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  Desert Formation

  The deserts, which already occupy approximately a fourth of the Earth's land surface, have in recent decades been increasing at an alarming pace. The expansion of desert like conditions into areas where they did not previously exist is called desertification. It has been estimated that an additional one-fourth of the Earth's land surface is threatened by this process.

  沙漠已經(jīng)占據(jù)了地球表面積約四分之一，而且最近幾十年正以驚人的速度擴(kuò)張。沙漠化是指類似沙漠的環(huán)境漫延到原本并非沙漠的區(qū)域。據(jù)估計(jì)，地球表面另外四分之一的地方正面臨沙漠化威脅。

  Desertification is accomplished primarily through the loss of stabilizing natural vegetation and the subsequent accelerated erosion of the soil by wind and water. In some cases the loose soil is blown completely away, leaving a stony surface. In other cases, the finer particles may be removed, while the sand-sized particles are accumulated to form mobile hills or ridges of sand.

  沙漠化主要通過以下過程實(shí)現(xiàn)：首先自然植被不斷減少，隨后風(fēng)力和雨水加速了土壤的腐蝕。有的時(shí)候松散的土壤全部被風(fēng)刮走，留下石質(zhì)化的表層;其它情況下細(xì)小的沙?？赡軙?huì)被吹走，而正常沙粒大小的砂子不斷堆積，從而形成移動(dòng)的沙丘或者沙脊。

  Even in the areas that retain a soil cover, the reduction of vegetation typically results in the loss of the soil's ability to absorb substantial quantities of water. The impact of raindrops on the loose soil tends to transfer fine clay particles into the tiniest soil spaces, sealing them and producing a surface that allows very little water penetration. Water absorption is greatly reduced; consequently runoff is increased, resulting in accelerated erosion rates. The gradual drying of the soil caused by its diminished ability to absorb water results in the further loss of vegetation, so that a cycle of progressive surface deterioration is established.

  即便是在保留了土壤表層的區(qū)域，植被減少也已成為土壤大量吸取地下水的能力下降的典型因素。雨水對松散土壤的沖擊會(huì)把細(xì)小的粘土顆粒沖到土壤空隙中，封閉了土壤并降低土地表層水的滲透率。地表對水的吸收急劇減少，大量水資源流失，因此土壤的腐蝕率也隨即增加。地表吸收水分的能力進(jìn)一步弱化使得土壤越發(fā)干燥，導(dǎo)致植被的進(jìn)一步流失，于是便形成了土壤沙漠化的惡性循環(huán)。

  In some regions, the increase in desert areas is occurring largely as the result of a trend toward drier climatic conditions. Continued gradual global warming has produced an increase in aridity for some areas over the past few thousand years. The process may be accelerated in subsequent decades if global warming resulting from air pollution seriously increases.

  在一些地方，沙漠面積的擴(kuò)大很大程度上歸因于干燥的氣候條件。在過去的幾千年里，不斷增加的溫室效應(yīng)使得一些地方干旱問題愈發(fā)嚴(yán)重。倘若空氣污染帶來的溫室效應(yīng)繼續(xù)惡化，沙漠化進(jìn)程會(huì)在未來數(shù)十年內(nèi)加速實(shí)現(xiàn)。

  There is little doubt, however, that desertification in most areas results primarily from human activities rather than natural processes. The semiarid lands bordering the deserts exist in a delicate ecological balance and are limited in their potential to adjust to increased environmental pressures. Expanding populations are subjecting the land to increasing pressures to provide them with food and fuel. In wet periods, the land may be able to respond to these stresses. During the dry periods that are common phenomena along the desert margins, though, the pressure on the land is often far in excess of its diminished capacity, and desertification results.

  然而，可以肯定的是，大部分地區(qū)沙漠化主要都是由于人類活動(dòng)造成，而非自然條件導(dǎo)致。沙漠邊緣的半干旱土地所處的生態(tài)平衡環(huán)境非常脆弱，環(huán)境壓力持續(xù)增加，而這些半干旱區(qū)域適應(yīng)環(huán)境壓力的能力極其有限。人口數(shù)量的增加使得人們不斷向土地施壓，依其提供食物和燃料。在濕潤的季節(jié)里，土地興許能夠應(yīng)付這些壓力。但是在干旱的季節(jié)里，在沙漠周邊的土地上，存在著這樣一個(gè)十分普遍的現(xiàn)象：人類對土地施加的壓力遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過了土地自身減壓的能力，因此最終形成了沙漠。

  Four specific activities have been identified as major contributors to the desertification processes: overcultivation, overgrazing, firewood gathering, and overirrigation. The cultivation of crops has expanded into progressively drier regions as population densities have grown. These regions are especially likely to have periods of severe dryness, so that crop failures are common. Since the raising of most crops necessitates the prior removal of the natural vegetation, crop failures leave extensive tracts of land devoid of a plant cover and susceptible to wind and water erosion.

  導(dǎo)致沙漠化的主要因素有四個(gè)：過度種植，過度放牧，過分砍伐，過度灌溉。由于人口密度增加，人們對糧食作物的種植已經(jīng)擴(kuò)展到日益干燥的區(qū)域進(jìn)行。這些區(qū)域很有可能經(jīng)常會(huì)發(fā)生干旱，所以農(nóng)作物種植失敗是很正常的事情。大多數(shù)農(nóng)作物的種植需要事先移除天然植被，而農(nóng)作物欠收后又會(huì)留下大面積荒地，非常容易被風(fēng)力和雨水侵蝕。

  The raising of livestock is a major economic activity in semiarid lands, where grasses are generally the dominant type of natural vegetation. The consequences of an excessive number of livestock grazing in an area are the reduction of the vegetation cover and the trampling and pulverization of the soil. This is usually followed by the drying of the soil and accelerated erosion.

  在半干旱地區(qū)，草坪是主要的天然植被，家畜飼養(yǎng)是當(dāng)?shù)氐囊豁?xiàng)主要經(jīng)濟(jì)活動(dòng)。在一個(gè)地區(qū)過量飼養(yǎng)家畜會(huì)導(dǎo)致植被覆蓋面積減少，土地被大量踐踏和碾碎。通常，隨之而來的就是土地硬化和加速侵蝕。

  Firewood is the chief fuel used for cooking and heating in many countries. The increased pressures of expanding populations have led to the removal of woody plants so that many cities and towns are surrounded by large areas completely lacking in trees and shrubs. The increasing use of dried animal waste as a substitute fuel has also hurt the soil because this valuable soil conditioner and source of plant nutrients is no longer being returned to the land.

  在很多國家木材是用來做飯和加熱的最主要燃料。人口增加帶來的壓力促使人們大量砍伐木材，導(dǎo)致許多城市和鄉(xiāng)村周圍大面積樹木和灌木減少。同時(shí)人們大量使用烘干的動(dòng)物排泄物作為替代燃料同樣對土壤不利，因?yàn)檫@些珍貴的土壤成分調(diào)節(jié)劑和植物營養(yǎng)資源將不會(huì)再回歸至土壤當(dāng)中。

  The final major human cause of desertification is soil salinization resulting from overirrigation. Excess water from irrigation sinks down into the water table. If no drainage system exists, the water table rises, bringing dissolved salts to the surface. The water evaporates and the salts are left behind, creating a white crustal layer that prevents air and water from reaching the underlying soil.

  造成土地沙漠化的最后一個(gè)主要人為因素在于人類過度灌溉導(dǎo)致土壤的鹽堿化。灌溉多余的水滲透到地下水位。假如沒有排水系統(tǒng)的存在，那么地下水位上升，把溶解的鹽分帶到土壤表面。水分蒸發(fā)后，鹽分留在了表面，形成白色的地殼層，這一地殼層阻止了空氣和水接觸地底下的土壤。

  The extreme seriousness of desertification results from the vast areas of land and the tremendous numbers of people affected, as well as from the great difficulty of reversing or even slowing the process. Once the soil has been removed by erosion, only the passage of centuries or millennia will enable new soil to form. In areas where considerable soil still remains, though, a rigorously enforced program of land protection and cover-crop planting may make it possible to reverse the present deterioration of the surface.

  沙漠化問題異常嚴(yán)重，這是因?yàn)橛衼鋸V闊的地區(qū)和數(shù)量龐大的人群都受到了沙漠化的影響，而且要想逆轉(zhuǎn)沙漠化的進(jìn)程甚至減緩沙漠化的速度都面臨著巨大的困難。一旦土壤被侵蝕，需要再經(jīng)過幾百到上千年的時(shí)間才會(huì)產(chǎn)生新的土壤。那些大量土壤仍保存完好的地方，亟需一個(gè)嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)而有力的保護(hù)政策和植被覆蓋計(jì)劃來保護(hù)現(xiàn)有土地。

  Paragraph 1: The deserts, which already occupy approximately a fourth of the Earth's land surface, have in recent decades been increasing at an alarming pace. The expansion of desertlike conditions into areas where they did not previously exist is called desertification. It has been estimated that an additional one-fourth of the Earth's land surface is threatened by this process.

  1. The word threatened in the passage is closest in meaning to

  Restricted

  Endangered

  Prevented

  Rejected

  Paragraph 3: Even in the areas that retain a soil cover, the reduction of vegetation typically results in the loss of the soil's ability to absorb substantial quantities of water. The impact of raindrops on the loose soil tends to transfer fine clay particles into the tiniest soil spaces, sealing them and producing a surface that allows very little water penetration. Water absorption is greatly reduced; consequently runoff is increased, resulting in accelerated erosion rates. The gradual drying of the soil caused by its diminished ability to absorb water results in the further loss of vegetation, so that a cycle of progressive surface deterioration is established.

  2. According to paragraph 3, the loss of natural vegetation has which of the following consequences for soil?

  Increased stony content

  Reduced water absorption

  Increased numbers of spaces in the soil

  Reduced water runoff

  Paragraph 5: There is little doubt, however, that desertification in most areas results primarily from human activities rather than natural processes. The semiarid lands bordering the deserts exist in a delicate ecological balance and are limited in their potential to adjust to increased environmental pressures. Expanding populations are subjecting the land to increasing pressures to provide them with food and fuel. In wet periods, the land may be able to respond to these stresses. During the dry periods that are common phenomena along the desert margins, though, the pressure on the land is often far in excess of its diminished capacity, and desertification results.

  3. The word delicate in the passage is closest in meaning to

  Fragile

  Predictable

  Complex

  Valuable

  4. According to paragraph 5, in dry periods, border areas have difficulty

  Adjusting to stresses created by settlement

  Retaining their fertility after desertification

  Providing water for irrigating crops

  Attracting populations in search of food and fuel

  Paragraph 6: Four specific activities have been identified as major contributors to the desertification processes: overcultivation, overgrazing, firewood gathering, and overirrigation. The cultivation of crops has expanded into progressively drier regions as population densities have grown. These regions are especially likely to have periods of severe dryness, so that crop failures are common. Since the raising of most crops necessitates the prior removal of the natural vegetation, crop failures leave extensive tracts of land devoid of a plant cover and susceptible to wind and water erosion.

  5. The word progressively in the passage is closest in meaning to

  Openly

  Impressively

  Objectively

  Increasingly

  6. According to paragraph 6, which of the following is often associated with raising crops?

  Lack of proper irrigation techniques

  Failure to plant crops suited to the particular area

  Removal of the original vegetation

  Excessive use of dried animal waste

  7. The phrase devoid of in the passage is closest in meaning to

  Consisting of

  Hidden by

  Except for

  Lacking in

  Paragraph 9: The final major human cause of desertification is soil salinization resulting from over irrigation. Excess water from irrigation sinks down into the water table. If no drainage system exists, the water table rises, bringing dissolved salts to the surface. The water evaporates and the salts are left behind, creating a white crustal layer that prevents air and water from reaching the underlying soil.

  8. According to paragraph 9, the ground’s absorption of excess water is a factor in desertification because it can

  Interfere with the irrigation of land

  Limit the evaporation of water

  Require more absorption of air by the soil

  Bring salts to the surface

  9. All of the following are mentioned in the passage as contributing to desertification EXCEPT

  Soil erosion

  Global warming

  Insufficient irrigation

  The raising of livestock

  Paragraph 10: The extreme seriousness of desertification results from the vast areas of land and the tremendous numbers of people affected, as well as from the great difficulty of reversing or even slowing the process. Once the soil has been removed by erosion, only the passage of centuries or millennia will enable new soil to form. In areas where considerable soil still remains, though, a rigorously enforced program of land protection and cover-crop planting may make it possible to reverse the present deterioration of the surface.

  10. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage?

  Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

  Desertification is a significant problem because it is so hard to reverse and affects large areas of land and great numbers of people.

  Slowing down the process of desertification is difficult because of population growth that has spread over large areas of land.

  The spread of deserts is considered a very serious problem that can be solved only if large numbers of people in various countries are involved in the effort.

  Desertification is extremely hard to reverse unless the population is reduced in the vast areas affected.

  11. It can be inferred from the passage that the author most likely believes which of the following about the future of desertification?

  Governments will act quickly to control further desertification.

  The factors influencing desertification occur in cycles and will change in the future.

  Desertification will continue to increase.

  Desertification will soon occur in all areas of the world.

  Paragraph 7:■ The raising of livestock is a major economic activity in semiarid lands, where grasses are generally the dominant type of natural vegetation. ■The consequences of an excessive number of livestock grazing in an area are the reduction of the vegetation cover and the trampling and pulverization of the soil. ■This is usually followed by the drying of the soil and accelerated erosion.■

  12. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage.

  This economic reliance on livestock in certain regions makes large tracts of land susceptible to overgrazing.

  Where would the sentence best fit?

  13-14. 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 answer choices 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.

  Many factors have contributed to the great increase in desertification in recent decades.

  ●

  ●

  ●

  Answer Choices

  1. Growing human populations and the agricultural demands that come with such growth have upset the ecological balance in some areas and led to the spread of deserts.

  2. As periods of severe dryness have become more common, failures of a number of different crops have increased.

  3. Excessive numbers of cattle and the need for firewood for fuel have reduced grasses and trees, leaving the land unprotected and vulnerable.

  4. Extensive irrigation with poor drainage brings salt to the surface of the soil, a process that reduces water and air absorption.

  5. Animal dung enriches the soil by providing nutrients for plant growth.

  6. Grasses are generally the dominant type of natural vegetation in semiarid lands.

  參考答案：

  1. 2

  2. 2

  3. 1

  4. 1

  5. 4

  6. 3

  7. 4

  8. 4

  9. 3

  10. 1

  11. 3

  12. 2

  13-14.1 3 4

  The Origins Of Cetaceans

  It should be obvious that cetaceans-whales, porpoises, and dolphins-are mammals. They breathe through lungs, not through gills, and give birth to live young. Their streamlined bodies, the absence of hind legs, and the presence of a fluke1 and blowhole2 cannot disguise their affinities with land dwelling mammals. However, unlike the cases of sea otters and pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses, whose limbs are functional both on land and at sea), it is not easy to envision what the first whales looked like. Extinct but already fully marine cetaceans are known from the fossil record. How was the gap between a walking mammal and a swimming whale bridged? Missing until recently were fossils clearly intermediate, or transitional, between land mammals and cetaceans.

  眾所周知，鯨類動(dòng)物是哺乳動(dòng)物,如鯨魚、鼠海豚和海豚。它們用肺呼吸，而不是鰓，屬于胎生。鯨類動(dòng)物呈流線型的身體，后腿的消失，尾片和氣孔的出現(xiàn)，這些特征都不能掩飾它們和陸生哺乳動(dòng)物的相似之處。然而，想知道世上第一只鯨長什么樣并非易事，不像還原海獺及鰭足類動(dòng)物(四肢水陸兩用如海豹，海獅，海象)的原貌那么簡單。一些完全水生的鯨類動(dòng)物雖然已經(jīng)滅絕，但仍可通過化石來對它們進(jìn)行考察。陸棲哺乳動(dòng)物和海洋鯨類之間有何聯(lián)系?近期發(fā)現(xiàn)的化石已經(jīng)可以很清晰地幫助人們了解這個(gè)問題，以及他們之間的過渡關(guān)系。

  Very exciting discoveries have finally allowed scientists to reconstruct the most likely origins of cetaceans. In 1979, a team looking for fossils in northern Pakistan found what proved to be the oldest fossil whale. The fossil was officially named Pakicetus in honor of the country where the discovery was made. Pakicetus was found embedded in rocks formed from river deposits that were 52 million years old. The river that formed these deposits was actually not far from an ancient ocean known as the Tethys Sea.

  科學(xué)家們通過一些令人振奮的發(fā)現(xiàn)重現(xiàn)了鯨類動(dòng)物幾近真實(shí)的起源。1979 年，在巴基斯坦北部，一個(gè)尋找化石的考察隊(duì)發(fā)掘到了最古老的鯨魚化石。這塊化石被官方命名為Pakicifus，以紀(jì)念人們發(fā)現(xiàn)它的地方。這塊化石是在一條河的沉積巖中發(fā)現(xiàn)的，這條河有 5200 萬年的歷史，離古地中海不遠(yuǎn)。

  The fossil consists of a complete skull of an archaeocyte, an extinct group of ancestors of modern cetaceans. Although limited to a skull, the Pakicetus fossil provides precious details on the origins of cetaceans. The skull is cetacean-like but its jawbones lack the enlarged space that is filled with fat or oil and used for receiving underwater sound in modern whales. Pakicetus probably detected sound through the ear opening as in land mammals. The skull also lacks a blowhole, another cetacean adaptation for diving. Other features, however, show experts that Pakicetus is a transitional form between a group of extinct flesh-eating mammals, the mesonychids, and cetaceans. It has been suggested that Pakicetus fed on fish in shallow water and was not yet adapted for life in the open ocean. It probably bred and gave birth on land.

  Pakicifus 包括一個(gè)完整原始動(dòng)物的頭蓋骨，它的主人是現(xiàn)代鯨類的祖先。盡管只是個(gè)頭蓋骨，但它卻提供了研究原始鯨類動(dòng)物起源的珍貴信息。這個(gè)頭蓋骨和鯨類動(dòng)物的很像，但它的下頜骨和現(xiàn)代鯨類略有不同，現(xiàn)代鯨類動(dòng)物的下頜骨中含有額外的空間儲(chǔ)存脂肪或者油脂來吸收水下的聲音。Pakicifus 的主人可能會(huì)像陸生哺乳動(dòng)物那樣通過張開的耳朵來探測聲音。另外，這個(gè)頭蓋骨沒有呼吸孔，而鯨類動(dòng)物有，這便是鯨類動(dòng)物為了適應(yīng)水生環(huán)境的另一種適應(yīng)性表現(xiàn)。然而，專家認(rèn)為 Pakicifus 的其它特征表明它們是已滅絕的食肉哺乳動(dòng)物(中獸科動(dòng)物)和鯨類動(dòng)物的過渡型。有人認(rèn)為 Pakicifus 靠吃淺水的魚類為生，未能適應(yīng)在遼闊的大海里生活。它們很有可能在陸地進(jìn)行生育繁殖。

  Another major discovery was made in Egypt in 1989. Several skeletons of another early whale, Basilosaurus, were found in sediments left by the Tethys Sea and now exposed in the Sahara desert. This whale lived around 40 million years ago, 12 million years after Pakicetus. Many incomplete skeletons were found but they included, for the first time in an archaeocyte, a complete hind leg that features a foot with three tiny toes. Such legs would have been far too small to have supported the 50-foot-long Basilosaurus on land. Basilosaurus was undoubtedly a fully marine whale with possibly nonfunctional, or vestigial, hind legs.

  1989 年，在埃及有了另一個(gè)重大發(fā)現(xiàn)。人們在古地中海殘留的沉積物中發(fā)現(xiàn)了另一類早期鯨魚 Basilosaurus 的一些骨骸，這些骨骸如今暴露在撒哈拉大沙漠上。Basilosaurus 生活在大約 4000 萬年前，比 Pakicifus 鯨魚晚了 1200 萬年。盡管發(fā)現(xiàn)的這些骨骼并不完整，但這是專家們第一次在原始動(dòng)物身上發(fā)現(xiàn)完整的后肢，它有三個(gè)小腳趾作為的足部特征?？蛇@些后肢還太小，遠(yuǎn)無法支撐 50 英尺長的Basilosaurus 在陸地行走。因此，Basilosaurus 必定是完全水生的鯨魚，它們的后肢已經(jīng)不起任何作用，或者說已經(jīng)退化。

  An even more exciting find was reported in 1994, also from Pakistan. The now extinct whale Ambulocetus natans ("the walking whale that swam") lived in the Tethys Sea 49 million years ago. It lived around 3 million years after Pakicetus but 9 million before Basilosaurus. The fossil luckily includes a good portion of the hind legs. The legs were strong and ended in long feet very much like those of a modern pinniped. The legs were certainly functional both on land and at sea. The whale retained a tail and lacked a fluke, the major means of locomotion in modern cetaceans. The structure of the backbone shows, however, that Ambulocetus swam like modern whales by moving the rear portion of its body up and down, even though a fluke was missing. The large hind legs were used for propulsion in water. On land, where it probably bred and gave birth, Ambulocetus may have moved around very much like a modern sea lion. It was undoubtedly a whale that linked life on land with life at sea

  1.Fluke: the two parts that constitute the large triangular tail of a whale

  2. "Blowhole: a hole in the top of the head used for breathing

  1994 年，巴基斯坦報(bào)道了一個(gè)更令人興奮的發(fā)現(xiàn)。目前已經(jīng)滅絕的鯨魚Ambulocetus natans(可以步行的鯨類)4900 萬年前曾在古地中海生活過。比Pakicetus 晚大約300 萬年，比 Basilosaurus 早900 萬年左右。幸運(yùn)的是，被發(fā)現(xiàn)的 Ambulocetus natans 保留著完整的后肢。它的后肢很強(qiáng)壯，底部有長足，非常像現(xiàn)在的鰭足類動(dòng)物。這些后肢使得他們既能在陸地行走又能在海里游行。雖然 Ambulocetus natans 保留了尾巴，但它們?nèi)鄙佻F(xiàn)代水生鯨類動(dòng)物用于行動(dòng)的主要身體部位——尾片。不過，從 Ambulocetus 的脊椎結(jié)構(gòu)上可以看出，即使缺少尾片，它們也能像現(xiàn)代鯨魚那樣通過身體背部的上下擺動(dòng)來游走。大的后肢通常被當(dāng)作是水中前行的發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)。在它們可能交配繁殖的陸地上，Ambulocetus 行動(dòng)起來非常像現(xiàn)代海獅。毫無疑問，鯨魚是連接著陸地生命和海洋生命的物種。

  Paragraph 1: It should be obvious that cetaceans-whales, porpoises, and dolphins-are mammals. They breathe through lungs, not through gills, and give birth to live young. Their streamlined bodies, the absence of hind legs, and the presence of a fluke3 and blowhole4 cannot disguise their affinities with land-dwelling mammals. However, unlike the cases of sea otters and pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses, whose limbs are functional both on land and at sea), it is not easy to envision what the first whales looked like. Extinct but, already fully marine cetaceans are known from the fossil record. How was the gap between a walking mammal and a swimming whale bridged? Missing until recently were fossils clearly intermediate, or transitional, between land mammals and cetaceans.

  Directions: Mark your answer by filling in the oval next to your choice.

  1. In paragraph 1, what does the author say about the presence of a blowhole in cetaceans?

  It clearly indicates that cetaceans are mammals.

  It cannot conceal the fact that cetaceans are mammals.

  It is the main difference between cetaceans and land-dwelling mammals.

  It cannot yield clues about the origins of cetaceans.

  2. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 1 about early sea otters?

  It is not difficult to imagine what they looked like

  There were great numbers of them.

  They lived in the sea only.

  They did not leave many fossil remains.

  Paragraph 3: The fossil consists of a complete skull of an archaeocyte, an extinct group of ancestors of modern cetaceans. Although limited to a skull, the Pakicetus fossil provides precious details on the origins of cetaceans. The skull is cetacean-like but its jawbones lack the enlarged space that is filled with fat or oil and used for receiving underwater sound in modern whales. Pakicetus probably detected sound through the ear opening as in land mammals. The skull also lacks a blowhole, another cetacean adaptation for diving. Other features, however, show experts that Pakicetus is a transitional form between a group of extinct flesh-eating mammals, the mesonychids, and cetaceans. It has been suggested that Pakicetus fed on fish in shallow water and was not yet adapted for life in the open ocean. It probably bred and gave birth on land.

  3. The word precious in the passage is closest in meaning to

  Exact

  Scarce

  Valuable

  Initial

  4. Pakicetus and modern cetaceans have similar

  Hearing structures

  Adaptations for diving

  Skull shapes

  Breeding locations

  5. The word it in the passage refers to

  Pakicetus

  Fish

  Life

  ocean

  Paragraph 4: Another major discovery was made in Egypt in 1989. Several skeletons of another early whale, Basilosaurus, were found in sediments left by the Tethys Sea and now exposed in the Sahara desert. This whale lived around 40 million years ago, 12 million years after Pakicetus. Many incomplete skeletons were found but they included, for the first time in an archaeocyte, a complete hind leg that features a foot with three tiny toes. Such legs would have been far too small to have supported the 50-foot-long Basilosaurus on land. Basilosaurus was undoubtedly a fully marine whale with possibly nonfunctional, or vestigial, hind legs.

  6. The word exposed in the passage is closest in meaning to

  Explained

  Visible

  Identified

  Located

  7. The hind leg of Basilosaurus was a significant find because it showed that Basilosaurus

  Lived later than Ambulocetus natans

  Lived at the same time as Pakicetus

  Was able to swim well

  Could not have walked on land

  8. It can be inferred that Basilosaurus bred and gave birth in which of the following locations

  On land

  Both on land and at sea

  In shallow water

  In a marine environment

  Paragraph 5: An even more exciting find was reported in 1994, also from Pakistan. The now extinct whale Ambulocetus natans ("the walking whale that swam") lived in the Tethys Sea 49 million years ago. It lived around 3 million years after Pakicetus but 9 million before Basilosaurus. The fossil luckily includes a good portion of the hind legs. The legs were strong and ended in long feet very much like those of a modern pinniped. The legs were certainly functional both on land and at sea. The whale retained a tail and lacked a fluke, the major means of locomotion in modern cetaceans. The structure of the backbone shows, however, that Ambulocetus swam like modern whales by moving the rear portion of its body up and down, even though a fluke was missing. The large hind legs were used for propulsion in water. On land, where it probably bred and gave birth, Ambulocetus may have moved around very much like a modern sea lion. It was undoubtedly a whale that linked life on land with life at sea

  9. Why does the author use the word luckily in mentioning that the Ambulocetus natans fossil included hind legs?

  Fossil legs of early whales are a rare find.

  The legs provided important information about the evolution of cetaceans.

  The discovery allowed scientists to reconstruct a complete skeleton of the whale.

  Until that time, only the front legs of early whales had been discovered.

  10. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage?

  Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

  Even though Ambulocetus swam by moving its body up and down, it did not have a backbone.

  The backbone of Ambulocetus, which allowed it to swim, provides evidence of its missing fluke.

  Although Ambulocetus had no fluke, its backbone structure shows that it swam like modern whales.

  By moving the rear parts of their bodies up and down, modern whales swim in a different way from the way Ambulocetus swam.

  11. The word propulsion in the passage is closest in meaning to

  Staying afloat

  Changing direction

  Decreasing weight

  Moving forward

  Paragraph 1: Extinct but already fully marine cetaceans are known from the fossil record. ■How was the gap between a walking mammal and a swimming whale bridged? ■Missing until recently were fossils clearly intermediate, or transitional, between land mammals and cetaceans.■Very exciting discoveries have finally allowed scientists to reconstruct the most likely origins of cetaceans. ■In 1979, a team looking for fossils in northern Pakistan found what proved to be the oldest fossil whale.

  12. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage.

  This is a question that has puzzled scientists for ages.

  Where would the sentence best fit?

  13-14. 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 answer choices 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.

  This passage discusses fossils that help to explain the likely origins of cetaceans-whales, porpoises, and dolphins.

  ●

  ●

  ●

  Answer Choices

  1. Recent discoveries of fossils have helped to show the link between land mammals and cetaceans.

  2. The discovery of Ambulocetus natans provided evidence for a whale that lived both on land and at sea.

  3. The skeleton of Basilosaurus was found in what had been the Tethys Sea, an area rich in fossil evidence.

  4. Pakicetus is the oldest fossil whale yet to be found.

  5. Fossils thought to be transitional forms between walking mammals and swimming whales were found.

  6. Ambulocetus' hind legs were used for propulsion in the water.

  參考答案

  1、2

  2、1

  3、3

  4、3

  5、1

  6、2

  7、4

  8、4

  9、2

  10. 3

  11. 4

  12. 2

  13-14. 1 2 5

  Early Cinema

  The cinema did not emerge as a form of mass consumption until its technology evolved from the initial "peepshow" format to the point where images were projected on a screen in a darkened theater. In the peepshow format, a film was viewed through a small opening in a machine that was created for that purpose. Thomas Edison's peepshow device, the Kinetoscope, was introduced to the public in 1894. It was designed for use in Kinetoscope parlors, or arcades, which contained only a few individual machines and permitted only one customer to view a short, 50-foot film at any one time. The first Kinetoscope parlors contained five machines. For the price of 25 cents (or 5 cents per machine), customers moved from machine to machine to watch five different films (or, in the case of famous prizefights, successive rounds of a single fight).

  電影院的播放技術(shù)從最初的西洋鏡形式演變?yōu)閷⒂跋裢队暗接陌档挠霸浩聊唬@一轉(zhuǎn)變使得電影院大眾化消費(fèi)成為可能。在通過西洋鏡播放電影的年代里，人們只能通過播放儀器的一個(gè)專門設(shè)置的小窗口來看電影。到了1894 年，托馬斯?愛迪生發(fā)明的活動(dòng)電影放映機(jī)公布于眾，這種放映機(jī)僅適用于活動(dòng)電影放映室或電影娛樂城。它里面僅包含少量的獨(dú)立播放器，每次僅允許一個(gè)顧客觀看一部50 張膠卷的小短片。第一個(gè)電影放映廳的放映機(jī)中有五臺(tái)播放器。價(jià)格是25 美分/次，(每臺(tái)播放器觀看價(jià)格是5 美分)。觀眾們從一個(gè)播放器換到下一個(gè)播放器依次觀看不同的影片(就像有名的職業(yè)拳擊賽，每場都要連續(xù)進(jìn)行好幾輪比賽)。

  These Kinetoscope arcades were modeled on phonograph parlors, which had proven successful for Edison several years earlier. In the phonograph parlors, customers listened to recordings through individual ear tubes, moving from one machine to the next to hear different recorded speeches or pieces of music. The Kinetoscope parlors functioned in a similar way. Edison was more interested in the sale of Kinetoscopes (for roughly $1,000 apiece) to these parlors than in the films that would be run in them (which cost approximately $10 to $15 each). He refused to develop projection technology, reasoning that if he made and sold projectors, then exhibitors would purchase only one machine-a projector-from him instead of several.

  這些電影播放廳是仿照留聲機(jī)播放廳設(shè)計(jì)的，這也證明了愛迪生前幾年的設(shè)計(jì)非常成功。在留聲機(jī)播放廳中，顧客們通過獨(dú)立的耳管聽取已經(jīng)錄制好的聲音，從一臺(tái)機(jī)器換到另一臺(tái)聽取不同演講或音樂的錄音。電影放映室的功能與之類似。相比之下，愛迪生對這些電影放映機(jī)(每臺(tái)一千美元)的銷售更感興趣，而不是那些需要放映的電影(每部10-15 美元)。他不愿研究投影技術(shù)，因?yàn)樗J(rèn)為如果研發(fā)并且銷售投影機(jī)，電影放映者就只會(huì)買一臺(tái)投影機(jī)而不是幾臺(tái)。

  Exhibitors, however, wanted to maximize their profits, which they could do more readily by projecting a handful of films to hundreds of customers at a time (rather than one at a time) and by charging 25 to 50 cents admission. About a year after the opening of the first Kinetoscope parlor in 1894, showmen such as Louis and Auguste Lumiere, Thomas Armat and Charles Francis Jenkins, and Orville and Woodville Latham (with the assistance of Edison's former assistant, William Dickson) perfected projection devices. These early projection devices were used in vaudeville theaters, legitimate theaters, local town halls, makeshift storefront theaters, fairgrounds, and amusement parks to show films to a mass audience.

  然而，電影放映者們期望將自己的收益最大化，他們希望能更簡易地將少量電影同時(shí)放映給幾百個(gè)顧客(而不是每次為一個(gè)顧客播放一次電影)，每次收費(fèi)25到50 美分。在1894 年電影放映機(jī)公布的一年之后，攝影師如Louis 和Auguste Lumiere，Thomas Armat 和Charles Francis Jenkins，Orville 和WoodvilleLatham 以及愛迪生先前的助手William Dickson 將投影設(shè)備變得更加完善。這些早期的投影機(jī)在眾多場合為大眾觀眾播放電影，如：雜技劇團(tuán)、正當(dāng)?shù)挠霸?、?dāng)?shù)劓?zhèn)上的禮堂、臨時(shí)的影院店面、露天游樂場和游樂園等。

  With the advent of projection in 1895-1896, motion pictures became the ultimate form of mass consumption. Previously, large audiences had viewed spectacles at the theater, where vaudeville, popular dramas, musical and minstrel shows, classical plays, lectures, and slide-and-lantern shows had been presented to several hundred spectators at a time. But the movies differed significantly from these other forms of entertainment, which depended on either live performance or (in the case of the slide-and-lantern shows) the active involvement of a master of ceremonies who assembled the final program.

  隨著1895-1896 年間投影機(jī)的到來，電影成為了大眾消費(fèi)的最終形式。在此之前，一群觀眾坐在劇場里觀看表演，在那里幾百個(gè)觀眾可以同時(shí)觀看輕歌舞劇、流行戲劇、音樂劇、歌唱表演、古典演奏、演講和膠片演示等。電影與這些娛樂形式明顯的不同點(diǎn)是，電影無需依賴現(xiàn)場表演，也不需要串聯(lián)全場節(jié)目的主持人的積極參與(例如膠片演示)。

  Although early exhibitors regularly accompanied movies with live acts, the substance of the movies themselves is mass-produced, prerecorded material that can easily be reproduced by theaters with little or no active participation by the exhibitor. Even though early exhibitors shaped their film programs by mixing films and other entertainments together in whichever way they thought would be most attractive to audiences or by accompanying them with lectures, their creative control remained limited. What audiences came to see was the technological marvel of the movies; the lifelike reproduction of the commonplace motion of trains, of waves striking the shore, and of people walking in the street; and the magic made possible by trick photography and the manipulation of the camera.

  盡管早期的電影放映者通常在電影放映時(shí)伴有現(xiàn)場表演，但是電影本身的內(nèi)容是影院事先大量錄制下來的，這些材料能在沒有表演者或者表演者較少參與的情況在電影院中輕松地再現(xiàn)。即便這樣，早期的電影放映者還是將電影和其它娛樂節(jié)目或者演講結(jié)合在一起，他們認(rèn)為用這樣的方法能最大限度的吸引觀眾，他們管理的創(chuàng)造力還是非常有限的。觀眾們在這里可以看到的電影技術(shù)的進(jìn)步;生活瑣事的重現(xiàn)，如火車的運(yùn)動(dòng)，海浪拍擊海岸，人們在街上行走等;以及由攝影特技和相機(jī)操控做出來的特效。

  With the advent of projection, the viewer's relationship with the image was no longer private, as it had been with earlier peepshow devices such as the Kinetoscope and the Mutoscope, which was a similar machine that reproduced motion by means of successive images on individual photographic cards instead of on strips of celluloid. It suddenly became public-an experience that the viewer shared with dozens, scores, and even hundreds of others. At the same time, the image that the spectator looked at expanded from the minuscule peepshow dimensions of 1 or 2 inches (in height) to the life-size proportions of 6 or 9 feet.

  伴隨投影機(jī)的到來，電影不在屬于個(gè)別人的消費(fèi)品。就像之前西洋鏡時(shí)代的播放設(shè)備，如活動(dòng)電影播放機(jī)和早期電影播放機(jī)，早期電影播放機(jī)播放的都是一系列獨(dú)立的圖像而不是膠片，把單個(gè)攝影卡上的圖片串聯(lián)起來形成影像。投影技術(shù)使得電影變得更加大眾化了，觀眾能夠和十二個(gè)、二十個(gè)、甚至是上百個(gè)人共同觀看一部電影。與此同時(shí)，觀眾所看到的圖像大小也從狹小的1 英寸或2 英寸西洋鏡高度擴(kuò)展到與實(shí)物狀的6 英尺或9 英尺。

  Paragraph 1: The cinema did not emerge as a form of mass consumption until its technology evolved from the initial "peepshow" format to the point where images were projected on a screen in a darkened theater. In the peepshow format, a film was viewed through a small opening in a machine that was created for that purpose. Thomas Edison's peepshow device, the Kinetoscope, was introduced to the public in 1894. It was designed for use in Kinetoscope parlors, or arcades, which contained only a few individual machines and permitted only one customer to view a short, 50-foot film at any one time. The first Kinetoscope parlors contained five machines. For the price of 25 cents (or 5 cents per machine), customers moved from machine to machine to watch five different films (or, in the case of famous prizefights, successive rounds of a single fight).

  1. According to paragraph 1, all of the following were true of viewing films in Kinetoscope parlors EXCEPT:

  One individual at a time viewed a film.

  Customers could view one film after another.

  Prizefights were the most popular subjects for films.

  Each film was short.

  Paragraph 2: These Kinetoscope arcades were modeled on phonograph parlors, which had proven successful for Edison several years earlier. In the phonograph parlors, customers listened to recordings through individual ear tubes, moving from one machine to the next to hear different recorded speeches or pieces of music. The Kinetoscope parlors functioned in a similar way. Edison was more interested in the sale of Kinetoscopes (for roughly $1,000 apiece) to these parlors than in the films that would be run in them (which cost approximately $10 to $15 each). He refused to develop projection technology, reasoning that if he made and sold projectors, then exhibitors would purchase only one machine-a projector-from him instead of several.

  2. The author discusses phonograph parlors in paragraph 2 in order to

  Explain Edison's financial success

  Describe the model used to design Kinetoscope parlors

  Contrast their popularity to that of Kinetoscope parlors

  Illustrate how much more technologically advanced Kinetoscope parlors were

  3. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence from the passage?

  Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

  Edison was more interested in developing a variety of machines than in developing a technology based on only one.

  Edison refused to work on projection technology because he did not think exhibitors would replace their projectors with newer machines.

  Edison did not want to develop projection technology because it limited the number of machines he could sell.

  Edison would not develop projection technology unless exhibitors agreed to purchase more than one projector from him.

  Paragraph 3: Exhibitors, however, wanted to maximize their profits, which they could do more readily by projecting a handful of films to hundreds of customers at a time (rather than one at a time) and by charging 25 to 50 cents admission. About a year after the opening of the first Kinetoscope parlor in 1894, showmen such as Louis and Auguste Lumiere, Thomas Armat and Charles Francis Jenkins, and Orville and Woodville Latham (with the assistance of Edison's former assistant, William Dickson) perfected projection devices. These early projection devices were used in vaudeville theaters, legitimate theaters, local town halls, makeshift storefront theaters, fairgrounds, and amusement parks to show films to a mass audience.

  4. The word readily in the passage is closest in meaning to

  Frequently

  Easily

  Intelligently

  Obviously

  5. The word assistance in the passage is closest in meaning to

  Criticism

  Leadership

  Help

  Approval

  Paragraph 4: With the advent of projection in 1895-1 896, motion pictures became the ultimate form of mass consumption. Previously, large audiences had viewed spectacles at the theater, where vaudeville, popular dramas, musical and minstrel shows, classical plays, lectures, and slide-and-lantern shows had been presented to several hundred spectators at a time. But the movies differed significantly from these other forms of entertainment, which depended on either live performance or (in the case of the slide-and-lantern shows) the active involvement of a master of ceremonies who assembled the final program.

  6. According to paragraph 4, how did the early movies differ from previous spectacles that were presented to large audiences?

  They were a more expensive form of entertainment.

  They were viewed by larger audiences.

  They were more educational.

  They did not require live entertainers.

  Paragraph 5: Although early exhibitors regularly accompanied movies with live acts, the substance of the movies themselves is mass-produced, prerecorded material that can easily be reproduced by theaters with little or no active participation by the exhibitor. Even though early exhibitors shaped their film programs by mixing films and other entertainments together in whichever way they thought would be most attractive to audiences or by accompanying them with lectures* their creative control remained limited. What audiences came to see was the technological marvel of the movies; the lifelike reproduction of the commonplace motion of trains, of waves striking the shore, and of people walking in the street; and the magic made possible by trick photography and the manipulation of the camera.

  7. According to paragraph 5, what role did early exhibitors play in the presentation of movies in theaters?

  They decided how to combine various components of the film program.

  They advised film-makers on appropriate movie content.

  They often took part in the live-action performances.

  They produced and prerecorded the material that was shown in the theaters.

  Paragraph 6: With the advent of projection, the viewer's relationship with the image was no longer private, as it had been with earlier peepshow devices such as the Kinetoscope and the Mutoscope, which was a similar machine that reproduced motion by means of successive images on individual photographic cards instead of on strips of celluloid. It suddenly became public-an experience that the viewer shared with dozens, scores, and even hundreds of others. At the same time, the image that the spectator looked at expanded from the minuscule peepshow dimensions of 1 or 2 inches (in height) to the life-size proportions of 6 or 9 feet.

  8. Which of the following is mentioned in paragraph 6 as one of the ways the Mutoscope differed from the Kinetoscope?

  Sound and motion were simultaneously produced in the Mutoscope.

  More than one person could view the images at the same time with the Mutoscope.

  The Mutoscope was a less sophisticated earlier prototype of the Kinetoscope.

  A different type of material was used to produce the images used in the Mutocope.

  9. The word it in the passage refers to

  The advent of projection

  The viewer's relationship with the image

  A similar machine

  Celluloid

  10. According to paragraph 6, the images seen by viewers in the earlier peepshows, compared to the images projected on the screen, were relatively

  Small in size

  Inexpensive to create

  Unfocused

  Limited in subject matter

  11. The word expanded in the passage is closest in meaning to

  Was enlarged

  Was improved

  Was varied

  Was rejected

  Paragraph 3: ■Exhibitors, however, wanted to maximize their profits, which they could do more readily by projecting a handful of films to hundreds of customers at a time (rather than one at a time) and by charging 25 to 50 cents admission. ■About a year after the opening of the first Kinetoscope parlor in 1894, showmen such as Louis and Auguste Lumiere, Thomas Armat and Charles Francis Jenkins, and Orville and Woodville Latham (with the assistance of Edison's former assistant, William Dickson) perfected projection devices. ■These early projection devices were used in vaudeville theaters, legitimate theaters, local town halls, makeshift storefront theaters, fairgrounds, and amusement parks to show films to a mass audience.■

  12. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage.

  When this widespread use of projection technology began to hurt his Kinetoscope business, Edison acquired a projector developed by Armat and introduced it as “Edison’s latest marvel, the Vitascope."

  Where would the sentence best fit?

  13. 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 answer choices 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.

  The technology for modern cinema evolved at the end of the nineteenth century.

  ●

  ●

  ●

  Answer Choices

  1. Kinetoscope parlors for viewing films were modeled on phonograph parlors.

  2. Thomas Edison's design of the Kinetoscope inspired the development of large screen projection.

  3. Early cinema allowed individuals to use special machines to view films privately.

  4. Slide-and-lantern shows had been presented to audiences of hundreds of spectators.

  5. The development of projection technology made it possible to project images on a large screen.

  6. Once film images could be projected, the cinema became form of mass consumption.

  參考答案：

  1. 3

  2. 2

  3. 3

  4. 2

  5. 3

  6. 4

  7. 1

  8. 4

  9. 2

  10. 1

  11. 1

  12. 4

  13.3 5 6

  上海新航道托福培訓(xùn)

  13年來1000+資深講師、自主研發(fā)教材、個(gè)性化教學(xué)，

  讓100W+學(xué)子從新航道成功留學(xué)海外名校。