托福真题北美.docx

托福真题北美.docx

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托福真题北美

2014年1月17日托福真题解析（北美）

【阅读】

第一篇

　　TOPIC：

Cinema

　　讲述早期电影的产生及其特点，提到有声电影和无声电影。

　　解析：

本文属艺术类话题，谈到大家比较喜欢的电影话题，尽管谈的是早期电影，但依然会让我们读起来感觉相对轻松愉悦。

文章内容与TPO12的一篇文章TransitiontoSoundinFilm很对应，甚至举例都很相似，值得大家精读研究。

　　TransitiontoSoundinFilm

　　Theshiftfromsilenttosoundfilmattheendofthe1920smarks,sofar,themostimportanttransformationinmotionpicturehistory.Despiteallthehighlyvisibletechnologicaldevelopmentsintheatricalandhomedeliveryofthemovingimagethathaveoccurredoverthedecadessincethen,nosingleinnovationhascomeclosetobeingregardedasasimilarkindofwatershed.Innearlyeverylanguage,howeverthewordsarephrased,themostbasicdivisionincinemahistoryliesbetweenfilmsthataremuteandfilmsthatspeak.

　　Yetthismostfundamentalstandardofhistoricalperiodizationconcealsahostofparadoxes.Nearlyeverymovietheater,howevermodest,hadapianoororgantoprovidemusicalaccompanimenttosilentpictures.Inmanyinstances,spectatorsintheerabeforerecordedsoundexperiencedelaborateauralpresentationsalongsidemovies'visualimages,fromtheJapanesebenshi（narrators）craftingmultivoiceddialoguenarrativestooriginalmusicalcompositionsperformedbysymphony-sizeorchestrasinEuropeandtheUnitedStates.InBerlin,forthepremiereperformanceoutsidetheSovietUnionofTheBattleshipPotemkin,filmdirectorSergeiEisensteinworkedwithAustriancomposerEdmundMeisel（1874-1930）onamusicalscorematchingsoundtoimage;theBerlinscreeningswithlivemusichelpedtobringthefilmitswideinternationalfame.

　　Beyondthat,thetriumphofrecordedsoundhasovershadowedtherichdiversityoftechnologicalandaestheticexperimentswiththevisualimagethatweregoingforwardsimultaneouslyinthe1920s.Newcolorprocesses,largerordifferentlyshapedscreensizes,multiple-screenprojections,eventelevision,wereamongthedevelopmentsinventedortriedoutduringtheperiod,sometimeswithstartlingsuccess.Thehighcostsofconvertingtosoundandtheearlylimitationsofsoundtechnologywereamongthefactorsthatsuppressedinnovationsorretardedadvancementintheseotherareas.Theintroductionofnewscreenformatswasputoffforaquartercentury,andcolor,thoughutilizedoverthenexttwodecadesforspecialproductions,alsodidnotbecomeanormuntilthe1950s.

　　Thoughitmaybedifficulttoimaginefromalaterperspective,astrainofcriticalopinioninthe1920spredictedthatsoundfilmwouldbeatechnicalnoveltythatwouldsoonfadefromsight,justashadmanypreviousattempts,datingwellbackbeforetheFirstWorldWar,tolinkimageswithrecordedsound.Thesecriticsweremakingacommonassumption—thatthetechnologicalinadequaciesofearlierefforts（poorsynchronization,weaksoundamplification,fragilesoundrecordings）wouldinvariablyoccuragain.Tobesure,theirevaluationofthetechnicalflawsin1920ssoundexperimentswasnotsofaroffthemark,yettheyneglectedtotakeintoaccountimportantnewforcesinthemotionpicturefieldthat,inasense,wouldnottakenoforananswer.

　　Theseforcesweretherapidlyexpandingelectronicsandtelecommunicationscompaniesthatweredevelopingandlinkingtelephoneandwirelesstechnologiesinthe1920s.IntheUnitedStates,theyincludedsuchfirmsasAmericanTelephoneandTelegraph,GeneralElectric,andWestinghouse.Theywereinterestedinallformsofsoundtechnologyandallpotentialavenuesforcommercialexploitation.TheircompetitionandcollaborationwerecreatingthebroadcastingindustryintheUnitedStates,beginningwiththeintroductionofcommercialradioprogrammingintheearly1920s.Withfinancialassetsconsiderablygreaterthanthoseinthemotionpictureindustry,andperhapsawidervisionoftherelationshipsamongentertainmentandcommunicationsmedia,theyrevitalizedresearchintorecordingsoundformotionpictures.

　　In1929theUnitedStatesmotionpictureindustryreleasedmorethan300soundfilms—aroughfigure,sinceanumberweresilentfilmswithmusictracks,orfilmspreparedindualversions,totakeaccountofthemanycinemasnotyetwiredforsound.Attheproductionlevel,intheUnitedStatestheconversionwasvirtuallycompleteby1930.InEuropeittookalittlelonger,mainlybecausethereweremoresmallproducersforwhomthecostsofsoundwereprohibitive,andinotherpartsoftheworldproblemswithrightsoraccesstoequipmentdelayedtheshifttosoundproductionforafewmoreyears（thoughcinemasinmajorcitiesmayhavebeenwiredinordertoplayforeignsoundfilms）.Thetriumphofsoundcinemawasswift,complete,andenormouslypopular.

第二篇

　　TOPIC：

Eocenewarming

　　讨论Eocenewarming产生的原因

　　解析：

本文属地质学话题，谈到Eocene始新世这样一个历史时期，这是在TPO里从未考过的一个历史阶段。

文章结构很明显，应该是因果类。

　　Eocene

　　TheEocene/ˈiːəsiːn/（symbolEo ）epoch,lastingfrom56to33.9millionyearsago,isamajordivisionofthegeologictimescaleandthesecondepochofthePaleogenePeriodintheCenozoicEra.TheEocenespansthetimefromtheendofthePalaeoceneEpochtothebeginningoftheOligoceneEpoch.ThestartoftheEoceneismarkedbyabriefperiodinwhichtheconcentrationofthecarbonisotope13Cintheatmospherewasexceptionallylowincomparisonwiththemorecommonisotope12C.TheendissetatamajorextinctioneventcalledtheGrandeCoupure（the"GreatBreak"incontinuity）ortheEocene–Oligoceneextinctionevent,whichmayberelatedtotheimpactofoneormorelargebolidesinSiberiaandinwhatisnowChesapeakeBay.Aswithothergeologicperiods,thestratathatdefinethestartandendoftheepocharewellidentified,thoughtheirexactdatesareslightlyuncertain.

　　ThenameEocenecomesfromtheGreekἠώς（eos,dawn）andκαινός（kainos,new）andreferstothe"dawn"ofmodern（'new'）faunathatappearedduringtheepoch.

　　PETM

　　ThePaleocene–EoceneThermalMaximum（PETM,alternatively"Eocenethermalmaximum1"（ETM1）,andformerlyknownasthe"InitialEocene"or"LatePaleoceneThermalMaximum"referstoatimeintervalthatbeganatthetemporalboundarybetweenthePaleoceneandEoceneepochs.Theabsoluteageanddurationoftheeventremainuncertain,butarecloseto55.8millionyearsagoand~0.2millionyears,respectively.ThePETMhasbecomeafocalpointofconsiderablegeoscienceresearchbecauseitprobablyprovidesourbestpastanaloginwhichtounderstandimpactsofglobalwarmingandmassivecarboninputtotheoceanandatmosphere,includingoceanacidification.

　　ExtremechangesonEarth’ssurfacecharacterizedthePETM.Globaltemperaturesrosebyabout6°C（11°F）.Fossilrecordsformanyorganisms（e.g.,benthicforaminiferaintheoceanandmammalsonland）showmajorturnovers.Sedimentdepositionchangedsignificantlyatmanyoutcropsandinmanydrillcoresthatspanthetimeinterval.ThePETMismarkedbyaprominentnegativeexcursionincarbonstableisotope（δ13C）recordsfromacrosstheglobe,anddissolutionofcarbonatedepositedonalloceanbasins.Thelatterobservationsstronglysuggestthatamassiveinputof13C-depletedcarbonenteredthehydrosphereoratmosphereatthestartofthePETM.Indeed,thePETMisprobablytheonlyexamplewithintheCenozoicEra（approximatelythelast65millionyears）whenamassofcarboncomparabletoprojectedanthropogenicemissions（>2000GtorPg）rapidlyenteredtheoceanandatmosphere.

　　AlthoughnowwidelyacceptedthatthePETMrepresentsa“casestudy”forglobalwarmingandmassivecarboninputtoEarth’ssurface,thecause,detailsandoverallsignificanceoftheeventremainperplexing.Thecruxoftheproblem:

howcanmassiveamountsofcarbonrapidlyentertheoceanandatmospheremillionsofyearsbeforetheindustrialrevolution?

　第三篇

　　TOPIC：

Abandoninghuntingandgathering

　　FirstpermanentsettlementwasinMiddleEast,文章讨论为何会有permanentsettlement

　　解析：

本文属历史话题，谈到一种常考的生产方式捕猎采集业，这一生产方式经常会在文章中与农业进行比对，实际就是静止和移动两类生产生活方式的比较。

本文也不例外。

文章结构也是因果类。

　　Hunter-Gatherer

　　Ahunter-gathererorforagersocietyisanomadicsocietyinwhichmostorallfoodisobtainedfromwildplantsandanimals,incontrasttoagriculturalsocieties,whichrelymainlyondomesticatedspecies.Anthropologistshaveremarkedthatthetermforagingisamoreappropriatedescriptionofthepredominantfoodsourceformostnon-agriculturalgroups:

Gatheringisafarmoreimportantsourceoffoodthanishuntingforthemajorityofnon-agriculturalsocieties,accordingtoRichardBorshayLee.

　　ForagingwastheancestralsubsistencemodeofHomo.AsTheCambridgeEncyclopediaofHunter-Gathererssays:

"Huntingandgatheringwashumanity'sfirstandmostsuccessfuladaptation,occupyingatleast90percentofhumanhistory.Until12,000yearsago,allhumanslivedthisway."Followingtheinventionofagriculture,hunter-gatherershavebeendisplacedbyfarmingorpastoralistgroupsinmostpartsoftheworld.Onlyafewcontemporarysocietiesareclassifiedashunter-gatherers,andmanysupplement,sometimesextensively,theirforagingactivitywithfarmingand/orkeepinganimals.

　　AgricultureandHusbandry

　　Sometimearound10,000BC,somehuntingandgatheringclansintheMiddleEastbegantoabandonhuntingbecausetheyhadlearnedtocontrolanimalstothepointwheretheycouldkeepthemclose,worktokeeptheirnumbersasgreataspossible,andkillsomewhentheyneededmeat.Thisactivityisgenerallyknownas"husbandry,"andreallyhasnothingtodowithmarriedlifeasonemightsuspect.Thesegroupsalsolearnedhowtopreparethesoilsothattheycouldtaketheseedsoftheplantsthattheyhadbeengathering,plantthem,waterthem,keepthemfreefromweeds,andharvestthemwhentheyweremature.Agricultureofthissortwasadifficultandlaboriousproc