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【托福考前必备资料】托福阅读背景知识-The Civil War
在我们的托福备考过程中，想要提高托福阅读水平最好方法莫过于增加自己的阅读量。而在与此同时，除了托福真题和TPO的一些练习之外，许多阅读素材中的词汇积累也是会为大家带来很多帮助的。那么，下面我们就为大家带来一些托福阅读素材，希望能为你的备考带来帮助。
托福阅读背景知识(8)：The Civil War
Causes of the war
The American Civil War was fought between the northern and southern states from 1861 to 1865. There were two main causes of the war. The first was the issue of *slavery: should Africans who had been brought by force to the US be used as slaves. The second was the issue of states#39; rights: should the US federal government be more powerful than the governments of individual
states.
The North and South were very different in character. The economy of the South was based on agriculture, especially cotton. Picking cotton was hard work,
and the South depended on slaves for this. The North was more industrial, with a
larger population and greater wealth. Slavery, and opposition to it, had existed since before independence (1776) but, in the 19th century, the abolitionists, people who wanted to make slavery illegal, gradually increased in number. The South#39;s attitude was that each state had the right to make any law it wanted, and if southern states wanted slavery, the US government could not prevent it.
Many southerners became secessionists, believing that southern states should secede from the Union (= become independent from the US).
In 1860, Abraham *Lincoln was elected President. He and his party, the
*Republicans, were against slavery, but said that they would not end it. The southern states did not believe this, and began to leave the Union. In 1860 there were 34 states in the US. Eleven of them (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina) left the Union and formed the *Confederate States of America, often called the Confederacy. Jefferson *Davis became its President, and for most of the war *Richmond, Virginia, was the capital.
Four years of fighting
The US government did not want a war but, on 12 April 1861, the Confederate Army attacked *Fort Sumter, which was in the Confederate state of South Carolina but still occupied by the Union army. President Lincoln could not ignore the attack and so the Civil War began.
Over the next four years the Union army tried to take control of the South. The battles that followed, *Shiloh, Antietam, *Bull Run and Chicamauga, have become part of America#39;s national memory. After the battle of *Gettysburg in 1863, in a speech known as the *Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln said that the North was fighting the war to keep the Union together so that
#39;https://www.360docs.net/doc/1d6804079.html,ernment of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth#39;. In the same year he issued the *Emancipation Proclamation which made slavery illegal, but only in the Confederacy.
Slaves and former slaves played an important part in the war. Some gave information to Union soldiers, because they knew that their best chance of freedom was for the North to win the war. Many former slaves wanted to become Union soldiers, but this was not very popular among white northerners. In spite of this opposition about 185000 former slaves served in the Union army. Women on both sides worked as spies, taking information, and sometimes even people, across borders by hiding them under their large skirts.
In the South especially, people suffered greatly and had little to eat. On 9 April 1865, when the South could fight no more, General Robert E *Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S *Grant at *Appomattox Court House in Virginia.
A total of 620000 people had been killed and many more wounded.
The war was over but feelings of hostility against the North remained strong. John Wilkes *Booth, an actor who supported the South, decided to kill President Lincoln. On 14 April 1865 he approached the President in Ford#39;s Theatre in Washington and shot him. Lincoln died the next morning.
The killing of President Lincoln showed how bitter many people felt. The South had been beaten, but its people had not changed their opinions about slavery or about states#39; rights. During the war, the differences between North and South had become even greater. The North had become richer. In the South, cities had been destroyed and the economy ruined.
Reconstruction
After the war the South became part of the United States again. This long,
difficult period was called Reconstruction. The issues that had caused the war, slavery and states#39; rights, still had to be dealt with. The issue of slavery was difficult, because many people even in the North had prejudices against Blacks. The new state governments in the South wanted to make laws limiting the rights of Blacks, and the US government tried to stop them. Between 1865 and 1870 the 13th, 14th and 15th *Amendments to the *Constitution were passed, giving Blacks freedom, making them citizens of the US and the state where they lived, and giving them, in theory, the same rights as white Americans.
Many northern politicians went to the South where they thought they could get power easily. These northerners were called *carpet-baggers. Both carpet-baggers and southern politicians were dishonest and stole money from the new governments, which hurt the South even more.
In 1870 the last three southern states were admitted to the Union again, and in 1877 the northern army finally left the South. The war lasted four years, but efforts to reunite the country took three times as long.
Effects of the Civil War
Differences between North and South are still strong. In the South the Confederate flag is still often used, and the state flags of *Georgia and
*Mississippi were made to look similar to it. The state motto is Audemus jura nostra defendere, which is Latin for #39;We dare to defend our rights#39;. The Civil War helped to end slavery, but long afterwards Blacks were still being
treated badly, and race relations continue to be a problem. The South was so angry with the *Republicans, the party of Lincoln and Reconstruction, that southerners voted *Democratic for a century. The war showed strong differences between parts of the US, but many people believe that the most important thing it did was to prove that the US is one country.
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【托福考前必备资料】托福阅读背景知识-The Civil War 在我们的托福备考过程中，想要提高托福阅读水平最好方法莫过于增加自己的阅读量。而在与此同时，除了托福真题和TPO的一些练习之外，许多阅读素材中的词汇积累也是会为大家带来很多帮助的。那么，下面我们就为大家带来一些托福阅读素材，希望能为你的备考带来帮助。 托福阅读背景知识(8)：The Civil War Causes of the war The American Civil War was fought between the northern and southern states from 1861 to 1865. There were two main causes of the war. The first was the issue of *slavery: should Africans who had been brought by force to the US be used as slaves. The second was the issue of states#39; rights: should the US federal government be more powerful than the governments of individual states. The North and South were very different in character. The economy of the South was based on agriculture, especially cotton. Picking cotton was hard work, and the South depended on slaves for this. The North was more industrial, with a larger population and greater wealth. Slavery, and opposition to it, had existed since before independence (1776) but, in the 19th century, the abolitionists, people who wanted to make slavery illegal, gradually increased in number. The South#39;s attitude was that each state had the right to make any law it wanted, and if southern states wanted slavery, the US government could not prevent it. Many southerners became secessionists, believing that southern states should secede from the Union (= become independent from the US).
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托福阅读背景知识：UFO或已访问地球 托福阅读背景知识：UFO或已访问地球Hillary Clinton has vowed to "get to the bottom" of UFOs if she becomes the next President of the United States. 希拉里承诺，若能成功当选总统，将彻查UFO的真相。 And the Democratic presidential candidate believes we may already have been visited by extraterrestrials. 这位民主党总统候选人认为外星人可能已造访过地球。 Responding to a question about UFOs from a journalist while campaigning in New Hampshire, she reportedly said: "Yes, I'm going to get to the bottom of it." 当希拉里在新罕布什尔州参加竞选活动时，一位记者提出了关于UFO事件的疑问。希拉里回答说：“我会将这件事调查清楚。” Clinton, who could become America's first female president if elected in November, also said she would send a "task force" into Area 51 - a top secret base in Nevada where UFO enthusiasts believe alien technology is being back-engineered. 希拉里若能在11月的选举中成功当选，将成为美国首位女性总统。她还表示，届时会向“51区”派遣一支特别小组。“51区”是位于内华达州的一个军事基地，也是美国政府的最高机密。UFO迷认为美国正于此地暗中研究外星科技。 John Podesta, her campaign chairman, has previously called for the release of all UFO files as the “American people can handle the truth”. 此前，希拉里的助选主席约翰?波德斯塔曾要求公开所有有关UFO的文件，因为“美国人民有能力面对真相”。 Last year he famously tweeted his biggest regret of 2014 was not securing the release of the UFO files before he retired. 去年他在推特上发表过一条著名推文，称自己2014年最大的遗憾就是没能在退休前争取把UFO的有关文件公之于众。
历年托福考试阅读真题汇总含答案
0308托福试题 阅读（55minutes） Question 1-11 If food is allowed to stand for some time, it putrefies .When the putrefied material is examined microscopically ,it is found to be teeming with bacteria. Where do these bacteria come from , since they are not seen in fresh food? Even until the mid-nineteenth century, many people believed that such microorganisms originated by spontaneous (5 ) generation ,a hypothetical process by which living organisms develop from nonliving matter. The most powerful opponent of the theory of spontaneous generation was the French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur(1822-1895).Pasteur showed that structures present in air closely resemble the microorganisms seen in putrefying materials .He did (10) this by passing air through guncotton filters, the fibers of which stop solid particles. After the guncotton was dissolved in a mixture of alcohol and ether, the particles that it had trapped fell to the bottom of the liquid and were examined on a microscope slide .Pasteur found that in ordinary air these exists a variety of solid structures ranging in size from 0.01 mm to more than 1.0 mm .Many of these bodies resembled the reproductive (15)structures of common molds, single-celled animals, and various other microbial cells . As many as 20 to 30 of them were found in fifteen liters of ordinary air ,and they could not be distinguished from the organisms found in much larger numbers in putrefying materials .Pasteur concluded that the organisms found in putrefying materials originated from the organized bodies present in the air .He postulated that these bodies are constantly (20)being deposited on all objects. Pasteur showed that if a nutrient solution was sealed in a glass flask and heated to boiling to destroy all the living organisms contaminating it, it never putrefied .The proponents of spontaneous generation declared that fresh air was necessary for spontaneous generation and that the air inside the sealed flask was affected in some way (25)by heating so that it would no longer support spontaneous generation. Pasteur constructed a swan-necked flask in which putrefying materials could he heated to boiling, but air could reenter. The bends in the neck prevented microorganisms from getting in the flask.. Material sterilized in such a flask did not putrefy. 1,What does the passage mainly discuss? (a)Pasteur’s influence on the development of the microscope. (b)The origin of the theory of spontaneous generation . (c)The effects of pasteurization on food. (d)Pasteur’s argument agai nst the theory of spontaneous generation . 2,The phrase “teeming with ”in line 2 is closest in meaning to (a)full of (b)developing into (c)resistant to (d)hurt by 3,Which of the following questions did the theory of spontaneous generation attempt to answer? (a)What is the origin of the living organisms are seen on some food? (b)How many types of organisms can be found on food? (c)What is the most effective way to prepare living organisms for microscopic examination? (d)How long can food stand before it putrefies? 4,The word “resemble” in line 9 is closest in meaning to
新托福阅读背景知识之美国文学简史
上海环球托福为大家带来新托福阅读背景知识扩充，关于美国文学简史的一些内容，希望对大家做新托福阅读的过程当中有所帮助！ 美国文学(American Literature) 美国文学的历史不长，它几乎是和美国自由资本主义同时出现，较少受到封建贵族文化的束缚。美国早期人口稀少，有大片未开发的土地，为个人理想的实现提供了很大的可能性。美国人民富于民主自由精神，个人主义、个性解放的观念较为强烈，这在文学中有突出的反映。美国又是一个多民族的国家，移民不断涌入，各自带来了本民族的文化，这决定了美国文学风格的多样性和庞杂性。美国文学发展的过程就是不断吸取、融化各民族文学特点的过程。许多美国作家来自社会下层，这使得美国文学生活气息和平民色彩都比较浓厚，总的特点是开朗、豪放。内容庞杂与色彩鲜明是美国文学的另一特点。个性自由与自我克制、清教主义与实用主义、激进与反动、反叛和顺从、高雅与庸俗、高级趣味与低级趣味、深刻与肤浅、积极进取与玩世不恭、明快与晦涩、犀利的讽刺与阴郁的幽默、精心雕琢与粗制滥造、对人类命运的思考和探索与对**的病态追求等倾向，不仅可以同时并存，而且形成强烈的对照。从来没有一种潮流或倾向能够在一个时期内一统美国文学的天下。美国作家敏感、好奇，往往是一个浪潮未落，另一浪潮又起。作家们永远处在探索和试验的过程之中。20世纪以来，许多文学潮流起源于美国，给世界文学同时带来积极的与消极的影响。 殖民地时期 印第安人的文化欧洲人发现新大陆的时候，北美洲的土著居民印第安人处于原始公社制度各种不同的阶段。印第安人在向大自然的斗争中创造了自己的文化，主要是民间口头创作，包括神话传说和英雄传说。由于他们没有文字，这些传说后来才得以整理问世，启发了后世美国作家的灵感。早期移民的文化移民刚到新大陆时忙于生存斗争，所以开始时文学发展比较缓慢。最早发表的关于北美的作品是游记、日记之类的文字。作者都是英国人。英国殖民地建立之后，统治者利用宗教，主要是清教主义作为控制殖民地思想意识的主要手段，因此许多出版物是关于神学的研究。著名的作家有科顿?马瑟(1663－1728)和乔纳森。爱德华兹(1703－1758)等。随着工业、贸易和民族意识的增涨，宗教自由的呼声提高，请教主义的神权统治走向衰亡，为人本主义与自由民主等民族独立的意识所代替。诊歌创作北美出版的第一部诗集《海湾圣诗》是以民歌形式写成的圣诗。迈克尔?威格尔斯沃思的诗全是解释加尔文教的教义，成了宗教性的普及读物。女诗人安妮?布拉兹特里特写的也是宗教生活，不过多少以世俗的笔调抒写妇女的心情。生前只发表过挽诗的牧师爱德华?泰勒反映了严格的清教主义的衰落。在这些诗人身上，英国的影响也是明显的，布拉兹特里特得益于斯宾塞，泰勒的诗里看得出约翰?多思和乔治?赫伯特的影响。 独立革命至南北战争时期 美国民族文学形成于独立革命时期。这场斗争产生大量的革命诗歌，并且造就了美国头一批重要的散文家和诗人。政治上的独立促进文化上的独立。战争结束之后，美国作家的作品陆续增多，逐渐摆脱英国文学的垄断局面。年轻的民主共和国使人们满怀信心，并吸引着旧世界更多的人们奔向新的大陆。这样的社会条件促使19世纪上半叶的文学创作具有浪漫主义的色彩。作家们吸取欧洲浪漫派文学的精神，对美国的历史、传说和现实生活进行描绘，美利坚民族内容逐渐丰富和充实起来。从20、30年代到南北战争前夕，是浪漫主义运动的全盛时期，各种不同风格的作家泉涌而出，作品从内容到形式都具有鲜明的民族特色。批评家们称这一时期为美国文学“第一次繁荣”。到了世纪中叶，浪漫主义文学的基调由乐观走向疑虑，迫切的社会矛盾，如蓄奴制，又使某些作家采取现实主义的创作方法。
2019托福阅读考试真题(3)
2019托福阅读：模拟试题及答案解析（6） 【托福】 Although only 1 person in 20 in the Colonial period lived in a city, the cities had a disproportionate influence on the development of North America. They were at the cutting edge of social change. It was in the cities that the elements that can be associated with modern capitalism first appeared — the use of money and commercial paper in place of barter, open competition in place of social deference and hierarchy, with an attendant rise in social disorder, and the appearance of factories using coat or water power in place of independent craftspeople working with hand tools. "The cities predicted the future," wrote historian Gary. B. Nash, "even though they were but overgrown villages compared to the great urban centers of Europe, the Middle East and China." Except for Boston, whose population stabilized at about 16,000 in 1760, cities grew by exponential leaps through the eighteenth century. In the fifteen years prior to the outbreak of the War for independence in 1775, more than 200,000 immigrants arrived on North American shores. This meant that a population the size of Boston was arriving every year, and most of it flowed into the port cities in the Northeast. Philadelphia's population nearly doubted in those years, reaching about 30,000 in 1774, New York grew at almost the same rate, reaching about 25,000 by 1775. The quality of the hinterland dictated the pace of growth of the cities. The land surrounding Boston had always been poor farm country, and by the mid-eighteenth century it