2017年新托福阅读理解考试练习题

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2017年新托福阅读理解考试练习题

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2017年新托福阅读理解考试练习题

　　The deserts, which already occupy approximately a fourth of the Earth's land surface, have inrecent decades been increasing at an alarming pace. The expansion of desertlike conditionsinto areas where they did not previously exist is called desertification. It has been estimatedthat an additional one-fourth of the Earth's land surface is threatened by this process.

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

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

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

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

　　Four specific activities have been identified as major contributors to the desertificationprocesses: overcultivation, overgrazing, firewood gathering, and overirrigation. The cultivationof 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 arecommon. Since the raising of most crops necessitates the prior removal of the naturalvegetation, crop failures leave extensive tracts of land devoid of a plant cover and susceptibleto wind and water erosion.

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

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

　　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, thewater table rises, bringing dissolved salts to the surface. The water evaporates and the saltsare left behind, creating a white crustal layer that prevents air and water from reaching theunderlying soil.

　　The extreme seriousness of desertification results from the vast areas of land and thetremendous numbers of people affected, as well as from the great difficulty of reversing oreven slowing the process. Once the soil has been removed by erosion, only the passage ofcenturies 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 itpossible to reverse the present deterioration of the surface.

　　Paragraph 1: The deserts, which already occupy approximately a fourth of the Earth's landsurface, have in recent decades been increasing at an alarming pace. The expansion ofdesertlike conditions into areas where they did not previously exist is called desertification. Ithas been estimated that an additional one-fourth of the Earth's land surface is threatened bythis 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 typicallyresults in the loss of the soil's ability to absorb substantial quantities of water. The impact ofraindrops 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. Waterabsorption is greatly reduced; consequently runoff is increased, resulting in acceleratederosion rates. The gradual drying of the soil caused by its diminished ability to absorb waterresults in the further loss of vegetation, so that a cycle of progressive surface deteriorationis established.

　　2. According to paragraph 3, the loss of natural vegetation has which of the followingconsequences 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 primarilyfrom human activities rather than natural processes. The semiarid lands bordering the desertsexist in a delicate ecological balance and are limited in their potential to adjust to increasedenvironmental pressures. Expanding populations are subjecting the land to increasingpressures to provide them with food and fuel. In wet periods, the land may be able to respondto these stresses. During the dry periods that are common phenomena along the desertmargins, 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 thedesertification processes: overcultivation, overgrazing, firewood gathering, and overirrigation.The cultivation of crops has expanded into progressively drier regions as population densitieshave grown. These regions are especially likely to have periods of severe dryness, so that cropfailures are common. Since the raising of most crops necessitates the prior removal of thenatural vegetation, crop failures leave extensive tracts of land devoid of a plant cover andsusceptible 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 fromover irrigation. Excess water from irrigation sinks down into the water table. If no drainagesystem exists, the water table rises, bringing dissolved salts to the surface. The waterevaporates and the salts are left behind, creating a white crustal layer that prevents air andwater from reaching the underlying soil.

　　8. According to paragraph 9, the ground’s absorption of excess water is a factor indesertification 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 landand the tremendous numbers of people affected, as well as from the great difficulty ofreversing or even slowing the process. Once the soil has been removed by erosion, only thepassage of centuries or millennia will enable new soil to form. In areas where considerable soilstill remains, though, a rigorously enforced program of land protection and cover-crop plantingmay make it possible to reverse the present deterioration of the surface.

　　10. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlightedsentence 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 areasof land and great numbers of people.

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

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

　　○Desertification is extremely hard to reverse unless the population is reduced in the vastareas affected.

　　11. It can be inferred from the passage that the author most likely believes which of thefollowing 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, wheregrasses are generally the dominant type of natural vegetation. ■The consequences of anexcessive number of livestock grazing in an area are the reduction of the vegetation coverand the trampling and pulverization of the soil. ■This is usually followed by the drying of thesoil and accelerated erosion.■

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

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

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　13-14. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is providedbelow. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the mostimportant ideas in the passage. Some answer choices do not belong in the summary becausethey 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 haveupset 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 differentcrops have increased.

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

　　4. Extensive irrigation with poor drainage brings salt to the surface of the soil, a process thatreduces 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.

　　参考答案：

　　1. ○2

　　This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is threatened. It is highlighted in thepassage. To threaten means to speak or act as if you will cause harm to someone orsomething. The object of the threat is in danger of being hurt, so the correct answer is choice2, "endangered."

　　2. ○2

　　This is a Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found inparagraph 3. The correct answer is choice 2, reduced water absorption. The paragraphexplicitly states that the reduction of vegetation greatly reduces water absorption. Choice 4,reduced water runoff, explicitly contradicts the paragraph, so it is incorrect. The "spaces in thesoil" are mentioned in another context: the paragraph does not say that they increase, sochoice 3 is incorrect. The paragraph does not mention choice 1.

　　3. ○1

　　This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is delicate. It is highlighted in thepassage. The correct answer is choice 1, "fragile," meaning "easily broken." Delicate has thesame meaning as "fragile."

　　4. ○1

　　This is a Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found inparagraph 5. The correct answer is choice 1: border areas have difficulty "adjusting to stressescreated by settlement." The paragraph says that "expanding populations," or settlement,subject border areas to "pressures," or stress, that the land may not "be able to respond to."Choice 2 is incorrect because the paragraph does not discuss "fertility" after desertification.Choice 3 is also incorrect because "irrigation" is not mentioned here. The paragraph mentions"increasing populations" but not the difficulty of "attracting populations," so choice 4 isincorrect.

　　5. ○4

　　This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is progressively. It is highlighted in thepassage. The correct answer is choice 4, "increasingly." Progressively as it is used here means"more," and "more" of something means that it is increasing.

　　6. ○3

　　This is a Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found inparagraph 6. The correct answer is choice 3, "removal of the original vegetation." Sentence 4of this paragraph says that "the raising of most crops necessitates the prior removal of thenatural vegetation," an explicit statement of answer choice 3. Choice 1, lack of properirrigation techniques, is incorrect because the paragraph mentions only "overirrigation" as acause of desertification. No irrigation "techniques" are discussed. Choices 2 and 4, failure toplant suitable crops and use of animal waste, are not discussed.

　　7. ○4

　　his is a Vocabulary question. A phrase is being tested here, and all of the answer choices arephrases. The phrase is "devoid of." It is highlighted in the passage. "Devoid of' means"without," so the correct answer is choice 4, "lacking in." If you lack something that means youare without that thing.

　　8. ○4

　　This is a Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found inparagraph 9. The correct answer is choice 4, "bring salts to the surface." The paragraph saysthat the final human cause of desertification is salinization resulting from overirrigation. Theparagraph goes on to say that the overirrigation causes the water table to rise, bringing saltsto the surface. There is no mention of the process "interfering" with or "limiting" irrigation, or ofthe "amount of air" the soil is required to absorb, so choices 1,2, and 3 are all incorrect.

　　9. ○3

　　This is a Negative Factual Information question asking for specific information that can befound in the passage. Choice 3, "insufficient irrigation," is the correct answer. Choice 1, "soilerosion," is explicitly mentioned in paragraph 2 as one of the primary causes ofdesertification, so it is not the correct answer. Choice 2, "global warning," is mentioned as acause of desertification in paragraph 4, so it is incorrect. Choice 4, "raising of livestock," isdescribed in paragraph 7 as another cause of desertification, so it is incorrect. The passageincludes excessive irrigation as a cause of desertification, but not its opposite, insufficientirrigation, so that is the correct answer.

　　10. ○1

　　This is a Sentence Simplification question. As with all of these items, a single sentence in thepassage is highlighted:

　　The correct answer is choice 1. That choice contains all of the essential information in thehighlighted sentence and does not change its meaning. The only substantive differencebetween choice 1 and the tested sentence is the order in which he information is presented.Two clauses in the highlighted sentence, "The great difficulty of reversing the process" and "thenumbers of people affected," have simply been reversed; no meaning has been changed, andno information has been removed. Choices 2,3, and 4 are all incorrect because they change themeaning of the highlighted sentence.

　　11. ○3

　　This is an Inference question asking for an inference that can be supported by the passage. Thecorrect answer is choice 3; the passage suggests that the author believes "Desertification willcontinue to increase." The last paragraph of the passage says that slowing or reversing theerosion process will be very difficult, but that it may occur in those areas that are not tooaffected already if rigorously enforced anti-erosion processes are implemented. Takentogether, this suggests that the author is not confident this until happen; therefore, it can beinferred that he thinks erosion will continue. The passage provides no basis for inferringchoices 1, 2, or 4.

　　12. ○2

　　This is an Insert Text question. You can see the four black squares in paragraph

　　7 that represent the possible answer choices here:

　　■The raising of live stock is a major economic activity in semiarid lands, where grasses aregenerally the dominant type of natural vegetation. ■The consequences of an excessivenumber of livestock grazing in an area are the reduction of the vegetation cover and thetrampling and pulverization of the soil. ■This is usually followed by the drying of the soil andaccelerated erosion. ■

　　The sentence provided, "This economic reliance on livestock in certain regions makes largetracts of land susceptible to overgrazing," is best inserted at Square 2. The inserted sentencerefers explicitly to relying on "livestock in certain regions." Those regions are the onesdescribed in the sentence preceding square2, which states that raising livestock is "a majoreconomic activity in semiarid lands." The inserted sentence then explains that this reliance"makes large tracts of land susceptible to overgrazing. " The sentence that follows square 2goes on to say that "The consequences of an excessive number of livestock grazing in anarea are. . ." Thus, the inserted sentence contains references to both the sentence beforesquare 2 and the sentence after square 2. This is not true of any of the other possible insertpoints, so square 2 is correct.

　　13-14.○1 3 4

　　This is a Prose Summary question. It is completed correctly below. The correct choices are 1, 3,and 4. Choices 2, 5, and 6 are therefore incorrect.

　　沙漠已经占据了地球表面积约四分之一，而且最近几十年正以惊人的速度扩张。沙漠化是指类似沙漠的环境漫延到原本并非沙漠的区域。据估计，地球表面另外四分之一的地方正面临沙漠化威胁。

　　沙漠化主要通过以下过程实现：首先自然植被不断减少，随后风力和雨水加速了土壤的腐蚀。有的时候松散的土壤全部被风刮走，留下石质化的表层;其它情况下细小的沙粒可能会被吹走，而正常沙粒大小的砂子不断堆积，从而形成移动的沙丘或者沙脊。

　　即便是在保留了土壤表层的区域，植被减少也已成为土壤大量吸取地下水的能力下降的典型因素。雨水对松散土壤的冲击会把细小的粘土颗粒冲到土壤空隙中，封闭了土壤并降低土地表层水的渗透率。地表对水的吸收急剧减少，大量水资源流失，因此土壤的腐蚀率也随即增加。地表吸收水分的能力进一步弱化使得土壤越发干燥，导致植被的进一步流失，于是便形成了土壤沙漠化的恶性循环。

　　在一些地方，沙漠面积的扩大很大程度上归因于干燥的气候条件。在过去的几千年里，不断增加的温室效应使得一些地方干旱问题愈发严重。倘若空气污染带来的温室效应继续恶化，沙漠化进程会在未来数十年内加速实现。

　　然而，可以肯定的是，大部分地区沙漠化主要都是由于人类活动造成，而非自然条件导致。沙漠边缘的半干旱土地所处的生态平衡环境非常脆弱，环境压力持续增加，而这些半干旱区域适应环境压力的能力极其有限。人口数量的增加使得人们不断向土地施压，依其提供实物和燃料。在湿润的季节里，土地兴许能够应付这些压力。但是在干旱的季节里，在沙漠周边的土地上，存在着这样一个十分普遍的现象：人类对土地施加的压力远远超过了土地自身减压的能力，因此最终形成了沙漠。

　　导致沙漠化的主要因素有四个：过度种植，过度放牧，过分砍伐，过度灌溉。由于人口密度增加，人们对粮食作物的种植已经扩展到日益干燥的区域进行。这些区域很有可能经常会发生干旱，所以农作物种植失败是很正常的事情。种植大量农作物需要事先移除天然植被，而农作物欠收后又会留下大面积荒地，非常容易被风力和雨水侵蚀。

　　在半干旱地区，草坪是主要的天然植被，家畜饲养是当地的一项主要经济活动。在一个地区过量饲养家畜会导致植被覆盖面积减少，土地被大量践踏和碾碎。通常，随之而来的就是土地硬化和加速侵蚀。

　　在很多国家木材是用来做饭和加热的最主要燃料。人口增加带来的压力促使人们大量砍伐木材，导致许多城市和乡村周围大面积树木和灌木减少。同时人们大量使用烘干的动物排泄物作为替代燃料同样对土壤不利，因为这些珍贵的土壤成分调节剂和植物营养资源将不会再回归至土壤当中。

　　造成土地沙漠化的最后一个主要人为因素在于人类过度灌溉导致土壤的盐碱化。灌溉多余的水渗透到地下水位。假如没有排水系统的存在，那么地下水位上升，把溶解的盐分带到土壤表面。水分蒸发后，盐分留在了表面，形成白色的地壳层，这一地壳层阻止了空气和水接触地底下的土壤。

　　沙漠化问题异常严重，这是因为有佷广阔的地区和数量庞大的人群都受到了沙漠化的影响，而且要想逆转沙漠化的进程甚至减缓沙漠化的速度都面临着巨大的困难。一旦土壤被侵蚀，需要再经过几百到上千年的时间才会产生新的土壤。那些大量土壤仍保存完好的地方，亟需一个严谨而有力的保护政策和植被覆盖计划来保护现有土地。

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