為了幫助大家備考托福閱讀，練習更多閱讀題目。提高閱讀水平，下面小編給大家?guī)硗懈ｉ喿x輔導:老托福閱讀真題及答案 PASSAGE 29，希望對大家有所幫助!

:老托福閱讀文本 passage29

During the second half of the nineteenth century, the production of food and feed crops in the United States rose at an extraordinarily rapid rate. Corn production increased by four and a half times, hay by five times, oats and wheat by seven times. The most crucial factor behind this phenomenal upsurge in productivity was the widespread adoption of labor-saving machinery by northern farmers. By 1850 horse-drawn reaping machines that cut grain were being introduced into the major grain-growing regions of the country. Horse-powered threshing machines to separate the seeds from the plants were already in general use. However, it was the onset of the Civil War in 1861 that provided the great stimulus for the mechanization of northern agriculture. With much of the labor force inducted into the army and with grain prices on the rise, northern farmers rushed to avail themselves of the new labor-saving equipment. In 1860 there were approximately 80,000 reapers in the country; five years later there were 350,000.

After the close of the war in 1865, machinery became ever more important in northern agriculture, and improved equipment was continually introduced. By 1880 a self-binding reaper had been perfected that not only cut the grain, but also gathered the stalks and bound them with twine. Threshing machines were also being improved and enlarged, and after 1870 they were increasingly powered by steam engines rather than by horses. Since steam-powered threshing machines were costly items — running from $ 1,000 to ,000 — they were usually owned by custom thresher owners who then worked their way from farm to farm during the harvest season. "Combines" were also coming into use on the great wheat ranches in California and the Pacific Northwest. These ponderous machines — sometimes pulled by as many as 40 horses — reaped the grain, threshed it, and bagged it, all in one simultaneous operation.

The adoption of labor-saving machinery had a profound effect upon the sale of agricultural operations in the northern states — allowing farmers to increase vastly their crop acreage. By the end of century, a farmer employing the new machinery could plant and harvest two and half times as much corn as a farmer had using hand methods 50 years before.

老托福閱讀題目 passage29

1. What aspect of farming in the United States in the nineteenth century does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) How labor-saving machinery increased crop Production

(B) Why southern farms were not as successful as Successful as northern farms

(C) Farming practices before the Civil War

(D) The increase in the number of people farming

2. The word "crucial" in line 4 is closest in meaning to

(A) obvious

(B) unbelievable

(C) important

(D) desirable

3. The phrase "avail themselves" in line 11 is closest in meaning to

(A) take care

(B) make use

(C) get rid

(D) do more

4. According to the passage , why was the Civil War a stimulus for mechanization?

(A) The army needed more grain in order to feed the soldiers.

(B) Technology developed for the war could also the used by farmers.

(C) It was hoped that harvesting more grain would lower the price of grain.

(D) Machines were needed to replace a disappearing labor force.

5. The passage supports which of the following statements about machinery after the Civil War?

(A) Many farmers preferred not to use the new machinery.

(B) Returning laborers replaced the use of machinery.

(C) The use of farm machinery continued to increase.

(D) Poor-quality machinery slowed the pace of crop production.

6. Combines and self-binding reapers were similar because each

(A) could perform more than one function

(B) required relatively little power to operate

(C) was utilized mainly in California

(D) required two people to operate

7. The word "they" in line 19 refers to

(A) grain stalks

(B) threshing machines

(C) steam engines

(D) horses

8. It can be inferred from the passage that most farmers did not own threshing machines because

(A) farmers did not know how to use the new machines

(B) farmers had no space to keep the machines

(C) thresher owner had chance to buy the machines before farmers did

(D) the machines were too expensive for every farmer to own

9. The word "ponderous" in line 21 is closest in meaning to

(A) advanced

(B) heavy

(C) complex

(D) rapid

老托福閱讀答案 passage29

ACBDC ABDB

托福技巧：托福閱讀做題要以TOEFL真題為基礎(chǔ)

托福閱讀實戰(zhàn)經(jīng)驗分享：詞匯掌握了，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)閱讀變得輕松很多。閱讀做題要以托福TOEFL真題為基礎(chǔ)。平時不管是讀書還是看新聞，都要有意識地練習scan、skip、skim的方法……

閱讀是與舊托福相比改變最少的，題目方向大體保持了一致。

閱讀在國內(nèi)普遍分數(shù)都還好，但托福TOEFL的考試內(nèi)容越來越BT，所以也不能小看。

平時愛看書的人，積累的中文閱讀能力強的，對英文閱讀往往也有一定提升。

就像上面所說的，詞匯掌握了，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)閱讀變得輕松很多。

閱讀做題要以托福TOEFL真題為基礎(chǔ)。

平時不管是讀書還是看新聞，都要有意識地練習scan、skip、skim的方法。

具體做閱讀題時，排除法很有效。

復習期間每天抽出點時間讀讀英文小說是很不錯的選擇。

閱讀的文章只要出現(xiàn)以下內(nèi)容都應引起注意：舉例證明、羅列式例舉、轉(zhuǎn)折、否定、因果、下定義、比較級(最高級)、同位語(插入語)、數(shù)字年代、特殊標點(引號、破折號)。

閱讀當中遇到特別生僻或?qū)I(yè)的術(shù)語，多少會在后面有所解釋。

閱讀做題的時間比較緊張，比如我習慣一邊看文章一邊做筆記，雖然這樣條理很清楚，但會讓時間顯得更緊張。

平時要熟悉下機考的操作。比如我平常練習時大概每篇閱讀能在15分鐘以內(nèi)完成，但具體考試時往往都是做到只剩兩三秒……

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