TPO是我們常用的托福模考工具，對(duì)我們的備考很有價(jià)值，下面小編給大家?guī)?lái)托福閱讀TPO7(試題+答案+譯文)第1篇:The Geologic History of the Mediterranean。

托福閱讀原文

In 1970 geologists Kenneth J.Hsu and William B.F. Ryan were collecting research data while aboard the oceanographicresearch vessel Glomar Challenger.Anobjective of this particular cruise wasto investigate the floor of theMediterranean and to resolve questions aboutits geologic history. One questionwas related to evidence that theinvertebrate fauna (animals without spines) ofthe Mediterranean had changedabruptly about 6 million years ago. Most of theolder organisms were nearlywiped out, although a few hardy species survived. Afew managed to migrate into the Atlantic.Somewhat later, the migrants returned,bringing new species with them. Why didthe near extinction and migrationsoccur?

Another task for the GlomarChallenger’sscientists was to try to determine the origin of the domelikemasses buried deepbeneath the Mediterranean seafloor. These structures had beendetected yearsearlier by echo-sounding instruments, but they had never beenpenetrated in thecourse of drilling. Were they salt domes such as are commonalong the UnitedStates Gulf Coast, and if so, why should there have been somuch solidcrystalline salt beneath the floor of the Mediterranean?

With question such as these clearly beforethem, thescientists aboard the Glomar Challenger processed to the Mediterraneantosearch for the answers. On August 23, 1970, they recovered a sample. Thesampleconsisted of pebbles of hardened sediment that had once been soft,deep-seamud, as well as granules of gypsum and fragments of volcanic rock. Nota singlepebble was found that might have indicated that the pebbles came fromthenearby continent. In the days following, samples of solid gypsumwererepeatedly brought on deck as drilling operations penetrated theseafloor.Furthermore, the gypsum was found to possess peculiarities ofcomposition andstructure that suggested it had formed on desert flats. Sedimentabove andbelow the gypsum layer contained tiny marine fossils, indicatingopen-oceanconditions. As they drilled into the central and deepest part oftheMediterranean basin, the scientists took solid, shiny, crystalline saltfromthe core barrel. Interbedded with the salt were thin layers of whatappeared tobe windblown silt.

The time had come to formulate ahypothesis. The investigators theorized that about 20 million years ago, theMediterranean wasa broad seaway linked to the Atlantic by two narrow straits.Crustal movements closedthe straits, and the landlocked Mediterranean began toevaporate. Increasingsalinity caused by the evaporation resulted in theextermination of scores ofinvertebrate species. Only a few organisms especiallytolerant of very saltyconditions remained. As evaporation continued, the remainingbrine (salt water)became so dense that the calcium sulfate of the hard layerwas precipitated. Inthe central deeper part of the basin, the last of the brineevaporated toprecipitate more soluble sodium chloride (salt). Later, under theweight ofoverlying sediments, this salt flowed plastically upward to form saltdomes.Before this happened, however, the Mediterranean was a vast desert 3,000metersdeep. Then, about 5.5 million years ago came the deluge. As a result ofcrustaladjustments and faulting, the Strait of Gibraltar, where theMediterranean nowconnects to the Atlantic, opened, and water cascadedspectacularly back intothe Mediterranean.Turbulent waters tore into thehardened salt flats, brokethem up, and ground them into the pebbles observed inthe first sample taken bythe Challenger. As the basin was refilled, normalmarine organisms returned.Soon layer of oceanic ooze began to accumulate abovethe old hard layer.

Thesalt and gypsum, the faunal changes, and the unusualgravel provided abundantevidence that the Mediterranean was once a desert.

托福閱讀試題

1.The word “objective”in the passage(paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to

A.achievement

B.requirement

C.purpose

D.feature

2.Which of the following is NOT mentionedin paragraph 1 as a change thatoccurred in the fauna of the Mediterranean?

A.Most invertebrate species disappearedduring a wave of extinctions.

B.A few hardy species wiped out many of theMediterranean’s invertebrates.

C.Some invertebrates migrated to AtlanticOcean.

D.New species of fauna populated theMediterranean when the old migrants returned.

3.1.Whatdoes the author imply by saying“Not a single pebble was found that might have indicated that the

pebbles came from the nearby continent”?(paragraph 3)

A.The most obvious explanation for theorigin of the pebbles was not supported by the evidence.

B.The geologists did not find as manypebbles as they expected.

C.The geologists were looking for aparticular kind of pebble.

D.The different pebbles could not have comefrom only one source.

4.Which of the following can be inferredfrom paragraph 3 about the solidgypsum layer?

A.It did not contain any marine fossil.

B.It had formed in open-ocean conditions.

C.It had once been soft, deep-sea mud.

D.It contained sediment from nearbydeserts.

5.Select the TWO answer choice from paragraph3 that identify materialsdiscovered in the deepest part of the Mediterraneanbasin. To receive credityou must select TWO answers.

A.Volcanic rock fragments

B.Thin silt layers

C.Soft, deep-sea mud

D.Crystalline salt

6.What is the main purpose of paragraph 3?

A.To describe the physical evidencecollected by Hsu and Ryan

B.To explain why some of the questionsposed earlier in the passage could not be answered by the findings of theGlomar Challenger

C.To evaluate techniques used by Hsu andRyan to explore the sea floor

D.To describe the most difficult problemsfaced by the Glomar Challenger expedition

7.According to paragraph 4, which of thefollowing was responsible for theevaporation of the Mediterranean’s waters?

A.The movements of Earth’s crust

B.The accumulation of sediment layers

C.Changes in the water level of theAtlantic Ocean

D.Changes in Earth’s temperature

8.The word “scores”in the passage(paragraph 4) is closest in meaning to

A.members

B.large numbers

C.populations

D.different types

9.According to paragraph 4, what causedmost invertebrate species in theMediterranean to become extinct?

A.The evaporation of chemicals necessaryfor their survival

B.Crustal movements that connected theMediterranean to the saltier Atlantic

C.The migration of new species through thenarrow straits

D.Their inability to tolerate theincreasing salt content of the Mediterranean

10.Which of the sentences below bestexpresses the essential information inthe highlighted sentence in the passage(paragraph 4) ? Incorrect choices change the meaning inimportant ways or leaveout essential information.

A.The strait of Gibraltar reopened when theMediterranean and the Atlantic became connected and the cascades of water fromone sea to the other caused crustal adjustments and faulting.

B.The Mediterranean was dramaticallyrefilled by water from the Atlantic when crustal adjustments and faultingopened the Strait of Gibraltar, the place where the two seas are joined.

C.The cascades of water from the Atlanticto the Mediterranean were not as spectacular as the crustal adjustments andfaulting that occurred when the Strait of Gibraltar was connected to thoseseas.

D.As a result of crustal adjustments andfaulting and the creation of the Strait of Gibraltar, the Atlantic andMediterranean were connected and became a single sea with spectacular cascadesof water between them.

11.The word “Turbulent”in the passage(paragraph 4) is closest in meaning to

A.Fresh

B.Deep

C.Violent

D.Temperate

12. Look at the four squares [■] thatindicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Thus,scientists had information about the shape of the domes but not about theirchemical composition and origin.

■【A】Another task for theGlomar Challenger’s scientists was totry to determine the origin of thedomelike masses buried deep beneath theMediterranean seafloor. ■【B】These structures had been detected years earlierby echo-soundinginstruments, but they had never been penetrated in the courseof drilling. ■【C】Were theysalt domes such as are common alongthe United States Gulf Coast, and if so, whyshould there have been so muchsolid crystalline salt beneath the floor of theMediterranean? ■[D】

Where would the sentence best fit?

13. Direction: An introductory sentence fora brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary byselecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in thepassage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideasthat are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. Thisquestion is worth 2 points.

An expedition to the Mediterranean answeredsome long-standing questionsabout the ocean’s history.

A.The Glomar Challenger expeditioninvestigated changes in invertebrate fauna and some unusual geologic features.

B.Researchers collected fossils todetermine which new species migrated from the Atlantic with older species.

C.Scientists aboard the Glomar Challengerwere the first to discover the existence of domelike masses underneath theseafloor.

D.Samples recovered from the expeditionrevealed important differences in chemical composition and fossil distributionamong the sediment layers.

E.Evidence collected by the GlomarChallenger supports geologists' beliefs that the Mediterranean had evaporatedand become a desert, before it refilled with water.

F.Mediterraneansalt domes formed after crustal movements opened the straits between theMediterranean and the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean refilled with water.

托福閱讀答案

1.C

2.文第四句話說(shuō)到“Most of theolder organisms were nearly wiped out(大部分更加古老的生物都幾乎滅絕了)”對(duì)應(yīng)選項(xiàng)A;第五句說(shuō)到“A few managed to migrate into the Atlantic(一些物種成功地遷移到了大西洋)”，對(duì)應(yīng)選項(xiàng)C;第六句說(shuō)到“the migrants returned, bringing new species with them(這些物種又回到了地中海，并帶回新的物種)”，對(duì)應(yīng)選項(xiàng)D。第一段中沒(méi)有提到B 選項(xiàng)，故答案是B選項(xiàng)。

3.推理題考察的是文中沒(méi)有明確說(shuō)到的內(nèi)容，需要經(jīng)過(guò)推理。選項(xiàng)B、C、D在文中均沒(méi)有任何線索體現(xiàn)。對(duì)于選項(xiàng)A，如果我們?cè)陂喿x文章時(shí)，能夠比較好的關(guān)注上下文，我們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)：在原文之中第二段，文中提及“它們是像美國(guó)海灣海岸一帶的含鹽圓頂狀巨塊" ---美國(guó)海灣的東西怎么會(huì)突然出現(xiàn)在了地中海區(qū)域?于是對(duì)于這些地中海的大巨塊，最簡(jiǎn)單的解釋是他們來(lái)自美洲灣。既然第二段提出了問(wèn)題，第三段做出相應(yīng)的回答，因此第三段的內(nèi)容應(yīng)該與第二段的問(wèn)題是有聯(lián)系的，支持或者反對(duì)。而現(xiàn)在的這句話(“在被發(fā)現(xiàn)的樣品中，沒(méi)有一個(gè)表明這些細(xì)礫來(lái)自于鄰近的大陸”)，當(dāng)然打破了這個(gè)最為明顯的可能解釋---關(guān)于巨大的塊兒起源的解釋。

4.A

5.BD

6.A

7.A

8.原文該單詞所在句子為:"Increasingsalinity caused by the evaporation resulted in the extermination of scores ofinvertebrate species." 可以理解為: "由蒸發(fā)引起的越來(lái)越高的鹽度造成無(wú)脊椎動(dòng)物種類(lèi)的滅絕。"

Score是得分的意思，在球類(lèi)比賽中經(jīng)常可以聽(tīng)到，可以根據(jù)the extermination of scores of invertebrate species這個(gè)結(jié)構(gòu)判斷出scores表示數(shù)量的意思，對(duì)應(yīng)選項(xiàng)B(這個(gè)還是記住吧)

9.D

10.B

11.C

12.C

13.選項(xiàng)A是正確的，是第一二段的內(nèi)容

選項(xiàng)B是錯(cuò)誤的，是文章未提及的內(nèi)容

選項(xiàng)C是錯(cuò)位的，與第二段第二句內(nèi)容相反

選項(xiàng)D是正確的，是第四段的內(nèi)容

選項(xiàng)E是正確的，是文章最后一段的內(nèi)容

選項(xiàng)F是錯(cuò)誤的，與第四段內(nèi)容不符，是地殼運(yùn)動(dòng)和斷層作用打開(kāi)了地中海和大西洋之間的海峽，并非鹽穹(應(yīng)該說(shuō)domes在此之前就形成了)

托福閱讀原文

【1】1970年，地理學(xué)家Kenneth J. Hsu 和 William B.F. Ryan在海洋調(diào)查船Glomar Challenger號(hào)上收集調(diào)研資料。這次特別巡航的一個(gè)目的是調(diào)查地中海的地層以及解決關(guān)于其地質(zhì)歷史的問(wèn)題。其中一個(gè)問(wèn)題是有關(guān)地中海地區(qū)無(wú)脊椎動(dòng)物(沒(méi)有脊椎的動(dòng)物)于600萬(wàn)年前發(fā)生劇變的證據(jù)。大部分更加古老的生物都幾乎滅絕了，盡管一些頑強(qiáng)的種類(lèi)得以生存。很少的一些動(dòng)物成功地遷移到了大西洋。不久后，這些動(dòng)物又回來(lái)了，并帶回來(lái)新的物種。為什么這次較近的動(dòng)物滅絕和遷移會(huì)發(fā)生呢?

【2】Glomar Challenger號(hào)上科學(xué)家們的另一個(gè)任務(wù)是嘗試去確定深埋在地中海海底穹頂狀巨塊的起源。這些結(jié)構(gòu)在早些年被回聲探測(cè)器探測(cè)過(guò)，但是它們從未被鉆探過(guò)。它們是像美國(guó)墨西哥海灣海岸一帶的含鹽穹頂狀巨塊嗎?如果是的話，為什么在地中海海底之下會(huì)有這么多固體的結(jié)晶鹽呢?

【3】帶著這些清楚擺在他們面前的問(wèn)題，科學(xué)家們登上Glomar Challenger號(hào)前往地中海尋找答案。1970年8月23日，他們找到了一個(gè)樣本。這個(gè)樣本由石膏塊和火山巖碎塊組成。周?chē)鷽](méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)一塊能說(shuō)明這些小石頭來(lái)自附近的大陸。接下來(lái)的日子里，隨著海底巖層鉆探實(shí)驗(yàn)的進(jìn)行，固體石膏樣本被不斷地放在甲板上。而且，這些膏狀物的組成和結(jié)構(gòu)特性表明它們形成于沙漠。在石膏層上下的沉積物中包含了微小的海洋生物化石，說(shuō)明了這是開(kāi)放性的海洋環(huán)境。當(dāng)鉆到地中海盆地中心的最深處時(shí)，科學(xué)家們從鉆管中獲得了堅(jiān)實(shí)的、光亮的結(jié)晶鹽。跟結(jié)晶鹽嵌在一起的薄層像是被風(fēng)吹起的泥沙層。

【4】時(shí)間闡明了一個(gè)假設(shè)。調(diào)查者們構(gòu)思了這樣的理論：大約2 000萬(wàn)年前，地中海是一條寬闊的航道，它通過(guò)兩條狹窄的海峽與大西洋連接。地殼運(yùn)動(dòng)封閉了海峽，被陸地包圍的地中海也開(kāi)始蒸發(fā)。由蒸發(fā)引起的越來(lái)越高的鹽度造成無(wú)脊椎動(dòng)物種類(lèi)的滅絕。只有一些能抵抗高鹽度條件的物種保留下來(lái)。隨著蒸發(fā)的繼續(xù)進(jìn)行，鹽水濃度太高以致硬地層的硫酸鈣發(fā)生沉淀。在盆地的中間深處，剩余鹽水的持續(xù)蒸發(fā)形成更多的可溶的氯化鈉(鹽)。后來(lái)，在上層沉淀物的重壓下，鹽向上形成了含鹽的圓頂。然而在這之前，地中海是一個(gè)3 000米深的大沙漠。然后，550萬(wàn)年前發(fā)生了洪水。作為地殼調(diào)整和斷層作用的結(jié)果，現(xiàn)在連接地中海和大西洋的直布羅陀海峽打開(kāi)了，水流像瀑布一樣壯觀地涌回地中海。湍急的水流沖擊并摧毀了堅(jiān)硬的含鹽層，把它們磨成了Challenger號(hào)獲得的第一份樣本中人們所觀察到的鵝卵石。隨著盆地的填充，普通的海洋生物又回來(lái)了。不久后海洋軟泥層開(kāi)始在原先的硬地層上堆積。

【5】鹽、石膏、動(dòng)物區(qū)系的變更，還有不尋常的沙礫層都為地中海曾經(jīng)是片沙漠的理論提供了充分的證據(jù)。

托福閱讀TPO7(試題+答案+譯文)第1篇:The Geologic History of the Mediterranean相關(guān)文章：