1、托福-19 及答案解析(总分：145.77，做题时间：90 分钟)一、READING(总题数：0，分数：0.00)二、PART (总题数：1，分数：6.50)Reading 1 “Layers of Social Class“ Taken together, income, occupation, and education are good measures of peoples social standing. Using a layered model of stratification, most sociologists describe the class system in th
2、e United States as divided into several classes: upper, upper middle, middle, lower middle, and lower class. Each class is defined by characteristics such as income, occupational prestige, and educational attainment. The different groups are arrayed along a continuum with those with the most money,
3、education, and prestige at the top and those with the least at the bottom. In the United States, the upper class owns the major share of corporate and personal wealth; it includes those who have held wealth for generations as well as those who have recently become rich. Only a very small proportion
4、of people actually constitute the upper class, but they control vast amounts of wealth and power in the United States. They exercise enormous control throughout society. Most of their wealth is inherited. Despite social myths to the contrary, the best predictor of future wealth is the family into wh
5、ich you are born. Each year, the business magazine Forbes publishes a list of the “Forbes 400“the four hundred wealthiest families and individuals in the country. Of all the wealth represented on the Forbes 400 list, more than half is inherited. Those on the list who could be called “self-made“ were
6、 not typically of modest origins; most inherited significant assets (Forbes, 1997; Sklar and Collins,1997). Those in the upper class with newly acquired wealth are known as the nouveau riche. Although they may have vast amounts of money, they are often not accepted into “old rich“ circles. The upper
7、 middle class includes those with high incomes and high social prestige. They tend to be well-educated professionals or business executives. Their earnings can be quite high indeed-successful business executives can earn millions of dollars a year. It is difficult to estimate exactly how many people
8、 fall into this group because of the difficulty of drawing lines between the upper, upper middle, and middle class. Indeed, the upper middle class is often thought of as “middle class“ because their lifestyle sets the standard to which many aspire, but this lifestyle is simply beyond the means of a
9、majority of people in the United States. The middle class is hard to define; in part, being “middle class“ is more than just economic position. By far the majority of Americans identify themselves as middle class even though they vary widely in lifestyle and in resources at their disposal. But the i
10、dea that the United States is an open-class system leads many to think that the majority have a middle-class lifestyle because, in general, people tend not to want to recognize class distinctions in the United States. Thus, the middle class becomes the ubiquitous norm even though many who call thems
11、elves middle class have a tenuous hold on this class position. In the hierarchy of social class, the lower middle class includes workers in the skilled trades and low-income bureaucratic workers, many of whom may actually define themselves as middle class. Examples are blue-collar workers (those in
12、skilled trades who do manual labor) and many service workers, such as secretaries, hairdressers, waitresses, police, and firefighters. Medium to low income, education, and occupational prestige define the lower middle class relative to the class groups above it. The term “lower“ in this class design
13、ation refers to the relative position of the group in the stratification system, but it has a pejorative sound to many people, especially to people who are members of this class. The lower class is composed primarity of the displaced and poor. People in this class have little formal education and ar
14、e often unemployed or working in minimum-wage jobs. Forty percent of the poor work; 10 percent work year- round and full timea proportion that has generally increased over time. Recently, the concept of the underclass has been added to the lower class. The underclass includes those who have been lef
15、t behind by Contemporary economic developments. Rejected from the economic system, those in the underclass may become dependent on public assistance or illegal activities. （分数：6.50）(1).The word those in the passage refers to A. characteristics B. groups C. classes D. continuum（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(2).Th
16、e word enormous in the passage is closest in meaning to A. very large B. very new C. very early D. very good（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(3).Which of the sentences below best expresses the information in the highlighted statement in the passage? The other choices change the meaning or leave out important inform
17、ation. A. Although it is not generally accepted, your family provides the best prediction of your future wealth. B. You can achieve great future wealth in spite of the family in which you may have been born. C. It is not true that your family will restrict the acquisition of your future wealth and l
18、evel of social status. D. Social myths are contrary to the facts about the future wealth and social status of your family.（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(4).Why does the author mention the “Forbes 400“ in paragraph 3? A. To explain the meaning of the listing that appears every year B. To support the statement tha
19、t most wealthy people inherit their money C. To cast doubt on the claim that family income predicts individual wealth D. To give examples of successful people who have modest family connections（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(5).In paragraph 4, the author states that business and professional people with education
20、al advantages are most often members of the A. lower middle class B. upper middle class C. nouveau riche D. upper class（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(6).The word primarily in the passage is closest in meaning to A. mostly B. somewhat C. finally D. always（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(7).The word contemporary in the passage i
21、s closest in meaning to A. unexpected B. modern C. strategic D. reliable（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(8).According to paragraph 5, why do most people identify themselves as middle class in the United States? A. They have about the same lifestyle as everyone else in the country. B. They prefer not to admit that
22、there are class distinctions in the United States. C. They dont really know how to define their status because it is unclear. D. They identify themselves with the majority who have normal lifestyles.（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(9).What can be inferred about poor people in the United States? A. They are not abl
23、e to find entry-level jobs. B. They work in jobs that require little education. C. They are service workers and manual laborers. D. They do not try to find employment.（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(10).According to paragraph 7, why has the underclass emerged? A. The new term was necessary because the lower class
24、 enjoyed a higher lifestyle than it had previously. B. The increase in crime has supported a new class of people who live by engaging in illegal activities. C. Changes in the economy have caused an entire class of people to survive by welfare or crime. D. Minimum-wage jobs no longer support a class
25、of people at a standard level in the economic system.（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(11).All of the following are indicators of prestige in the United States EXCEPT A. the level of education that a person has achieved B. the amount of money that an individual has acquired C. the type of employment that someone pu
26、rsues D. the hard work that a person does on a consistent basis（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(12).Look at the four squares that show where the following sentence could be inserted in the passage. The working poor constitute a large portion of those who are poor. Where could the sentence best be added? Click on a
27、 square to insert the sentence in the passage. A. Square .B. Square .C. Square .D. Square .（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(13).Directions: An introduction for a short summary of the passage appears below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that mention the most important points in the pass
28、age. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not included in the passage or are minor points from the passage. This question is worth 2 points. The levels of education, the acquisition of wealth, and occupational prestige determine social status in the United
29、States. _ _ _ Answer ChoicesA. People who have made their money more recently tend not to be accepted by those who have inherited their wealth from family holdings. B. The lower class includes working people with low incomes and a new underclass of people who are dependent on welfare or engage in cr
30、ime. C. The upper class tends to acquire wealth through inheritance, whereas the upper middle class has a high income that they earn in their professions. D. Although the lifestyle of the upper middle class is the goal for the majority, it is difficult for many people to maintain this standard of li
31、ving. E. Most people identify themselves as middle class, including blue-collar workers and service workers as well as bureaucratic employees. F. It is still possible to move from one social class to another in the United States by working your way up the ladder in a corporate environment.（分数：0.50）填
32、空项 1:_三、PART (总题数：2，分数：13.00)Reading 2 “Weather and Chaotic Systems“ Scientists today have a very good understanding of the physical laws and mathematical equations that govern the behavior and motion of atoms in the air, oceans, and land. Why, then, do we have so much trouble predicting the weather
33、? For a long time, most scientists assumed that the difficulty of weather prediction would go away once we had enough weather stations to collect data from around the world and sufficiently powerful computers to deal with all the data. However, we now know that weather is fundamentally unpredictable
34、 on time scales longer than a few weeks. To understand why, we must look at the nature of scientific prediction. Suppose you want to predict the location of a car on a road 1 minute from now. You need two basic pieces of information: where the car is now, and how fast it is moving. If the car is now
35、 passing Smith Road and heading north at 1 mile per minute, it will be 1 mile north of Smith Road in 1 minute. Now, suppose you want to predict the weather. Again, you need two basic types of information: (1) the current weather and (2) how weather changes from one moment to the next. You could atte
36、mpt to predict the weather by creating a “model world.“ For example, you could overlay a globe of the Earth with graph paper and then specify the current temperature, pressure, cloud cover, and wind within each square. These are your starting points, or initial conditions. Next, you could input all
37、the initial conditions into a computer, along with a set of equations (physical laws) that describe the processes that can change weather from one moment to the next. Suppose the initial conditions represent the weather around the Earth at this very moment and you run your computer model to predict
38、the weather for the next month in New York City. The model might tell you that tomorrow will be warm and sunny, with cooling during the next week and a major storm passing through a month from now. Now suppose you run the model again but make one minor change in the initial conditionssay, a small ch
39、ange in the wind speed somewhere over Brazil. For tomorrows weather, this slightly different initial condition will not change the weather prediction for New York City. But for next months weather, the two predictions may not agree at all! The disagreement between the two predictions arises because
40、the laws governing weather can cause very tiny changes in initial conditions to be greatly magnified over time. （分数：6.50）(1).According to the passage, it will be difficult to predict weather A. unless we learn more about chaotic systems B. because we dont have enough weather stations C. without more
41、 powerful computers D. until we understand the physical laws of atoms（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(2).The word assumed in the passage is closest in meaning to A. agreed B. supposed C. revealed D. expressed（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(3).The word fundamentally in the passage is closest in meaning to A. typically B. histori
42、cally C. presently D. basically（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(4).Why does the author mention a car in paragraph 2? A. The car is an example of how conditions are used to make predictions. B. The author digresses in order to tell a story about a car. C. The car introduces the concept of computer models. D. The ma
43、thematical equations for the car are very simple to understand.（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(5).Why do the predictions disagree for the computer model described in paragraph 4? A. The conditions at the beginning were very different. B. The model was not accurately programmed. C. Computer models cannot predict w
44、eather. D. Over time models are less reliable.（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(6).Why is weather considered a chaotic system? A. Because it is made up of random features B. Because it is not yet very well understood C. Because it is described by nonlinear equations D. Because it does not have an orderly structure（
45、分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(7).Based on information in paragraph 6, which of the following best explains the term “butterfly effect“? A. Slight variations in initial conditions can cause very different results. B. A butterflys wings can be used to predict different conditions in various locations. C. The weath
46、er is as difficult to predict as the rate of a butterflys wings when it flaps them. D. A butterfly flaps its wings in one location, which automatically produces a result in another place.（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(8).The phrase in which in the passage refers to A. the butterfly effect B. chaotic systems C. s
47、imple systems D. linear equations（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(9).Why does the author mention the economy in paragraph 6? A. To contrast a simple system with a chaotic system B. To provide an example of another chaotic system C. To compare nonlinear equations with linear equations D. To prove that all nonlinear
48、 systems are not chaotic（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(10).The word features in the passage is closest in meaning to A. problems B. exceptions C. characteristics D. benefits（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(11).In paragraph 7, the author suggests that our knowledge of chaotic systems A. will never allow us to make accurate pred
49、ictions B. has not improved very much over the years C. reveals details that can be predicted quite accurately D. requires more research by the scientific community（分数：0.50）A.B.C.D.(12).Look at the four squares that show where the following sentence could be inserted in the passage. For next weeks weather, the new model may yield a slightly different prediction. Where could the sentence best be added? Click on a square to insert the sentence in the passage. A. Square .B. Square .C. Square .D. Square
