2011年TOEFL词汇模拟题精选系列三十六

171. The crossed mandibles enable the birds to exert a powerful biting force at the bill tips, which is critical for maneuvering them between the scales and spreading the scales apart. Next, the crossbill snakes its long tongue into the gap and draws out the seed.
The word "gap" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) opening
(B) flower
(C) mouth
(D) tree

172. Next, the crossbill snakes its long tongue into the gap and draws out the seed. Using the combined action of the bill and tongue, the birds cracks open and discards the woody seed covering and swallows the nutritious inner kernel.
The word "discards" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) eats
(B) breaks
(C) finds out
(D) gets rid of

173. As a rule, large billed crossbills are better at seeming seeds from large cones while small billed crossbills are more deft at removing the seeds from small, thin scaled cones.
The word "deft" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) hungry
(B) skilled
(C) tired
(D) pleasant

174. This bird has a large, robust bill, yet most of Newfoundland's conifers have small cones, the same kind of cones that the slender-billed white-wings rely on.
The word "robust" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) strong
(B) colorful
(C) unusual
(D) sharp

175. It was she, a Baltimore printer, who published the first official copies of the Declaration, the first copies that included the names of its signers and therefore heralded the support of all thirteen colonies.
The word "heralded" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) influenced
(B) announced
(C) rejected
(D) ignored

171 A

172 D

173 B

174 A

175 B