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1996年1月托福阅读全真试题

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Medal No.2

Medal No.12

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1996年1月托福阅读全真试题

Questions 1-7

Joyce Carol Oates published her first collection of short
stories. By The Gate, in 1963, two years after she had
received her master's degree from the University of Wisconsin
and become an instructor of English at the University of
Detroit. Her productivity since then has been prodigious, accumulating
in less than two decades to nearly thirty titles, including
novels, collections of short stories and verse, plays, and literary
criticism. In the meantime, she has continued to teach,
moving in 1967 from the University of Detroit to the University
of Windsor, in Ontario, and, in 1978, to Princeton University.
Reviewers have admired her enormous energy, but
find a productivity of such magnitude difficult to assess.

In a period characterized by the abandonment of so much
of the realistic tradition by authors such as John Barth, Donald
Barthelme, and Thomas Pynchon, Joyce Carol Oates has
seemed at times determinedly old-fashioned in her insistence on
the essentially mimetic quality of her fiction. Hers is a world
of violence, insanity, fractured love, and hopeless loneliness.
Although some of it appears to come from her own direct
observations, her dreams, and her fears, much more is clearly
from the experiences of others. Her first novel, With Shuddering
Fall(1964), dealt with stock car racing, though she
had never seen a race. IN Them(1969) she focused on
Detroit from the Depression through the notes of 1967, drawing
much of her material from the deep impression made on her by
the problems of one of her students. Whatever the source and
however shocking the events or the motivations, however, her
fictive world remains strikingly akin to that real one reflected
in the daily newspapers, the television news and talk shows,
and the popular magazines of our day.

1. What is the main purpose of the passage?

(A) To review Oates's By the North Gate
(B) To compare some modern writers
(C) To describe Oates's childhood
(D) To outline Oates's career

2. Which of the following does the passage indicate about Joyce Carol Qate's first publication?

(A) It was part of her master's thesis.
(B) It was a volume of short fiction.
(C) It was not successful.
(D) It was about an English instructor in Detroit.

3. Which of the following does the passage suggest about Joyce Carol Oates in terms of her writing career?

(A) She has experienced long nonproductive periods in her writing.
(B) Her style is imitative of other contemporary authors
(C) She has produced a surprising amount of fictions in a relative short time.
(D) Most of her work is based on personal experience.

4. The word "characterized" in line 10 can best replaced by which of the following?

(A) Shocked
(B) Impressed
(C) Distinguished
(D) Helped

5. What was the subject of Joyce Carol Oates's first novel?

(A) Loneliness
(B) Inanity
(C) Teaching
(D) Racing

6. Why does the author mention Oates's book Them?

(A) It is a typical novel of the 1960's
(B) It is her best piece of nonfiction.
(C) It is a fictional work based on the experiences of another person.
(D) It is an autobiography.

7. Which of the following would Joyce Carol Oates be most likely to write?

(A) A story with an unhappy ending
(B) A romancer novel set in the nineteenth century
(C) A science fiction novel
(D) A dialogue for a talk show

Question 8-18

Certainly no creature in the sea is odder than the common
sea cucumber. All living creature, especially human beings,
have their peculiarities, but everything about the little sea
cucumber seems unusual. What else can be said about a bizarre
animal that, among other eccentricities, eats mud, feeds
almost continuously day and night but can live without eating
for long periods, and can be poisonous but is considered
supremely edible by gourmets?

For some fifty million years, despite all its eccentricities,
the sea cucumber has subsisted on its diet of mud. It is
adaptable enough to live attached to rocks by its tube feet, under
rocks in shallow water, or on the surface of mud flats.
Common in cool water on both Atlantic and Pacific shores, it has
the ability to suck up mud or sand and digest whatever
nutrients are present.

Sea cucumbers come in a variety of colors, ranging from
black to reddish - brown to sand - color and nearly white. One
form even has vivid purple tentacles. Usually the creatures are
cucumber - shaped - hence their name - and because they are
typically rock inhabitants, this shape, combined with flexibility,
enables them to squeeze into crevices where they are safe
from predators and ocean currents.

Although they have voracious appetites, eating day and
night, sea cucumbers have the capacity to become quiescent
and live at a low metabolic rate - feeding sparingly or not at all
for long periods, so that the marine organisms that provide
their food have a chance to multiply. If it were not for this
faculty, they would devour all the food available in s short
time and would probably starve themselves out of existence.

But the most spectacular thing about the sea cucumber is
the way it defends itself. Its major enemies are fish and crabs,
when attacked, it squirts all its internal organs into the water.
It also casts off attached structures such as tentacles. The sea
cucumber will eviscerate and regenerate itself if it is attacked
or even touched; it will do the same if surrounding water
temperature is too high or if the water becomes too polluted.
8. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The reason for the sea cucumber's name
(B) What makes the sea cucumber unusual
(C) How to identify the sea cucumber
(D) Places where the sea cucumber can be found

9. In line 3, the word "bizarre" is closest meaning to

(A) odd
(B) marine
(C) simple
(D) rare

10.According to the Passage, why is the shape of sea cucumbers important?

(A) It helps them to digest their food
(B) It helps them to protect themselves from danger.
(C) It makes it easier for them to move through the mud.
(D) It makes them attractive to fish.

11.The words "this faculty" in line20 refer to the sea cucumber's ability to

(A) squeeze into crevices
(B) devour all available food in a short time
(C) suck up mud or sand
(D) live at a low metabolic rate

12.The fourth paragraph of the passage Primarily discusses

(A) the reproduction of sea cucumbers
(B) the food sources of sea cucumbers
(C) the eating habits of sea cucumbers
(D) threats to sea cucumbers' existence

13.The phrase "casts off" in line 24 is closest in meaning to

(A) grows again
(B) grabs
(C) gets rid of
(D) uses as a weapon

14.Of all the characteristics of the sea cucumber, which of the following seems to fascinate the author most?

(A) What it does when threatened.
(B) Where it lives
(C) How it hides from predators
(D) What it eats.

15.Compared with other sea creatures the sea cucumber is very

(A) dangerous
(B) intelligent
(C) strange
(D) fat

16.What can be inferred about the defense mechanisms of the sea cucumber?

(A) They are very sensitive to surrounding stimuli.
(B) They are almost useless.
(C) They require group cooperation.
(D) They are similar to those of most sea creatures.

17.Which of the following would NOT cause a sea cucumber to release its internal organs into the water?

(A) A touch
(B) Food
(C) Unusually warm water
(D) Pollution

18.Which of the following is an example of behavior comparable with the sea cucumber living at a low metabolic rate?

(A) An octopus defending itself with its tentacles
(B) A bear hibernating in the winter
(C) A pig eating constantly
(D) A parasite living on its host's blood.
Question 19-29

A folk culture is small, isolated, cohesive, conservative,
nearly self-sufficient group that is homogeneous in custom and
race, with a strong family or clan structure and highly
developed rituals. Order is maintained through sanctions based in
the religion or family, and interpersonal relationships are
strong. Tradition is paramount, and change comes infrequently
and slowly. There is relatively little division of labor into
specialized duties. Rather, each person is expected to perform
a great variety of tasks, though duties many differ between the
sexes. Most goods are handmade, and a subsistence economy
prevails. Individualism is weakly developed in folk cultures, as
are social classes. Unaltered folk cultures no longer exist in
industrialized countries such as the United States and Canada.
Perhaps the nearest modern-equivalent in Anglo-America is the
Amish, a German American farming sect that largely renounces
the products and labor saving device of the industrial
age. In Amish areas, horse - drawn buggies still serve as a local
transportation device, and the faithful are not permitted to
own automobiles. The Amish's central religious concept of
Demut, "humility", clearly reflects the weakness of individualism
and social class so typical of folk cultures, and there is a
corresponding strength of Amish group identity. Rarely do the
Amish marry outside their sect. The religion, a variety of the
Mennonite faith, provides the principal mechanism for maintaining
order.

By contrast, a popular culture is a large heterogeneous
group, often highly individualistic and constantly changing.
Relationships tend to be impersonal, and a pronounced division
of labor exists, leading to the establishment of many specialized
professions. Secular institutions of control such as the police
and army take the place of religion and family in maintaining
order, and a money-based economy prevails. Because of these
contrasts, "popular" may be viewed as clearly different from
"folk". The popular is replacing the folk in industrialized countries
and in many developing nations, Folk-made objects give
way to their popular equivalent, usually because the popular
item is more quickly or cheaply produced, is easier or time
saving to use, or lends more prestige to the owner.

19.What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) Two decades in modern society.
(B) The influence of industrial technology
(C) The characteristics of "folk" and "popular" societies.
(D) The specialization of labor in Canada and United States

20.The word "homogeneous" in line 2 is closest in meaning to

(A) uniform
(B) general
(C) primitive
(D) traditional

21.Which of the following is typical of folk cultures?

(A) There is a money- based economy.
(B) Social change occurs slowly.
(C) Contact with other cultures is encouraged
(D) Each person develops one specialized skill.

22.What does the author imply about the United States and Canada?

(A) They value folk cultures
(B) They have no social classes.
(C) They have popular cultures.
(D) They do not value individualism.

23.The phrase "largely renounces" in line 11 is closest in meaning to

(A) generally rejects
(B) greatly modifies
(C) loudly declares
(D) often criticizes

24.What is the main source of order in Amish society?

(A) The government
(B) The economy
(C) The clan structure
(D) The religion

25.Which of the following statements about Amish beliefs does the passage support?

(A) A variety of religious practices is tolerated.
(B) Individualism and competition are important.
(C) Pre-modern technology is preferred.
(D) People are defined according to their class.

26.Which of the following would probably NOT be found in a folk culture?

(A) A carpenter
(B) A farmer
(C) A weaver
(D) A banker

27.The word "prevails" in line 23 is closest in meaning to

(A) dominates
(B) provides
(C) develops
(D) invests

28.The word "their" in line 26 refer to

(A) folk
(B) nations
(C) countries
(D) objects

29.Which of the following is NOT given as a reason why folk-made objects are replaced by mass-produced objects?

(A) Cost
(B) Prestige
(C) Quality
(D) Convenience

Question 30-40

Many of the most damaging and life-threatening types of
weather - torrential rains, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes
- begin quickly, strike suddenly, and dissipate rapidly,
devastating small regions while leaving neighboring areas
untouched. One such event, a tornado, stuck the northeastern
section of Edmonton, Alberta, in July 1987. Total damages
from the tornado exceeded $250 million, the highest ever for
any Canadian storm. Conventional computer models of the
atmosphere have limited value in predicting short - lived local
storms like the Edmonton tornado, because the available
weather data are generally not detailed enough to allow computers to discern the subtle atmospheric changes that precede
these storms. In most nations, for example, weather -balloon
observations are taken just once every twelve hours at location
typically separated by hundreds of miles. With such limited
data, conventional forecasting models do a much better job
predicting general weather conditions over large regions than
they do forecasting specific local events.

Until recently, the observation - intensive approach needed
for accurate, very short - range forecasts, or "Nowcasts," was
not feasible. The cost of equipping and operating many thousands
of conventional weather stations was prohibitively high,
and the difficulties involved in rapidly collecting and processing
the raw weather data from such a network were insurmountable.
Fortunately, scientific and technological advances have
overcome most of these problems. Radar systems, automated
weather instruments, and satellites are all capable of making
detailed, nearly continuous observation over large regions at
a relatively low cost. Communications satellites can transmit
data around the world cheaply and instantaneously, and modern
computers can quickly compile and analyzing this large volume
of weather information. Meteorologists and computer
scientists now work together to design computer programs and
video equipment capable of transforming raw weather data into
words, symbols, and vivid graphic displays that forecasters
can interpret easily and quickly. As meteorologists have begun
using these new technologies in weather forecasting offices,
Nowcasting is becoming a reality.

30.What does he passage mainly discuss?
(A) Computers and weather
(B) Dangerous storms
(C) Weather forecasting
(D) Satellites

31.Why does the author mention the tornado in Edmonton, Canada?

(A) To indicate that tornadoes are common in the summer
(B) To give an example of a damaging storm
(C) To explain different types of weather
(D) To show that tornadoes occur frequently in Canada

32.The word "subtle" in line 8 is closest in meaning to

(A) complex
(B) regular
(C) imagined
(D) slight

33.Why does the author state in line 10 that observations are taken "just once every twelve hours?"

(A) To indicate that the observations are timely
(B) To show why the observations are on limited value
(C) To compare data from balloons and computers
(D) To give an example of international cooperation

34.The word "they" in line 13 refers to

(A) models
(B) conditions
(C) regions
(D) events

35.Which of the following is NOT mentioned as an advance in short - range weather forecasting?

(A) Weather balloons
(B) Radar systems
(C) Automated instruments
(D) Satellites

36.The word "compile" in line 23 is closest in meaning to

(A) put together
(B) look up
(C) pile high
(D) work over

37.With Nowcasting, it first became possible to provide information about

(A) short-lived local storms
(B) radar networks
(C) long - range weather forecasts
(D) general weather conditions

38.The word "raw" in line 25 is closest in meaning to

(A) stormy
(B) inaccurate
(C) uncooked
(D) unprocessed

39.With which of the following statements is the author most likely to agree?

(A) Communications satellites can predict severe weather.
(B) Meteorologists should standardize computer programs.
(C) The observation - intensive approach is no longer useful.
(D) Weather predictions are becoming more accurate.

40.Which of the following would best illustrate Nowcasting?

(A) A five-day forecast
(B) A warning about a severe thunderstorm on the radio
(C) The average rainfall for each month
(D) A list of temperatures in major cities
Question 41-50

People in the United States in the nineteenth century
were haunted by the prospect that unprecedented change in
he nation's economy would bring social chaos. In the years
following 1820, after several decades of relative stability, the
economy entered a period of sustained and extremely rapid
growth that continued to the end of the nineteenth century.
Accompanying that growth that was a structural change that
featured increasing economic diversification and a gradual shift
in the nation's labor force from agriculture to manufacturing
and other nonagricultural pursuits.

Although the birth rate continued to decline from its high
level of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century. The
population roughly doubled every generation during the
nineteenth centuries. As the population grew, its makeup also
changed. Massive waves of immigration brought new ethnic
groups into the country. Geographic and social mobility -
downward as well as upward - touched almost everyone. Local
studies indicate that nearly three - quarters of the population -
in the North and South, in the emerging cities of the Northeast,
and in the restless rural counties of the West - changed
their residence each decade. As a consequence, historian David
Donald has written, "Social atomization affected every
segment of society," and it seemed to many people that "all the
recognized values of orderly civilization were gradually being
eroded."
Rapid industrialization and increased geographic mobility
in the nineteenth century had special implications for women
because these tended to magnify social distinctions. As
the roles men and women played in society became more rigidly
defined, so did the roles they played in the home. In the
context of extreme competitiveness and dizzying social change,
the household lost many of its earlier functions and the home
came to serve as a haven of tranquillity and order. As the size
of families decreased, the roles of husband and wife became
more clearly differentiated than ever before. In the middle
class especially, men participated in the productive economy
while women ruled the home and served as the custodians of
civility and culture. The intimacy of marriage that was
common in earlier periods was rent, and a gulf that at times
seemed unbridgeable was created between husbands and
wives.

41.What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The economic development of the United States in the eighteenth century
(B) Ways in which economic development led to social changes in the United States
(C) Population growth in the western United States
(D) The increasing availability of industrial jobs for women in the United States

42.The word "Prospect" in line 1 is closest in meaning to

(A) regret
(B) possibility
(C) theory
(D) circumstance

43.According to the passage, the economy of the United States between 1820 and 1900 was

(A) expanding
(B) in sharp decline
(C) stagnate
(D) disorganized

44.The word "roughly" in line 9 is closest in meaning to

(A) harshly
(B) surprisingly
(C) slowly
(D) approximately

45.The word "its" in line 10 refers to

(A) century
(B) population
(C) generation
(D) birth rate

46.According to the passage, as the nineteenth century progressed, the people of the United States

(A) emigrated to other countries
(B) often settled in the West
(C) tended to change the place in which they lived
(D) had a higher rate of birth than ever before

47.Which of the following best describes the society about which David Donald wrote?

(A) A highly conservative society that was resistant to new ideas
(B) A society that was undergoing fundamental change
(C) A society that had been gradually changing since the early 1700's
(D) A nomadic society that was starting permanent settlements

48.The word "magnify" in line 20 is closest in meaning to

(A) solve
(B) explain
(C) analyze
(D) increase

49.Which of the following is NOT mentioned as an example of the social changes occurring in the United States after 1820?

(A) Increased social mobility
(B) Increased immigration
(C) Significant movement of population
(D) Strong emphasis on traditional social values

50.The word " distinctions" in line 21 is closest in meaning to

(A) Differences
(B) Classes
(C) Accomplishments
(D) characteristics

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