托福阅读辅导:老托福阅读真题及答案passage29

为了帮助大家备考托福阅读，练习更多阅读题目。提高阅读水平，下面小编给大家带来托福阅读辅导:老托福阅读真题及答案 PASSAGE 29，希望对大家有所帮助!

:老托福阅读文本 passage29

During the second half of the nineteenth century, the production of food and feed crops in the United States rose at an extraordinarily rapid rate. Corn production increased by four and a half times, hay by five times, oats and wheat by seven times. The most crucial factor behind this phenomenal upsurge in productivity was the widespread adoption of labor-saving machinery by northern farmers. By 1850 horse-drawn reaping machines that cut grain were being introduced into the major grain-growing regions of the country. Horse-powered threshing machines to separate the seeds from the plants were already in general use. However, it was the onset of the Civil War in 1861 that provided the great stimulus for the mechanization of northern agriculture. With much of the labor force inducted into the army and with grain prices on the rise, northern farmers rushed to avail themselves of the new labor-saving equipment. In 1860 there were approximately 80,000 reapers in the country; five years later there were 350,000.

After the close of the war in 1865, machinery became ever more important in northern agriculture, and improved equipment was continually introduced. By 1880 a self-binding reaper had been perfected that not only cut the grain, but also gathered the stalks and bound them with twine. Threshing machines were also being improved and enlarged, and after 1870 they were increasingly powered by steam engines rather than by horses. Since steam-powered threshing machines were costly items — running from $ 1,000 to $4,000 — they were usually owned by custom thresher owners who then worked their way from farm to farm during the harvest season. "Combines" were also coming into use on the great wheat ranches in California and the Pacific Northwest. These ponderous machines — sometimes pulled by as many as 40 horses — reaped the grain, threshed it, and bagged it, all in one simultaneous operation.

The adoption of labor-saving machinery had a profound effect upon the sale of agricultural operations in the northern states — allowing farmers to increase vastly their crop acreage. By the end of century, a farmer employing the new machinery could plant and harvest two and half times as much corn as a farmer had using hand methods 50 years before.

老托福阅读题目 passage29

1. What aspect of farming in the United States in the nineteenth century does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) How labor-saving machinery increased crop Production

(B) Why southern farms were not as successful as Successful as northern farms

(C) Farming practices before the Civil War

(D) The increase in the number of people farming

2. The word "crucial" in line 4 is closest in meaning to

(A) obvious

(B) unbelievable

(C) important

(D) desirable

3. The phrase "avail themselves" in line 11 is closest in meaning to

(A) take care

(B) make use

(C) get rid

(D) do more

4. According to the passage , why was the Civil War a stimulus for mechanization?

(A) The army needed more grain in order to feed the soldiers.

(B) Technology developed for the war could also the used by farmers.

(C) It was hoped that harvesting more grain would lower the price of grain.

(D) Machines were needed to replace a disappearing labor force.

5. The passage supports which of the following statements about machinery after the Civil War?

(A) Many farmers preferred not to use the new machinery.

(B) Returning laborers replaced the use of machinery.

(C) The use of farm machinery continued to increase.

(D) Poor-quality machinery slowed the pace of crop production.

6. Combines and self-binding reapers were similar because each

(A) could perform more than one function

(B) required relatively little power to operate

(C) was utilized mainly in California

(D) required two people to operate

7. The word "they" in line 19 refers to

(A) grain stalks

(B) threshing machines

(C) steam engines

(D) horses

8. It can be inferred from the passage that most farmers did not own threshing machines because

(A) farmers did not know how to use the new machines

(B) farmers had no space to keep the machines

(C) thresher owner had chance to buy the machines before farmers did

(D) the machines were too expensive for every farmer to own

9. The word "ponderous" in line 21 is closest in meaning to

(A) advanced

(B) heavy

(C) complex

(D) rapid

老托福阅读答案 passage29

ACBDC ABDB

托福技巧：托福阅读做题要以TOEFL真题为基础

托福阅读实战经验分享：词汇掌握了，你会发现阅读变得轻松很多。阅读做题要以托福TOEFL真题为基础。平时不管是读书还是看新闻，都要有意识地练习scan、skip、skim的方法……

阅读是与旧托福相比改变最少的，题目方向大体保持了一致。

阅读在国内普遍分数都还好，但托福TOEFL的考试内容越来越BT，所以也不能小看。

平时爱看书的人，积累的中文阅读能力强的，对英文阅读往往也有一定提升。

就像上面所说的，词汇掌握了，你会发现阅读变得轻松很多。

阅读做题要以托福TOEFL真题为基础。

平时不管是读书还是看新闻，都要有意识地练习scan、skip、skim的方法。

具体做阅读题时，排除法很有效。

复习期间每天抽出点时间读读英文小说是很不错的选择。

阅读的文章只要出现以下内容都应引起注意：举例证明、罗列式例举、转折、否定、因果、下定义、比较级(最高级)、同位语(插入语)、数字年代、特殊标点(引号、破折号)。

阅读当中遇到特别生僻或专业的术语，多少会在后面有所解释。

阅读做题的时间比较紧张，比如我习惯一边看文章一边做笔记，虽然这样条理很清楚，但会让时间显得更紧张。

平时要熟悉下机考的操作。比如我平常练习时大概每篇阅读能在15分钟以内完成，但具体考试时往往都是做到只剩两三秒……

托福阅读辅导:老托福阅读真题及答案 passage29