2013年托福词汇精选试题及答案13

1. Local crafts people-sign, coach, and house painters-began to paint portraits as a profitable sideline; sometimes a talented man or woman who began by sketching family members gained a local reputation and was besieged with requests for portraits; artists found it worth their while to pack their paints, canvases, and brushes and to travel the countryside, often combining house decorating with portrait painting.

The word "sketching" is closest in meaning to which of following?

(A) drawing

(B) hiring

(C) helping

(D) discussing

2. Both the number and the percentage of people in the United States involved in nonagricultural pursuits expanded rapidly during the half century following the Civil War, with some of the most dramatic increases occurring in the domains of transportation, manufacturing, and trade and distribution.

The word "domains" is closest in meaning to which of following?

(A) fields

(B) locations

(C) organizations

(D) occupations

3. The development of the railroad and telegraph systems during the middle third of the nineteenth century led to significant improvements in the speed, volume, and regularity of shipments and communications, making possible a fundamental transformation in the production and distribution of goods.

The word "fundamental" is closest in meaning to which of following?

(A) possible

(B) basic

(C) gradual

(D) unique

4. To be sure, there were still small workshops, where skilled craftspeople manufactured products ranging from newspapers to cabinets to plumbing fixtures.

The word "skilled" is closest in meaning to which of following?

(A) hardworking

(B) expert

(C) well-paid

(D) industrial

5. And there were factories in occupations such as metalwork where individual contractors presided over what were essentially handicraft proprietorships that coexisted within a single building.

The words "presided over" in line 20 are closest in meaning to

(A) managed

(B) led to

(C) worked in

(D) produced