托福阅读模拟题1.docx
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托福阅读模拟题1
托福阅读模拟题
(1)
The work of the railroad pioneers in America became the basis for a great surge of railroad building halfway through the nineteenth century that linked the nation together as never before. Railroads eventually became the nation’s number one transportation system, and remained so until the construction of the interstate highway system halfway through the twentieth century. They were of crucial importance in stimulating economic expansion, but their influence reached beyond the economy and was pervasive in American society at large.
By 1804, English as well as American inventors had experimented with steam engines for moving land vehicles. In 1920, John Stevens ran a locomotive and cars around in a circular track on his New Jersey estate, which the public saw as an amusing toy. And in 1825, after opening a short length of track, the Stockton to Darlington Railroad in England became the first line to carry general traffic. American businesspeople, especially those in the Atlantic coastal region who looked for better communication with the West, quickly became interested in the English experiment. The first company in America to begin actual operations was the Baltimore and Ohio, which opened a thirteen- mile length of track in 1830. It used a team of horses to pull a train of passenger carriages and freight wagons along the track. Steam locomotive power didn’t come into regular service until two years later.
However, for the first decade or more, there was not yet a true railroad system. Even the longest of the lines was relatively short in the 1830’s, and most of them served simply to connect water routes to each other, not to link one railroad to another. Even when two lines did connect, the tracks often differed in width, so cars from one line couldn’t fit onto tracks of the next line. Schedules were unreliable and wrecks were frequent. Significantly, however, some important developments during the 1830’s and 1840’s included the introduction of heavier iron rails, more flexible and powerful locomotives, and passenger cars were redesigned to become more stable, comfortable, and larger. By the end of 1830 only 23 miles of track had been laid in the country. But by 1936, more than 1,000 miles of track had been laid in eleven States, and within the decade, almost 3,000 miles had been constructed. By that early age, the United States had already surpassed Great Britain in railroad construction, and particularly from the mid-1860’s, the late nineteenth century belonged to the railroads.
1 The word “stimulating” in line 5 is closest in meaning to
(a) helping
(b) changing
(c) promoting
(d) influencing
2 The word “their” in line 6 refers to
(a) railroad pioneers
(b) railroads
(c) the interstate highway system
(d) American society
3 Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
(a) The United States regarded Great Britain as a competitor in developing the most efficient railroad system
(b) Steam locomotive power was first used in 1832
(c) American businessmen saw railroads as a threat to established businesses
(d) Steam locomotives replaced horses because of the distances across the country
4 The author concludes that for the first decade or more, there was not yet a true
railroad system because
(a) passenger cars were not stable, comfortable or large
(b) locomotives were not powerful enough
(c) schedules were unreliable and wrecks were frequent
(d) lines were relatively short and not usually linked
5 The word “schedules” in line 23 is closest in meaning to:
(a) safety procedures
(b) employees
(c) timetables
(d) railroad tracks
6 Which of the following is NOT true about the 1830’s and 1840’s (line 24)
(a) passenger cars became larger
(b) schedules were reliable
(c) locomotives became more powerful
(d) tracks were heavier
7 The word “stable” in line 26 is closest in meaning to
(a) fixed
(b) supportive
(c) reliable
(d) sound
8 By what time had almost 3,000 miles of track been laid?
(a) 1830
(b) 1836
(c) 1840
(d) mid-1860s
9 The word “surpassed” in line&
nbsp;29 is closest in meaning to
(a) exceeded
(b) beaten
(c) overtaken
(d) equaled
10 Where in the passage does the author outline the main conclusions about the
importance of railroads in America?
(a) Lines 3-7
(b) Lines 14-18
(c) Lines 19-21
(d) Lines 29-31
11 Why does the author include details about Great Britain in the passage?
(a) To compare developments in both the United States and Great Britain
(b) To illustrate the competitiveness between the two countries
(c) To show where Americans got their ideas and technology from
(d)To provide a more complete historical context
Questions 12-19
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded annually and the first woman to win this prize was Baroness Bertha Felicie Sophie von Suttner in 1905. In fact, her work inspired the creation of the Prize. The first American woman to win this prize was Jane Addams, in 1931. However, Addams is best known as the founder of Hull House.
Jane Addams was born in 1860, into a wealthy family. She was one of a small number of women in her generation to graduate from college. Her commitment to improving the lives of those around her led her to work for social reform and world peace. In the 1880s Jane Addams travelled to Europe. While she was in London, she visited a ‘settlement house’ called Toynbee Hall. Inspired by Toynbee Hall, Addams and her friend, Ellen Gates Starr, opened Hull House in a neighborhood of slums in Chiacago in 1899. Hull House provided a day care center for children of working mothers, a community kitchen, and visiting nurses. Addams and her staff gave classes in English literacy, art, and other subjects. Hull House also became a meeting place for clubs and labor unions. Most of the people who worked with Addams in Hull House were well educated, middle-class women. Hull House gave them an opportunity to use their education and it provided a training ground for careers in social work.
Before World War I, Addams was probably the most beloved woman in America. In a newspaper poll that asked, “Who among our contemporaries are of the most value to the community?
”, Jane Addams was rated second, after Thomas Edison. When she opposed America’s involvement in World War I, however, newspaper editors called her a traitor and a fool, but she never changed her mind. Jane Addams was a strong champion of several other causes. Until 1920, American women could not vote. Addams joined in the movement for women’s suffrage and was a vice president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. She was a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and was president of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. . Her reputation was gradually restored during the last years of her life. She died of cancer in 1935.
12 With which of the following subjects is the passage mainly concerned?
(a) The first award of the Nobel Peace Prize to an American woman
(b) A woman’s work for social reform and world peace
(c) The early development of Social Work in America
(d) Contributions of educated women to American society
13 Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
(a) the work of Baroness Bertha Felicie Sophie von Suttner was an inspiration
to Jane Addams
(b) Jane Addams is most famous for her opening of Hull House
(c) those who lived near Hull House had very poor literacy skills
(d) Jane addams considered herself as a citizen of the world rather than of one particular country
14 The word “commitment” in line 6 is closest in meaning to
(a) involvement
(b) obligation
(c) dedication
(d) enthusiasm
15 Jane Addams was inspired to open Hull House because:
(a) it gave educated women an opportunity to use their education and dev
elop
careers in social work
(b) she traveled to Europe in the 1880s
(c) she visited Toynbee Hall
(d) she was invited by a ‘settlement house’ in Chicago
16 The word “their” in line 15 refers to
(a) children of working mothers
(b) middle-class women
(c) visiting nurses
(b) labor union members
17 The word “contemporaries” in line 18 is closest in meaning to
(a) people of the same time
(b) famous people still alive
(c) elected officials
(d) people old enough to vote
18 According to the passage, Jane Addams’ reputation was damaged when she
(a) allowed Hull House to become a meeting place for clubs and labor unions
(c) joined in the movement for women’s suffrage
(c) became a founding member of the NAACP
(d) opposed America’s involvement in World War I
19 Where in the passage does the author mention the services provided by Hull House?
(a) lines 5-10
(b) lines 10-15
(c) lines 15-20
(d) lines 20-25
Questions 20-29
The medieval artists didn’t know about perspective; they didn’t want to make their people look like real, individual people in a real, individual scene. They wanted to show the truth, the eternal quality of their religious stories. So these artists didn’t need to know about perspective.
In the European Renaissance period, artists wanted to show the importance of the
individual person and his or her possessions and surroundings. A flat medieval style couldn’t show this level of reality and the artists needed a new technique. It was the Italian artist Brunelleschi who discovered