2016年托福阅读复习模拟练习及答案解析二

　　托福阅读原文

　　Petroleum, consisting of crude oil andnatural gas, seems to originate from organic matter in marine sediment.Microscopic organisms settle to the seafloor and accumulate in marine mud. Theorganic matter may partially decompose, using up the dissolved oxygen in thesediment. As soon as the oxygen is gone, decay stops and the remaining organicmatter is preserved.

　　Continued sedimentation—the process ofdeposits’ settling on the sea bottom—buries the organic matter and subjects itto higher temperatures and pressures, which convert the organic matter to oiland gas. As muddy sediments are pressed together, the gas and small droplets ofoil may be squeezed out of the mud and may move into sandy layers nearby. Overlong periods of time (millions of years), accumulations of gas and oil cancollect in the sandy layers. Both oil and gas are less dense than water, sothey generally tend to rise upward through water-saturated rock and sediment.

　　Oil pools are valuable undergroundaccumulations of oil, and oil fields are regions underlain by one or more oilpools. When an oil pool or field has been discovered, wells are drilled intothe ground. Permanent towers, called derricks, used to be built to handle thelong sections of drilling pipe. Now portable drilling machines are set up andare then dismantled and removed. When the well reaches a pool, oil usuallyrises up the well because of its density difference with water beneath it orbecause of the pressure of expanding gas trapped above it. Although this riseof oil is almost always carefully controlled today, spouts of oil, or gushers,were common in the past. Gas pressure gradually dies out, and oil is pumpedfrom the well. Water or steam may be pumped down adjacent wells to help pushthe oil out. At a refinery, the crude oil from underground is separated intonatural gas, gasoline, kerosene, and various oils. Petrochemicals such as dyes,fertilizer, and plastic are also manufactured from the petroleum.

　　As oil becomes increasingly difficult tofind, the search for it is extended into more-hostile environments. The developmentof the oil field on the North Slope of Alaska and the construction of theAlaska pipeline are examples of the great expense and difficulty involved innew oil discoveries. Offshore drilling platforms extend the search for oil tothe ocean’s continental shelves—those gently sloping submarine regions at theedges of the continents. More than one-quarter of the world’s oil and almostone-fifth of the world’s natural gas come from offshore, even though offshoredrilling is six to seven times more expensive than drilling on land. Asignificant part of this oil and gas comes from under the North Sea betweenGreat Britain and Norway.

　　Of course, there is far more oilunderground than can be recovered. It may be in a pool too small or too farfrom a potential market to justify the expense of drilling. Some oil lies underregions where drilling is forbidden, such as national parks or other publiclands. Even given the best extraction techniques, only about 30 to 40 percentof the oil in a given pool can be brought to the surface. The rest is far toodifficult to extract and has to remain underground.

　　Moreover, getting petroleum out of theground and from under the sea and to the consumer can create environmentalproblems anywhere along the line. Pipelines carrying oil can be broken byfaults or landslides, causing serious oil spills. Spillage from hugeoil-carrying cargo ships, called tankers, involved in collisions or accidentalgroundings (such as the one off Alaska in 1989) can create oil slicks at sea.Offshore platforms may also lose oil, creating oil slicks that drift ashore andfoul the beaches, harming the environment. Sometimes, the ground at an oil fieldmay subside as oil is removed. The Wilmington field near Long Beach,California, has subsided nine meters in 50 years; protective barriers have hadto be built to prevent seawater from flooding the area. Finally, the refiningand burning of petroleum and its products can cause air pollution. Advancingtechnology and strict laws, however, are helping control some of these adverseenvironmental effects.

　　托福阅读试题

　　1. The word “accumulate” in the passage(paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to

　　A.grow up

　　B.build up

　　C.spread out

　　D.break apart

　　2. According to paragraph 1, which of thefollowing is true about petroleum formation?

　　A.Microscopic organisms that live in mudproduce crude oil and natural gas.

　　B.Large amounts of oxygen are needed forpetroleum formation to begin.

　　C.Petroleum is produced when organicmaterial in sediments combines with decaying marine organisms.

　　D.Petroleum formation appears to begin inmarine sediments where organic matter is present.

　　3. In paragraphs 1 and 2, the author’sprimary purpose is to

　　A.describe how petroleum is formed

　　B.explain why petroleum formation is a slowprocess

　　C.provide evidence that a marineenvironment is necessary for petroleum formation

　　D.show that oil commonly occurs inassociation with gas

　　4. Which of the sentences below bestexpresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage(paragraph 2) ? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leaveout essential information.

　　A.Higher temperatures and pressures promotesedimentation, which is responsible for petroleum formation.

　　B.Deposits of sediments on top of organicmatter increase the temperature of and pressure on the matter.

　　C.Increase pressure and heat from theweight of the sediment turn the organic remains into petroleum.

　　D.The remains of microscopic organismstransform into petroleum once they are buried under mud.

　　5. The word “adjacent” in the passage(paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to

　　A.nearby

　　B.existing

　　C.special

　　D.deep

　　6. Which of the following can be inferredfrom paragraph 3 about gushers?

　　A.They make bringing the oil to the surfaceeasier.

　　B.They signal the presence of huge oilreserves.

　　C.They waste more oil than they collect.

　　D.They are unlikely to occur nowadays.

　　7. Which of the following strategies foroil exploration is described in paragraph 4?

　　A.Drilling under the ocean’s surface

　　B.Limiting drilling to accessible locations

　　C.Using highly sophisticated drillingequipment

　　D.Constructing technologically advanceddrilling platforms

　　8. What does the development of the Alaskanoil field mentioned in paragraph 4 demonstrate?

　　A.More oil is extracted from the sea thanfrom land.

　　B.Drilling for oil requires major financialinvestments.

　　C.The global demand for oil has increasedover the years.

　　D.The North Slope of Alaska has substantialamounts of oil.

　　9. The word “sloping” in the passage(paragraph 4) is closest in meaning to

　　A.shifting

　　B.inclining

　　C.forming

　　D.rolling

　　10. According to paragraph 5, the decisionto drill for oil depends on all of the following factors EXCEPT

　　A.permission to access the area where oilhas been found

　　B.the availability of sufficient quantitiesof oil in a pool

　　C.the location of the market in relation tothe drilling site

　　D.the political situation in the regionwhere drilling would occur

　　11. The word “foul” in the passage(paragraph 6) is closest in meaning to

　　A.reach

　　B.flood

　　C.pollute

　　D.alter

　　12. In paragraph 6, the author’s primarypurpose is to

　　A.provide examples of how oil explorationcan endanger the environment

　　B.describe accidents that have occurredwhen oil activities were in progress

　　C.give an analysis of the effects of oilspills on the environment

　　D.explain how technology and legislation helpreduce oil spills

　　13. Look at the four squares [█] thatindicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Unlesssomething acts to halt this migration, these natural resources will eventuallyreach the surface.

　　Continued sedimentation—the process ofdeposits’ settling on the sea bottom—buries the organic matter and subjects itto higher temperatures and pressures, which convert the organic matter to oiland gas. █【A】As muddysediments are pressed together, the gas and small droplets of oil may besqueezed out of the mud and may move into sandy layers nearby. █【B】Over longperiods of time (millions of years),accumulations of gas and oil can collect inthe sandy layers. █【C】Bothoil and gas are less dense than water, so they generally tend torise upward through water-saturated rock and sediment. █【D】

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　14. Directions: An introductory sentencefor a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary byselecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in thepassage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideasthat are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. Thisquestion is worth 2 points.

　　“Petroleum” is abroad term that includesboth crude oil and natural gas.

　　A.Petroleum formation is the result ofbiological as well as chemical activity.

　　B.The difficulty of finding adequatesources of oil on land has resulted in a greater number of offshore drillingsites.

　　C.Petroleum extraction can have a negativeimpact on the environment.

　　D.Petroleum tends to rise to the surface,since it is lower in density than water.

　　E.Current methods of petroleum extractionenable oil producers to recover about half of the world’s petroleum reserves.

　　F.Accidents involving oil tankers occurwhen tankers run into shore reefs or collide with other vessels.

　　托福阅读答案

　　1.accumulate 沉积，聚集，累积之意，所以build up正确，注意grow up表示长大，这个和累积不是一个概念，原文与之并列的动词是settle，叫做落下来，稳定下来，所以break apart意思反了，而且grow up和spread out在某种意义上是差不多的，所以都不对

　　2.以petroleum formation做关键词，没有，但有petroleumoriginate from blablabla，说石油起源于海洋沉积物当中的有机物，与D选项说的完全一致，D正确;A错，原文没说live;B错，原文没说需要大量氧气，只说用光了氧气之后有机物能够保存;C错，原文没说combine

　　3.问两段，分别看两段的开头，第一段开头说石油是怎么开始的，第二段第一句说继续沉积blabla，也就是在延续第一段所说的石油的形成过程，所以A正确

　　4. 去掉原句中的插入语，原句变成了sedimentationbury and subject to blabla，convert to petro，A错，没说温度压力提升sedimentation;B遗漏了重要信息，原句的变成石油没说;C正确;D完全没重现原文的重要信息，错

　　5.adjacent 相邻的，临近的，答案A，原句说水或者蒸汽可以从什么样的井弄下去，把油压出来。根据物理学的U型管原理，从注水的U型管一端向管内吹起，另外一端的液面就会上升，同理，从临近的油井压入水或者蒸汽，石油就会被压出来，所以答案是A，B存在C特殊D深都不对

　　6.以gusher做关键词定位至本段倒数第四句，说gusher在过去是非常普遍的，意思就是现在不普遍了，答案D，而且前半句还说仔细控制了，仔细控制的结果就是不再发生了，也能选出D答案

　　7. 第四段第一句就说了hostileenvironment，紧接着就用大量文字写了offshore石油钻探，第五段也一直在说在那些不能钻石油的地方钻探，所以A的under the ocean’s surface最靠谱;B说反了;C的equipment和D的platform都没说

　　8.第二句和第三句说到了阿拉斯加的石油开采是一个例子，great expense and difficulty involved in new oil discoveries，说明使用开采花钱又需要技术，正确答案B，需要大量投资;其他选项都没说

　　9.slope坡，sloping倾斜的，斜坡的。sloping所在的句子是对前面海洋大陆架的一个解释，大路边缘逐渐倾斜的海下地区，所以inclining倾斜的正确;A变换的C形成的D滚动的都不对

　　10.排除法，A对应第三句，因为有drillingis forbidden，正确，不选;B对应倒数第二句，pool，正确，不选;C项对应第二句，location of the market，正确，不选;D没说，错，选

　　11.foul弄脏，污染，污秽的，所以pollute正确。原句说海上钻井平台有可能漏油，产生海面浮油，并且怎么样海滩，之前都说了一大堆不好的事儿，所以pollute正确，A到达B冲刷D改变感情色彩都不对

　　12.问整个第六段，看第一句，说整个从石油开采一直到市场上的任何一环都有可能污染环境，所以A是正确答案;只是说有可能污染环境，没说事故，B不对;原文只是给出事实，没有任何分析，C错;D错因为没说减少污染

　　13. 四个过渡点，名词surface，代词thismigration，代词these natural resources和连词unless，代词thesenatural resources是不能用的，因为被反复提到的oil and gas干扰;D的move和D的rise都可以对应this migration，而只有rise才能对的上surface，所以选D不选B

　　14.petroleumformation选项对应原文第一段首句，第一段的倒数两句，正确

　　the difficulty选项对应原文第四段第三句，正确

　　petroleum extraction选项对应原文第六段第一句，正确

　　petroleum tends选项对应第二段最后一句，是个细节，不选

　　current选项不选，原文说了30%-40%

　　accidents选项原文没说，不选