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98年8月托福阅读试题 (三)

Perhaps the world's largest source of meteorites is the Nullarbor Plain, an area of limestone that stretches for 400 miles along the southern coast of Western and South Australia. The pale, smooth desert plain provides a perfect backdrop for spotting meteorites, which are usually dark brown of black. Since very little erosion takes place, the meteorites are well preserved and are found just where they landed. Over 1,000. fragments from 150 meteorites that fell during the last 20,000 years have been recovered. One large iron meteorite, called the Mundrabilla meteorite, weighed more than 11 tons.

Stony meteorites, called chordates, are the most common type and make up more than 90 percent of all falls . But because they are similar to Earth materials and therefore erode easily, they are often difficult to find. Among the most ancient bodies in the solar system are the carbonaceous chondrites that also contain carbon compounds that might have been the precursors of life on Earth.

23. What is the passage mainly about?

(A) Finding meteorites on Earth's surface

(B) How the composition of meteorites is similar to that of Earth

(C) Why most meteorites do not survive impact with Earth

(D) The origins of meteorites

24. The word "core" in line 4 is closest in meaning to

(A) center

(B) surface

(C) mineral

(D) field

25.The author mentions "dark stones" and "white snow" in line 9 to illustrate that.

(A) meteorites are found most often in Antarctica

(B) glaciers stop meteorites from mixing with soil

(C) meteorites are easier to find in glacial areas

(D) most of Antarctica is covered with meteorites

26. The word "embedded" in line 10 is closest in meaning to

(A) isolated

(B) encased

(C)enhanced

(D) enlarged

27.The word "spotting" in line 17 is closest in meaning to

(A) removing

(B) identifying

(C)cooling

(D) falling

28.The passage suggests that which of the following is most commonly responsible for the poor preservation of meteorites that fall to Earth?

(A) The size of the fragments

(B) Ice sheets

(C) Erosion

(D) Desert heat

29.Where was the Mundrabilla meteorite discovered?

(A)On the Nullarbor Plain

(B)In a field

(C)On a mountain

(D)In Antarctica

30.The word "they" in line 25 refers to

(A)stony meteorites

(B) falls

(C)Earth materials

(D) ancient bodies

31.Why does the author mention carbonaceous chondrites (line 26)?

(A) They are the largest meteorites found on Earth

(B) They are most likely to be found whole.

(C) They come from outside the solar system.

(D) They may be related to the origins of life on Earth.

32.According to the passage, stony meteorites are

(A) composed of fragmented materials

(B) less likely to be discovered than iron meteorites

(C) mostly lost in space

(D) found only on the Nullarbor Plain

Questions 33-41

A pioneering set of experiments has been important in the revolution in our understanding of animal behavior-a revolution that eroded the behaviorist dogma that only humans have minds. These experiments were designed to detect consciousness-that is, signs of self-awareness or self-recognition-in animals other than humans.

The scientific investigation of an experience as private as consciousness is frustratingly beyond the usual tools of the experimental psychologist. This may be one reason that many researchers have shied away from the notion of mind and consciousness in nonhuman animals. In the late1960's, however, psychologist Gordon Gallup devised a test of the sense of self: the mirror test. if an animal were able to recognize its reflection in a mirror as "self," then it could be said to possess an awareness of self, or consciousness. It is known that a cat or a dog reacts to its own