【TPO小站】托福阅读真题高频背景材料集合

1、 托福阅读真题高频背景材料集合第一篇厄尔尼诺现象El Niño is defined by prolonged differences in Pacific Ocean surface temperatures when compared with the average value. The accepted definition is a warming or cooling of at least 0.5 °C (0.9 °F averaged over the east-central tropical Pacific Ocean. Typically,

2、this anomaly happens at irregular intervals of 27 years and lasts nine months to two years.5 The average period length is 5 years. When this warming or cooling occurs for only seven to nine months, it is classified as El Niño/La Niña "conditions" when it occurs for more than that

3、 period, it is classified as El Niño/La Niña "episodes".6The first signs of an El Niño are:1、Rise in surface pressure over the Indian Ocean, Indonesia, and Australia2、Fall in air pressure over Tahiti and the rest of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean3、Trade winds in the s

4、outh Pacific weaken or head east4、Warm air rises near Peru, causing rain in the northern Peruvian deserts5、Warm water spreads from the west Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the east Pacific. It takes the rain with it, causing extensive drought in the western Pacific and rainfall in the normally dry e

5、astern Pacific.El Niño's warm rush of nutrient-poor tropical water, heated by its eastward passage in the Equatorial Current, replaces the cold, nutrient-rich surface water of the Humboldt Current. When El Niño conditions last for many months, extensive ocean warming and the reduction

6、in Easterly Trade winds limits upwelling of cold nutrient-rich deep water and its economic impact to local fishing for an international market can be serious.第二篇月球表面形成假说只找到了部分相关的The geological history of the Moon has been defined into six major epochs, called the lunar geologic timescale. Starting a

7、bout 4.5 billion years ago,3 the newly formed Moon was in a molten state and was orbiting much closer to the Earth. The resulting tidal forces deformed the molten body into an ellipsoid, with the major axis pointed towards Earth.The first important event in the geologic evolution of the Moon was the

8、 crystallization of the near global magma ocean. It is not known with certainty what its depth was, but several studies imply a depth of about 500 km or greater. The first minerals to form in this ocean were the iron and magnesium silicates olivine and pyroxene. Because these minerals were denser th

9、an the molten material around them, they sank. After crystallization was about 75% complete, less dense anorthositic plagioclase feldspar crystallized and floated, forming an anorthositic crust about 50 km in thickness. The majority of the magma ocean crystallized quickly (within about 100 million y

10、ears or less, though the final remaining KREEP-rich magmas, which are highly enriched in incompatible and heat producing elements, could have remained partially molten for several hundred million (or perhaps 1 billion years. It appears that the final KREEP-rich magmas of the magma ocean eventually b

11、ecame concentrated within the region of Oceanus Procellarum and the Imbrium basin, a unique geologic province that is now known as the Procellarum KREEP Terrane.Quickly after the lunar crust formed, or even as it was forming, different types of magmas that would give rise to the Mg-suite norites and

12、 troctolites4 began to form, although the exact depths at which this occurred are not known precisely. Recent theories suggest that Mg-suite plutonism was largely confined to the region of the Procellarum KREEP Terrane, and that these magmas are genetically related to KREEP in some manner, though th

13、eir origin is still highly debated in the scientific community. The oldest of the Mg-suite rocks have crystallization ages of about 3.85 Ga. However, the last large impact that could have excavated deep into the crust (the Imbrium basin also occurred at 3.85 Ga before present. Thus, it seems probabl

14、e that Mg-suite plutonic activity continued for a much longer time, and that younger plutonic rocks exist deep below the surface.第三篇观众效应和参与者效应 The audience effect is the impact that a passive audience has on a subject performing a task. It was first formally noted in various psychology studies in th

15、e early 20th century. During some studies the presence of a passive audience facilitated the better performance of a simple task; while other studies show the presence of a passive audience inhibited the performance of a more difficult task.In 1965, Robert Zajonc proposed Drive theory as an explanat

16、ion of the audience effect.前两篇太细化了,不好找。只找了第三篇关于人类情绪表现和认知Emotion is the complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical (internal and environmental (external influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal,

17、expressive behaviors, and conscious experience."1 Emotion is associated with mood, temperament, personality and disposition, and motivation. Motivations direct and energize behavior, while emotions provide the affective component to motivation, positive or negative.2No definitive taxonomy of em

18、otions exists, though numerous taxonomies have been proposed. Some categorizations include:1、"Cognitive" versus "non-cognitive" emotions2、Instinctual emotions (from the amygdala, versus cognitive emotions (from the prefrontal cortex.3、Categorization based on duration: Some emotio

19、ns occur over a period of seconds (for example, surprise, whereas others can last years (for example, love.A related distinction is between the emotion and the results of the emotion, principally behaviors and emotional expressions. People often behave in certain ways as a direct result of their emo

20、tional state, such as crying, fighting or fleeing. If one can have the emotion without the corresponding behavior, then we may consider the behavior not to be essential to the emotion.The JamesLange theory posits that emotional experience is largely due to the experience of bodily changes. The "

21、;functionalist" approach to emotions (for example, Nico Frijda and Freitas-Magalhaes holds that emotions have evolved for a particular function, such as to keep the subject safe. Theories about emotions stretch back at least as far as the stoics of ancient Greece, as well as Plato and Aristotle

22、. We also see sophisticated theories in the works of philosophers such as René Descartes,4 Baruch Spinoza5 and David Hume. Later theories of emotions tend to be informed by advances in empirical research. Often theories are not mutually exclusive and many researchers incorporate multiple perspe

23、ctives (theories in their work.Somatic theoriesSomatic theories of emotion claim that bodily responses rather than judgements are essential to emotions. The first modern version of such theories comes from William James in the 1880s. The theory lost favor in the 20th century, but has regained popula

24、rity more recently due largely to theorist s such as John Cacioppo, AntónioDamásio, Joseph E. LeDoux and Robert Zajonc who are able to appeal to neurological evidence.JamesLange theoryMain article: JamesLange theoryWilliam James, in the article "What is an Emotion?",6 argued that

25、 emotional experience is largely due to the experience of bodily changes. The Danish psychologist Carl Lange also proposed a similar theory at around the same time, so this position is known as the JamesLange theory. This theory and its derivatives state that a changed situation leads to a changed b

26、odily state. As James says "the perception of bodily changes as they occur is the emotion." James further claims that "we feel sad because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble, and neither we cry, strike, nor tremble because we are sorry, angry, or fearful, as th

27、e case may be."6This theory is supported by experiments in which by manipulating the bodily state, a desired emotion is induced.7 Such experiments also have therapeutic implications (for example, in laughter therapy, dance therapy. Some people may believe that emotions give rise to emotion-spec

28、ific actions: e.g. "I'm crying because I'm sad," or "I ran away because I was scared." The JamesLange theory, conversely, asserts that first we react to a situation (running away and crying happen before the emotion, and then we interpret our actions into an emotional res

29、ponse. In this way, emotions serve to explain and organize our own actions to us.The JamesLange theory has now been all but abandoned by most scholars.8Tim Dalgleish (20049 states the following: The JamesLange theory has remained influential. Its main contribution is the emphasis it places on the em

30、bodiment of emotions, especially the argument that changes in the bodily concomitants of emotions can alter their experienced intensity. Most contemporary neuroscientists would endorse a modified JamesLange view in which bodily feedback modulates the experience of emotion." (p. 583The issue wit

31、h the JamesLange theory is that of causation (bodily states causing emotions and being a priori, not that of the bodily influences on emotional experience (which can be argued is still quite prevalent today in biofeedback studies and embodiment theory.Neurobiological theoriesBased on discoveries mad

32、e through neural mapping of the limbic system, the neurobiological explanation of human emotion is that emotion is a pleasant or unpleasant mental state organized in the limbic system of the mammalian brain. If distinguished from reactive responses of reptiles, emotions would then be mammalian elabo

33、rations of general vertebrate arousal patterns, in which neurochemicals (for example, dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin step-up or step-down the brain's activity level, as visible in body movements, gestures, and postures.For example, the emotion of love is proposed to be the expression of

34、paleocircuits of the mammalian brain (specifically, modules of the cingulate gyrus which facilitate the care, feeding, and grooming of offspring. Paleocircuits are neural platforms for bodily expression configured before the advent of cortical circuits for speech. They consist of pre-configured path

35、ways or networks of nerve cells in the forebrain, brain stem and spinal cord.The motor centers of reptiles react to sensory cues of vision, sound, touch, chemical, gravity, and motion with pre-set body movements and programmed postures. With the arrival of night-active mammals, smell replaced vision

36、 as the dominant sense, and a different way of responding arose from the olfactory sense, which is proposed to have developed into mammalian emotion and emotional memory. The mammalian brain invested heavily in olfaction to succeed at night as reptiles sleptone explanation for why olfactory lobes in

37、 mammalian brains are proportionally larger than in the reptiles. These odor pathways gradually formed the neural blueprint for what was later to become our limbic brain.Emotions are thought to be related to certain activities in brain areas that direct our attention, motivate our behavior, and dete

38、rmine the significance of what is going on around us. Pioneering work by Broca (1878, Papez (1937, and MacLean (1952 suggested that emotion is related to a group of structures in the center of the brain called the limbic system, which includes the hypothalamus, cingulate cortex, hippocampi, and othe

39、r structures. More recent research has shown that some of these limbic structures are not as directly related to emotion as others are, while some non-limbic structures have been found to be of greater emotional relevance.珠三角Since economic liberalisation was adopted by the Chinese government in the

40、late 1970s, the delta has become one of the leading economic regions and a major manufacturing center of China and the world. The Chinese government hopes that the manufacturing in Guangdong, combined with the financial and service economy and traditional capitalistic influence in Hong Kong, will cr

41、eate an economic gateway attracting foreign capital throughout mainland China. The Pearl River Delta has been the most economically dynamic region of the People's Republic of China since the launch of Chinas reform programme in 1979. The region's GDP grew from just over US$8 billion in 1980

42、to more than US$89 billion in 2000. During that period, the average real rate of GDP growth in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone exceeded 16 percent, well above the PRC's national figure of under 10 percent. In 1991, almost 50% of foreign investment in China was in Guangdong, and 40% in the PR

43、D. By 2001 its GDP rose to just over US$100 billion and it was experiencing an annual growth rate more than three percentage points above the national growth rate. The abundance of employment opportunities created a pool of wealthy, middle-income, professional consumers with an annual per capita inc

44、ome that puts them among China's wealthiest. Since the onset of Chinas reform program, the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone has been the fastest growing portion of the fastest growing province in the fastest growing large economy in the world.According to the 2000 national Census, the Zone had a

45、population of 40.8 million people. Per capita income has been growing substantially in recent years, as have consumer expenditures.Although the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone encompasses only 0.4 percent of the land area and only 3.2 percent of the 2000 Census population of mainland China, it accou

46、nted for 8.7 percent of GDP, 35.8 percent of total trade, and 29.2 percent of utilised foreign capital in 2001. These figures show the remarkable level of economic development that the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone has achieved and the international orientation of the regions economy. This orienta

47、tion has attracted numerous investors from all over the world who use the Greater Pearl River Delta region as a platform for serving global and Chinese markets.As of 2008, the Central Government has introduced new labor laws, environmental and new regulations to reduce pollution, industrial disputes

48、, safer working conditions and protect the environment. The costs of producing low margin and commodity goods have increased. This is on top of the rising cost for energy, food, transport and the appreciation of the Reminbi against the falling US Dollar. Some manufacturers will need to cut costs by

49、moving up the value chain or moving to more undeveloped regions.3Significance of manufacturingSeveral streets in Guangzhou specialize in selling electronic components to the manufacturers of electric and electronic goodsThe Pearl River Delta has become the world's workshop and is a major manufac

50、turing base for products such as electronic products (such as watches and clocks, toys, garments and textiles, plastic products, and a range of other goods. Much of this output is invested by foreign entities and is geared for the export market. The Pearl River Delta Economic Zone accounts for appro

51、ximately one third of China's trade value.Private-owned enterprises have developed quickly in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone and are playing an ever-growing role in the region's economy, particularly after year 2000 when the development environment for private-owned enterprises has been

52、 greatly relaxed.Nearly five percent of the world's goods were produced in the Greater Pearl River Delta in 2001, with a total export value of US$ 289 billion. Over 70,000 Hong Kong companies have plants there.TheaterTheatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to presen

53、t the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance. Elements of design and stagecraft are used to enhance the physicality, presence and i

54、mmediacy of the experience.1 The specific place of the performance is also named by the word "theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek (théatron, “a place for viewing” and (theáomai, “to see", "to watch", "to observe”.Modern Western theatre derives in large

55、measure from ancient Greek drama, from which it borrows technical terminology, classification into genres, and many of its themes, stock characters, and plot elements. Theatre scholar Patrice Pavis defines theatricality, theatrical language, stage writing, and the specificity of theatre as synonymou

56、s expressions that differentiate theatre from the other performing arts, literature, and the arts in general.2 Theatre includes performances of plays and musicals. Although it can be defined broadly to include opera and ballet, those art forms are outside the scope of this article.DramaMain article:

57、 Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance.27 The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action", which is derived from "to do". The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of pr

58、oduction and a collective form of reception. The structure of dramatic texts, unlike other forms of literature, is directly influenced by this collaborative production and collective reception.28 The early modern tragedy Hamlet (1601 by Shakespeare and the classical Athenian tragedy Oedipus the King

59、 (c. 429 BCE by Sophocles are among the masterpieces of the art of drama.29 A modern example is Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene ONeill (1956.30Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been contrasted with the epic and the lyrical modes ever since Aristotle's

60、Poetics (c. 335 BCEthe earliest work of dramatic theory.31 The use of "drama" in the narrow sense to designate a specific type of play dates from the 19th century. Drama in this sense refers to a play that is neither a comedy nor a tragedyfor example, Zola's Thérèse Raquin (1873 or Chekhov's Ivanov (1887.Drama is ofte