托福模拟考试及答案解析(9)
托福模拟考试及答案解析（9）
(1~13/共53题)阅读理解
HOW MEMORY WORKS
1 Memory is the brain's ability to encode, store, and retrieve information related to previous experiences. Memory is a flow of information through a system, a process that occurs in two stages: short-term and long-term. Short-term memory reflects an immediate sensory perception of an object or idea that occurs before the image is stored. Short-term memory enables you to recall the five-digit number of a street address after looking it up, but without writing it down or looking at the number again. If you need to recall the address frequently, it becomes stored in long-term memory and can be recalled several weeks after you originally looked it up. Short-term memory and long-term memory can be thought of as memory structures, each varying as to how much information it can hold and for how long.
2 Memory relies on the ability to process and encode information. Processing begins with the environmental stimuli that you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. These experiences are initially recorded in the brain's sensory register, which holds information just long enough (one to three seconds) for you to decide whether to process it further. Information that you do not selectively attend to will disappear from the system. However, if you recognize the information as meaningful or relevant, it is sent to short-term memory. Short-term memory can hold approximately seven unrelated bits of information at a time.
3 Short-term memory is often called working memory because it holds information that you are currently working with, such as information needed to solve a problem, to learn something new, or to make a decision. Short-term memory can hold information for only about 20 seconds. Then, unless the information is processed further, it is quickly forgotten. For example, if you started to dial an unfamiliar telephone number, then were distracted by something else for 20 seconds before you finished dialing, you probably would have forgotten the rest of the number at that point. Unless information in short-term memory is processed further, it does not make it to long-term memory.
4 Several encoding processes enable the transfer of information from short-term to long-term memory. One such process is rehearsal, or "practice makes perfect." Rehearsal is when you repeat something to yourself over and over. The purpose behind such behavior is usually to memorize information for later use, although sometimes it is simply to hold information in short-term memory for immediate use. For example, you might ask a store clerk for the location of an item that you need, then rehearse the location so you can find the item in the store. Another process that promotes the transfer to long-term memory is the association of new data with data previously learned and stored in long-term memory. Thus, if you already know some card games, it is easier to learn a new card game because you have "card sense" from playing other games. Still another encoding process is noting some pattern in the material; for example, you might remember the zip code 12144 by telling yourself that 12 squared is 144.
5 For cognitive psychologists, long-term memory is the most interesting memory structure. The storage capacity of long-term memory is unlimited and contains a permanent record of everything you have learned. Long-term memory plays an influential role throughout the information processing system. The interests, attitudes, skills, and knowledge of the world existing in your long-term memory influence what you perceive and how you interpret your perceptions. They also affect whether you process information for short-term or long-term
storage.
6 Long-term memory can hold recollections of personal experiences as well as factual knowledge acquired through other means such as reading. It also holds skills such as knowing how to ride a bicycle. In its ability to learn and remember, the brain can distinguish between facts and skills. When you acquire factual knowledge by memorizing dates, word definitions, formulas, and other information, you can consciously retrieve this fact memory from the data bank of your long-term memory. In contrast, skill memory usually involves motor activities that you learn by repetition without consciously remembering specific information. You perform learned motor skills, such as walking or riding a bicycle, without consciously recalling the individual steps required to do these tasks.
第1题
According to the passage, what must happen before information can be stored in memory?
A.The information must be pleasant.
B.An object or idea must be perceived.
C.An older memory must be replaced.
D.The information must be looked up.
第2题
The passage states that one difference between short-term memory and long-term memory is
A.the type of information they store
B.their importance in learning
C.the amount of information they hold
D.their location in the brain
第3题
The phrase attend to in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to
A.reject
B.focus on
C.talk about
D.wait for
第4题
It can be inferred from paragraph 2 that something is NOT likely to be remembered if it is
A.not considered important
B.painful or embarrassing
C.related to previous experience
D.sent to short-term memory
第5题
The passage states that information can be lost from short-term memory when a person
A.does not know how to read
B.repeats the information over and over
C.processes the information further
D.is distracted for 20 seconds
第6题
The phrase make it to in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to
A.disappear from
B.arrive at
C.respond to
D.seem like
第7题
Which sentence below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in paragraph 4? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
https://www.360docs.net/doc/cc12324674.html,ually information is rehearsed so it can be used later, but sometimes it is rehearsed so it can be used right away.
B.There are several reasons for memorizing information; the most common reason is to improve short-term memory.
C.The belief that "practice makes perfect" causes people to repeat certain behavior even when the behavior is very complex.
D.It is fairly simple to keep information in short-term memory, but it is difficult to send it to long-term memory.
第8题
Why does the author mention "card sense" in paragraph 4?
A.To point out that playing cards requires a high level of thinking
B.To give an example of knowledge already stored in long-term memory
C.To compare learning a card game to remembering a telephone number
D.To explain why some card games are easier to learn than others
第9题
All of the following promote the transfer of information to long-term memory EXCEPT
A.repeating information over and over to oneself
B.linking new data to data already in long-term memory
C.deciding that information is irrelevant to a current task
D.observing a meaningful pattern in the information
第10题
The word capacity in paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to
https://www.360docs.net/doc/cc12324674.html,plexity
B.history
C.importance
D.space
第11题
What can be inferred from paragraph 6 about skill memory?
A.It is more important than fact memory in everyday life.
B.It exists in long-term memory because of repeated practice.
C.It requires conscious effort to be retrieved from memory.
D.It contains only the skills that people can perform well.
第12题
Look at the four squares, A, B, C, and D, which indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit?
One way of understanding the nature of long-term memory is to consider the types of information stored there.
A Long-term memory can hold recollections of personal experiences as well as factual knowledge
acquired through other means such as reading. It also holds skills such as knowing how to ride a bicycle. B In its ability to learn and remember, the brain can distinguish between facts and skills. When you acquire factual knowledge by memorizing dates, word definitions, formulas, and other information, you can consciously retrieve this fact memory from the data bank of your long-term memory. C In contrast, skill memory usually involves motor activities that you learn by repetition without consciously remembering specific information. D You perform learned motor skills, such as walking or riding a bicycle, without consciously recalling the individual steps required to do these tasks.
第13题
Select the appropriate sentences from the answer choices and match them to the type of memory that they describe. TWO of the answer choices will NOT be used. This question is worth 4 points.
Short-term Memory
●
●
●
Long-term Memory
●
●
●
●
Answer Choices
A. Inside this structure is a permanent record of everything you have learned.
B. It reflects sensory perceptions that occur before data are stored permanently.
C. Environmental stimuli are held here for a few seconds.
D. It plays an influential role in the entire information processing system.
E. Information here affects how you interpret your perceptions.
F. This structure holds information that you are currently using.
G. It perceives a stimulus and sends it to the brain's sensory register.
H. Seven unrelated bits of information can be kept here for about twenty seconds.
I. It stores memories of personal experiences and factual knowledge.
下一题
(14~26/共53题)阅读理解
THE TRANSPORTATION REVOLUTION
1 By the close of the eighteenth century, the outlines of a world economy were clearly visible. Centered in Western Europe, it included Russia, India, the East Indies, the Middle East, northern and western Africa, and the Americas. Trade had increased greatly and shipping had grown in volume and speed, connecting the markets of the world more closely than ever before. The world market, however, was confined to the coasts and along rivers, and its effects were rarely felt a hundred miles inland. The expansion of economic activity into the interior, and its spread throughout China, Japan, Oceania, and Africa, was a major development of the nineteenth century. It was largely accomplished through a revolution in transportation, particularly the development of the steamship, canals, and railroads.
2 Ever since the fifteenth century, the wooden sailing ship had been the main instrument of European economic and political expansion. Sailing ships constantly grew in carrying capacity and speed with improvements in design, and they were built of easily available materials. The age of sailing ships reached its zenith in the middle of the nineteenth century, the era of the great ocean-plying clippers, high-speed ships that carried the majority of international trade. Within Europe, the bulk of internal trade was also carried by water, on the continent's many rivers. In Western Europe, there had been several attempts to supplement the excellent river network with canals. However, it was the demands of the Industrial Revolution, particularly the need to transport huge quantities of coal, that stimulated large-scale canal building in the years 1760-1850, first in Britain and later in Western Europe and the United States. The introduction of steamboats gave an additional impetus to river navigation and canal construction. The steamship rose in stature in the 1870s, when technical progress reduced the amount of coal the steam engine consumed. Technical innovation, along with the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, enabled the steamship to surpass the sailing ship as the chief instrument of international trade.
3 The Industrial Revolution increased the need to develop inland infrastructure to extract raw materials and to expand settlement. However, methods of land transport continued to be slow, uncertain, and expensive until the boom in railroad construction during the mid-nineteenth century. In 1840 there were 5,500 miles of rail track throughout the world; just twenty years later, there were 66,000 miles. Of these, 50 percent were in North America and 47 percent were in Europe. The rail lines built during that period served populated areas where considerable economic activity already existed. Eventually, however, a global ideology of railroads emerged: the belief that railroads could populate and bring wealth to undeveloped regions. Over the next half century, the construction of railroads became the most important reason for the export of capital as well as the main method of developing new territories. In Britain and the United States, private companies financed hundreds of uncoordinated rail projects, while in continental Europe railroads became a concern of the state, which provided overall control and a large share of capital. British capital financed the majority of the railroads built in India, Canada, and Latin America. The U.S. transcontinental railroad and the Trans-Siberian Railway played key roles in populating and developing huge tracts of land in North America and Asia, respectively.
4 In the course of the nineteenth century, around nine million square miles of land were settled in North and South America and Oceania. This was made possible by the decline in transportation costs, which greatly extended the area from which bulky products such as grains and minerals could be marketed. In addition, the introduction of refrigeration on railcars and steamers in the 1870s opened huge markets for meat, dairy products, and fruit in North America and Europe. The 1870s also saw the adoption of steel rails, electric signals, compressed-air brakes, and other inventions that made railroads a leading source of technical innovation. In the world context, the rise of the railroad was inseparable from that of the steamship. The economic and geographic consequences of these two innovations complemented one another. Both had the effect of increasing the size of markets and the volume of economic activity worldwide.
第14题
Which sentence below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in paragraph 1? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A.International trade had to take place near oceans and rivers and did not extend to interior
regions.
B.After several centuries of slow growth, the world economy was no longer confined by geography.
C.The effects of economic activity were felt everywhere, but especially along coasts and rivers.
D.World markets expanded rapidly, affecting people who lived hundreds of miles from the coast. 第15题
The word zenith in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to
A.final goal
B.slow period
C.natural limit
D.high point
第16题
What factor led to an increase in canal building?
https://www.360docs.net/doc/cc12324674.html,petition among the world powers
B.The need to move large quantities of coal
C.Improvements in the design of sailing ships
D.An increase in the export of capital
第17题
The word impetus in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to
A.push
B.style
C.shock
D.cost
第18题
Which of the following is given as a reason for the rise of the steamship over the sailing ship?
A.Wood for the construction of sailing ships became scarce.
B.The steamship could travel at faster speeds than the sailing ship.
C.Steamships were better than sailing ships at navigating canals.
D.Technical advances made the steamship require less coal.
第19题
The word boom in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to
A.popular interest
B.loud noise
C.rapid growth
D.business opportunities
第20题
The word concern in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to
A.problem
B.business
C.rival
D.symbol
第21题
According to the passage, what was a major result of railroad building in the nineteenth century?
A.The majority of wealth became concentrated in a few powerful nations.
https://www.360docs.net/doc/cc12324674.html,petition increased between private and state-owned companies.
C.There was an increase in the demand for an educated workforce.
https://www.360docs.net/doc/cc12324674.html,rge parts of the world became populated and economically developed.
第22题
Why does the author mention refrigeration in paragraph 4?
A.To show how the steam engine contributed to refrigeration
B.To illustrate the standard of living of North America and Europe
C.To give an example of an innovation that expanded markets
D.To argue that refrigeration was the most important invention of the time
第23题
All of the following were effects of the transportation revolution EXCEPT
A.the spread of trade to new regions
B.innovations in technology
C.population decline in major cities
D.an increase in the size of world markets
第24题
It can be inferred from the passage that the author most likely believes which of the following about the transportation revolution of the nineteenth century?
A.There will never again be so many developments in transportation in a single century.
B.Improvements in transportation had a direct impact on world economics.
C.The transportation revolution was part of a worldwide political revolution.
D.Technical innovations of that time led to similar inventions in the next century.
第25题
Look at the four squares, A, B, C, and D, which indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit?
Railroad construction required enormous amounts of capital and was financed in diverse ways. The Industrial Revolution increased the need to develop inland infrastructure to extract raw materials and to expand settlement. However, methods of land transport continued to be slow, uncertain, and expensive until the boom in railroad construction during the mid-nineteenth century. A In 1840 there were 5,500 miles of rail track throughout the world; just twenty years later, there were 66,000 miles. B Of these, 50 percent were in North America and 47 percent were in Europe. The rail lines built during that period served populated areas where considerable economic activity already existed. C Eventually, however, a global ideology of railroads emerged: the belief that railroads could populate and bring wealth to undeveloped regions. Over the next half century, the construction of railroads became the most important reason for the export of capital as well as the main method of developing new territories. D In Britain and the United States, private companies financed hundreds of uncoordinated rail projects, while in continental Europe railroads became a concern of the state, which provided overall control and a large share of capital. British capital financed the majority of the railroads built in India, Canada, and Latin America. The U.S. transcontinental railroad and the Trans-Siberian Railway played key roles in populating and developing huge tracts of land in North America and Asia, respectively.
第26题
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.
A revolution in transportation during the nineteenth
century enabled the worldwide expansion of economic
activity.
●
●
●
Answer Choices
A. Europe was the center of the world economy, but markets expanded to Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
B. The Industrial Revolution created a demand for newer and faster systems of transportation.
C. The steamship and canals became the primary means of moving goods by water.
D. Steel rails, electric signals, and compressed-air brakes came into use during the 1870s.
E. New methods of transportation required the development of better communications.
F. Railroad construction led to innovation and the development of new markets and territories.
上一题下一题
(27~39/共53题)阅读理解
THE ART OF EMILY CARR
1 Born in 1871, Emily Carr grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, surrounded by a rugged landscape that fostered her passion for nature, animals, and painting. Carr started taking drawing lessons at the age of nine and decided to become an artist in her early teens. Before she was sixteen, both of her parents had died, so she lived with her sister until she went to art school in San Francisco. Later she studied in England and France before returning to Canada. Carr's early paintings were well received by local critics in Victoria and Vancouver, yet it was difficult to make a living from painting alone, so she supported herself by teaching children's art classes, raising dogs, and operating a boarding house.
2 Early in life, Carr developed an interest in painting the aboriginal culture of British Columbia. At the age of twenty-six, she made her first sketching trip to Ucluelet, a reserve for First Nations people on the west side of Vancouver Island. From her sketches she produced paintings of the native people that documented their fishing villages, totem poles, and life in the forest. Her fondness for aboriginal culture can be seen in Totem Forest, a series of totem poles painted in a bold style as Carr attempted to capture the spirit of the scene that would transcend its physical reality. The people of the villages affectionately called her "Klee Wyck," which means "the laughing one." For the next forty years, Carr returned to the aboriginal villages to sketch and paint the subjects she loved. In the forest and among the people, she found ample opportunities for reflection and growth. These camping trips were unusual for a woman of her time, but to paint successfully Carr had to wrestle with the elements, with all of her senses alert. She drew inspiration from the cold, raw dampness of the coast, the shimmering light of the sky, the sounds of the forest, and the sting of the smoke from campfires—experiences that she distilled to their essence in her large body of work.
3 Carr began to receive national recognition in 1927. At her first major exhibition outside of British Columbia, her paintings were shown in Toronto along with those of the Group of Seven. Carr met some of the Group when she traveled east for the show, and she liked what she saw of
their works, especially the paintings of Lawren Harris. She eventually became a close friend of Harris and other prominent Canadian artists who treated her as a kindred spirit. The Toronto exhibition was a turning point for Cart, establishing her reputation as a leading figure in Canadian art. Encouraged by Harris, Carr revisited her earlier themes, creating the monumental paintings of totem poles that are her best-known works. She combined modernism with aboriginal form and color to create a powerful and unique visual landscape that captured the transcendental qualities of the wilderness.
4 At the age of seventy, Carr realized that the ancient First Nations culture might one day be lost, so she began to write stories about the beautiful, calm places of her earlier life among her aboriginal friends. As she lay in her bed, disabled by failing health, she recounted her days as Klee Wyck, which after forty years were still fresh in her mind because she had lived them so deeply at the time. In 1941 Carr published these stories in her first book, Klee Wyck, which united art and literature in a highly original way and won the Governor-General's award for general literature.
5 The art profession recognized Carr during her lifetime, and galleries in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Seattle displayed her paintings in solo exhibitions. While art historians have characterized her works as showing the influence of the Group of Seven, they also acknowledge that Carr produced paintings that were uniquely hers and credit her for raising Canadian art to a new height. The subjects Carr chose to paint, the region of the country in which she painted, and her own ideas about art combined to produce a vision that distinguished her from other artists. Carr's paintings endure as visual icons that Canadians can most easily associate with an individual artist, and for this reason she is the best-known woman artist in Canadian history.
Glossary:
First Nations: the aboriginal people; the first people to live in the region that is now Canada Group of Seven: a group of influential Canadian artists
第27题
The word fostered in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to
A.inspired
B.confused
C.cured
D.rivaled
第28题
The author connects all of the following to Emily Carr's early interest in art EXCEPT
A.great love for nature
B.teaching art to children
C.birth into a family of artists
D.interest in aboriginal culture
第29题
The author mentions fishing villages and totem poles in paragraph 2 as examples of
A.places where Cart displayed her work
B.topics that Carr liked to read about
C.aboriginal culture that shocked Carr
D.subjects that Carr painted frequently
第30题
The author points out that Carr's sketching trips to the forest
A.introduced art to the aboriginal people
B.were uncommon for a woman
C.encouraged other artists to do the same
D.caused her health to decline
第31题
In stating that Cart had to wrestle with the elements in paragraph 2, the author means that Carr needed to
A.paint unusual subjects
B.express her sense of humor
C.experience her subjects directly
D.struggle to support herself
第32题
Why does the author discuss the 1927 Toronto art exhibition in paragraph 3?
A.It was the first time that Carr traveled outside of British Columbia.
B.The exhibition introduced Carr to an entirely new style of painting.
C.It was the first major exhibition of paintings by a Canadian woman.
D.The exhibition established Carr's national reputation as an artist.
第33题
Toward the end of her life, Emily Carr's work
A.recorded a way of life she felt might disappear
B.became more realistic and less transcendental
C.suffered greatly because of her declining health
D.showed a rejection of the Group of Seven's influence
第34题
The word credit in paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to
A.analyze
B.blame
C.tolerate
D.praise
第35题
Which sentence below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in paragraph 5? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A.It was very sad when Emily Carr could no longer paint, but she is still considered the best woman artist in Canada.
B.Emily Carr remains Canada's most famous woman artist because her paintings are instantly recognized as hers.
C.Most Canadians know about the visual icons of Emily Carr because they studied her paintings in art history class.
D.Few people appreciated Emily Carr's paintings while she lived, but today most Canadians value her individuality.
第36题
According to the passage, what made Emily Carr's paintings unique?
A.She rebelled against the popular style of the Group of Seven.