托福阅读理解真题汇总

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托福阅读真题1

The term folk song has been current for over a hundred years, but there is still a good deal of disagreement as to what it actually means. The definition provided by the International Folk Music Council states that folk music is the music of ordinary people, which is passed on from person to person by being listened to rather than learned from the printed page. Other factors that help shape a folk song include: continuity (many performances over a number of years); variation (changes in words and melodies either through artistic interpretation or failure of memory); and selection (the acceptance of a song by the community in which it evolves).

When songs have been subjected to these processes their origin is usually impossible to trace. For instance, if a farm laborer were to make up a song and sing it to a-couple of friends who like it and memorize it, possibly when the friends come to sing it themselves one of them might forget some of the words and make up new ones to fill the gap, while the other, perhaps more artistic, might add a few decorative touches to the tune and improve a couple of lines of text. If this happened a few times there would be many different versions, the song's original composer would be forgotten, and the song would become common property. This constant reshaping and re-creation is the essence of folk music. Consequently, modem popular songs and other published music, even though widely sung by people who are not professional musicians, are not considered folk music. The music and words have been set by a printed or recorded source, limiting scope for further artistic creation. These songs' origins cannot be disguised and therefore they belong primarily to the composer and not to a community.

The ideal situation for the creation of folk music is an isolated rural community. In such a setting folk songs and dances have a special purpose at every stage in a person's life, from childhood to death. Epic tales of heroic deeds, seasonal songs relating to calendar events, and occupational songs are also likely to be sung.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) Themes commonly found in folk music

(B) Elements that define folk music

(C) Influences of folk music on popular music

(D) The standards of the International Folk Music Council

2. Which of the following statements about the term folk song is supported by the passage ?

(A) It has been used for several centuries.

(B) The International Folk Music Council invented it.

(C) It is considered to be out-of-date.

(D) There is disagreement about its meaning.

3. The word it in line 8 refers to

(A) community

(B) song

(C) acceptance

(D) memory

4. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as a characteristic of the typical folk

song?

(A) It is constantly changing over time.

(B) It is passed on to other people by being performed.

(C) It contains complex musical structures.

(D) It appeals to many people.

5. The word subjected in line 9 is closest in meaning to

(A) reduced

(B) modified

(C) exposed

(D) imitated

6. The author mentions the farm laborer and his friends (lines 10-14) in order to do which of the

following?

(A) Explain how a folk song evolves over time

(B) Illustrate the importance of music to rural workers

(C) Show how subject matter is selected for a folk song

(D) Demonstrate how a community, chooses a folk song

7. According to the passage , why would the original composers of folk songs be forgotten?

(A) Audiences prefer songs composed by professional musicians.

(B) Singers dislike the decorative touches in folk song tunes.

(C) Numerous variations of folk songs come to exist at the same time.

(D) Folk songs are not considered an important form of music.

8. The word essence in line 16 is closest in meaning to

(A) basic nature

(B) growing importance

(C) full extent

(D) first phase

9. The author mentions that published music is not considered to be folk music because

(A) the original composer can be easily identified

(B) the songs attract only the young people in a community

(C) the songs are generally performed by professional singers

(D) the composers write the music in rural communities

PASSAGE 56 BDBCC ACAA

托福阅读真题2

Often enough the craft worker's place of employment in ancient Greece was set in rural isolation. Potter, for instance, found it convenient to locate their workshops near their source of clay, regardless of its relation to the center of settlement. At Corinth and Athens, however, two of the best-known potters' quarters were situated on the cities' outskirts, and potters and makers of terra-cotta figurines were also established well within the city of Athens itself. The techniques of pottery manufacture had evolved well before the Greek period, but marked stylistic developments occurred in shape and in decoration, for example, in the interplay of black and other glazes with the red surface of the fired pot. Athenian black-figure and red-figure decoration, which emphasized human figures rather than animal images, was adopted between 630 and 530 B.C.; its distinctive color and luster were the result of the skillful adjustments of the kiln's temperature during an extended three-stage period if firing the clayware. Whether it was the potters or the vase-painters who initiated changes in firing is unclear, the functions of making and decorating were usually divided between them, but neither group can have been so specialized that they did not share in the concerns of the other.

The broad utility of terra-cotta was such that workers in clay could generally afford to confine themselves to either decorated ware and housewares like cooking pots and storage jars or building materials like roof tiles and drainpipes. Some sixth- and fifth-century B.C. Athenian pottery establishments are known to have concentrated on a limited range of fine ware, but a rural pottery establishment on the island of Thasos produced many types of pottery and roof tiles too, presumably to meet local demand. Molds were used to create particular effects for some products, such as relief-decorated vessels and figurines; for other products such as roof tiles, which were in some quantity, they were used to facilitate mass production. There were also a number of poor-quality figurines and painted pots produced in quantity by easy, inexpensive means — as numerous featureless statuettes and unattractive cases testify.

1. The passage mainly discusses ancient Greek pottery and its

(A) production techniques

(B) similarity to other crafts

(C) unusual materials

(D) resemblance to earlier pottery

2. The phrase regardless of in line 3 is closest in meaning to

(A) as a result of

(B) no matter what

(C) proud of

(D) according to

3. It can be inferred from the passage that most pottery establishments in ancient Greece were

situated

(A) in city centers

(B) on the outskirts of cities

(C) where clay could be found

(D) near other potters' workshops

4. The word marked in line 7 is closest in meaning to

(A) original

(B) attractive

(C) noticeable

(D) patterned

5. The word confine in line 17 is closest in meaning to

(A) adapt

(B) train

(C) restrict

(D) organize

6. It can be inferred from the passage that terra-cotta had which of the following advantages

(A) It did not break during the firing process.

(B) It was less expensive than other available materials.

(C) Its surface had a lasting shine.

(D) It could be used for many purposes.

7. The word presumably in line 21 is closest in meaning to

(A) frequently

(B) practically

(C) preferably

(D) probably

8. The word they in line 24 refers to

(A) molds

(B) particular effects

(C) products

(D) vessels and figurines

9. According to the passage , all of the following are true of ancient Greek potters and vase

painters EXCEPT:

(A) Their functions were so specialized that they lacked common concerns.

(B) They sometimes produced inferior ware.

(C) They produced pieces that had unusual color and shine.

(D) They decorated many of their works with human images.

PASSAGE 57 ABCCC DDAA

托福阅读真题3

Hunting is at best a precarious way of procuring food, even when the diet is supplemented with seeds and fruits. Not long after the last Ice Age, around 7,000 B.C. (during the Neolithic period), some hunters and gatherers began to rely chiefly on agriculture for their sustenance. Others continued the old pastoral and nomadic ways. Indeed, agriculture itself evolved over the course of time, and Neolithic peoples had long known how to grow crops. The real transformation of human life occurred when huge numbers of people began to rely primarily and permanently on the grain they grew and the animals they domesticated.

Agriculture made possible a more stable and secure life. With it Neolithic peoples flourished, fashioning an energetic, creative era. They were responsible for many fundamental inventions and innovations that the modern world takes for granted. First, obviously, is systematic agriculture — that is, the reliance of Neolithic peoples on agriculture as their primary, not merely subsidiary, source of food.

Thus they developed the primary economic activity of the entire ancient world and the basis of all modern life. With the settled routine of Neolithic farmers came the evolution of towns and eventually cities. Neolithic farmers usually raised more food than they could consume, and their surpluses permitted larger, healthier populations. Population growth in turn created an even greater reliance on settled farming, as only systematic agriculture could sustain the increased numbers of people. Since surpluses of food could also be bartered for other commodities, the Neolithic era witnessed the beginnings of large-scale exchange of goods. In time the increasing complexity of Neolithic societies led to the development of writing, prompted by the need to keep records and later by the urge to chronicle experiences, learning, and beliefs.

The transition to settled life also had a profound impact on the family. The shared needs and pressures that encourage extended-family ties are less prominent in settled than in nomadic societies. Bonds to the extended family weakened. In towns and cities, the nuclear family was more dependent on its immediate neighbors than on kinfolk.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) Why many human societies are dependent on agriculture

(B) the changes agriculture brought to human life

(C) How Neolithic peoples discovered agriculture

(D) Why the first agricultural societies failed

2. The word precarious in line 1 is closest in meaning to

(A) uncertain

(B) humble

(C) worthy

(D) unusual

3. The author mentions seeds and fruits in line 2 as examples of

(A) the first crops cultivated by early agricultural societies

(B) foods eaten by hunters and gatherers as a secondary food source

(C) types of food that hunters and gatherers lacked in their diets

(D) the most common foods cultivated by early agricultural societies

4. The word settled in line 15 is closest in meaning to

(A) advanced

(B) original

(C) involved

(D) stable

5. According to the passage , agricultural societies produced larger human populations because

agriculture

(A) created more varieties of food

(B) created food surpluses

(C) resulted in increases in leisure time

(D) encouraged bartering

6. According to the passage , all of the following led to the development of writing EXCEPT the

(A) need to keep records

(B) desire to write down beliefs

(C) extraction of ink from plants

(D) growth of social complexity

7. The word chronicle in line 23 is closest in meaning to

(A) repeat

(B) exchange

(C) understand

(D) describe

8. According to the passage , how did the shift to agricultural societies impact people's family

relationships?

(A) The extended family became less important.

(B) Immediate neighbors often became family members.

(C) The nuclear family became self-sufficient.

(D) Family members began to wok together to raise food.

9. The author mentions all of the following as results of the shift to agricultural societies EXCEPT

(A) an increase in invention and innovation

(B) emergence of towns and cities

(C) development of a system of trade

(D) a decrease in warfare

10. Which of the following is true about the human diet prior to the Neolithic period?

(A) It consisted mainly of agricultural products

(B) It varied according to family size.

(C) It was based on hunting and gathering.

(D) It was transformed when large numbers of people no longer depended on the grain they grew

themselves.

PASSAGE 58 BABDB CDADC

托福阅读理解真题汇总

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