词汇量是提高题，供大家参考学习，希望能给大家带来帮助!
1. The confusion and congestion of individual citizens looking for their letters was itself enough to discourage use of the mail. It is no wonder that, during the years of these cumbersome arrangements, private letter-carrying and express businesses developed.
The word "cumbersome" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) burdensome
(B) handsome
(C) loathsome
(D) quarrelsome
2. But this delivery service was at first confined to cities, and free home delivery became a mark of urbanism. As late as 1887, a town had to have 10,000 people to be eligible for free home delivery.
The word "Confined" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) granted
(B) scheduled
(C) limited
(D) recommended
3. They were, by training, social scientists, not historians, and their work tended to reflect this bias. The questions they framed and the techniques they used were designed to help them understand, as scientists, how people behaved.
The word "framed" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(B) read
(C) avoided
(D) posed
4. In Kingston, New York, for example, evidence has been uncovered that indicates that English goods were being smuggled into that city at a time when the Dutch supposedly controlled trading in the area.
The word "supposedly" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) ruthlessly
(B) tightly
(C) barely
(D) seemingly
5. And in Sacramento an excavation at the site of a fashionable nineteenth-century hotel revealed that garbage had been stashed in the building's basement despite sanitation laws to the contrary.
The word "sanitation" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) city
(B) housing
(C) health
(D) trade
6. When Jules Verne wrote Journey to the Center of the Earth in 1864, there were many conflicting theories about the nature of the Earth's interior. Some geologists thought that it contained a highly compressed ball of incandescent gas, while others suspected that it consisted of separate shells, each made of a different material.
The word "conflicting" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) controlling
(B) outdated
(C) opposing
(D) important
7. Beyond a depth of around 2,900 kilometers, a great change takes place and the mantle gives way to the core.< Some seismic waves cannot pass through the core and others are bent by it. From this and other evidence, geologists conclude that the outer core is probably liquid, with a solid center. It is almost certainly made of iron, mixed with smaller amount of other elements such as nickel.
The phrase "gives way to" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) runs along
(B) rubs against
(C) turns into
(D) floats on
8. Although scientists can speculate about its nature, neither humans nor machines will ever be able to visit it.
The word "speculate" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) report
(B) learn
(C) worry
(D) hypothesize
9. Farmers could get better prices for their crops if the alternative existed of sending them directly eastward to market, and merchants could sell larger quantities of their manufactured goods if these could be transported more directly and more economically to the west.
The word "alternative" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) option
(B) transition
(C) intention
(D) authorization
10. The distance was more than 350 miles, and there were ridges to cross and a wilderness of woods and swamps to penetrate.
The word "penetrate" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) cut down
(B) go through
(C) fill up
(D) take over
11. The range of the New York canal system was still further extended when the states of Ohio and Indiana, inspired by the success of the Erie Canal, provided water connections between Lake Erie and the Ohio River.
The word "extended" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) increased
(B) constructed
(C) deepened
(D) measured
12. The answer lay in a resource that unknowing Americans had trampled underfoot in their haste to cross the "Great American Desert" to reach lands that sometimes proved barren. In the eastern parts of the United States, the preferred grass for forage was a cultivated plant.
The word "barren" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) lonely
(B) dangerous
(C) uncomfortable
(D) infertile
13. In the eastern parts of the United States, the preferred grass for forage was a cultivated plant. It grew well with enough rain, then when cut and stored it would cure and become nourishing hay for winter feed.
The word "preferred" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) ordinary
(B) available
(C) required
(D) favored
14. They were not juicy like the cultivated eastern grasses, but had short, hard stems.
The word "hard" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) firm
(B) severe
(C) difficult
(D) bitter
15. Nevertheless, most domestic architecture of the first three-quarters of the eighteenth century displays a wide divergence of taste and freedom of application of the rules laid down in these books.
The word "divergence" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) description
(B) development
(C) difference
(D) display
16. New England still favored wood, though brick houses became common in Boston and other towns, where the danger of fire gave an impetus to the use of more durable material. A few houses in New England were built of stone, but only in Pennsylvania and adjacent areas was stone widely used in dwellings.
The word "durable" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) attractive
(B) expensive
(C) refined
(D) long-lasting
The word "dwelling" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) houses
(B) towns
(C) outbuildings
(D) rural areas
17. Doorways were larger and more decorative. Fireplaces became decorative features of rooms. Walls were made of plaster or wood, sometimes elaborately paneled.
The word "elaborately" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) done in great detail
(B) put together carefully
(C) using many colors
(D) reinforced structurally
18. Whereas schooling has a certain predictability, education quite often produces surprises. A chance conversation with stranger may lead a person to discover how little is known of other religions. People are engaged in education from infancy on.
The word "chance" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) unplanned
(B) unusual
(C) lengthy
(D) lively
19. Education, then, is a very broad, inclusive term. It is should be an integral part of one's entire life.
The word "integral" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) an equitable
(B) a profitable
(C) a pleasant
(D) an essential
20. For example, the edge of the Pacific Ocean has been called the "Ring of Fire" because so many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes happen there. Before the 1960's, geologists could not explain why active volcanoes and strong earthquakes were concentrated in that region.
The word "concentrated" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) allowed
(B)clustered
(C) exploded
(D) strengthened
21. In the United States in the early 1800's, individual state governments had more effect on the economy than did the federal government. States chartered manufacturing, banking, mining, and transportation firms and participated in the construction of various internal improvements such as canals, turnpikes, and railroads.
The word "effect" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) value
(B) argument
(C) influence
(D) restraint
22. The states encouraged internal improvements in two distinct ways: first, by actually establishing state companies to build such improvements; second, by providing part of the capital for mixed public-private companies setting out to make a profit.
The word "distinct" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) separate
(B) innovative
(C) alarming
(D) provocative
23. Finally, state governments experimented with direct labor and business regulation designed to help the individual laborer or consumer, including setting maximum limits on hours of work and restrictions on price-fixing by businesses.
The word "setting" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) discussing
(B) analyzing
(C) establishing
(D) avoiding
24. Although the states dominated economic activity during this period, the federal government was not inactive. Its goals were the facilitation of western settlement and the development of native industries. Toward these ends the federal government pursued several courses of action.
The word "ends" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) benefits
(B) decisions
(C) services
(D) goals
25. What forms of life were able to make such a drastic change in lifestyle? The traditional view of the first terrestrial organisms is based on mega fossils-relatively large specimens of essentially whole plants and animals.
The word "drastic" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) widespread
(B) radical
(C) progressive
(D) risky
26. It turns out that some fossils can be extracted from these sediments by putting the rocks in an acid bath. The technique has uncovered new evidence from sediments that were deposited near the shores of the ancient oceans-plant microfossils and microscopic pieces of small animals.
The word "extracted" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) located
(B) preserved
(C) removed
(D) studied
27. The technique has uncovered new evidence from sediments that were deposited near the shores of the ancient oceans-plant microfossils and microscopic pieces of small animals. In many instances the specimens are less than one-tenth of a millimeter in diameter.
The word "instances" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) methods
(B) processes
(C) cases
(D) reasons
28. In many instances the specimens are less than one-tenth of a millimeter in diameter. Although they were entombed in the rocks for hundreds of millions of years, many of the fossils consist of the organic remains of the organism.
The word "entombed" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) crushed
(B) trapped
(C) produced
(D) excavated
29. Citizens of prosperous, essentially middle-class republics --- whether ancient Romans, seventeenth-century Dutch burghers, or nineteenth-century Americans --- have always shown a marked taste for portraiture.
The word "marked" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) pronounced
(B) fortunate
(C) understandable
(D) mysterious
30. In 1839 the daguerreotype was introduced to America, ushering in the age of photography, and within a generation the new invention put an end to the popularity of painted portraits. Once again an original portrait became a luxury, commissioned by the wealthy and executed by the professional.
The phrase "ushering in" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) beginning
(B) demanding
(C) publishing
(D) increasing
The word "executed" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) sold
(B) requested
(C) admired
(D) created
参考答案：
1 A2 C3 D4 D5 C6 C7 C8 D9 A10 B
11 A12 D13 D14 A15 C16 D A17 A18 A19 D20 B
21 C22 A23 C24 D25 B26 C27 C28 B29 A30 A D
以上是这次为大家带来的托福词汇预测题，预祝考生考试顺利!