北美新托福入学测试题中上水平
北美新托福入学测试题(中上水平)
————————————————————————————————作者：————————————————————————————————日期：
环球新托福考试院入学英语水平测试题
Reading
Extinction of the Dinosaurs
Paleontologists have argued for a long time that the demise of the dinosaurs was caused by climatic alterations associated with slow changes in the positions of continents and seas resulting from plate tectonics. Off and on throughout the Cretaceous (the last period of the Mesozoic era, during which dinosaurs flourished), large shallow seas covered extensive areas of the continents. Data from diverse sources, including geochemical evidence preserved in seafloor sediments, indicate that the Late Cretaceous climate was milder than today’s. The days were not too hot, nor the nights too cold. The summers were not too warm, nor the winters too frigid. The shallow seas on the continents probably buffered the temperature of the nearby air, keeping it relatively constant.
At the end of the Cretaceous, the geological record shows that these seaways retreated from the continents back into the major ocean basins. No one knows why. Over a period of about 100,000 years, while the seas pulled back, climates around the world became dramatically more extreme: warmer days, cooler nights; hotter summers, colder winters. Perhaps dinosaurs could not tolerate these extreme temperature changes and became extinct.
If true, though, why did cold-blooded animals such as snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodiles survive the freezing winters and torrid summers? These animals are at the mercy of the climate to maintain a livable body temperature. It’s hard to understand why they would not be affected, whereas dinosaurs were left too crippled to cope, especially if, as some scientists believe, dinosaurs were warm-blooded. Critics also point out that the shallow seaways had retreated from and advanced on the continents numerous times during the Mesozoic, so why did the dinosaurs survive the climatic changes associated with the earlier fluctuations but not with this one? Although initially appealing, the hypothesis of a simple climatic change related to sea levels is insufficient to explain all the data.
Dissatisfaction with conventional explanations for dinosaur extinctions led to a surprising observation that, in turn, has suggested a new hypothesis. Many plants and animals disappear abruptly from the fossil record as one moves from layers of rock documenting the end of the Cretaceous up into rocks representing the beginning of the Cenozoic (the era after the Mesozoic). Between the last layer of Cretaceous rock and the first layer of Cenozoic rock, there is often a thin layer of clay. Scientists felt that they could get an idea of how long the extinctions took by determining how long it took to deposit this one centimeter of clay and they thought they could determine the time it took to deposit the clay by determining the amount of the element iridium (lr) it contained.
It has not been common at Earth’s since the very beginning of the planet’s hi story. Because it usually exists in a metallic state, it was preferentially incorporated in Earth’s core as the planet cooled and consolidated. lt is found in high concentrations in some meteorites, in which the solar system’s original chemical composition is preserved. Even today, microscopic meteorites continually bombard
Earth, falling on both land and sea. By measuring how many of these meteorites fall to Earth over a given period of time, scientists can estimate how long it might have taken to deposit the observed amount of it in the boundary clay. These calculations suggest that a period of about one million years would have been required. However, other reliable evidence suggests that the deposition of the boundary clay could not have taken one million years. So the unusually high concentration of lt seems to require a special explanation.
In view of these facts, scientists hypothesized that a single large asteroid, about 10 to 15 kilometers across, collided with Earth, and the resulting fallout created the boundary clay. Their calculations show that the impact kicked up a dust cloud that cut off sunlight for several months, inhibiting photosynthesis in plants; decreased surface temperatures on continents to below freezing; caused extreme episodes of acid rain; and significantly raised long-term global temperatures through the greenhouse effect. This disruption of food chain and climate would have eradicated the dinosaurs and other organisms in less than fifty years.
[Passage End]
[Question]
Paragraph 1 Paleontologists have argued for a long time that the demise of the dinosaurs was caused by climatic alterations associated with slow changes in the positions of continents and seas resulting from plate tectonics. Off and on throughout the Cretaceous (the last period of the Mesozoic era, during which dinosaurs flourished), large shallow seas covered extensive areas of the continents. Data from diverse sources, including geochemical evidence preserved in seafloor sediments, indicate that the Late Cre taceous climate was milder than today’s. The days were not too hot, nor the nights too cold. The summers were not too warm, nor the winters too frigid. The shallow seas on the continents probably buffered the temperature of the nearby air, keeping it relatively constant.
1. According to paragraph 1, which of the following is true of the Late Cretaceous climate?
?Summers were very warm and winters were very cold.
?Shallow seas on the continents caused frequent temperature changes.
?The climate was very si milar to today’s climate.
?The climate did not change dramatically from season to season.
Paragraph 2 At the end of the Cretaceous, the geological record shows that these seaways retreated from the continents back into the major ocean basins. No one knows why. Over a period of about 100,000 years, while the seas pulled back, climates around the world became dramatically more extreme: warmer days, cooler nights; hotter summers, colder winters. Perhaps dinosaurs could not tolerate these extreme temperature changes and became extinct.
2. Which of the following reasons is suggested in paragraph 2 for the extinction of the dinosaurs?
?Changes in the lengths of the days and nights during the late Cretaceous period
?Droughts caused by the movement of seaways back into the oceans
?The change from mild to severe climates during the Late Cretaceous period
?An extreme decrease in the average yearly temperature over 10,000 years
Paragraph 3 If true, though, why did cold-blooded animals such as snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodiles survive the freezing winters and torrid summers? These animals are at the mercy of the climate to maintain a livable body temperature. It’s hard to understand why they would not be
affected, whereas dinosaurs were left too crippled to cope, especially if, as some scientists believe, dinosaurs were warm-blooded. Critics also point out that the shallow seaways had retreated from and advanced on the continents numerous times during the Mesozoic, so why did the dinosaurs survive the climatic changes associated with the earlier fluctuations but not with this one? Although initially appealing, the hypothesis of a simple climatic change related to sea levels is insufficient to explain all the data.
3. Why does the author mention the survival of “snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodiles” in paragraph 3?
?To argue that dinosaurs may have become extinct because they were not cold-blooded animals ?To question the adequacy of the hypothesis that climatic change related to sea levels caused the extinction of the dinosaurs
?To present examples of animals that could maintain a livable body temperature more easily than dinosaurs
?To support a hypothesis that these animals were not as sensitive to climate changes in the Cretaceous period as they are today
4. The word cope in the passage is closest in meaning to
?adapt
?move
?continue
?compete
5. The word fluctuations in the passage is closest in meaning to
?extremes
?retreats
?periods
?variations
Paragraph 4 Dissatisfaction with conventional explanations for dinosaur extinctions led to a surprising observation that, in turn, has suggested a new hypothesis. Many plants and animals disappear abruptly from the fossil record as one moves from layers of rock documenting the end of the Cretaceous up into rocks representing the beginning of the Cenozoic (the era after the Mesozoic). Between the last layer of Cretaceous rock and the first layer of Cenozoic rock, there is often a thin layer of clay. Scientists felt that they could get an idea of how long the extinctions took by determining how long it took to deposit this one centimeter of clay and they thought they could determine the time it took to deposit the clay by determining the amount of the element iridium it contained.
6. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? In correct choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
?The fossil record suggests that there was an abrupt extinction of many plants and animals at the end of the Mesozoic era.
?Few fossils of the Mesozoic era have survived in the rocks that mark the end of the Cretaceous.
?Fossils from the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic up to the beginning of the Cenozoic era have been removed from the layers of rock that surrounded them.
?Plants and animals from the Mesozoic era were unable to survive in the Cenozoic era.
7. In paragraph 4, all the following questions are answered EXCEPT:
?Why is there a layer of clay between the rocks of the Cretaceous and Cenozoic?
?Why were scientists interested in determining how long it took to deposit the layer of clay at the end of the Cretaceous?
?What was the effect of the surprising observation scientists made?
?Why did scientists want more information about the dinosaur extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous?
Paragraph 5. lt has not been common at Earth’s since the very beginning of the planet’s history. Because it usually exists in a metallic state, it was preferentially incorporated in Ear th’s core as the planet cooled and consolidated. lt is found in high concentrations in some meteorites, in which the solar system’s original chemical composition is preserved. Even today, microscopic meteorites continually bombard Earth, falling on both land and sea. By measuring how many of these meteorites fall to Earth over a given period of time, scientists can estimate how long it might have taken to deposit the observed amount of lt in the boundary clay. ■These calculations suggest that a period of about one million years would have been required. ■However, other reliable evidence suggests that the deposition of the boundary clay could not have taken one million years. ■So the unusually high concentration of lt seems to require a special explanation. ■
8. Look at the four squares ■that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
Consequently, the idea that the lt in the boundary clay came from microscopic meteorites cannot be accepted.
Where would the sentence best fit?
Click on a square [■] to add the sentence to the passage.
? 1
? 2
? 3
? 4
9. Directions: 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 that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
To review passage, Click View Text
For a long time scientists have argued that the extinction of The dinosaurs was related to climate change.
●
●
●
Answer choices
1. A simple climate change does not explain some important data related to the extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous.
2. The retreat of the seaways at the end of the Cretaceous has not been fully explained.
… 3. The abruptness of extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous and the high concentration of lr found in clay deposited at that time has fueled the development of a new hypothesis.
… 4. Extreme changes in daily and seasonal climates preceded the retreat of the seas back into the major ocean basins.
… 5. Some scientists hypothesize that the extinction of the dinosaurs resulted from the effects of an asteroid collision with Earth.
… 6. Boundary clay layers like the one between the Mesozoic and Cenozoic are used by scientists to determine the rate at which an extinct species declined.
Writing（改错）（满分30分）
The author of the reading passage ①reaches three theories as likely ②explanation of the primary function of Chaco Canyon houses, ③a grant structures built in the ④12century. ⑤The lecturer points to the inaccuracies in each of these theories.
The lecturer ⑥argue that the modest number of fireplaces ⑦on these structures is ⑧via contradiction with the huge size of these houses,⑨indicated that these structures ⑩cannot have been used for Residential purposes. The Reading, however, draws comparisons ⑾from the Chaco houses
and other similar large Residential structures ⑿at support of the “Residential” theory.
The second theory, ⒀which the houses were used for food ⒁storaging, is also ⒂supported by the lecturer. He ⒃explaining that a place⒄had been used for storing maize would have many traces of scattered Maize, ⒅that is not the case in the area of the Chaco Canyon houses. This proves that the “food storage theory” is ⒆likely.
Finally, ⒇regard the third theory, the “ceremony theory”, the lecturer (21) says that the presence of broken pots (22) closely to the great houses does not offer sufficient proof that this (23) is a place for (24) ceremony activities. He argues that there are other materials (25) for example pieces of construction trash (26) find along with the broken pots, which (27) suggesting that these pots (28) had been probably not used for ceremonial (29) activities but instead (30) were discard due to construction workers upon completion of the great houses.
新托福口语测试题
独立任务
Speaking 1
Talk about a popular gathering place in your town where people like to go. Describe the place and explain why people enjoy going there.
准备时间：15秒
答题时间：45秒
Speaking 2
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Students benefit more from classes with a large number of students than they do from smaller classes
Use specific examples and details to support your opinion
准备时间：15秒
答题时间：45秒
Speaking 3
Listening to two students discussing the notice.
新托福口语测试题
Conversation
Q1: What do the speakers mainly discuss?
A.Why the woman has little in common with her roommates
B.How the woman can keep up in her academic studies
C.The woman’s adjustment to life at the university
D.The woman’s decision to transfer to another university
Q2: Why does the woman mention her hometown?
A.To draw a contrast to her current situation
B.To acknowledge that she is accustomed to living in big cities
C.To indicate that she has known some people on campus for a long time
D.To emphasize her previous success in academic studies
Q3: What does the woman imply about incident that occurred in her sociology class?
A.She was embarrassed because she gave an incorrect answer
B.She was upset because the professor seemed to ignore her
C.She was confused by the organization of the professor’ s lecture
D.She was surprised by the comments of the other students
Q4: According to the counselor, why should the woman visit her professor’s office?
Click on 2 answers.
A.To offer a compliment
B.To offer to help other students
C.To introduce herself
D.To suggest ways of making the class more personal
Q5: What does the woman imply about joining the string quartet?
A.It would enable her to continue a hobby she gave up when she was ten
B.It would allow her to spend more time in her major area of study
C.It would help her stop worrying about her academic studies
D.It would be a way to meet students with similar interests.
Lecture
Q1.What aspect of Manila hemp fibers does the professor mainly discuss in the lecture
A.Similarities between cotton fibers and manila hemp fibers
B.Various types of manila hemp fibers
C.The economic importance of Manila hemp fibers
D.A use of Manila hemp fibers
Q2.Why does the professor mention going away for the weekend?
A.To tell the class a joke
B.To apologize for not completing some work
C.To introduce the topic of the lecture
D.To encourage students to ask about her trip
Q3.What does the professor imply about the name Manila hemp
A.It is a commercial brand name
B.Part of the name is inappropriate
C.The name has recently changed
D.The name was first used in the 1940's
Q4.Why does the professor mention the Golden Gate Bridge?
A.To demonstrate a disadvantage of steel cables
B.To give an example of the creative use of color
C.To show that steel cables are able to resist salt water
D.To give an example of a use of Manila hemp
Q5.According to the professor, what was the main reason that many ships used Manila hemp ropes instead of steel cables?
A.Manila hemp was cheaper
B.Manila hemp was easier to produce
C.Manila hemp is more resistant to salt water
D.Manila hemp is lighter in weight
Q6.According to the lecture, what are two ways to increase the strength or rope made from Manila hemp fibers?
Click on 2 answers
A.Coat the fibers with zinc-based paint
https://www.sodocs.net/doc/da18776501.html,bine the fibers into bundles
C.Soak bundles of fibers in salt water
D.Twist bundles of fibers