，一下子又会变得畅通无阻。如果出现这种情况，考生可以在答题纸上题的序号旁标记这个难题，先预选答案，待有时间时再仔细推敲。检查完毕务必将序号旁的记号擦掉。

二、读文章的方法

读文章一般分为两个步骤：

第一步：花两三分钟时间扫描每篇文章头一两个句子，定位文章难易程度。虽然平均每篇文章做题时间为11分钟，但是有的文章七八分钟便可以轻松对付，有的文章则需要15分钟左右。一般来说，5篇文章中有2篇难度大一些，比方说：如果最后一篇文章难度卢大，且12-14道题，在这种情况下，按部就班做题就有可能因时间不够而做错好几道题，带来巨大的损失。因此首先定位文章难程度，同时目测文章的含金量(即题量分布)，有助于科学分配阅读部分的做题时间。

第二步：采取“结构扫描”法阅读具体的一篇文章。所谓结构，即文章的骨架子。TOEFL文章是纯学术体(Academic)，是北美国际留学生在大学里天天都能接触到的教科书风格的文章，这些文章涉及人文社科和自然科学，均议论文、说明文，最显著的特点是呈板块结构。TOEFL文章均由数个自然段组成，正确的阅读文章的方法应该是把文章首句先吃透，文章首句经常为文章主题。然后把首段的其他句子尽快略读，文章其他段落采取同样的方法阅读。各段落其他句子一般来说都是用来说明各个段落的主题句，没有必要每个句子理解难度大，而不涉及考题，在此句停留无疑是白白浪费时间。所以，采取“结构扫描”法，意味着以最快捷的方式了解文章大意，从而正确引导下一步做具体的题，而不至于出现大方向的理解错误。

三、做题的方法

1.做题总则：&nbs

篇2：TOEFL阅读题三点经验

阅读理解部分是toefl考试的第四部分，这部分考试时间为55分钟，阅读长度为350词左右的文章5篇，做50道含四个选项的客观题。从题型来看，toefl阅读的特点是题量大，涉及的词汇面广；从题目顺序来看，阅读放在最后。一般来说，在做完写作、听力、语法三部分之后，考生已经开始感到有些疲倦。要想考好阅读，不光凭扎实的英语基础，而且还讲求做题策略。如何避免做题的误区、如何答好每一道题，这些都是每个考生十分关心的问题。笔者在长期的toefl教学中总结出了一些经验，在此愿意介绍给广大考生。

一、做题的误区

考生做toefl阅读时，时常表现出一些不良的做题习惯。有些考生读文章时喜欢在试题上划线，似乎不做记号，阅读就无法进行，思维就停止活动。而考试纪律明文规定不允许考生在试题的任何一部分做任何标志记号。

有些考生则喜欢把文章一字不漏地细读之后再做题。这种方法仅适合于两种情况，其一，考生已具备相当的阅读水平，长期以来运用这种方法效果甚佳；其二，某一篇具体的文章是考生所熟悉的内容，细读文章并不会花太多的时间。一般来说，大部分考生采用细读文章方法，做题时间严重不足。考生不应该忘记，阅读理解测试速度和理解两个方面。在做词汇题时，许多考生认为做不对题与自己的词汇量有关，认识单词能做对，不认识单词就会做错。事实上，那些认识的单词经常做错，不认识的单词反而能做对。原因是，做不认识单词时，考生会仔细研读词汇题的上下文，力求在上下文中突破。而做认识单词时，忽略上下文的重要性，往往是装模作样的看一下上下文，便匆匆做出抉择。所以，做好词汇题关键在于透彻分析上下文--词汇题的句子以及上下一句话，有时候，个别词汇题也许需要在文章其他段落寻找线索。

二、读文章的方法

读文章一般分为两个步骤：

第二步：采取“结构扫描”法阅读具体的一篇文章。所谓结构，即文章的骨架子。toefl文章是纯学术体(academic)，是北美国际留学生在大学里天天都能接触到的教科书风格的文章，这些文章涉及人文社科和自然科学，均议论文、说明文，最显著的特点是呈板块结构。toefl文章均由数个自然段组成，正确的阅读文章的方法应该是把文章首句先吃透，文章首句经常为文章主题。然后把首段的其他句子尽快略读，文章其他段落采取同样的方法阅读。各段落其他句子一般来说都是用来说明各个段落的主题句，没有必要每个句子理解难度大，而不涉及考题，在此句停留无疑是白白浪费时间。所以，采取“结构扫描”法，意味着以最快捷的方式了解文章大意，从而正确引导下一步做具体的题，而不至于出现大方向的理解错误。

三、做题的方法

1.做题总则：

文章大致看完之后，才能开始做题。做题时，应牢记以下几点：

(1)每篇文章的题目基本上根据文章布局一步一步向前推进，即使有个别题打乱文章布局，在题干里总是有提供信息的关键词将考生带入文章的具体部位。

(2)做题时，根据题干或选项的关键词回归文章寻找重现关键词或其释义的语言区域，同时排除相应的选项。

(3)到难句子时，最直接有效的方式就是对其进行句子结构分析，迅速把握整个句子的意思，不要盯着单个的词不放，不然就会因小失大。

(4)每个问题的四个选项或者是对文章中相关部分的正确释度、或者是歪曲原文、或者与原文毫不相干。换句话说，命题专家在设置试题时会玩一些文字游戏，用各种表达形式让考生晕头转向、雾里看花。考生应该明白自己的职责是辨别真伪，找到合符文章意思和题意的选项。换句话说，考生在答题时不能有参与意识，有些考生做题就是因为带上了自己的意见，因此我检疫要时刻牢记一点，答案永远是根据文章内容答题，应该排除文章以外的任何干扰因素。读者毕竟不是作者。

2.区别对待几种题：

(1)主旨题。主旨题有三种：a、作者的意图；b、文章标题；c、文章的中心思想。这种题一般为第一道题，建议考生把这道题放在最后做，因为做其他题时，考生会逐步了解文章的各个细节，在做题的过程中就会对文章个总的理解，最后处理主旨题可谓水到渠成、万无一失。

(2)列举题。列举题有两种：a、一正三误；b、三正误。也可分为四类。第一类：一句话列举。根据某个选项的语言提示，回归文章找到一句话，这句话包含三个选项的内容；第二类：局部列举。根据题意，回归文章发现连续两三句话涉及三个选项的内容；第三类：段落列举。题干语言在某自然段首句重现。这个句子为段落主题句，即三个选项的内容在这段出现，不涉及到其他段落；第四类：文章列举。选项内容涉及整个文章。一句话列举题和段落列举题有明显的信号词帮助答题，根据题序做题，不必区别对待。文章列举题和局部列举题则应放其他题做完之后再处理。

(3)文章结论题。文章结论题即根据文章可以推断出下面哪个选项结论是正确的，题干没有任何语言信号词。这种题有以下几种布局：为文章第一道题时，相当于文章主旨题，应放在最后一道题时，有可能针对文章最后部分，也有可能针对整篇文章，但不大可能涉及文章其他部分的细节。所以文章结论题应该具体情况具体分析，并不一定是面对整个文章。

(4)作者态度题。作者态度题分为两种：a、局部作者态度题；b、整体作者态度题。文章最后一道题问及作者态度时为整体作者态度题，它涉及通篇文章，要根据整个文章数个语言点串起来的一根主线答题，也就是作者行文的口气。考生千万不可以根据某一个语言点答题，因为整体作者态度题不是考核某一个点，而是考整体感觉。局部作者态度题位置比较灵活，往往问及作者对文章中某一个具体内容的看法，题干通常信号请将考生带回文章某一区域，考查考生对某个语言点的理解。有时候，某个选项从作者的表达相悖，因此，做作者态度题时，考生一定注意不要把自己作为读者的分析、观点强加于作者。

(5)文章想方设法题。文章结构题三种：a、文章前面的段落内容是什么？b、文章下面接着将要讲什么？c、文章组织结构是什么？推断文章前面的内容立足于文章首句，因为文章首句承上启下，尤其注意首句中诸如this、so、other than之类的结构词。预测下文的内容则分两步走：第一、读文章每段首句，文章每段首句表示文章内容的逻辑走向。如果文章讲述某一事物的两个阶段或方面，下文将介绍这一事物的第三个阶段或方面。我们把预测下文内容的题称之为坐标题，即竖看文章每段首句，横看文章最后一句，其他句子是文章所讲内容，而不是下面将要讲的内容，往往选项干扰来自文章所讲内容。至于文章的组织结构题，只需要读文章每段首句即可，因为这些句子是文章框架。

以上五种题基本上都涉及整个文章，如果考生对这些题的规律及对策没有卢清楚的认识，就会在做这些题时耗费大量的时间，甚至影响做其他题的情绪。

toefl主要是考查非英语国家的留学生是否具备一定的英语知识和实际运用能力以适应北美高校的学业要求，所以试卷内容和文体的学术性比较突出。这就决定了考生在应试toefl阅读理解部分时应遵循其自身的规律而采取有效的策略。上面是本人多年来教学与研究一些体会，希望对广大考生能起到一定的指导作用。最后预祝大家考试取得优异成绩！

篇3：TOEFL阅读真题精选

托福阅读真题1

There are only a few clues in the rock record about climate in the Proterozoic eon. Much of our information about climate in the more recent periods of geologic history comes from the fossil record, because we have a reasonably good understanding of the types of environment in which many fossil organisms flourished. The scarce fossils of the Proterozoic, mostly single-celled bacteria, provide little evidence in this regard. However, the rocks themselves do include the earliest evidence for glaciation, probably a global ice age.

The inference that some types of sedimentary rocks are the result of glacial activity is based on the principle of uniformitarianism, which posits that natural processes now at work on and within the Earth operated in the same manner in the distant past. The deposits associated with present-day glaciers have been well studied, and some of their characteristics are quite distinctive. In 2.3-billion-year-old rocks in Canada near Lake Huron (dating from the early part of the Proterozoic age), there are thin laminae of fine-grained sediments that resemble varves, the annual layers of sediment deposited in glacial lakes. Typically, present-day varves show two-layered annual cycle, one layer corresponding to the rapid ice melting and sediment transport of the summer season, and the other, finer-grained, layer corresponding to slower winter deposition. Although it is not easy to discern such details in the Proterozoic examples, they are almost certainly glacial varves. These fine-grained, layered sediments even contain occasional large pebbles or dropstones, a characteristic feature of glacial environments where coarse material is sometimes carried on floating ice and dropped far from its source, into otherwise very fine grained sediment. Glacial sediments of about the same age as those in Canada have been found in other parts of North America and in Africa, India, and Europe. This indicates that the glaciation was global, and that for a period of time in the early Proterozoic the Earth was gripped in an ice age.

Following the early Proterozoic glaciation, however, the climate appears to have been fairly benign for a very long time. There is no evidence for glaciation for the next 1.5 billion years or so. Then, suddenly, the rock record indicates a series of glacial episodes between about 850 and 600 million year ago, near the end of the Proterozoic eon.

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

(A) How patterns in rock layers have been used to construct theories about the climate of the

Proterozoic age

(B) What some rare fossils indicate about glacial conditions during the late Proterozoic age

(D) The number of glacial episodes that the Earth has experienced since the Proterozoic age

2. According to the passage , the fossil record of the Proterozoic eon is

(A) highly regarded because it preserves the remains of many kinds of organisms

(B) less informative than the fossil record of more recent periods

(D) more useful to researchers than otheraspects of the rock record

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

(A) ancient

(B) tiny

(D) rare

4. It can be inferred from the passage that the principle of uniformitarianism indicates

(A) similar conditions produce similar rock formations

(B) rock layers in a given region remain undisturbed over time

(D) each continent has its own distinctive pattern of sediment layers

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

(A) result from

(B) penetrate

(D) replace have similar origins

6. According to the passage , the layers in varves are primarily formed by

(A) fossilized bacteria

(B) pieces of ancient dropstones

(D) annual cycles of sediment transport and deposition

7. The phrase the other in line 17 refers to another

(A) annual cycle

(B) glacial lake

(D) season

8. According to the passage , the presence of dropstones indicates that

(A) the glacial environment has been unusually servere

(B) the fine-grained sediment has built up very slowly

(D) coarse rock material has been carried great distances

9. Why does the author mention Canada, North America, Africa, India, and Europe in lines 23-24?

(A) To demonstrate the global spread of dropstones

(B) To explain the principles of varve formation

(D) To illustrate the varied climatic changes of the Proterozoic eon in different parts of the globe

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

(A) fossil record (line 3)

(B) laminae (line 13)

(D) glacial episodes (line 28)

PASSAGE 92 ABDAC DCCCC

托福阅读真题2

In 1900 the United States had only three cities with more than a million residents — New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. By 1930, it had ten giant metropolises. The newer ones experienced remarkable growth, which reflected basic changes in the economy.

The population of Los Angeles (114,000 in 1900) rose spectacularly in the early decades of the twentieth century, increasing a dramatic 1,400 percent from 1900 to 1930. A number of circumstances contributed to the meteoric rise of Los Angeles. The agricultural potential of the area was enormous if water for irrigation could be found, and the city founders had the vision and dating to obtain it by constructing a 225-mile aqueduct, completed in 1913, to tap the water of the Owens River. The city had a superb natural harbor, as well as excellent rail connections. The climate made it possible to shoot motion pictures year-round; hence Hollywood. Hollywood not only supplied jobs; it disseminated an image of the good life in Southern California on screens all across the nation. The most important single industry powering the growth of Los Angeles, however, was directly linked to the automobile. The demand for petroleum to fuel gasoline engines led to the opening of the Southern California oil fields, and made Los Angeles North America's greatest refining center.

Los Angeles was a product of the auto age in another sense as well: its distinctive spatial organization depended on widespread private ownership of automobiles. Los Angeles was a decentralized metropolis, sprawling across the desert landscape over an area of 400 square miles. It was a city without a real center. The downtown business district did not grow apace with the city as a whole, and the rapid transit system designed to link the center with outlying areas withered away from disuse. Approximately 800,000 cars were registered in Los Angeles County in 1930, one per 2.7 residents. Some visitors from the east coast were dismayed at the endless urban sprawl and dismissed Los Angeles as a mere collection of suburbs in search of a city. But the freedom and mobility of a city built on wheels attracted floods of migrants to the city.

1. What is the passage mainly about?

(A) The growth of cities in the United States in the early 1900's

(B) The development of the Southern California oil fields

(D) Industry and city planning in Los Angeles

2. The author characterizes the growth of new large cities in the United States after 1900 as

resulting primarily from

(A) new economic conditions

(B) images of cities shown in movies

(D) a large migrant population

3. The word meteoric in line 6 is closest in meaning to

(A) rapid

(B) famous

(D) methodical

(A) aqueduct

(B) vision

(D) agricultural potential

5. According to the passage , the most important factor in the development of agriculture around

Los Angeles was the

(A) influx of new residents to agricultural areas near the city

(B) construction of an aqueduct

(D) development of new connections to the city's natural harbor

6. According to the passage , the initial success of Hollywood' s motion picture industry was due

largely to the

(A) availability of many skilled workers

(B) beauty of the countryside

(D) region's climate and good weather

7. It can be inferred from the passage that in 1930 the greatest number of people in the Los

Angeles area were employed in

(A) farming

(B) oil refining

(D) the motion picture industry

8. According to the passage , the Southern California oil fields were initially exploited due to

(A) the fuel requirements of Los Angeles' rail system

(B) an increase in the use of gasoline engines in North America

(D) innovative planning on the part of the city founders

9. The phrase apace with in line 21 is closest in meaning to

(A) anew with

(B) apart from

(D) at the middle of

10. It can be inferred from the passage that the spatial organization of Los Angeles contributed to

the relative decline there of

(A) public transportation

(B) industrial areas

(D) oil fields

11. The visitors from the east coast mentioned in the passage thought that Los Angeles

(A) was not accurately portrayed by Hollywood images

(B) lacked good suburban areas in which to live

(D) was not really a single city

PASSAGE 93 CAACB DCBCA D

托福阅读真题3

Industrialization came to the United State after 1790 as North American entrepreneurs increased productivity by reorganizing work and building factories. These innovations in manufacturing boosted output and living standards to an unprecedented extent; the average per capita wealth increased by nearly 1 percent per year — 30 percent over the course of a generation. Goods that had once been luxury items became part of everyday life.

The impressive gain in output stemmed primarily from the way in which workers made goods, since the 1790's, North American entrepreneurs — even without technological improvements — had broadened the scope of the outwork system that made manufacturing more efficient by distributing materials to a succession of workers who each performed a single step of the production process. For example, during the 1820's and 1830's the shoe industry greatly expanded the scale and extend of the outwork system. Tens of thousands of rural women, paid according to the amount they produced, fabricated the uppers of shoes, which were bound to the soles by wage-earning journeymen shoemakers in dozens of Massachusetts towns, whereas previously journeymen would have made the entire shoe. This system of production made the employer a powerful shoe boss and eroded workers' control over the pace and conditions of labor. However, it also dramatically increased the output of shoes while cutting their price.

For tasks that were not suited to the outwork system, entrepreneurs created an even more important new organization, the modem factory, which used power-driven machines and assembly-line techniques to turn out large quantities of well-made goods. As early as 1782 the prolific Delaware inventor Oliver Evans had built a highly automated, laborsaving flour mill driven by water power. His machinery lifted the grain to the top of the mill, cleaned it as it fell into containers known as hoppers, ground the grain into flour, and then conveyed the flour back to the top of the mill to allow it to cool as it descended into barrels. Subsequently, manufacturers made use of new improved stationary steam engines to power their mills. This new technology enabled them to build factories in the nation's largest cities, taking advantage of urban concentrations of inexpensive labor, good transportation networks, and eager customers.

1. What is the passage mainly about?

(A) The difficulties of industrialization in North America

(B) The influence of changes in manufacturing on the growth of urban centers

(D) Improved ways of organizing the manufacturing of goods

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

(A) ensured

(B) raised

(D) discouraged

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

(A) value

(B) popularity

(D) diversity

4. The author mentions the shoe industry in the second paragraph to provide an example of how

(A) entrepreneurs increased output by using an extended outwork system

(B) entrepreneurs used technological improvements to increase output

(D) changes in the outwork system improved the quality of shoes

5. All of the following are mentioned as effects of changes in the shoe industry during the 1820's

and 1830's EXCEPT

(A) an increase in the worker's dependence on entrepreneurs

(B) an increase in the wages paid to journeymen shoemakers

(D) a decrease in the price of shoes

6. All of the following are true of the outwork system EXCEPT

(A) It involved stages of production.

(B) It was more efficient than the systems used before 1790.

(D) It did not necessarily involve any technological improvements.

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

(A) efficient

(B) productive

(D) progressive

8. According to the passage , how did later mills differ from the mills differ from the mill built by

Oliver Evans?

(A) They were located away from large cities.

(B) They used new technology to produce power.

(D) They combined technology with the outwork system.

9. The word it in line 25 refers to

(A) water power

(B) machinery

(D) mill

10. The passage mentions which of the following as a result of improvements in factory

machinery?

(A) It become easier for factory' owners to find workers and customers.

(B) Manufacturers had to employ more highly skilled workers.

(D) Factories could operate more than one engine at a time.

11. The word eager in line 30 is closest in meaning to

(A) wealthy

(B) knowledgeable

(D) enthusiastic

PASSAGE 94 DBCAB CBBCA D

篇4：TOEFL阅读真题

托福阅读真题1

PASSAGE 46

Pennsylvania's colonial ironmasters forged iron and a revolution that had both industrial and political implications. The colonists in North America wanted the right to the profits gained from their manufacturing. However, England wanted all of the colonies' rich ores and raw materials to feed its own factories, and also wanted the colonies to be a market for its finished goods. England passed legislation in 1750 to prohibit colonists from making finished iron products, but by 1771, when entrepreneur Mark Bird established the Hopewell blast furnace in Pennsylvania, iron making had become the backbone of American industry. It also had become one of the major issues that fomented the revolutionary break between England and the British colonies. By the time the War of Independence broke out in 1776, Bird, angered and determined, was manufacturing cannons and shot at Hopewell to be used by the Continental Army.

After the war, Hopewell, along with hundreds of other iron plantations, continued to form the new nation's industrial foundation well into the nineteenth century. The rural landscape became dotted with tall stone pyramids that breathed flames and smoke, charcoal-fueled iron furnaces that produced the versatile metal so crucial to the nation's growth. Generations of ironmasters, craftspeople, and workers produced goods during war and peace-ranging from cannons and shot to domestic items such as cast-iron stoves, pots, and sash weights for windows.

The region around Hopewell had everything needed for iron production: a wealth of iron ore near the surface, limestone for removing impurities from the iron, hardwood forests to supply the charcoal used for fuel, rushing water to power the bellows that pumped blasts of air into the furnace fires, and workers to supply the labor. By the 1830's, Hopewell had developed a reputation for producing high quality cast-iron stoves, for which there was a steady market. As Pennsylvania added more links to its transportation system of roads, canals, and railroads, it became easier to ship parts made by Hopewell workers to sites all over the east coast. There they were assembled into stoves and sold from Rhode Island to Maryland as the Hopewell stove. By the time the last fires burned out at Hopewell ironworks in 1883, the community had produced some 80,000 cast-iron stoves.

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

(A) significance

(B) motives

(D) progress

2. It can be inferred that the purpose of the legislation passed by England in 1750 was to

(A) reduce the price of English-made iron goods sold in the colonies

(B) prevent the outbreak of the War of Independence

(D) keep the colonies from establishing new markets for their raw materials.

3. The author compares iron furnaces to which of the following?

(A) cannons

(B) pyramids

(D) windows

4. The word rushing in line 21 is closest in meaning to

(A) reliable

(B) fresh

(D) rapid

5. Pennsylvania was an ideal location for the Hopewell ironworks for all of the following reasons

EXCEPT

(A) Many workers were available in the area.

(B) The center of operations of the army was nearby.

(D) There was an abundance of wood.

6. The passage mentions roads, canals, and railroads in line 25 in order to explain that

(A) improvements in transportation benefited the Hopewell ironworks

(B) iron was used in the construction of various types of transportation

(D) Hopewell never became a major transportation center

7. The word they in line 26 refers to

(A) links

(B) parts

(D) sites

8. The word some in line 28 is closest in meaning to

(A) only

(B) a maximum of

(D) a variety of

PASSAGE 46 ACBDB ABC

托福阅读真题2

PASSAGE 47

As the twentieth century began, the importance of formal education in the United States increased. The frontier had mostly disappeared and by 1910 most Americans lived in towns and cities. Industrialization and the bureaucratization of economic life combined with a new emphasis upon credentials and expertise to make schooling increasingly important for economic and social mobility. Increasingly, too, schools were viewed as the most important means of integrating immigrants into American society.

The arrival of a great wave of southern and eastern European immigrants at the turn of the century coincided with and contributed to an enormous expansion of formal schooling. By 1920 schooling to age fourteen or beyond was compulsory in most states, and the school year was greatly lengthened. Kindergartens, vacation schools, extracurricular activities, and vocational education and counseling extended the influence of public schools over the lives of students, many of whom in the larger industrial cities were the children of immigrants. Classes for adult immigrants were sponsored by public schools, corporations, unions, churches, settlement houses, and other agencies.

Reformers early in the twentieth century suggested that education programs should suit the needs of specific populations. Immigrant women were one such population. Schools tried to educate young women so they could occupy productive places in the urban industrial economy, and one place many educators considered appropriate for women was the home.

Although looking after the house and family was familiar to immigrant women, American education gave homemaking a new definition. In preindustrial economies, homemaking had meant the production as well as the consumption of goods, and it commonly included income-producing activities both inside and outside the home, in the highly industrialized early-twentieth-century United States, however, overproduction rather than scarcity was becoming a problem. Thus, the ideal American homemaker was viewed as a consumer rather than a producer. Schools trained women to be consumer homemakers cooking, shopping, decorating, and caring for children efficiently in their own homes, or if economic necessity demanded, as employees in the homes of others. Subsequent reforms have made these notions seem quite out-of-date.

1. It can be inferred from paragraph 1 that one important factor in the increasing importance of education in the United States was

(A) the growing number of schools in frontier communities

(B) an increase in the number of trained teachers

(D) the increased urbanization of the entire country

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

(A) advantages

(B) probability

(D) qualifications

3. The phrase coincided with in line 8 is closest in meaning to

(A) was influenced by

(B) happened at the same time as

(D) ensured the success of

4. According to the passage , one important change in United States education by the 1920's was

that

(A) most places required children to attend school

(B) the amount of time spent on formal education was limited

(D) adults and children studied in the same classes

5. Vacation schools and extracurricular activities are mentioned in lines 10-11 to illustrate

(A) alternatives to formal education provided by public schools

(B) the importance of educational changes

(D) the increased impact of public schools on students.

6. According to the passage , early-twentieth century education reformers believed that

(A) different groups needed different kinds of education

(B) special programs should be set up in frontier communities to modernize them

(D) more women should be involved in education and industry

7. The word it in line 22 refers to

(A) consumption

(B) production

(D) education

PASSAGE 47 DCBAD AC

托福阅读真题3

PASSAGE 48

According to sociologists, there are several different ways in which a person may become recognized as the leader of a social group in the United States. In the family, traditional cultural patterns confer leadership on one or both of the parents. In other cases, such as friendship groups, one or more persons may gradually emerge as leaders, although there is no formal process of selection. In larger groups, leaders are usually chosen formally through election or recruitment.

Although leaders are often thought to be people with unusual personal ability, decades of research have failed to produce consistent evidence that there is any category of natural leaders. It seems that there is no set of personal qualities that all leaders have in common; rather, virtually any person may be recognized as a leader if the person has qualities that meet the needs of that particular group.

Furthermore, although it is commonly supposed that social groups have a single leader, research suggests that there are typically two different leadership roles that are held by different individuals. Instrumental leadership is leadership that emphasizes the completion of tasks by a social group. Group members look to instrumental leaders to get things done. Expressive leadership, on the other hand, is leadership that emphasizes the collective well-being of a social group's members. Expressive leaders are less concerned with the overall goals of the group than with providing emotional support to group members and attempting to minimize tension and conflict among them. Group members expect expressive leaders to maintain stable relationships within the group and provide support to individual members. Instrumental leaders are likely to have a rather secondary relationship to other group members. They give orders and may discipline group members who inhibit attainment of the group's goals. Expressive leaders cultivate a more personal or primary relationship to others in the group. They offer sympathy when someone experiences difficulties or is subjected to discipline, are quick to lighten a serious moment with humor, and try to resolve issues that threaten to divide the group. As the differences in these two roles suggest, expressive leaders generally receive more personal affection from group members; instrumental leaders, if they are successful in promoting group goals, may enjoy a more distant respect.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The problems faced by leaders

(B) How leadership differs in small and large groups

(D) The role of leaders in social groups

2. The passage mentions all of the following ways by which people can become leaders EXCEPT

(A) recruitment

(B) formal election process

(D) traditional cultural patterns

3. In mentioning natural leaders in line 9, the author is making the point that

(A) few people qualify as natural leaders

(B) there is no proof that natural leaders exist

(D) natural leaders share a similar set of characteristics

4. Which of the following statements about leadership can be inferred from paragraph 2?

(A) A person who is an effective leader of a particular group may not be an effective leader in

another group.

(B) Few people succeed in sharing a leadership role with another person.

(D) Most people desire to be leaders but can produce little evidence of their qualifications.

5. The passage indicates that instrumental leaders generally focus on

(A) ensuring harmonious relationships

(B) sharing responsibility with group members

(D) achieving a goal

6. The word collective in line 17 is closest in meaning to

(A) necessary

(B) typical

(D) particular

7. The word them in line 19 refers to

(A) expressive leaders

(B) goals of the group

(D) tension and conflict

8. A secondary relationship mentioned in line 22 between a leader and the members of a group

could best be characterized as

(A) distant

(B) enthusiastic

(D) personal

9. The word resolve in line 27 is closest in meaning to

(A) avoid repeating

(B) talk about

(D) find a solution for

10. Paragraphs 3 and 4 organize the discussion of leadership primarily in term of

(A) examples that illustrate a problem

(B) cause and effect analysis

(D) comparison and contrast

PASSAGE 48 DCBAD CCADD

篇5：TOEFL阅读真题

托福阅读真题1

PASSAGE 40

According to anthropologists, people in preindustrial societies spent 3 to 4 hours per day or about 20 hours per week doing the work necessary for life. Modern comparisons of the amount of work performed per week, however, begin with the Industrial Revolution (1760-1840) when 10- to 12-hour workdays with six workdays per week were the norm. Even with extensive time devoted to work, however, both incomes and standards of living were low. As incomes rose near the end of the Industrial Revolution, it became increasingly common to treat Saturday afternoons as a half-day holiday. The half holiday had become standard practice in Britain by the 1870's, but did not become common in the United States until the 1920's.

In the United States, the first third of the twentieth century saw the workweek move from 60 hours per week to just under 50 hours by the start of the 1930's. In 1914 Henry Ford reduced daily work hours at his automobile plants from 9 to 8. In 1926 he announced that henceforth his factories would close for the entire day on Saturday. At the time, Ford received criticism from other firms such as United States Steel and Westinghouse, but the idea was popular with workers.

The Depression years of the 1930's brought with them the notion of job sharing to spread available work around; the workweek dropped to a modem low for the United States of 35 hours. In 1938 the Fair Labor Standards Act mandated a weekly maximum of 40 hours to begin in 1940, and since that time the 8-hour day, 5-day workweek has been the standard in the United States. Adjustments in various places, however, show that this standard is not immutable. In 1987, for example, German metalworkers struck for and received a 37.5-hour workweek; and in 1990 many workers in Britain won a 37-hour week. Since 1989, the Japanese government has moved from a 6- to a 5-day workweek and has set a national target of 1,800 work hours per year for the average worker. The average amount of work per year in Japan in 1989 was 2,088 hours per worker, compared to 1,957 for the United States and 1,646 for France.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) Why people in preindustrial societies worked few hours per week

(B) Changes that have occurred in the number of hours that people work per week

(D) Working conditions during the Industrial Revolution

2. Compared to preiudustrial times, the number of hours in the workweek in the nineteenth century

(A) remained constant

(B) decreased slightly

(D) increased significantly

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

(A) minimum.

(B) example

(D) standard

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

(A) in the end

(B) for a brief period

(D) on occasion

5. The idea mentioned in line 15 refers to

(A) the 60-hour workweek

(B) the reduction in the cost of automobiles

(D) the criticism of Ford by United States Steel and Westinghouse

6. What is one reason for the change in the length of the workweek for the average worker in the

United States during the 1930's?

(A) Several people sometimes shared a single job.

(B) Labor strikes in several countries influenced labor policy in the United States.

(D) The United States government instituted a 35-hour workweek.

7. Which of the following is mentioned as one of the purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act of

1938 ?

(A) to discourage workers from asking for increased wages

(B) to establish a limit on the number of hours in the workweek

(D) to restrict trade with countries that had a long workweek

8. The word mandated in line 18 is closest in meaning to

(A) required

(B) recommended

(D) considered

9. The word immutable in line 21 is closest in meaning to

(A) unmatched

(B) irregular

(D) unchangeable

10. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as evidence that the length of the workweek has

been declining since the nineteenth century?

(A) The half-day holiday (line 7)

(B) Henry Ford (lines 11-12)

(D) German metalworkers (line 21)

11. According to the passage , one goal of the Japanese government is to reduce the average

annual amount of work to

(A) 1,646 hours

(B) 1,800 hours

(D) 2,088 hours

PASSAGE 40 BDDCC ABADCB

托福阅读真题2

PASSAGE 41

Biological diversity has become widely recognized as a critical conservation issue only in the past two decades. The rapid destruction of the tropical rain forests, which are the ecosystems with the highest known species diversity on Earth, has awakened people to the importance and fragility of biological diversity. The high rate of species extinctions in these environments is jolting, but it is important to recognize the significance of biological diversity in all ecosystems. As the human population continues to expand, it will negatively affect one after another of Earth's ecosystems. In terrestrial ecosystems and in fringe marine ecosystems (such as wetlands), the most common problem is habitat destruction. In most situations, the result is irreversible. Now humans are beginning to destroy marine ecosystems through other types of activities, such as disposal and run off of poisonous waste; in less than two centuries, by significantly reducing the variety of species on Earth, they have unraveled cons of evolution and irrevocably redirected its course.

Certainly, there have been periods in Earth's history when mass extinctions have occurred. The extinction of the dinosaurs was caused by some physical event, either climatic or cosmic. There have also been less dramatic extinctions, as when natural competition between species reached an extreme conclusion. Only .01 percent of the species that have lived on Earth have survived to the present, and it was largely chance that determined which species survived and which died out.

However, nothing has ever equaled the magnitude and speed with which the human species is altering the physical and chemical world and demolishing the environment. In fact, there is wide agreement that it is the rate of change humans are inflicting, even more than the changes themselves, that will lead to biological devastation. Life on Earth has continually been in flux as slow physical and chemical changes have occurred on Earth, but life needs time to adapt — time for migration and genetic adaptation within existing species and time for the proliferation of new genetic material and new species that may be able to survive in new environments.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The causes of the extinction of the dinosaur

(B) The variety of species found in tropical rain forests.

(D) The time required for species to adapt to new environments

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

(A) negative

(B) essential

(D) complicated

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

(A) predicted

(B) shocking

(D) illuminating

4. The author mentions the reduction of the variety of species on Earth in line 12 to suggest that

(A) new habitats can be created for species

(B) humans are often made ill by polluted water

(D) an understanding of evolution can prevent certain species from disappearing

5. The author mentions all of the following as examples of the effect of humans oil the world's

ecosystems EXCEPT

(A) destruction of the tropical rain forests

(B) habitat destruction in wetlands

(D) the introduction of new varieties of plant species

6. The author mentions the extinction of the dinosaurs in the second paragraph to emphasize

that

(A) the cause of the dinosaurs extinction is unknown

(B) Earth's climate has changed significantly since the dinosaurs' extinction,

(D) actions by humans could not stop the irreversible process of a species' extinction

7. The word magnitude in line 20 is closest in meaning to

(A) concern

(B) determination

(D) extent

8. According to the passage , natural evolutionary change is different from changes caused by

humans in that changes caused by humans

(A) are occurring at a much faster rate

(B) are less devastating to most species

(D) are reversible

9. With which of the following statements would the author be most likely to agree?

(A) Human influence on ecosystems should not be a factor in determining public policy.

(B) The extinction of a few species is an acceptable consequence of human progress.

(D) Humans should be more conscious of the influence they have on ecosystems

PASSAGE 41 CBBCD CDAD

托福阅读真题3

PASSAGE 42

Railroads reshaped the North American environment and reoriented North American behavior. In a quarter of a century, claimed the Omaha Daily Republican in 1883, they have made the people of the United States homogeneous, breaking through the peculiarities and provincialisms which marked separate and unmingling sections.

The railroad simultaneously stripped the landscape of the natural resources, made velocity of transport and economy of scale necessary parts of industrial production, and carried consumer goods to households; it dispatched immigrants to unsettled places, drew emigrants away from farms and villages to cities, and sent men and guns to battle. It standardized time and travel, seeking to annihilate distance and space by allowing movement at any time and in any season or type of weather. In its grand and impressive terminals and stations, architects recreated historic Roman temples and public baths, French chateaus and Italian bell towers — edifices that people used as stages for many of everyday life's high emotions: meeting and parting, waiting and worrying, planning new starts or coming home.

Passenger terminals, like the luxury express trains that hurled people over spots, spotlight the romance of railroading. (The twentieth-Century Limited sped between Chicago and New York in twenty hours by 1915). Equally important to everyday life were the slow freight trans chugging through industrial zones, the morning and evening commuter locals shuttling back ions and urban terminals, and the incessant comings and goings that occurred in the classifications, or switching, yards. Moreover, in addition to its being a transportation pathway equipped with a mammoth physical plant of tracks signals, crossings, bridges, and junctions, plus telegraph and telephone lines the railroad nurtured factory complexes, coat piles, warehouses, and generating stations, forming along its right-of-way what has aptly been called the metropolitan corridor of the American landscape.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The influence of ancient architecture on the design of railroad terminals

(B) The importance of natural resources in the development of railroads

(D) Technological improvements in the area of communication in the nineteenth century

2. It can be inferred from the quote from the Omaha Daily Republican (line 2-4) that railroads

(A) made all sections of the nation much wealthier

(B) brought more unity to what had been a fragmented nation

(D) had no effect on the environment of the United States

3. The word it in line 7 refers to

(A) transport

(B) scale

(D) railroad