Crafts in the Ancient Near East
Some of the earliest human civilizations arose insouthern Mesopotamia, in what is now southern Iraq,in the fourth millennium B.C.E. In the second half ofthe millennium, in the south around the city of Uruk,there was an enormous escalation in the area occupied by permanent settlements. A largepart of that increase took place in Uruk itself, which became a real urban center surrounded bya set of secondary settlements. While population estimates are notoriously unreliable,scholars assume that Uruk inhabitants were able to support themselves from the agriculturalproduction of the field surrounding the city, which could be reached with a daily commute.ButUruk’s dominant size in the entire region, far surpassing that of other settlements, indicatesthat it was a regional center and a true city. Indeed, it was the first city in human history.
一些最早的人类文明是在公元前四千年前的南美索不达米亚出现的，现在这片区域处于南伊拉克。在后五百年，在乌鲁克城南方附近，被永久居留民占用的地域在大幅度增长。大部分的增长都发生在乌鲁克城内，使其成为了一个真正的中心诚区，并被一些后续的定居点环绕着。虽然人口估计数通常是不可靠的，但学者们认为乌鲁克居民可以通过日常与周围地区的通勤，得到周围地区产的农业产品以自给自足。但乌鲁克在整个地区最大，远远超过了其它居民点，这说明它是这个地区的中心，是一个真正的城市。事实上，它是人类历史上的第一个城市。
The vast majority of its population remained active in agriculture, even those peopleliving within the city itself. But a small segment of the urban society started to specialize innonagricultural tasks as a result of the city’s role as a regional center. Within the productivesector, there was a growth of a variety of specialist craftspeople. Early in the Uruk period, theuse of undecorated utilitarian pottery was probably the result of specialized mass production.In an early fourth-millennium level of the Eanna archaeological site at Uruk, a pottery styleappears that is most characteristic of this process, the so-called beveled-rim bowl. It is arather shallow bowl that was crudely made in a mold; hence, in only a limited number ofstandard sizes. For some unknown reason, many were discarded, often still intact, andthousands have been found all over the Near East. The beveled-rim bowl is one of the mosttelling diagnostic finds for identifying an Uruk-period site. Of importance is the fact that it wasproduced rapidly in large amounts, most likely by specialists in a central location.
绝大部分人依然从事农业活动，甚至包括城市居民。但由于该城市是区域的中心，其中的一小部分人开始全心从事非农业工作。生产方面，专业工匠的多样性有了增长。在乌鲁克时期早期，对未装饰的实用陶器的使用可能就是专业化大量生产的结果。在乌鲁克的发现的四千年前早期的Eanna考古遗址中，有一种陶器刻画了这种专业化生产过程的特征，即所谓的斜面边碗。这种碗相当的浅，是利用模具简单制作的;因此，只有有限的几种大小。由于一些未知原因，很多被丢弃的碗还是完整的保存下来了，而在近东的各地有上千件出土。这种碗是最好的判断乌鲁克时期遗址的发现之一。最重要的是这种碗被大量快速生产，最可能由中心位置的专业工匠制作。
A variety of documentation indicates that certain goods, once made by a familymember as one of many duties, were later made by skilled artisans. Certain images depictgroups of people, most likely women, involved in weaving textiles, an activity we know fromlater third-millennium texts to have been vital in the economy and to have been centrallyadministered. Also, a specialized metal-producing workshop may have been excavated in asmall area at Uruk. It contained a number of channels lined by a sequence of holes, about 50centimeters deep, all showing burn marks and filled with ashes. This has been interpreted asthe remains of a workshop where molten metal was scooped up from the channel and pouredinto molds in the holes. Some type of mass production by specialists were involved here.
多种文件记录说明，曾经作为义务被家庭制作的商品，在后来由熟练技工制作。一些图画描述了成群的人们，大部分是女人，正在编制纺织品。这种活动，从其后三千年前出土的文献可知，是当时经济的重要部分，。并且一个专门从事金属制造的工厂可能也已经小区域的在乌鲁克地区开挖。它包括了一定数量隧道连接着一系列约50厘米深的洞，它们都有燃烧的痕迹，也盛满了灰烬。这被认定是工厂的遗址，在这里融化的金属从隧道中聚集，然后倒入洞里的模具中。这里包括一些由专业人士进行的大量生产活动。
Objects themselves suggest that they were the work of skilled professionals. In the lateUruk period (3500-3100 B.C.E.), there first appeared a type of object that remainedcharacteristic for Mesopotamia throughout its entire history: the cylinder seal. This was asmall cylinder, usually no more than 3 centimeters high and 2 centimeters in diameter, ofshell, bone, faience (a glassy type of stoneware), or various types of stones, on which a scenewas carved into the surface. When rolled over a soft material----primarily the clay of bullae(round seals), tablets, or clay lumps attached to boxes, jars, or door bolts----the scene wouldappear in relief, easily legible. The technological knowledge needed to carved it was farsuperior to that for stamp seals, which had happened in the early Neolithic period(approximately 10,000-5000 B.C.E.). From the first appearance of cylinder seals, thecarved scenes could be highly elaborate and refined, indicating the work of specialist stone-cutters. Similarly, the late Uruk period shows the first monumental art, relief, and statuary inthe round, made with a degree of mastery that only a professional could have produced.
产品的本身就说明了它们是由专业技工制作的。在乌鲁克时期末期首次出现了一种在其整个历史中象征美索不达米亚的物品：圆柱章。它是一个小的圆柱体，一般不高于3厘米，直径2厘米，材料为贝壳，骨头，陶器或是各种石头，在其表面刻着一个场景。当它滚过柔软的材料的时候---主要是被连接在箱子，罐子或是门栓上的粘土圆章，纪念碑，泥土块--- 这个场景就会清晰简单的出现在上面了。相对于新石器时期(大约是公元前10000-5000年前)的封章，这种雕刻技术依然是很先进的。从圆柱章的出现开始，被雕刻的图像就非常精致精美，这表现了石头切割者的专业技术。同样的，在乌鲁克时期晚期出现了第一个大师级别制作的永存的艺术和雕刻，这是只有非常专业的人才能做出的。
托福阅读试题
1.Which of the sentences below best express the essential information inthe highlighted sentence in the passage paragraph 1? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A.Although scholars cannot accurately determine the size of the Uruk population, they know the citizens were not dependent on agriculture.
B.scholars do not have enough evidence to determine whether the agriculture areas just outside of Uruk were large enough to feed the city’s population.
C.Because city populations cannot feed themselves, scholars think the surrounding farms provided food to the people in Uruk.
D.Scholars believe that the inhabitants of Uruk were able to support themselves from product grown in field surrounding the city.
1.找到句子主谓宾，主语是scholars，谓语assume，宾语是从句说“当地住民可以自给自足……”根据这些信息去对照选项，很容易得到D。A选项说不依赖于农业，与原文矛盾;B说学者不能确定农业产品是否够用，也不对;C的前半句就错了，并且原句也没有因果的逻辑关系，排除。
2.The word “surpassing” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A.proceeding.
B.exceeding.
C.challenging.
D.outlasting.
2.surpassing, 超出，优于。A. 在……之前;B. 超出;C.挑战;D比……长久。根据词义可选出B。从原文理解，这句话中出现了dominant size证明其占有主导地位，其size大于其他居民地，所以很容易得到“超过”的词义。
3.According to paragraph 1, all of the following are true of the ancient settlement at Uruk EXCEPT
A.It was a permanent settlement.
B.It was self-sufficient.
C.It was one of a group of other larger settlements.
D.It had easy access to the land where its crops were grown.
3.A对应于原文第二句后半句，B对应第一题的高亮句，C与原文矛盾，Uruk 是最大的settlement，D对应高亮句，说他们可以自给自足。
4.The word “intact” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A.unsold.
B.unused.
C.undamaged.
D.unpainted.
4.原文这句话前半句说被抛弃了，后面又说被发现了。中间的still有轻微的转折意味，所以应该是再说虽然被扔掉了，但是依然怎么样，然后被大量发现了。可以通过带入的方式来排除。A未售的，不对。B没用过的，也不通顺。C未受损的，通顺，选。 D未上色的，文章没提到，也跟原句逻辑不符。
5.According to paragraph 2, which of the following best describes the beveled-rim bowls from the Eanna Archaeological site at Uruk.
A.They were discarded because they became unpopular.
B.They varied greatly in shape and decoration.
C.They were each individually styled.
D.They were made in only a few sizes.
5.A，原文说不知道为什么被抛弃了，错。B，原文说这种陶器长得都一样(made in a mold)，而且没有decoration。C，原文对其style进行了描述说它是一种很浅的用模具做得碗。因此可知它的style是很统一的。D正确对应原文“hence, in only a limited number of standard sizes”.
6.Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 2 about craft production in the Uruk period?
A.Specialists in nonagricultural tasks obtained a higher status than those engaged in agricultural production.
B.People not needed for framing could perform other more specialized activities.
C.Ancient crafts were beginning to be produced for both utilitarian and decorative purposes.
D.Pottery making was the only known during the fourth millennium.
6.A原文并没说不从事农业的人有更高的社会地位。B原文第二句but…说有些人开始了specializedactivities，正确选。C对应原文第四句，说这种碗是“undecorated， utilitarian”，所以C错。 D原文第三句说到了growth of variety，而选项说单一，所以矛盾，不选。
7.According to paragraph 3, which of the following is true of textile production after the fourth millennium?
A.It had an important commercial value.
B.It existed but was not well organized.
C.It is not documented in the archaeological record.
D.It was carried on by individuals in their own homes.
7.根据textile production定位至第二句。已用红色部分标出。原文写到的，have been centrallyadministered。于此可判断B，D错误，C根据from later third millennium texts证明是被documented，所以C不对。正确答案为A，对应vital in the economy。
8.The word “interpreted” in the passage(paragraph 3)is closest in meaning to
A.documented.
B.debated.
C.displayed.
D.understood.
8.interpreted是解释的意思。A有文件证明;B是争论;C是显示;D是理解。这里带入后可以知道D选项最合适，has been interpreted as……后面是对metal producing workshop的作用进行了解释。
9.What is the purpose of paragraph 3?
A.To contrast the productivity of crafts workers in the third and fourth millennia.
B.To provide additional evidence of mass production by crafts workers.
C.To suggest that an early form of urban settlement may have exist before Uruk.
D.To contrast the development of weaving and pottery in Uruk.
9.前面几段都提到了各种类型的mass production，这段第一句也又一次提到了certain goods were latermade by skilled artisian。A，D都不对，因为原文没有对比的逻辑。C也不符合上下文逻辑，文章本段主题也不是这个。B正确。
10.The word “legible” in the passage(paragraph 4)is closest in meaning to
A.printable
B.enjoyable
C.recognizable
D.available
10.原词为清晰的意思。A是可排版的，B是有趣味的，C是可看清的，可辨认的，D是可利用的。C正确。根据那一句的词义，说出现的怎么样，也可以轻易退出应该用清晰的出现。
11.Paragraph 4 suggests which of the following about the significances of Mesopotamian cylinder seals?
A.They were designed more for home than for legal use.
B.They demonstrate that their creators were professionals.
C.They were the first example of seals made from materials other than stone.
D.They were the first example of carved seals.
11.整段文章都在写cylinder seal ，本段的第一句话也就是中心句说Objects themselves suggest thatthey were the work of skilled professionals,证明这段是在举例说明去professional skill，因此选择B。
12.According to paragraph 4, one of the artistic achievements of the late Uruk culture was
A.Its sophisticated sculpture and relief carving.
B.Its architecturally complex monuments.
C.Its invention of stamp seals carved from stone.
D.Its use of highly refined glassy stoneware.
12.A
13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit? When viewed on the curved surface of the cylinder, the image looked distorted, but the carved image served only as a mold.
Objects themselves suggest that they were the work of skilled professionals. In the late Uruk period(3500-3100 B.C.E.), there first appeared a type of object that remained characteristic for Mesopotamia throughout its entire history: the cylinder seal. ■【A】This was a small cylinder, usually no more than 3 centimeters high and 2 centimeters in diameter, of shell, bone, faience (a glassy type of stoneware), or various types of stones, on which a scene was carved into the surface. ■【B】When rolled over a soft material----primarily the clay of bullae (round seals), tablets, or clay lumps attached to boxes,jars, or door bolts----the scene would appear in relief, easily legible. ■【C】The technological knowledge needed to carved it was far superior to that for stamp seals, which had happened in the early Neolithic period (approximately 10,000-5000 B.C.E.). ■【D】From the first appearance of cylinder seals, the carved scenes could be highly elaborate and refined, indicating the work of specialist stone-cutters. Similarly, the late Uruk period shows the first monumental art, relief, and statuary in the round, made with a degree of mastery that only a professional could have produced.
13.这里要插入的句子是说这个印章的表面非常的扭曲，但只是作为了一个模型。这里出现了转折。那证明后面应该会出现与其相反的态度的描述。A处刚开始描述印章的样子，到B处插入句子非常流畅，自然而然的说到了印章的表面。B处之后出现了转折说印在软质地材料上的图案非常清晰。逻辑合理。C，D逻辑都不通。
14. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
Uruk, located in ancientMesopotamia, flourished in the fourth millennium B.C.E. and was the first cityin human history.
A.A variety of evidence indicates that Uruk, while it supported itself primarily by agriculture, also had specialized craft workers.
B.The monumental sculptures of Uruk were made by the specialist stone cutters who also produced small-scale relief scenes on shell, bone and faience.
C.The large number, standardized sizes, and simple molded construction of a type of pottery produced in Uruk demonstrate specialized, centrally organized mass production.
D.Cylinder seals from the late Uruk period are far superior to the stamp earlier Neolithic period.
E.Archaeological evidence from across the Near East indicates that Uruk was a center for the production and export of highly decorated pottery made by craft specialists in private homes.
F.The carved designs on cylinder seals produced in Uruk are of such technical and artistic excellence that they could only have been produced by professional artisans.
14.A正确，选，对应文章第一段的高亮句(第一题)和第二段第二句。B无明显错误，对应最后一段的倒数第三局，但只是细节，不选。C原文并没有说做这个monumental sculpture的人和做印章的是一样的人。D错误，highly decorated pottery与原文矛盾，原文第二段第四句说undecorated utilitarian pottery.E正确，选，对应原文第二段。F正确，选。对应原文最后一段。
The Formation of Volcanic I
Earth’s surface is not made up of a single sheetof rock that forms a crust but rather a number of“tectonic plates” that fit closely, like the pieces of agiant jigsaw puzzle. Some plates carry islands orcontinents others form the seafloor. All are slowly moving because the plates float on a densersemi-liquid mantle, the layer between the crust and Earth’s core. The plates have edges thatare spreading ridges (where two plates are moving apart and new seafloor is being created),subduction zones (where two plates collide and one plunges beneath the other), or transformfaults (where two plates neither converge nor diverge but merely move past one another). Itis at the boundaries between plates that most of Earth’s volcanism and earthquake activityoccur.
地球的外壳并不是由单块岩石形成的，而是许多的“构造板块”严密的组合在一起的，就像是一个巨大的拼图。一些板块承载着岛屿或是大陆，其它的则形成海底。所有板块都在缓慢移动，因为它们都漂浮在密度更大的半液态的介于地壳和地核之间的地幔上。板块的边缘是扩张脊(两个板块分离，新的海底形成的地方)，俯冲带(两板块碰撞，一个倾入到另一个下面)，或者是形成断层(两板块既不聚集也不分散，但只是互相错位)。板块边界是地球上的火山和地震的高发地。
Generally speaking, the interiors of plates are geologically uneventful. However, there areexceptions. A glance at a map of the Pacific Ocean reveals that there are many islands far outat sea that are actually volcanoes----many no longer active, some overgrown with coral----thatoriginated from activity at points in the interior of the Pacific Plate that forms the Pacificseafloor.
一般地，板块内部在地质上是平静的，但也有例外。扫一眼太平洋的地图就知道那里有许多在大海深处的岛屿，它们其实都是火山，其中有许多已经不活动了，一些长满了珊瑚。这些火山都起源于当时太平洋板块内部一些部位在形成太平洋海底时的地质活动。
How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian Islandsprovide a very instructive answer. Like many other island groups, they form a chain. TheHawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. In the 1840s Americangeologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii islands seem to share a similar geologicevolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probable older, toward thenorthwest.Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of the theory of plate tectonics.Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progression could result if the islandswere formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic source in the interior. Wilsonsuggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest from Hawaii is simply thesurface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath the tectonic plate in themantle. Today’s most northwest island would have been the first to form. They as the platemoved slowly northwest, new volcanic islands would have forms as the plate moved over thevolcanic source. The most recent island, Hawaii, would be at the end of the chain and is nowover the volcanic source.
为什么火山活动发生在离板块边缘这么远的地方呢?夏威夷群岛提供了一个非常有启发性的答案。就像其它的群岛一样，它们形成了一个岛链。夏威夷群岛链从夏威夷岛向西北扩张。在十八世纪40年代，地质学家James Daly观察到不同的夏威夷岛屿看起来经历了相似的演变过程，但它们所受腐蚀一个比一个严重，所以越往西北方向的岛屿形成时间可能越早。1963年，在大陆板块理论的早期，加拿大的地质学家Tuzo Wilson意识到岛屿年龄的增加可能是因为这些岛屿是板块表面从一个板块内部的固定火山源上方移动的结果。Wilson解释说，夏威夷向西北延伸的火山长链只是一个长期存于板块下、地幔中的火山源在板块表面的表现。现今最靠西北的岛屿可能是最先形成的。它们随着板块向西北移动。新的火山会随着板块的移动在火山源处形成。最年轻的岛屿，夏威夷岛，应该是在岛链的末端，现在应该在火山源上。
Although this idea was not immediately accepted, the dating of lavas in the Hawaii (andother) chains showed that their ages increase away from the presently active volcano, just asDaly had suggested. Wilson’s analysis of these data is now a central part of plate tectonics.Most volcanoes that occur in the interiors of plates are believed to be produced by mantleplumes, columns of molten rock that rise from deep within the mantle. A volcano remains anactive “hot spot” as long as it is over the plume. The plumes apparently originate at greatdepths, perhaps as deep as the boundary between the core and the mantle, and many havebeen active for a very long time. The oldest volcanoes in the Hawaii hot-spot trail have agesclose to 80 million years. Other islands, including Tahiti and Easter Islands in the pacific,Reunion and Mauritius in the India Ocean, and indeed most of the large islands in the world’soceans, owe their existence to mantle plumes.
虽然这个理论并没有被很快接受，夏威夷和其它群岛岩浆的年龄测试表明了它们的年龄都从活跃的火山开始依次增加，正如Daly所说。Wilson对数据的分析已经成为了板块构造论的核心部分。大多的发生在板块内部的火山爆发都是由地幔柱造成的;地幔柱是从地幔深处涌出的熔岩柱体。只要火山在一个地幔柱上面，它就是一个活动的“热点”。地幔柱很显然是起源于很深的地方，很可能位于地核和地幔的交界处，并且已经活跃了很久。由夏威夷热点形成的最老的火山已经有近8千万年的时间了。其它的岛屿，包括太平洋的塔希提岛和东部群岛，印度洋留尼汪岛和毛里求斯群岛，实际上，多数世界上大洋中大岛都是由地幔柱的扩展形成的。
The oceanic volcanic islands and their hot-spot trails are thus especially useful forgeologist because they record the past locations of the plate over a fixed source. They thereforepermit the reconstruction of the process of seafloor spreading, and consequently of thegeography of continents and of ocean basins in the past. For example, given the currentposition of the Pacific Plate, Hawaii is above the Pacific Ocean hot spot. So the position of ThePacific Plate 50 million years ago can be determined by moving it such that a 50-million-year-oil volcano in the hot-spot trail sits at the location of Hawaii today. However because the oceanbasins really are short-lived features on geologic times scale, reconstruction the world’sgeography by backtracking along the hotspot trail works only for the last 5 percent or so ofgeologic time.
海洋火山岛和它们的热点轨迹对于地质学家尤其有用，因为它们记录了过去的板块在固定火山源上方的位置。他们因此可以重现海底扩张的过程，以及大陆和大洋盆地过去的地理位置发展过程。比如，根据太平洋板块现在的位置，夏威夷岛在太平洋热点上面。所以太平洋板块5千万年前的位置可以通过移动太平洋板块使得一座有5五千万年历史的岛屿位于夏威夷岛现在所在的热点上以获得。但是，由于海洋盆地在地质年代上是相对短命的，用热点追踪的方法重建世界的地形只适用于最近的百分之五左右的地质时间。
托福阅读试题
1.The author mentions “spreading ridges”, “subduction zones”, and“transform faults” inorder to
A.illustrate that the boundaries of tectonic platesare neat, thin lines.
B.explain why some tectonic plates carry islands or continents while others form the seafloor.
C.explain the complex nature of the edges of tectonic plates.
D.provide examples of areas of tectonic plates where little geologic action occurs.
1.原文这部分介绍了各种不同的edges的现象，并做了详细的解释，前面也说到plate的组成就像是jigsaw puzzle，从两处可以看出应该是要体现其复杂性。A与原文矛盾，原文并没有对B做出解释，D原文给出的是geologic action常发的地方，而不是little ~ occurs。
2.The word “converge” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A.expand.
B.form.
C.rise.
D.move closer.
2.这一段描述的前两种现象，一种是move closer，一种是move apart。对第三种的描写是neither…nor…既不也不，因此应该是与前两种都不同，所以应该是既不聚合，也不分开，根据词根可以判断diverge是分开，converge是聚合。所以答案为D。
3.Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in thehighlighted sentence in the passage paragraph 2 ? Incorrect choices change themeaning in important ways or leave out essential information
A.Volcanic activity is responsible for the formation of the Pacific seafloor in the interior of thePacific Plate.
B.Many volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean are no longer active and have become islands thatsupport coral.
C.There are many islands in the Pacific Ocean that originated as volcanoes in the interior of thePacific Plate.
D.The map of the Pacific Ocean reveals fewer volcanic islands than there truly are becausemany are no longer active and some are completely overgrown with coral.
3.根据这一段的第一句可以看出后面是在举例说内陆平静的exception。A，B，D选项都是句子的细节部分，不能表达出其目的。所以不选。
4.The word “instructive” in the passage(paragraph 3)is closest in meaning to
A.clear.
B.detailed.
C.informative.
D.familiar.
4.instructive是有意义的，教育性的。 A是清楚的，B是细节的，D是熟悉的。只有C是有益的，教育性的，意思吻合。前面是问句，后面说夏威夷群岛提供了怎样的解答，那么应该是这个例子可以回答这个问题。根据这层意思，可以推出答案。
5.The word “eroded” in the passage(paragraph 3)is closest in meaning to
A.worm down.
B.scattered.
C.developed.
D.deserted.
5.这句话说不同的岛屿看起来经历了相似的演变过程，但有些随着时间推移被更……，所以可能更古老。那么岛屿如果经历的时间更长应该会被海水“侵蚀”的更厉害。所以答案选A，worn down 磨损。 B是分散的，C是发达的，成熟的;D是被遗弃的。
6.In paragraph 3, what is the relationship between the scientific contribution ofJames Daly and Tuzo Wilson?
A.Wilson provided an explanation for the observations made by Daly.
B.Wilson challenged the theory proposed by Daly.
C.Wilson found numerous examples of island chains that supported Daly’s theory.
D.Wilson popularized the explanation of volcanic island formation formulated by Daly.
6.根据两个科学家的名字进行定位。从then in 1963这一句可以了解到两者关系，说在板块理论刚开始发展的时期，tuzo Wilson发现……那么肯定是使板块理论进一步发展了。所以B不对。而C虽然逻辑关系对，但文中只给了夏威夷岛一个例子。所以C不选。D说使解释流行，之前daly只是给了理论，并没解释，所以不对。而A既符合逻辑关系，也对wilson的描写是正确的。
7.Why does the author provide the information that “the dating of lavas in the Hawaii(and other) chains showedthat their ages increase away from the presently activevolcano”?
A.To point out differences between the Hawaii island chain and other volcanic island chains.
B.To question the idea that all the islands in an island chain have been formed by volcanicactivity.
C.To explain why Wilson hypothesis was initially difficult to accept.
D.To provide evidence in support of Daly’s and Wilson’s ideas about how the Hawaii islandswere formed.
7.这个题很简单啦，往后面再多看一点点就知道答案啦。Just as Daly had suggested。
8.According to paragraph 4, which of the following is true of mantleplumes?
A.They exist close to the surface of tectonic plates.
B.They cause most of the volcanic activity that occurs in the interiors of plates.
C.They are rarely active for long period of time.
D.They get increasingly older away from the present hot spots.
8.根据mantle plumes定位，可定位地第一句(已用红色标出)就说了它是导致板块内部火山爆发的原因，往后读可以看到它首先是起源于很深的地方，其次活动时间很长。因此A，C，D都不对。所以正确答案为B。
9.According to paragraph 5, volcanic islands help geologists to
A.reconstruct past geography.
B.detect changes in mantle plumes.
C.measure the rigidity of tectonic plates.
D.explain why the seafloor spreads.
9.定位到这一段的第二句。D选项虽然也对，但是A可以包括D。
10.What can be inferred about the Pacific Plate from paragraph 5?
A.The hot spots on the Pacific Plate are much older than the ones located on the other tectonicplates.
B.Most of the volcanic sources beneath the Pacific Plate have become extinct.
C.The Pacific Plate has moved a distance equal to the length of the Hawaiian Island chain in thepast 80 million years.
D.The Pacific Plate is located above fewer mantle plumes than other plates are.
10.定位到for example，定位句几乎就是选项C的原义转换啦。A，B，D原文都没提到。
11.The word “current” in the passage(paragraph 5)is closest in meaning to
A.original.
B.ideal.
C.relative.
D.present.
11.current是现在的意思。A是原始的，B是理想的，C是相对的，D是现在的。根据原句中也可以判断，因为后文说，通过大平洋板块什么的位置，可以判断其5千万年前的位置，那么两者应该是相反的。所以答案为D。
12.According to paragraph 5, why are geologists unable to trace back theentiregeologic of continents from hot-spot trails?
A.Hot spots have existed for only about 5 percent of geologic time.
B.Hawaii did not exist 50 millions years ago.
C.Oceanic basins that contained old hot-spot trails disappeared a long time ago.
D.Hot-spot trails can be reconstructed only for island chains.
12.定位到最后一句。说不能追踪到整个变化过程是因为海洋盆地的变化相对比较快。
13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could beadded to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit? This pattern remainedunexplained for a long time.
How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian islands provide avery instructive answer. ■【A】Like many other island groups, they form a chain. ■【B】TheHawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. ■【C】In the 1840sAmerican geologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii islands seem to share asimilar geologic evolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probableolder,toward the northwest. ■【D】Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of thetheory of plate tectonics. Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progressioncould result if the islands were formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic sourcein the interior. Wilson suggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest fromHawaii is simply the surface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath thetectonic plate in the mantle. Today’s most northwest island would have been the first to form.They as the plate moved slowly northwest, new volcanic islands would have forms as the platemoved over the volcanic source. The most recent island, Hawaii, would be at the end of thechain and is now over the volcanic source.
13.D的位置前面提到了大陆版块构造论，但并没给出解释，后半部分给出了很多年后另一位科学家给出的解释。
14. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage isprovided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices thatexpress the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong inthe summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or areminor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
Although volcanic activity is concentrated on the edge of tectonicplates, such activity canoccur in the interiors of plates as well.
A.Our understanding of islands comes from Daly’s and Wilson’s observations of the HawaiianIslands, which was later confirmed by plate-tectonic theory.
B.The hot-spot trails formed by volcanic island chains indicate the positions of tectonic platesas for back as the present ocean basins have existed.
C.Whereas volcanic islands formed by mantle plumes are typically small, most of the world’slargest islands are formed at the edges of tectonic plates.
D.It has only recently been discovered that tectonic plates are closely fitting rather than looselyconstructed, as geologist previously believed.
E.Volcanic island chains such as the Hawaiian Islands form in the interior of a tectonic plate asthe plate moves over a fixed volcanic source in the mantle.
F.The Pacific Plate has existed for as long as the Hawaiian Islands have existed, namely for morethan 80 million years.
14.A正确 整篇文章都在说这个。。。一直是在说夏威夷岛的火山现象证明了大陆板块构造理论呀。B错误，不选。这个老早就发现了吧，当初daly提出的时候就说的是closely fitting的呀。C正确，对应文章最后一段的橘黄色标出部分。D正确，对应文章第二段红色标出部分。E错误，不选。文章没提到这些火山小。F错误。文章最后一段说到ocean basin是相对短暂的存在。并没有存在超过8千万年。
Predator-Prey Cycles
How do predators affect populations of the prey animals? The answer is not as simple as might be thought. Moose reached Isle Royale in Lake Superior by crossing over winter ice and multiplied freely there in isolation without predators. When wolves later reached the island, naturalists widely assumed that the wolves would play a key role in controlling the moose population. Careful studies have demonstrated, however, that this is not the case. The wolves eat mostly old or diseased animals that would not survive long anyway. In general, the moose population is controlled by food availability, disease and other factors rather than by wolves.
捕食者是怎样影响被捕食者的数量呢?答案并不是想象中那么简单。麋鹿通过穿越冬天的冰层到达了在苏必略湖的罗亚尔岛，并由于没有捕食者而自由繁殖。当狼在晚一点的时候到达那座岛时，自然学家都认为，狼对控制麋鹿的数量将起到关键作用。但是，严密的研究说明并不是这样。狼吃掉的大部分是年老的，或生病的动物，他们本身就不会存活很久。一般地，麋鹿的数量是由食物、疾病、和其它的一些条件，而不是狼控制的。
When experimental populations are set up under simple laboratory conditions, the predator often exterminates its pre and then becomes extinct itself, having nothing left to eat. However, if safe areas like those prey animals have in the wild are provided, the prey population drops to low level but not extinction. Low prey population levels then provide inadequate food for the predators, causing the predator population to decrease. When this occurs, the prey population can rebound. In this situation the predator and prey population may continue in this cyclical pattern for some time.
在简单的实验条件下，捕食者经常吃掉了所有的实验设定的被捕食者，然后因为食物缺乏而自己灭绝了。但是，如果能给被捕食动物提供如同在野外的安全的区域，被捕食动物的数量会降低到很低的数值，但不会灭绝。被捕食者的数量的降低造成了捕食者的食物不足，使捕食者的数量下降。此时，被捕食者的数量又会反弹。这样，一定时间内捕食者和被捕食者的数量会持续地循环。
Population cycles are characteristic of small mammals, and they sometimes appear to be brought about by predators. Ecologists studying hare populations have found that the North American snow shoe hare follows a roughlyten-year cycle. Its numbers fall tenfold to thirty in a typical cycle, and a hundredfold change can occur. Two factors appear to be generating the cycle: food plants and predators.
这种数量的循环是小型哺乳动物的特性，有时候这种循环是由捕食者带来的。生态学家对野兔数量的研究发现，北美白靴兔一直遵守着大约以十年为周期的循环。在一个典型的循环中，其数量会以十倍到三十倍的减少，甚至会出现一百倍的改变。有两种因素会导致这种循环：食物和捕食者。
The preferred foods of snowshoe hares are willow and birch twigs. As hare density increases, the quantity of these twigs decreases, forcing the hares to feed on low-quality high-fiber food. Lower birth rates, low juvenile survivorship, and low growth rates follow, so there is a corresponding decline in hare abundance. Once the hare population has declined, it takes two to three year for the quantity of twigs to recover.
白靴兔比较喜欢的食物是柳木和桦树树枝。野兔的密度增加时，这些树枝的数量就减少，迫使野兔去吃一些低质量的，高纤维食物。随之而来的是低生育率，低成活率，低生长率，所以野兔数量随之减少。一旦野兔数量减少，树枝的数量需要两到三年恢复。
A key predator of the snowshoe hare is the Canada lynx. The Canada lynx shows a ten-year cycle of abundance that parallels the abundance cycle of hares. As hare numbers fall, so do lynx numbers, as their food supply depleted.
白靴兔的主要捕食者是加拿大山猫。加拿大山猫的数量呈现了平行于野兔的十年为周期的循环。野兔数量下降时，山猫的食物供给减少，数量也随之减少。
What causes the predator-prey oscillations? Do increasing number of hares lead to overharvesting of plants, which in turn results in reduced hare populations, or do increasing numbers of lynx lead to overharvesting hares? Field experiments carried out by Charles Krebs and coworkers in 1992 provide an answer. Krebs investigated experimental plots in Canada’s Yukon territory that contained hare populations. When food was added to those plots (no food effect) and predators were excluded (no predator effect) from an experimental area, hare numbers increased tenfold and stayed there—the cycle was lost. However, the cycle was retained if either of the factors was allowed to operate alone: if predators were excluded but food was not added (food effect alone), or if food was added in the presence of predators (predator effect alone). Thus both factors can affect the cycle, which, in practice, seems to be generated by conjunction of the two factors.
什么造成了捕食者和被捕食者的周期振动呢?是野兔数量的增长使得植物被过度采食，随之导致了野兔的减少还是山猫的增加导致了野兔被过度捕食?在1992年，Charles Krebs和其合作者的野外试验提供了答案。Krebs研究了在加拿大Yuhon地区有野兔种群的试验田。当食物被加到这片试验田(没有食品因素影响)并且将捕食者移去(也没有捕食者因素影响)。野兔的数量增加了十倍并且保持稳定----不再循环。但是，在任意一个因素单独存在时，循环都会出现：不管是捕食者被移除，食物不添加(也就是只有食物影响);还是食物在捕食者存在的情况下被添加(也就是只有捕食者影响)。因此，两个因素都可以影响这个循环，即在现实中，循环是两个因素同时作用的结果。
Predators are an essential factor in maintaining communities that are rich and diverse in species. Without predators, the species that is the best competitor for food, shelter, nesting sites, and other environmental resources tends to dominate and exclude the species with which it competes. This phenomenon is known as “competitor exclusion”. However, if the community contains a predator of the strongest competitor species, then the population of that competitor is controlled. Thus even the less competitive species are able to survive. For example, sea stars prey on a variety of bivalve mollusks and prevent these bivalves from monopolizing habitats on the sea floor. This opens up space for many other organisms. When sea stars are removed, species diversity falls sharply. Therefore, from the stand point of diversity, it is usually a mistake to eliminate a major predator from a community
捕食者是保持群体多样性和数量的必要条件。没有捕食者时，那种在对食物、庇护所、筑巢点和其它环境资源的争夺中胜出的竞争者，趋向于统治，并且灭绝与其竞争的其它物种。这种现象被称作“驱逐竞争者”。但是，如果种群中的具有最强竞争力的物种存在天敌，那这一物种数量就被控制。因此，竞争力比较弱的物种都会得以生存。比如，海星捕食各种双壳的软体动物，防止这些双壳动物垄断海底。这使得其它的很多生物有了生存空间。海星被移除后，物种多样性大幅度降低。因此，从多样性的角度说，从一个种群中消除一个主要捕食者通常是错误的决定。
托福阅读试题
1.In paragraph 1, why does the author discussthe moose and wolves on Isle Royale?
A.To provide an example of predators moving to newhabitats by following migrating prey.
B.To show that the interactions between predator populations and prey populations are notalways might be expected.
C.To suggest that prey populations are more influenced by predation than food availabilityand disease.
D.To argue that studies of geographically isolated populations tend not to be useful tonaturalists.
1.对应文章的第四句，Careful studies…not the case.这句话前面说人们觉得狼对控制鹿的数量控制起到了重要作用，这句话对其进行了否定，对应了B选项。A与原文没有关系。C与原文第一段最后一句话矛盾。D也不对。
2.The word “rebound” in the passage(paragraph 2)is closest inmeaning to
A.escape.
B.recover.
C.survive.
D.resist.
2.原词汇是反弹的意思。A是逃走，B是恢复，C是存活，D是反抗。这里B最符合原文意思。原文词汇可以通过词根词缀分析。Bound本来就是跳跃的意思，加re前缀就是再次跳跃，也就是反弹。
3.Paragraph 2 implies which of the following about experimental environments inwhich predators become extinct?
A.They may yield results that do not accurate predict changes of populations in the wild.
B.In these environments, the prey species is better adapted than the predator species.
C.These environments are appropriate only for studying small populations of predators andprey.
D.They are unrealistic because some predators are also the prey of other predators.
3.第一句说了experimental environments的结果，但后面立刻出现了however。证明出现了转折，后文在一定程度上否定了前面的观点。所以选A。B和原文主题没关系，C虽然没有明显错误，但没有表现出真正的主题，重点是在真实生活中的情况。D原文也没提到。
4.Which of the following can be inferred from paragraphs 2 and 3 about the smallmammals that experience population cycles?
A.Their population cycles are not affected by predators.
B.Their predators’ populations periodically disappear.
C.They typically undergo ten-year cycles.
D.They have access to places safe from predators.
4.A错误，对应第三段最后一句话;B错误，对应第二段的第二句话后面，证明在正常情况下捕食者不会消失。C对应第三段第二句，出现了ten-year cycle但是仅仅是对野兔的描写，并不适用与全部哺乳动物。D对应第二段第二句，说被捕食者在现实生活中可以居于安全的远离捕食者的地方。所以选D。
5.The word “roughly” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A.usually.
B.repeating.
C.approximately.
D.observable.
5.roughly是粗略地。A是通常的，B是重复的，C是大约的，D是可观察的。根据词义选C。
6.The word “generating” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A.producing.
B.changing.
C.speeding up.
D.smoothing out.
6.generate是导致，产生的意思。A是产生，B是改变，C是加速，D是渐出。根据意思选择A。通过原文分析，前面说有两个因素可以怎么样这个cycle，那么应该是导致，产生的意思。
7.According to paragraph 4, all of the following are true of the food of snowshoehares EXCEPT
A.The preferred food fore hares consists of willow and birch twigs.
B.High fiber food is the most nutritious for hares.
C.Depletion of the supply of willow and birch twigs cause low birth and growth rates.
D.The food supply takes two or three years to recover after a peak in hare populationdensity.
7.排除题，选项A对应第一句，正确。选项B对应第二句，原文说high-fiber意味着low quality，所以B错误，选。C对应第三句，正确，不选。D对应最后一句，正确，不选。
提供者：请选择
8.The word “conjunction”in the passage(paragraph 6)is closest in meaning to
A.determination
B.combination
C.alternation
D.transformation
8.原文说的是由于野兔是山猫的食物，所以野兔数量下降，山猫数量也会随之下降。所以选择A。B的逻辑关系不对，并非野兔跟着山猫变化。C更不对，两者数量是同时增减的。D也不符合原文。
9.According to paragraph 5, which of the following statements bestcharacterizes theabundance cycle of the Canada lynx?
A.It closely follows the cycle the snowshoe hare.
B.When the numbers of lynx fall, the numbers of snowshoe hares soon decrease.
C.When hare numbers decrease, lynx numbers increase.
D.It is not clearly related to the availability of lynx food.
9.这句话的前面一句话说的是两个因素都会影响这个循环，而在现实中，两个因素都存在。所以这里应该是共同作用的意思。所以B，结合。符合原义。A是决定，C是交替，D是转化。
10.According to paragraph 6, which of the following was true of the harepopulationcycle in Krebs’s experiment?
A.The effects of providing food while at the same time introducing predators cancelled eachother, so there was no cycle.
B.The cycle existed when either the food supply was limited or there were predators.
C.There was a cycle when there were no predators and food was supplied.
D.If the hares had places to hide from the lynx, the hare population increased tenfold andthen remained at that level.
10.对应位置是红色部分。总结就是两个因素只要其中一个存在就会导致cycle。两个同时都没有的时候，就不存在cycle了。所以A说no cycle，那么条件中就多出了food effect，错误不选。B正确，两因素都不存在，nocycle，选!C说cycle存在，可是两因素都不存在。D跟两个因素都没关系，不选。
11.According to paragraph 7, which ofthe following statements correctlycharacterizes the effect of sea stars on the ecosystem in which they are predators ofbivalves?
A.Bivalve population are kept low, allowing species that compete with bivalves to survive.
B.The numbers of most species of bivalves are greatly reduced, leaving the bivalve speciesthat is the strongest competitor to dominate among the survivors.
C.Biological diversity begins to decrease because many bivalve species disappear.
D.Sea stars dominate at first but then die off because of the depleted food supply.
11.对应了原文这段倒数第二句和第三句。说海星的存在对双壳动物是一个限制，使得别的生物有了生存的空间。符合A。 B不对，双壳动物并不是dominate;C不对，bivalve控制后，diversity应该是上升的。D也不对，海星并不是死了啊。
12.According to paragraph 7, which of the following is true of the phenomenon ofcompetitor exclusion?
A.It results in more diverse communities.
B.It requires the presence of predators.
C.It affects all competitions equally.
D.It happens only when there is a dominant competitor.
12.根据competitor exclusion定位，这句话说this phenomenon，那么对于现象描写应该在前面。往前找可以看到这个现象是要在“best competitor”存在的情况，这个竞争者还tend to dominate. 符合D。A并不是这个现象的直接作用，其直接作用是对其他competitor的限制。B虽然正确，但没指出其唯一性。C没提到。
13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could beadded to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit? As a result, there are notenough of the strong competitions to monopolize the environment’s resources.
Predators are an essential factorin maintaining communities that are rich and diverse inspecies. Without predators, the species that is the best competitor for food, shelter,nestingsites, and other environmental resources tends to dominate and exclude the specieswith which it competes. ■【A】This phenomenon is known as “competitor exclusion”. ■【B】However, if the community contains a predator of the strongest competitor species,then the population of that competitor is controlled. ■【C】Thus even the less competitivespecies are able to survive. ■【D】For example, seastars prey on a variety of bivalvemollusks and prevent these bivalves from monopolizing habitats on the sea floor. This opens upspace for many other organisms. When sea stars are removed, species diversity falls sharply.Therefore, from the stand point of diversity, it is usually a mistake toeliminate a majorpredator from a community.
13.这里说as a result，那么首先前面要对某个现象进行描写，后面要对there are not enough of thestrong competitors to monopolize the environment’s resources.进行递进。C符合。
14. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage isprovided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices thatexpress the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong inthe summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or areminor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
The relationships between predatorsand prey are complex.
A.Studies of the interactions between wolves and moose on Isle Royale in Lake Superior revealthat wolf predation is not the primary factor controlling the moose population.
B.Predators help maintain biological diversity by limiting populations of a dominantcompetitor species, thereby preventing that species from excluding others.
C.A species’ population tends to rise and falls in a cycle pattern if the food supply for thepopulation is limited, or if the population has a major predator.
D.Ecologists are interested in studying predator-prey population cycles becauseunderstanding how predators and prey interact will allow better wildlife managementprograms.
E.In predator-prey population cycles, predator populations increase or decrease followingsimilar population changes in the species they prey on.
F.The removal of sea stars reduces the diversity of the community in which they arepredators, and is therefore a bad idea.
14.A对应原文1-3段，虽然到第二段为止，都是符合这个选项的，但是第三段已经对这个进行了否定，错误，不选。B虽然意思正确，但是原文没有提到生态学家要研究捕食者和被捕食者的关系的目的，不选。C正确，选，对应原文最后一段。D正确，选，原文第二段已经表达了这句话了，后面也不断地重复。E正确，选，对应原文倒数第二段。F选项缺少了一环----双壳动物，语义表达不完整，不选。
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