1、托福（阅读）模拟试卷 12及答案与解析 一、 Sections Three： Reading Comprehension 0 “Hew Women of the Ice Age“ The status of women in a society depends in large measure on their role in the economy. The reinterpretation of the Paleolithic past centers on new views of the role of women in the food-foraging economy. Amass
2、ing critical and previously overlooked evidence from Dolni Vestonice and the neighboring site of Pavlov, researchers Olga Soffer, James Adovasio, and David Hyland now propose that human survival there had little to do with men hurling spears at big-game animals. Instead, observes Softer, one of the
3、worlds leading authorities on Ice Age hunters and gatherers and an archeologist at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, it depended largely on women, plants, and a technique of hunting previously invisible in the archeological evidence net hunting. “This is not the image weve always had o
4、f Upper Paleolithic macho guys out killing animals up close and personal,“ Softer explains. “Net hunting is communal, and it involves the labor of children and women. And this has lots of implications.“ Many of these implications make her conservative colleagues cringe because they raise serious que
5、stions about the focus of previous studies. European archeologists have long concentrated on analyzing broken stone tools and butchered big-game bones, the most plentiful and best preserved relics of the Upper Paleolithic era (which stretched from 40,000 to 12,000 years ago). From these analyses, re
6、searchers have developed theories about how these societies once hunted and gathered food. Most researchers ruled out the possibility of women hunters for biological reasons. Adult females, they reasoned, had to devote themselves to breast-feeding and tending infants. “Human babies have always been
7、immature and dependent,“ says Softer. “If women are the people who are always involved with biological reproduction and the rearing of the young, then that is going to constrain their behavior. They have to provision that child. For fathers, provisioning is optional.“ To test theories about Upper Pa
8、leolithic life, researchers looked to ethnography, the scientific description of modern and historical cultural groups. While the lives of modern hunters do not exactly duplicate those of ancient hunters, they supply valuable clues to universal human behavior. In many historical societies, Softer ob
9、serves, women played a key part in net hunting, since the technique did not call for brute strength nor did it place young mothers in physical peril. Among Australian Aborigines, for example, women as well as men knotted the mesh, laboring for as much as two or three years on a fine net. Among Nativ
10、e American groups, they helped lay out their handiwork on poles across a valley floor. Then the entire camp joined forces as beaters. Fanning out across the valley, men, women, and children alike shouted and screamed, flushing out game and driving it in the direction of the net. “Everybody and their
11、 mother could participate,“ says Softer. “Some people were beating, others were screaming or holding the net. And once you got the net on these animals, they were immobilized. You didnt need brute force. You could club them, hit them any old way.“ People seldom returned home empty-handed. Researcher
12、s living among the net hunting Mbuti in the forests of the Congo report that they capture game every time they lay out their woven traps, scooping up 50 percent of the animals encountered. “Nets are a far more valued item in their panoply of food-producing things than bows and arrows are,“ says Adov
13、asio. So lethal are these traps that the Mbuti generally rack up more meat than they can consume, trading the surplus with neighbors. Other net hunters traditionally smoked or dried their catch and stored it for leaner times. A Softer doubts that the inhabitants of Dolni Vestonice and Pavlov were th
14、e only net makers in Ice Age Europe. B Camps stretching from Germany to Russia are littered with a notable abundance of small-game bones, from hares to birds like ptarmigan. And at least some of their inhabitants whittled bone tools that look much like the awls and net spacers favored by historical
15、net makers. C Although the full range of their activities is unlikely ever to be known for certain, there is good reason to believe that Ice Age women played a host of powerful roles. D And the research that suggests those roles is rapidly changing our mental images of the past. For Softer and other
16、s, these are exciting times. 1 How do Soffers theories compare with those of more conservative researchers? （ A） They are in agreement for the most part regarding the activities that women performed. （ B） Softer has based her theories on archeological evidence that her colleagues had not considered.
17、 （ C） Conservative researchers are doubtful about the studies of stone tools and big-game bones. （ D） Her theories are much more difficult to prove because she relies on modern cultural evidence. 2 The word it in the passage refers to （ A） evidence （ B） survival （ C） site （ D） technique 3 The word i
18、mplications in the passage is closest in meaning to （ A） defects （ B） advantages （ C） suggestions （ D） controversies 4 What can be inferred about Dr. Soffer from paragraph 2? （ A） She does not agree that women should be the primary caretakers for children. （ B） She is probably not as conservative in
19、 her views as many of her colleagues. （ C） She is most likely a biologist who is doing research on European women. （ D） She has recently begun studying hunting and gathering in the Upper Paleolithic era. 5 The word constrain in the passage is closest in meaning to （ A） limit （ B） plan （ C） notice （
20、D） improve 6 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 information. （ A） Historically, net hunting was considered too dangerous for women because it required physical strength t
21、hat they did not possess. （ B） Women throughout history have participated in societies by teaching their children how to use net hunting. （ C） In many societies, the women did not participate in net hunting because hunting was an exception to historical traditions. （ D） Because, historically, net hu
22、nting was not perilous and did not require great strength, women have been important participants in it. 7 Based on the information in paragraph 3, which of the following best explains the term “net hunting“? （ A） An approach to hunting developed by Australian fishermen （ B） A very dangerous method
23、of hunting large animals （ C） A way for the camp to protect women and children from wild animals （ D） A hunting technique that includes the entire community 8 Why does the author mention “Native American and Aborigine“ groups in paragraph 3? （ A） To give examples of modern groups in which women part
24、icipate in net hunting （ B） To demonstrate how net hunting should be carried out in modern societies （ C） To describe net hunting techniques that protect the women in the group （ D） To contrast their net hunting techniques with those of the people in the Congo 9 According to paragraph 4, which of th
25、e following is true about hunting in the Congo? （ A） The Mbuti value their nets almost as much as their bows and arrows. （ B） Trade with other tribes is limited because all food must be stored. （ C） Net hunters are successful in capturing half of their prey. （ D） Vegetables are the staple part of th
26、e diet for the Mbuti people. 10 According to paragraph 5, why does Softer conclude that net hunting was widespread in Europe during the Ice Age? （ A） Because there are a lot of small game still living in Europe （ B） Because tools to make nets have been found in camps throughout Europe （ C） Because t
27、he bones of small animals were found in Dolni Vestonice and Pavlov （ D） Because German and Russian researchers have verified her data 11 The word roles in the passage is closest in meaning to （ A） problems （ B） developments （ C） locations （ D） functions 12 Look at the four squares that show where th
28、e following sentence could be inserted in the passage. Such findings, agree Softer and Adovasio, reveal just how shaky the most widely accepted reconstructions of Upper Paleolithic life are. Where could the sentence best be added? Click on a square to insert the sentence in the passage. 13 An introd
29、uction 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 passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not included in the passage or are minor points f
30、rom the passage. This question is worth 2 points. Although previous studies denied the participation of women in hunting parties during the Paleolithic era, more recent research provides evidence that they were involved in important hunts. - - - Answer Choices A The Upper Paleolithic era extended fr
31、om 40,000 to 12,000 years ago, a time also referred to as the Ice Age. B Net hunting involves the entire community, including women and children as well as men in the hunt for animals. C Australian Aborigines work for as many as three years weaving and knotting a net for hunting small game. D Modern
32、 net hunting in the Congo and Australia supports new theories that identify women as participants in Paleolithic hunting. E The introduction of farming methods during the agricultural revolution changed the status of women. F Paleolithic sites such as Dolni Vestonice and Pavlov provide evidence of n
33、et hunting that was previously overlooked. 13 “Exotic and Endangered Species“ When you hear someone bubbling enthusiastically about an exotic species, you can safely bet the speaker isnt an ecologist. This is a name for a resident of an established community that was deliberately or accidentally mov
34、ed from its home range and became established elsewhere. Unlike most imports, which cant take hold outside their home range, an exotic species permanently insinuates itself into a new community. Sometimes the additions are harmless and even have beneficial effects. More often, they make native speci
35、es endangered species, which by definition are extremely vulnerable to extinction. Of all species on the rare or endangered lists or that recently became extinct, close to 70 percent owe their precarious existence or demise to displacement by exotic species. Two examples are included here to illustr
36、ate the problem. During the 1800s, British settlers in Australia just couldnt bond with the koalas and kangaroos, so they started to import familiar animals from their homeland. In 1859, in what would be the start of a wholesale disaster, a northern Australian landowner imported and then released tw
37、o dozen wild European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Good food and good sport hunting that was the idea. An ideal rabbit habitat with no natural predators was the reality. Six years later, the landowner had killed 20,000 rabbits and was besieged by 20,000 more. The rabbits displaced livestock, eve
38、n kangaroos. Now Australia has 200 to 300 million hippityhopping through the southern half of the country. They overgraze perennial grasses in good times and strip bark from shrubs and trees during droughts. You know where theyve been; they transform grasslands and shrublands into eroded deserts. Th
39、ey have been shot and poisoned. Their warrens have been plowed under, fumigated, and dynamited. Even when all-out assaults reduced their population size by 70 percent, the rapidly reproducing imports made a comeback in less than a year. Did the construction of a 2,000-mile-long fence protect western
40、 Australia? No. Rabbits made it to the other side before workers finished the fence. In 1951, government workers introduced a myxoma virus by way of mildly infected South American rabbits, its normal hosts. This virus causes myxomatosis. The disease has mild effects on South American rabbits that co
41、evolved with the virus but nearly always had lethal effects on O. cuniculus. Biting insects, mainly mosquitoes and fleas, quickly transmit the virus from host to host. Having no coevolved defenses against the novel virus, the European rabbits died in droves. But, as you might expect, natural selecti
42、on has since favored rapid growth of populations of O. cuniculus resistant to the virus. In 1991, on an uninhabited island in Spencer Gulf, Australian researchers released a population of rabbits that they had injected with a calcivirus. The rabbits died quickly and relatively painlessly from blood
43、clots in their lungs, hearts, and kidneys. In 1995, the test virus escaped from the island, possibly on insect vectors. It has been killing 80 to 95 percent of the adult rabbits in Australian regions. At this writing, researchers are now questioning whether the calcivirus should be used on a widespr
44、ead scale, whether it can jump boundaries and infect animals other than rabbits (such as humans), and what the long-term consequences will be. A vine called kudzu (Pueraria lobata) was deliberately imported from Japan to the United States, where it faces no serious threats from herbivores, pathogens
45、, or competitor plants. In temperate parts of Asia, it is a well-behaved legume with a well-developed root system. It seemed like a good idea to use it to control erosion on hills and highway embankments in the southeastern United States. A With nothing to stop it, though, kudzus shoots grew a third
46、 of a meter per day. Vines now blanket streambanks, trees, telephone poles, houses, and almost everything else in their path. Attempts to dig up or burn kudzu are futile. Grazing goats and herbicides help, but goats eat other plants, too, and herbicides contaminate water supplies. B Kudzu could reac
47、h the Great Lakes by the year 2040. On the bright side, a Japanese firm is constructing a kudzu farm and processing plant in Alabama. The idea is to export the starch to Asia, where the demand currently exceeds the supply. C Also, kudzu may eventually help reduce logging operations. D At the Georgia
48、 Institute of Technology, researchers report that kudzu might become an alternative source for paper. 14 Based on the information in paragraph 1, which of the following best explains the term “exotic species“? （ A） Animals or plants on the rare species list （ B） A permanent resident in an establishe
49、d community （ C） A species that has been moved to a different community （ D） An import that fails to thrive outside of its home range 15 The word itself in the passage refers to （ A） most imports （ B） new community （ C） home range （ D） exotic species 16 The word bond in the passage is closest in meaning to （ A） move （ B） connect （ C） live （ D） fight 17 According to the author, why did the plan to introduce rabbits in Australia fail? （ A） The rabbits were infected with a contagious virus. （ B） Most Australians did not like the rabbits. （ C） No natural predators controlled
