托福阅读模拟题5.docx

1、托福阅读模拟题5托福阅读模拟题（5）WilliamSydneyPorter(1862-1910),whowroteunderthepseudonymofO.Henry,wasborninNorthCarolina.HisonlyformaleducationwastoattendhisAuntLinasschooluntiltheageoffifteen,wherehedevelopedhislifelongloveofbooks.By1881hewasalicensedpharmacist.However,withinayear,ontherecommendationofamedicalco

2、lleagueofhisFathers,PortermovedtoLaSalleCountyinTexasfortwoyearsherdingsheep.Duringthistime,WebstersUnabridgedDictionarywashisconstantcompanion,andPortergainedaknowledgeofranchlifethathelaterincorporatedintomanyofhisshortstories.HethenmovedtoAustinforthreeyears,andduringthistimethefirstrecordeduseof

3、hispseudonymappeared,allegedlyderivedfromhishabitofcalling“Oh,Henry”toafamilycat.In1887,PortermarriedAtholEstes.Heworkedasadraftsman,thenasabanktellerfortheFirstNationalBank. In1894Porterfoundedhisownhumorweekly,the“RollingStone”,aventurethatfailedwithinayear,andlaterwroteacolumnfortheHoustonDailyPo

4、st.Inthemeantime,theFirstNationalBankwasexamined,andthesubsequentindictmentof1886statedthatPorterhadembezzledfunds.PorterthenfledtoNewOrleans,andlatertoHonduras,leavinghiswifeandchildinAustin.Hereturnedin1897becauseofhiswifescontinuedill-health,howevershediedsixmonthslater.Then,in1898Porterwasfoundg

5、uiltyandsentencedtofiveyearsimprisonmentinOhio.Attheageofthirtyfive,heenteredprisonasadefeatedman;hehadlosthisjob,hishome,hiswife,andfinallyhisfreedom.Heemergedfromprisonthreeyearslater,rebornasO.Henry,thepseudonymhenowusedtohidehistrueidentity.Hewroteatleasttwelvestoriesinjail,andafterre-gaininghis

6、freedom,wenttoNewYorkCity,wherehepublishedmorethan300storiesandgainedfameasAmericasfavoriteshortStorywriter.Portermarriedagainin1907,butaftermonthsofpoorhealth,hediedinNewYorkCityattheageofforty-eightin1910.O.Henrysstorieshavebeentranslatedallovertheworld. 1.Whydidtheauthorwritethepassage? (a)becaus

7、eitisatragicstoryofagiftedwriter (b)tooutlinethecareerofafamousAmerican (c)becauseofhisfameasAmericasfavoriteshortstorywriter (d)tooutlinetheinfluencesonO.Henryswriting 2.Accordingtothepassage,PortersFatherwas (a)responsibleforhismovetoLaSalleCountyinTexas (b)thepersonwhogavehimalife-longloveofbooks

8、 (c)amedicaldoctor (d)alicensedpharmacist 3.Theword“allegedly”inline9isclosestinmeaningto (a)supposedly (b)reportedly (c)wrongly (d)mistakenly 4.Whichofthefollowingistrue,accordingtothepassage? (a)bothofPorterswivesdiedbeforehedied (b)Porterleftschoolat15tobecomeapharmacist (c)Porterwroteacolumnfort

9、heHoustonDailyPostcalled“RollingStone” (d)thefirstrecordeduseofhispseudonymwasinAustin 5.Theword“venture”inline12isclosestinmeaningto (a)challengingexperiment (b)boldinitiative (c)speculativeaction (d)sorryexperience 6.Theword“subsequentinline14isclosestinmeaningto (a)resulting (b)police (c)alleged

10、(d)official 7.PorterlostallofthefollowingwhenhewenttoprisonEXCEPThis (a)home (b)wife (c)job (d)books 8.Accordingtotheauthor,howmanystoriesdidPorterwritewhileinprisonforthreeyears? (a)morethan300 (b)35 (c)atleast12 (d)over20 9.Theauthorimplieswhichofthefollowingistrue? (a)Porterwouldprobablyhavewritt

11、enlessstoriesifhehadnotbeeninprisonforthreeyears (b)Porterwasinpoorhealththroughouthislife (c)O.HenryisaspopularinmanyothercountriesasheisinAmerica (d)PorterswifemighthavelivedlongerifhehadnotleftherinAustinwhenhefled. 10.WhereinthepassagedoestheauthormentionahabitofPorterthatwastobecomeveryusefulfo

12、rhimlater? (a)lines6-10 (b)lines11-15 (c)lines16-20 (d)lines21-25 Questions11-21 AlexisdeTocqueville,theFrenchpoliticalscientist,historian,philosopherandpolitician,ismostfamousforafour-volumebookhewrotecalled“DemocracyinAmerica”.HecametoAmericain1831tostudytheAmericanformofdemocracyandwhatitmightmea

13、ntotherestoftheworld.Afteravisitofonlyninemonths,hewrotearemarkablebookwhichisregardedasaclassic.DeTocquevillehadunusualpowersofobservation.Hedescribednotonlythedemocraticsystemofgovernmentandhowitoperated,butalsoitseffectonhowAmericansthink,feel,andact.Manyscholarsbelievehehadadeeperunderstandingof

14、traditionalAmericanbeliefsandvaluesthananyoneelsewhohaswrittenabouttheUnitedStates.Whatissoremarkableisthatmanyofthesetraitswhichheobservednearly200yearsago,arestillvisibleandmeaningfultoday.Hisobservationsarealsoimportantbecausethetimingofhisvisit,the1830s,wasbeforeAmericawasindustrialized.Thiswast

15、heeraofthesmallfarmer, thesmallbusinessman,andthesettlingofthewesternfrontier.Itwastheperiodofhistorywhenthetraditionalvaluesofthenewcountrywerenewlyestablished.Injustageneration,some40yearssincetheadoptionoftheU.S.Constitution,thenewformofgovernmenthadalreadyproducedasocietyofpeoplewithuniquev

16、alues.Hewas,however,aneutralobserverandsawboththegoodandbadsidesofthesequalities. Thefirstpartof“DemocracyinAmerica”waswrittenin1831-32andpublishedin1835.AhighlypositiveandoptimisticaccountofAmericangovernmentandsociety,thebookwasverywellreceived.HeattemptedtogetaglimpseoftheessenceofAmericansociety

17、,allthewhilepromotinghisownphilosophy:theequalingoftheclassesandtheinevitabledepthofaristocraticprivilege.Therestofthebookhelaboredonforfouryears,andin1840thesecondpartwaspublished.Thiswassubstantiallymorepessimisticthanthefirst,warningofthedangersdespotismandgovernmentalcentralization,andapplyinghi

18、sideasandcriticismsmoredirectlytoFrance.Asaresult,itwasnotreceivedaswellasthefirstpart,exceptinEnglandwhereitwasacclaimedhighly. 11.Whatisthepassageprimarilyabout? (a)AlexisdeTocqueville (b)“DemocracyinAmerica” (c)theprogressachievedinAmericawithinabout40yearsafteradoptionoftheU.S.Constitution (d)th

19、eimpactofthebook“DemocracyinAmerica” 12.AllofthefollowingfieldsofprofessionalinterestandactivityareusedtodescribedeTocquevilleEXCEPT (a)philosopher (b)author (c)politicalscientist (d)politician 13.Accordingtothepassage,whendiddeTocquevillevisitAmerica (a)1830s (b)1831 (c)1831-32 (d)1835 14.Thephrase

20、“thesetraits”inlines9-10refersto (a)observations (b)howAmericansthink,feel,andact (c)traditionalAmericanbeliefsandvalues (d)visibleandmeaningfulobservations 15.Whatinthepassageismentionedasbeingtrulyremarkable? (a)manyofhisobservationsarestillvisibleandmeaningfultoday (b)thebookwassodetailedandthoro

21、ughafteronlysuchacomparativelyshortvisit (c)thatthesecondvolumeshouldbesopessimisticincomparisonwiththefirst (d)deTocquevillespowersofobservation 16.Theword“unique”inline16isclosestinmeaningto (a)clearlyidentifiable (b)outstanding (c)unmatched (d)positive 17.Theword“neutral”inline16isclosestinmeanin

22、gto (a)impartial (b)careful (c)important (d)thorough 18.Whichofthefollowingcanbeinferredfromthepassage? (a)theEnglishdontliketheFrench (b)thebookwasmostimportantbecauseitwasthefirsttimethatAmericanvalueshadbeenclearlydocumented (c)deTocquevillewasaslowwriter (d)deTocquevillewasprimarilymotivatedbyan

23、interestinhisowncountry 19.Theword“glimpse”inline20isclosestinmeaningto (a)overview (b)glance (c)briefunderstanding (d)quickconclusion 20.Accordingtothepassage,“DemocracyinAmerica”consistedofhowmanyvolumes? (a)one (b)two (c)three (d)four 21.Whichofthefollowingistrue,accordingtothepassage? (a)thevisi

24、tlastedonlyfivemonths (b)thevisitcoincidedwithAmericanindustrialization (c)thefirstpartwaspublishedin1835;thesecondpartin1840 (d)thesecondpartwasmoreoptimisticthanthefirst Questions22-31 Thestudyoftheastronomicalpractices,celestiallore,mythologies,religionsandworld-viewsofallancientculturesiscalleda

25、rchaeoastronomy.Itisdescribed,inessence,astheanthropologyofastronomy,todistinguishitfromthehistoryofastronomy.Manyofthegreatmonumentsandceremonialconstructionsofearlycivilizationswereastronomicallyaligned,andtwowell-knownancientarchaeologicalsitesseemtohavehadanastronomicalpurpose.TheOrionmystery,as

26、itisdubbed,purportsthatthegeometryandbrightnessofthestarsintheOrionconstellationaremirroredinthealignmentandsizeofthegreatpyramidsofEgypt.Whilethisclaimremainshypothetical,itisneverthelessclearthatancientEgyptiansincorporatedastronomywitharchitecture.IntheTempleofAbuSimbel,forexample,sunlightpenetratesasacredchambertoilluminateastatueofRamsesonOctober18,whichusheredinthestartoftheEgyptiancivilyear.Astronomydidnotexistonitsown,however,butasonelimbofalargerbodywhoseotherlimbsincludedagricultureandtheafter-life.Inthissense,astronomylinkedthetwothemeshumansaremostobs