1995年8月托福考试阅读理解全真试题（上）

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Question 1-9

The ocean bottom – a region nearly 2.5 times greater
than the total land area of the Earth – is a vast frontier that
even today is largely unexplored and uncharted. Until about a
century ago, the deep – ocean floor was completely inaccessible,
hidden beneath waters averaging over 3,6000 meters deep.
Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds
of times greater than at the Earth s surface, the deep – ocean
bottom is a hostile environment to humans, in some
ways as forbidding and remote as the void of outer space.

Although researchers have taken samples of deep – ocean
rocks and sediments for over a century, the first detailed global
investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until
1968, with the beginning of the National Science Foundation s
Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). Using techniques first
developed for the offshore oil and gas industry, the DSDP s drill
ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain a steady
position on the ocean s surface and drill in very deep waters,
extracting samples of sediments and rock from the ocean floor.

The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15 – year
research program that ended in November 1983. During
this time, the vessel logged 600,000 kilometers and took
almost 20,000 core samples of seabed sediments and rocks at
624 drilling sites around the world. The Glomar Challenger s
core samples have allowed geologists to reconstruct what the
planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to
calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the
future. Today, largely on the strength of evidence gathered
during the Glomar Challenger s voyages, nearly all earth scientists
agree on the theories of plate tectonics and continental
drift that explain many of the geological processes that shape
the Earth.

The cores of sediment drilled by the Glomar Challenger
have also yielded information critical to understanding the
world s past climates. Deep – ocean sediments provide a
climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years,
because they are largely isolated from the mechanical erosion and
the intense chemical and biological activity that rapidly destroy
much land – based evidence of past climates. This record has
already provided insights into the patterns and causes of past
climatic change – information that may be used to predict
future climates.



1. The author refers to the ocean bottom as a "frontier" in line 2 because it

(A) is not a popular area for scientific research
(B) contains a wide variety of life forms
(C) attracts courageous explorers
(D) is an unknown territory

2. The word "inaccessible" in line 4 is closest in meaning to

(A) unrecognizable
(B) unreachable
(C) unusable
(D) unsafe

3. The author mentions outer space in line 9 because

(A) the Earth s climate millions of years ago was similar to conditions in outer space
(B) it is similar to the ocean floor in being alien to the human environment
(C) rock formations in outer space are similar to those found on the ocean floor
(D) techniques used by scientists to explore outer space were similar to those used in ocean exploration

4. Which of the following is true of the Glomar Challenger?

(A) It is a type of submarine.
(B) It is an ongoing project.
(C) It has gone on over 100 voyages.
(D) It made its first DSDP voyage in 1968.

5. The word "extracting" in line 18 is closest in meaning to

(A) breaking
(B) locating
(C) removing
(D) analyzing

6. The Deep Sea Drilling Project was significant because it was

(A) an attempt to find new sources of oil and gas
(B) the first extensive exploration of the ocean bottom

(C) composed of geologists from all over the world
(D) funded entirely by the gas and oil industry

7. The word "strength" in line 21 is closest in meaning to

(A) basis
(B) purpose
(C) discovery
(D) endurance

8. The word "they" in line 36 refers to

(A) years
(B) climates
(C) sediments
(D) cores

9. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as being a result of the Deep Sea Drilling Project?

(A) Geologists were able to determine the Earth s appearance hundreds of millions of years ago.
(B) Two geological theories became more widely accepted by scientists.
(C) Information was revealed about the Earth s past climatic changes.
(D) Geologists observed forms of marine life never before seen.

Questions 10-21

Basic to any understanding of Canada in 20 years
after the Second World War is the country s impressive
population growth. For every three Canadians in 1945, there were
over five in 1996. In September 1966 Canada s population
passed the 20 million mark. Most of this surging growth came
from natural increase. The depression of the 1930 s and the
war had held back marriages and the catching – up process
began after 1945. The baby boom continued through the decade
of the 1950 s, producing a population increase of nearly
fifteen percent in the five years from 1951 to 1956. This rate
of increase had been exceeded only once before in Canada s
history, in the decade before 1911, when the prairies were
being settled. Undoubtedly, the good economic conditions of the
1950 s supported a growth in the population, but the expansion
also derived from a trend toward earlier marriages and an
increase in the average size of families. In 1957 the Canadian
birth rate stood at 28 per thousand, one of the highest in the
world.

After the peak year of 1957, the birth rate in Canada
began to decline.

It continued falling until in 1966 it stood at the
lowest level in 25 years. Partly this decline reflected the low
level of births during the depression and the war, but it was
also caused by changes in Canadian society. Young people
were staying at school longer, more women were working,
young married couples were buying automobiles or houses
before starting families, rising living standards were cutting
down the size of families. It appeared that Canada was once
more falling in step with the trend toward smaller families that
had occurred all through the Western world since the time of
the Industrial Revolution.

Although the growth in Canada s population has slowed
down by 1966(the increase in the first half of the 1960 s was
only nine percent). Another large population wave was coming
over the horizon. It would be composed of the children of the
children who were born during the period of the high birth
rate prior to 1957.

10. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) Educational changes in Canadian society.
(B) Canada during the Second World War
(C) Population trends in postwar Canada
(D) Standards of living in Canada



11. According to the passage, when did Canada s baby boom begin?

(A) In the decade after 1911
(B) After 1945
(C) During the depression of the 1930 s
(D) In 1966



12. The word "five" in line 4 refers to

(A) Canadians
(B) Years
(C) Decades
(D) Marriages



13. The word "surging" in line 5 is closest in meaning to

(A) new
(B) extra
(C) accelerating
(D) surprising



14. The author suggests that in Canada during the 1950 s

(A) the urban population decreased rapidly
(B) fewer people married
(C) economic conditions were poor
(D) the birth rate was very high



15. The word "trend" in line 15 is closest in meaning to

(A) tendency
(B) aim
(C) growth
(D) directive



16. The word "peak" in line 19 is closest in meaning to

(A) pointed
(B) dismal
(C) mountain
(D) maximum



17. When was the birth rate in Canada at its lowest postwar level?

(A) 1966
(B) 1957
(C) 1956
(D) 1951



18. The author mentions all of the following as causes of declines in population growth after 1957 EXCEPT

(A) people being better educated
(B) people getting married earlier
(C) better standards of living
(D) couples buying houses



19. It can be inferred from the passage that before the industrial Revolution

(A) families were larger
(B) population statistic were unreliable
(C) the population grew steadily
(D) economic conditions were bad



20. The word "It" in line 34 refers to

(A) horizon
(B) population wave
(C) nine percent
(D) first half



21. The phrase "prior to" in line 36 is closest in meaning to

(A) behind
(B) Since
(C) During
(D) Preceding

Questions 22-30

Are organically grown foods the best food choices? The
advantages claimed for such foods over conventionally grown
and marketed food products are now being debated. Advocates
of organic foods – a term whose meaning varies greatly –
frequently proclaim that such products are safer and more
nutritious than others.

The growing interest of consumers in the safety and more
nutritional quality of the typical North American diet is a
welcome development. However, much of this interest has been
sparked by sweeping claims that the food supply is unsafe or
in adequate in meeting nutritional needs. Although most of
these claims are not supported by scientific evidence, the
preponderance of written material advancing such claims makes it
difficult for the general public to separate fact from fiction. As
a result, claims that eating a diet consisting entirely of organically
grown foods prevents or cures disease or provides other
benefits to health have become widely publicized and form the
basis for folklore.

Almost daily the public is besieged by claims for "no-aging"
diets, new vitamins, and other wonder foods. There are
numerous unsubstantiated reports that natural vitamins are
superior to synthetic ones, that fertilized eggs are nutritionally
superior to unfertilized eggs, that untreated grains are better
than fumigated grains and the like.

One thing that most organically grown food products
seem to have in common is that they cost more than conventionally
grown foods. But in many cases consumers are misled
if they believe organic foods can maintain health and provide
better nutritional quality than conventionally grown foods. So
there is real cause for concern if consumers, particularly those
with limited incomes, distrust the regular food and buy and buy
only expensive organic foods instead.

22. The world "Advocates" in line 3 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

(A) Proponents
(B) Merchants
(C) Inspectors
(D) Consumers

23. In line 6, the word "others" refers to

(A) advantages
(B) advocates
(C) organic foods
(D) products

24. The "welcome development" mentioned in line 8-9 is an increase in

(A) interest in food safety and nutritional quality of the typical North American diet
(B) the nutritional quality of the typical North American diet
(C) the amount of healthy food grown in North America
(D) the number of consumers in North America


25. According to the first paragraph, which of the following is true about the term "organic foods"?

(A) It is accepted by most nutritionists.
(B) It has been used only in recent years.
(C) It has no fixed meaning.
(D) It is seldom used by consumers.


26. The word "unsubstantiated" in line 21 is closest in meaning to

(A) unbelievable
(B) uncontested
(C) unpopular
(D) unverified


27. The word "maintain" in line 28 is closest in meaning to

(A) improve
(B) monitor
(C) preserve
(D) restore


28. The author implies that there is cause for concern if consumers with limited incomes buy organic foods instead of conventionally grown foods because

(A) organic foods can be more expensive but are often no better than conventionally grown foods
(B) many organic foods are actually less nutritious than similar conventionally grown foods
(C) conventionally grown foods are more readily available than organic foods
(D) too many farmers will stop using conventional methods to grow food crops.


29. According to the last paragraph, consumers who believe that organic foods are better than conventionally grown foods are often

(A) careless
(B) mistaken
(C) thrifty
(D) wealthy


30. What is the author s attitude toward the claims made by advocates of health foods?

(A) Very enthusiastic
(B) Somewhat favorable
(C) Neutral
(D) Skeptical