2014年11月2日托福阅读真题

日托福阅读真题智课网整理机经词汇：redundancy=duplicationpresumably=itisreasonablethatexclusivesimulationpremise=assumptiondetect=findsignifican=importanceoutlaying=fardeterposterity=furthergenerationresolve=settle第一篇：生物多样性（biodiversity）版本1:生物多样性越大，一个生态系统越稳定。要求一个生态系统里同种生物少，但是含有同等营养价值的生物多。还有一个与干旱有关的树的例子，好像是cedar的。还有解释disease在多样性强的生态系统里有不好的传播，是因为同种个体少，如果死绝了有别的生物可以代替它，以达到稳定。版本2：主要说生物多样性可以促进生态的稳定，先说了物种多样性的三点好处，然后举了狮子斑马数量变化关系和草地的例子来说明这一论题。版本3：传统的生物学家认为把一个关键物种或足够多的物种消灭后，就会对生物圈造成严重改变。一个人模拟了生态环境做个试验做个实验，然后说一种食物链中的主要捕食者的水声动物被移除以后，另一种生物就成为了主要的捕猎者捕食。然后还有个事例说一个植物在极端干燥的情况下，忘了。生物多样性越大，越稳定。但另一个人做了类似的实验，却不总是得到这样的结果。解析：这篇文章属于生态类文章。从文章段落结构看，十分清晰，主题明确，对背景的描述会比较详尽，不会出现因为背景知识的生疏而严重影响对于文章理解的情况。需要注意的是，必须提前对相关类型的TPO文章的生词熟悉，尽量减少生词恐惧带来的内耗。推荐TPO3的文章.TheLong-TermStabilityofEcosystems。相关背景：TheLong-TermStabilityofEcosystemsPlantcommunitiesassemblethemselvesflexibly,andtheirparticularstructuredependsonthespecifichistoryofthearea.Ecologistsusetheterm“succession”torefertothechangesthathappeninplantcommunitiesandecosystemsovertime.Thefirstcommunityinasuccessioniscalledapioneercommunity,whilethelong-livedcommunityattheendofsuccessioniscalledaclimaxcommunity.Pioneerandsuccessionalplantcommunitiesaresaidtochangeoverperiodsfrom1to500years.Thesechanges—inplantnumbersandthemixofspecies—arecumulative.Climaxcommunitiesthemselveschangebutoverperiodsoftimegreaterthanabout500years.Anecologistwhostudiesapondtodaymaywellfinditrelativelyunchangedinayear’stime.Individualfishmaybereplaced,butthenumberoffishwilltendtobethesamefromoneyeartothenext.Wecansaythatthepropertiesofanecosystemaremorestablethantheindividualorganismsthatcomposetheecosystem.Atonetime,ecologistsbelievedthatspeciesdiversitymadeecosystemsstable.Theybelievedthatthegreaterthediversitythemorestabletheecosystem.Supportforthisideacamefromtheobservationthatlong-lastingclimaxcommunitiesusuallyhavemorecomplexfoodwebsandmorespeciesdiversitythanpioneercommunities.Ecologistsconcludedthattheapparentstabilityofclimaxecosystemsdependedontheircomplexity.Totakeanextremeexample,farmlandsdominatedbyasinglecroparesounstablethatoneyearofbadweatherortheinvasionofasinglepestcandestroytheentirecrop.Incontrast,acomplexclimaxcommunity,suchasatemperateforest,willtolerateconsiderabledamagefromweathertopests.Thequestionofecosystemstabilityiscomplicated,however.Thefirstproblemisthatecologistsdonotallagreewhat“stability”means.Stabilitycanbedefinedassimplylackofchange.Inthatcase,theclimaxcommunitywouldbeconsideredthe—justtheopposite,infact.Amorecomplicatedsystemis,ingeneral,morelikelythanasimplesystemtobreakdown.Afifteen-speedracingbicycleismorelikelytobreakdownthanachild’stricycle.Ecologistsareespeciallyinterestedtoknowwhatfactorscontributetotheresilienceofcommunitiesbecauseclimaxcommunitiesallovertheworldarebeingseverelydamagedordestroyedbyhumanactivities.ThedestructioncausedbythevolcanicexplosionofMountSt.Helens,inthenorthwesternUnitedStates,forexample,palesincomparisontothedestructioncausedbyhumans.Weneedtoknowwhataspectsofacommunityaremostimportanttothecommunity’sresistancetodestruction,aswellasitsrecovery.Manyecologistsnowthinkthattherelativelong-termstabilityofclimaxcommunitiescomesnotfromdiversitybutfromthe“patchiness”oftheenvironment,anenvironmentthatvariesfromplacetoplacesupportsmorekindsoforganismsthananenvironmentthatisuniform.Alocalpopulationthatgoesextinctisquicklyreplacedbyimmigrantsfromanadjacentcommunity.Evenifthenewpopulationisofadifferentspecies,itcanapproximatelyfillthenichevacatedbytheextinctpopulationandkeepthefoodwebintact.第二篇：中美洲的文明版本1:关于mesoamerican的发现，出现了中美洲的各种文明（特别是maya文明），提到了金字塔地下的发现，后来强调了旅游景点也有大量可发现的价值。版本2：美国原始历史，提到玛雅文明，埃及金字塔，然后继续主题版本3：考古方面的，一些发现否定了之前的理论，中间有个大段的例子是说一个与人有关的原始居民的各种生活习惯的记载，帮助完善历史。解析：历史起源类主题的文章可谓是老少咸宜的文章。这一类文章通常段落结构清晰，主题明确，对背景的描述会比较详尽，不会出现因为背景知识的生疏而严重影响对于文章理解的情况。需要注意的是，必须提前对相关类型的TPO文章的生词熟悉，尽量减少生词恐惧带来的内耗。推荐TPO8的文章TheRiseofTeotihucan与TPO26的SumerandtheFirstCitiesoftheAncientNearEast。相关背景：MesoamericaMesoamericaisaregionandculturalareaintheAmericas,extendingapproximatelyfromcentralMexicotoBelize,Guatemala,ElSalvador,Honduras,Nicaragua,andnorthernCostaRica,withinwhichanumberofpre-ColumbiansocietiesflourishedbeforetheSpanishcolonizationo