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托福阅读2019年2月考情回顾

来源:      浏览:      发布日期:2019-04-15 17:53

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作者:何曼 新航道武汉学校托福阅读讲师、ACT阅读讲师、GRE阅读讲师、GMAT阅读讲师,北京第二外国语学院翻译硕士(英语口译),在研究生期间被公费派往美国蒙特雷国际研究学院学习国际会议传译,有大量国际会议口译实践经验。 

一、二月考情回顾

2019年2月托福考试已经结束,本月托福阅读考试难度中等。出现了一些之前考过的文章。以下是本月2场考试的详细内容,请大家结合自身备考需要,进行学习借鉴。

1. 在2月23日的考试中,阅读一共出现了13篇文章,以下是对应的文章话题以及相关考情回顾。

1) 人类学Agriculture in Early modern world

本篇文章是关于人口发展和食物供给方面的关系。段涉及内容:中国的人口有很大的增长,因为甜土豆(sweet potato)和另外两种食物的出现,它们可以在非常干旱的条件下生长,大米(rice)却不行,而且在a single plot可以一年种植两三次;第二段:欧洲人口也有增长;第三段:技术方面的发展促进这种增长,涉及两种技术;第四段:但是食物的增长却没办法跟上人口的增长。

相似文章:TPO48-1 Chinese Population Growth

2) 天文学Early life forms and Earth's atmosphere

先讲了生物形成的条件,是离太阳的位置刚刚好;第二是先有细菌(bacteria),然后才有更加复杂的生物;原始的大气层是由一些甲烷(methane)和二氧化碳组成,温室气体,在当时太阳不是那么亮的时候(dim period)提供了一些热量,可以使早期生物生存;现在的地球是氢气和氧气主要组成,如果现在的大气层还和之前一样那么多甲烷和二氧化碳的话,地球会太热而不适合生物生存;然后又说到细菌产生的氧气可以阻挡UV(紫外线),为生物提供保护,而其他行星没有氧气,所以生物无法生存。

3) 艺术学 19世纪的印象派艺术

文章谈到了印象派画家的早期困境,如不受重视,作品销售困难。然后又提到了中间商的出现,中间商可以向有意向购买者描述画的特色。并且进行举例论证,以纽约中间商为例。

4) 人类学 The impact of industrialization on labor systems

文章谈到工业发展的三个原因:人口增长,就业压力变大,但是没有那么多农田可以耕种,因此不得不去解释一些不熟悉的新环境;机器发展,机械取代劳动力,劳动力出现分工,一人负责一个步骤,工作替代性很强,工人安全感下降,以英国为例,人们聚集在一起讨论工资;并且家庭关系的改变导致特殊分工出现。

Tpo相同篇目推荐:

OG5-Artisian and Industrialization

TPO6-1 Powering the Industrial Revolution

TPO26-1 Energy and the Industrial Revolution

5) 动物学How birds acquire their songs

此篇文章重复了2017年12月10日的文章,属于难度系数很高的文章。

文章内容:对比birds in isolation和birds reared in the wild的歌声,birds in isolation 只会唱标准的歌曲,bird in wild歌曲有方言(dialect),根据这点来观察听和回忆的重要性。做了个实验,在sensitive learning period 之后,把birds in isolation放在笼子里,第二年他们只会唱标准歌曲,但是对比birds in wild,他们记得学习的内容,还是会唱带有dialect的歌曲。

推荐tpo文章:

TPO11-3 Begging by Nestlings

6) 生态学Changes in the Amount of Forest on the Great Plains

文章内容:最初被常绿林覆盖的森林,由于气候变得温暖干燥,变成了落叶林,最后变成了草地。在一些山脊之类的地方树木比较占优势,一方面山脊气候凉爽接收到更多的降水(precipitation),另一方面,山脊是天然的防火地带(natural firebreak),但是草原被烧毁之后依然能够再生。然而在大平原地区,森林减少之后,接下来又发生了,数量反弹,具体原因是人类活动,随着农牧业的发展,草原数量逐渐减少,火灾频率也随之降低,所以森林得以回归。

TPO推荐篇目:

TPO39-3 Forest Fire Suppression

7) 生物学Evidence of Zooxanthellae in Fossilized Corals

文章内容:珊瑚和z是寄生关系,珊瑚提供保护,z提供光合作用产生的二氧化碳,但寄生珊瑚不能在太低温度或者太深的海底,因为照不到光,z光合作用就不行。但是也有一些不是寄生,判断方式是用同位素,z需要c12,而不是c13,多余的c13排放被珊瑚吸收,所有c13多的珊瑚就存在计生关系。

推荐tpo篇章

TPO19-2 Succession, Climax and Ecosystem

TPO47-3 Coral Reefs

8) 生物学 Survival of Plants and Animals in Desert Conditions

推荐tpo篇目:

TPO2-1 Desert Formation

9) 生物学Megafauna extinction

文章内容:科学家关于人类是否导致m灭绝的讨论。因为有的动物在人类在某地定居后就灭绝了,所以科学家认为人类的捕猎造成灭绝。一个科学家还提出有的地方动物没有灭绝是因为人们和动物习惯了彼此依存的存在。然而,事实证明人们的饮食只有一部分是m,人们还吃别的,所以不可信。另外,在人们还没有出现的事情有些动物就已经灭绝了,所以人类不是原因。

推荐TPO篇目:

TPO 54-2 Overkill of the North American Megafauna

10) 古生物学Dinosaurs and Parental Care

此篇文章重复了2015.2/2018.1.6/2018.7.1的真题。文章段内容提到化石记录无法判断恐龙是否会去照顾后代,一些恐龙巢穴里有恐龙在窝里产蛋;第二段从巢穴结构看出恐龙会进行孵化,第三段讲亲本抚养依然有很大的争议,第四段讲到最有利的证据来源于恐龙的亲缘动物-鸟类和鳄鱼,因为这些动物亲本抚养,所有同一祖先恐龙也会。

推荐tpo文章:

TPO 48-2 Determining Dinosaur Diet

11) 昆虫学 南亚昆虫翅膀

推荐TPO篇目

TPO 34-3 Protection of Plants by Insects

12) 生物学-动物 Biology:Animal behavior(whether instinct or learn)

TPO 27-3 Predator-Prey Cycles

13) 农业Agriculture in desert area(how to solve the problem

解决水资源短缺的问题

推荐TPO篇目:

TPO 12-3 Water in the Desert

词汇题:

robust=strong

attached = additional

secrete=release

retarding=slowing

surge=increased demanding

altered=transformed

emitted=released

sustained=supported

abundant=plentiful

meanwhile=at the same time

innovation=new development

adjacent plants=located near each other

prompt=stimulate

eventually=in the end

particular =specific

recall=remember  

2. 在2月24日的考试中,阅读一共出现了9篇文章,以下是对应的文章回忆。

1) 艺术话题

题目:naturalism and nature

内容回忆:文章一开始讲了两个画家比赛,一个画被鸟误以为是真的,飞过去了,另一个被对手画家误以为窗帘是真的。结果分成胜负。后面主要讲了艺术家是描绘植物时候,不仅仅像摄影师一样,画的更逼真就好。要有象征意义,还要反映文化背景,内在的理解。给了郁金香画的例子,反映某个阶段郁金香稀有的品种很贵,有钱人才有的,画里面就反映出这样的特征。

推荐TPO篇目:

TPO23-3 Rock Art of the Australia Aborigines

2) 植物学

植物被动防御技能的进化演变

推荐TPO篇目:

TPO25-3 The Evolutionary Origin of Plants

3) 环境类

题目:the water supple in Venice

内容回忆:文章关于威尼斯缺水和水污染的问题。早期往水里倒东西,发出各种发出臭味。人口增加,水不够,后面政府想办法治理。见了一种存水设置,不同于水井,存水量大,主要是雨水。有钱人有自己的,一般人可以租。最后有效解决了问题。

4) 历史经济类

英国的经济优势及发展

推荐TPO篇目:

TPO26-1 Energy and the Industrial Revolution

5) 生态类

美洲土著印第安人猎杀北美野牛

推荐TPO篇目:

TPO54-2 Overkill of the North American Megafauna

6) 天文学

月球地震的三种类型:

1. 是与地球的磁场有关

2. 第二种是由月球表面因素

3. 第三种是外来物体撞击形成

推荐TPO篇目:

TPO25-1 The Surface of Mars

7) 生物类

自然发生说的理论以及巴斯德的反驳

推荐TPO篇目:

TPO30-2 The Pace of Evolutionary Change

8) 经贸类

商业方面,讲了两个C的专有名词

个C是注重将facilities设在城市里,因为工人多,不用考虑太多交通问题。接着讲了一些产业向外扩展,同时有些零售业离开市中心,后面基本就讲了technology等的带来的好处了,像telegraph的发明,高楼的出现等。

推荐TPO篇目:

TPO17-1 Europe's Early Sea Trade with Asia

9) 考古类

Origins of the Megaliths 巨石起源

词汇题:

Faithfully=accurately

Admiration=great interest

Fragile=delicate

Obliged=had to

Ensured=guaranteed

Vulnerable=unprotected

Ingenuity=inventiveness

Notion-idea

Ideally=assumedly

subsequent=later

regime=government

launched=start

extensive=substantial

就本月的考试情况来看,虽然目前阅读考试话题涉及越来越多,但总的来说所有真题都能够找到TPO上的对应文章,考生可以根据自身情况,针对薄弱话题进行加强训练。此外,词汇题考察基本无新词,都可以在TPO中遇到,所有一定在日常训练的时候做好积累复习,争取考试时在词汇这一题型上不丢分。

二、背景补充

1. 相似文章和考频统计

1) 相似文章推荐

OG 05: Artisans and Industrialization

TPO 06-1:Powering the Industrial Revolution

TPO 18-1:Industrialization in the Netherlands and Scandinavia

TPO 26-1:Energy and the Industrial Revolution

TPO 34-2: The Development of Steam Power

TPO49-3: Background for the Industrial Revolution

2) 经济贸易类文章考频

经济贸易类文章在TPO阅读中所占比率约为13%,其中工业革命为较常涉及的背景信息。

2. 工业革命基本信息

在托福阅读考试中,历史这一大的类别是考察中的重难点,也是大多数考生比较头疼的一个话题。虽然说ETS已经明确说明考试不会对背景知识进行考察,但是如果考生缺乏背景知识,文章读起来会觉得十分晦涩难懂,所以今天就先和大家说说托福阅读当中的历史背景,而在欧美近代历史中,工业革命占据着特别重要的位置。

工业革命起源于英国,在那个时候也是迫在眉睫之势:人力和畜力的实力有限;水力的局限性又太明显-- 工厂必须临河而建;传统的能源比如木头(wood),已经不能满足生产需要了。英国自身的资源很丰富,但是要将自然资源转化成能源不是件容易的事情。蒸汽机的出现解决了能源的问题。

英国在首先开始工业革命方面有着以下几个优势:1)18世纪农业发生了进步,能够养活更多的人;2)圈地运动(enclosure movement)让农民失去土地,进城务工;3)英国殖民地多,原材料多;4)英国本身拥有丰富的煤炭和钢铁资源;5)英国有丰富的资金进行投资。

而在TPO的文章中,工业革命相关内容涉及一下几个方面:

棉花生产(Changes In Cotton Production)

煤炭和钢铁产业(The Coal and Iron Industries)

铁路(The Railroads)

新工厂及劳动力(New factories and its labors)

接下来我们分别来看一下在这几个方面发生的变化。

1)棉花生产

18世纪纺布还是小作坊生产(cottage production),但随着工业革命的推进,先发明了飞梭(flying shuttle)让织布速度更快,然后1764年又发明了珍妮纺纱机让纺线速度得到了提升;1787年发明了水力驱动的织布机,最后瓦特发明了蒸汽机,让纺织速度得到了进一步提升。英国进而成为了纺织业的巨头。

2)煤炭和钢铁产业

首先,蒸汽机的出现刺激了煤的生产,煤的需求增加又刺激了钢铁工业的发展。1852年,英国的煤炭总量比世界其他国家加起来还要多。

3)铁路

铁路对于工业革命的成功至关重要。在铁路出现之前,英国已经有两种主流的运输方式运河(canal)和turnpike(收费公路),但二者都有着自己的局限,运河不能够翻越山丘,公路不能运载重的货物,所以亟需一种新的交通方式。新的运输方式就是铁路,伴随着铁路的出现,带来了诸多好处:a)农村劳动力变成了工人阶级;b)更多廉价商品;c)更广大的市场;d)更多的工厂 ;e)商人进行再投资;f)整体经济的增长

4)新工厂和劳动力

工厂的壮大,造就了新的劳动体系(New Labor System):轮班制(Working in shifts)出现,目的是尽可能的生产更多地产品。工厂还进行了劳动分工,每个工人完成特定的工作,通常是一些重复性的工作。大量的工人涌入城市也导致了城市人口爆炸式增长,城市卫生状况糟糕等。

3. 相关文章补充:

TPO 6-1 Powering the Industrial Revolution

Paragraph 1: In Britain one of the most dramatic changes of the Industrial Revolution was the harnessing of power. Until the reign of George Ⅲ(1760-1820), available sources of power for work and travel had not increased since the Middle Ages. There were three sources of power: animal or human muscles; the wind, operating on sail or windmill; and running water. Only the last of these was suited at all to the continuous operating of machines, and although waterpower abounded in Lancashire and Scotland and ran grain mills as well as textile mills, it had one great disadvantage: streams flowed where nature intended them to, and water-driven factories had to be located on their banks whether or not the location was desirable for other reasons. Furthermore, even the most reliable waterpower varied with the seasons and disappeared in a drought. The new age of machinery, in short, could not have been born without a new source of both movable and constant power.

段主要内容:英国在工业革命中最显著的变化发生在能源领域,当时有三种主要能源L人力,畜力和水力,但只有水力能够满足机器的持续运转,与此同时水力又有致命缺陷,工厂只能依水而建,且水随季节天气而变。机器时代的来临需要一种能源,同时满足两个特点:可移动,持续。

Paragraph 2: The source had long been known but not exploited. Early in the eighteenth century, a pump had come into use in which expanding steam raised a piston in a cylinder, and atmospheric pressure brought it down again when the steam condensed inside the cylinder to form a vacuum. This “atmospheric engine,” invented by Thomas Savery and vastly improved by his partner, Thomas Newcomen, embodied revolutionary principles, but it was so slow and wasteful of fuel that it could not be employed outside the coal mines for which it had been designed. In the 1760s, James Watt perfected a separate condenser for the steam, so that the cylinder did not have to be cooled at every stroke; then he devised a way to make the piston turn a wheel and thus convert reciprocating (back and forth) motion into rotary motion. He thereby transformed an inefficient pump of limited use into a steam engine of a thousand uses. The final step came when steam was introduced into the cylinder to drive the piston backward as well as forward, thereby increasing the speed of the engine and cutting its fuel consumption.

第二段主要内容:瓦特通过改良早期的蒸汽机,创造出一个效率更高,使用领域更广的蒸汽机。

Paragraph 3: Watt's steam engine soon showed what it could do. It liberated industry from dependence on running water. The engine eliminated water in the mines by driving efficient pumps, which made possible deeper and deeper mining. The ready availability of coal inspired William Murdoch during the 1790s to develop the first new form of nighttime illumination to be discovered in a millennium and a half. Coal gas rivaled smoky oil lamps and flickering candles, and early in the new century, well-to-do Londoners grew accustomed to gaslit houses and even streets. Iron manufacturers, which had starved for fuel while depending on charcoal, also benefited from ever-increasing supplies of coal: blast furnaces with steam-powered bellows turned out more iron and steel for the new machinery. Steam became the motive force of the Industrial Revolution as coal and iron ore were the raw materials.

第三段主要内容:瓦特的蒸汽机有很大作用,工业不再依水而建,煤炭产量增加,进而刺激了一系列的新发展,蒸汽变成了工业革命的主要推动力。

Paragraph 4: By 1800 more than a thousand steam engines were in use in the British Isles, and Britain retained a virtual monopoly on steam engine production until the 1830s. Steam power did not merely spin cotton and roll iron; early in the new century, it also multiplied ten times over the amount of paper that a single worker could produce in a day. At the same time, operators of the first printing presses run by steam rather than by hand found it possible to produce a thousand pages in an hour rather than thirty. Steam also promised to eliminate a transportation problem not fully solved by either canal boats or turnpikes. Boats could carry heavy weights, but canals could not cross hilly terrain; turnpikes could cross the hills, but the roadbeds could not stand up under great weights. These problems needed still another solution, and the ingredients for it lay close at hand. In some industrial regions, heavily laden wagons, with flanged wheels, were being hauled by horses along metal rails; and the stationary steam engine was puffing in the factory and mine. Another generation passed before inventors succeeded in combining these ingredients, by putting the engine on wheels and the wheels on the rails, so as to provide a machine to take the place of the horse. Thus the railroad age sprang from what had already happened in the eighteenth century.

第四段主要内容:英国在蒸汽机的使用方面占据统治地位,不仅用于钢铁棉花生产,还用于造纸和印刷业。通过将蒸汽机和有轨车相结合,蒸汽机还解决了长久以来交通上的难题,进而来到了铁路时代。

4. 词汇补充

    viable adj. 可行的

    innovation n. 创新,革新;新方法

  invention n. 发明;发明物

  efficiency n. 效率, 效能

  transformation n. 变化;转变

  machinery n. (总称)机器

  mechanization n. 机械化

  facilitate v. 使便利, 减轻…的困难

  revolutionize v. 使彻底变革

  initiate v. 开始,创始

  entrepreneur n. 企业家

  tremendous adj. 极大的,巨大的;惊人的

  contribute v. 贡献,出力;投稿;捐献

  scarce adj. 缺乏的,不足的;稀有的

  scatter v. 分散,散开;散射

  grain n. 粮食;颗粒;[作物] 谷物

  medieval adj. 中世纪的;原始的

  prominence n. 声望;杰出

  derive v. 源于;得自;获得

  design v. 设计;绘制

    enclosure movement 圈地运动

    canal n.运河

    turnpike n.收费公路

    working in shifts 轮班制

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