托福阅读材料集锦大全

托福阅读材料集锦大全

为了让大家提高托福阅读水平，下面我给大家整理了一些阅读材料,

请笑纳~

托福阅读材料之天文学习题

在托福考试中，天文学科也从来都是被重点考察的学科之一。今

日就来跟大家共享两道托福TPO模考软件中天文学的阅读题目。

第一道题目来自于TPO8RunningWateronMars

Paragraph2:Outflowchannelsareprobablyrelicsofcatastrophic

floodingonMarslongago.Theyappearonlyinequatorialregionsand

generallydonotformextensiveinterconnectednetworks.Instead,they

areprobablythepathstakenbyhugevolumesofwaterdrainingfrom

thesouthernhighlandsintothenorthernplains.Theonrushingwater

arisingfromtheseflashfloodslikelyalsoformedtheodd

teardrop-shaped"islands”(resemblingtheminiatureversionsseenin

thewetsandofourbeachesatlowtide)thathavebeenfoundonthe

plainsclosetotheendsoftheoutflowchannels.Judgingfromthewidth

anddepthofthechannels,theflowratesmusthavebeentruly

enormous-perhapsasmuchasahundredtimesgreaterthanthe105

tonspersecondcarriedbythegreatAmazonriver.Floodingshapedthe

outflowchannelsapproximately3billionyearsago,aboutthesame

timesasthenorthernvolcanicplainsformed.

Question:Accordirgtoparagraph2,allofthefollowingaretrueof

theoutflowchannelsonMarsEXCEPT:

A.Theyformedataroundthesametimethatvolcanicactivitywas

occurringonthenorthernplains.

B.TheyarefoundonlyoncertainpartsoftheMartiansurface.

C.Theysometimesemptyontowhatappeartohaveoncebeenthe

wetsandsoftidalbeaches.

D.Theyarethoughttohavecarriedwaternorthwardfromthe

equatorialregions.

解析：题干问的是原文关于"outflowchannels〃的描述。在真正考

试中，把原文阅读完毕再去和选项比拟会花费较多时间。因此，比拟

合理的做题依次是，先读选项，然后拿选项和原文信息去比对。

A选项说的是outflowchannel的形成时间和火山活动在北部平原

的发生时间是一样的。快速阅读原文，只有在最终一句提到了它们的

形成时间，说也许在30亿年前，about引导的时间状语很重要，补充

说明白这一时间和北部火山平原形成的时间一样。A正确。

B选项说的是火山形成的地点，只在火星外表的特定区域。看原

文，其次句，说的是它们只在赤道区域出现。B也正确。

C选项说的是它们有时候会流到曾经的湿沙地上。原文在提到

tidalbeaches时，并没有提到这一信息，因此，C选项是不符合原义

的。

D选项说的是河水从赤道（南）向北流淌。和原文笫三句话吻合:

这些河流的走向是从南部凹凸到北部平原。

因此，此题的正确答案为C项。

其次道题目来自于TPO16PlanetsinOurSolarSystem

Paragraph4:Otherdimensionsalongwhichthetwogroupsdiffer

markedlyaredensityandcomposition.Thedensitiesoftheterrestrial

planetsaverageabout5timesthedensityofwater,whereastheJovian

planetshavedensitiesthataverageonly1.5timesthedensityofwater.

Oneoftheouterplanets,Saturn,hasadensityofonly0.7thatofwater,

whichmeansthatSaturnwouldfloatinwater.Variationsinthe

compositionoftheplanetsarelargelyresponsibleforthedensity

differences.Thesubstancesthatmakeupbothgroupofplanetsare

dividedintothreegroups-gases,rocks,andices-basedontheirmelting

points.Theterrestrialplanetsaremostlyrocks:denserockyandmetallic

material,withminoramountsofgases.TheJovianplanets,ontheother

hand,containalargepercentageofthegaseshydrogenandhelium,with

varyingamountsofices:mostlywater,ammonia,andmethaneices.

Question:Paragraph4mentionswhichofthefollowingasareason

whyterrestrialplanetsaredense?

A.Theyaremadeupofthreegroupsofsubstances.

B.Iheyarecomposedmainlyofrockyandmetallicmaterials.

C.TheycontainmoreicethanJovianplanets.

D.Theycontainrelativelysmallamountsofwater.

解析：题干问的是类地行星密度较大的缘由。那我们只需将做题

重点锁定在原文描述"density”的信息上即可。原文中含有density的

句子，第一句在说类地行星的密度和其他行星的密度比。其次句说的

是土星密度。第三句说到行星构造的不同影响着密度的不同。后面进

一步阐释组成行星的物质：气体，岩石以及冰。接着乂提到类地行星

主耍由岩石组成。明显，这就是它密度大的缘由。综合比拟，应当选

Bo

托福阅读材料之埃及罗塞塔石碑

ARosettaStoneforalostlanguage

0:11

Idliketobeginwithathoughtexperiment.Imaginethatits4,000

yearsintothefuture.Civilizationasweknowithasceasedtoexist-no

books,noelectronicdevices,noFacebookorTwitter.Allknowledgeof

theEnglishlanguageandtheEnglishalphabethasbeenlost.Now

imaginearcheologistsdiggingthroughtherubbleofoneofourcities.

Whatmighttheyfind?Wellperhapssomerectangularpiecesofplastic

withstrangesymbolsonthem.Perhapssomecircularpiecesofmetal.

Maybesomecylindricalcontainerswithsomesymbolsonthem.And

perhapsonearcheologistbecomesaninstantcelebritywhenshe

discovers-buriedinthehillssomewhereinNorthAmerica-massive

versionsofthesesamesymbols.Nowletsaskourselves,whatcouldsuch

artifactssayaboutustopeople4,000yearsintothefuture?

1:14

Thisisnohypotheticalquestion.Infact,thisisexactlythekindof

questionwerefacedwithwhenwetrytounderstandtheIndusValley

civilization,whichexisted4,000yearsago.TheInduscivilizationwas

roughlycontemporaneouswiththemuchbetterknownEgyptianandthe

Mesopotamiancivilizations,butitwasactuallymuchlargerthaneitherof

thesetwocivilizations.Itoccupiedtheareaofapproximatelyonemillion

squarekilometers,coveringwhatisnowPakistan,NorthwesternIndia

andpartsofAfghanistanandIran.Giventhatitwassuchavast

civilization,youmightexpecttofindreallypowerfulrulers,kings,and

hugemonumentsglorifyingthesepowerfulkings.Infact,what

archeologistshavefoundisnoneofthat.Theyvefoundsmallobjects

suchasthese.

1:59

Heresanexampleofoneoftheseobjects.Wellobviouslythisisa

replica.Butwhoisthisperson?Aking?Agod?Apriest?Orperhapsan

ordinarypersonlikeyouorme?Wedontknow.ButtheInduspeople

alsoleftbehindartifactswithwritingonthem.Wellno,notpiecesof

plastic,butstoneseals,coppertablets,potteryand,surprisingly,one

largesignboard,whichwasfoundburiednearthegateofacity.Nowwe

dontknowifitsaysHollywood,orevenBollywoodforthatmatter.Infact,

wedontevenknowwhatanyoftheseobjectssay,andthatsbecausethe

Indusscriptisundeciphered.Wedontknowwhatanyofthesesymbols

mean.

2:44

Thesymbolsaremostcommonlyfoundonseals.Soyouseeup

thereonesuchobject.Itsthesquareobjectwiththeunicorn-likeanimal

onit.Nowthatsamagnificentpieceofart.Sohowbigdoyouthinkthat

is?Perhapsthatbig?Ormaybethatbig?Wellletmeshowyou.Heresa

replicaofonesuchseal.Itsonlyaboutoneinchbyoneinchinsize-

prettytiny.Sowhatweretheseusedfor?Weknowthatthesewereused

forstampingclaytagsthatwereattachedtobundlesofgoodsthatwere

sentfromoneplacetotheother.Soyouknowthosepackingslipsyou

getonyourFedExboxes?Thesewereusedtomakethosekindsof

packingslips.Youmightwonderwhattheseobjectscontainintermsof

theirtext.Perhapstheyrethenameofthesenderorsomeinformation

aboutthegoodsthatarebeingsentfromoneplacetotheother-we

dontknow.Weneedtodecipherthescripttoansv/erthatquestion.

3:38

Decipheringthescriptisnotjustanintellectualpuzzle;itsactually

becomeaquestionthatsbecomedeeplyintertwinedwiththepolitics

andtheculturalhistoryofSouthAsia.Infact,thescripthasbecomea

battlegroundofsortsbetweenthreedifferentgroupsofpeople.First,

theresagroupofpeoplewhoareverypassionateintheirbeliefthatthe

Indusscriptdoesnotrepresentalanguageatall.Thesepeoplebelieve

thatthesymbolsareverysimilartothekindofsymbolsyoufindon

trafficsignsortheemblemsyoufindonshields.Theresasecondgroup

ofpeoplewhobelievethattheIndusscriptrepresentsanIndo-European

language.IfyoulookatamapofIndiatoday,youllseethatmostofthe

languagesspokeninNorthIndiabelongtotheIndo-Europeanlanguage

family.SosomepeoplebelievethattheIndusscriptrepresentsan

ancientIndo-EuropeanlanguagesuchasSanskrit.

4:28

TheresalastgroupofpeoplewhobelievethattheInduspeople

weretheancestorsofpeoplelivinginSouthIndiatoday.Thesepeople

believethattheIndusscriptrepresentsanancientformoftheDravidian

languagefamily,whichisthelanguagefamilyspokeninmuchofSouth

Indiatoday.Andtheproponentsofthistheorypointtothatsmallpocket

ofDravidian-speakingpeopleintheNorth,actuallynearAfghanistan,

andtheysaythatperhaps,sometimeinthepast,Dravidianlanguages

werespokenalloverIndiaandthatthissuggeststhattheIndus

civilizationisperhapsalsoDravidian.

5:03

Whichofthesehypothesescanbetrue?Wedontknow,but

perhapsifyoudecipheredthescript,youwouldbeabletoanswerthis

question.Butdecipheringthescriptisaverychallengingtask.First,

theresnoRosettaStone.Idontmeanthesoftware;Imeananancient

artifactthatcontainsinthesametextbothaknowntextandan

unknowntext.WedonthavesuchanartifactfortheIndusscript.And

furthermore,wedontevenknowwhatlanguagetheyspoke.Andto

makemattersevenworse,mostofthetextthatwehaveareextremely

short.SoasIshowedyou,theyreusuallyfoundonthesesealsthatare

very,verytiny.

5:37

Andsogiventheseformidableobstacles,onemightwonderand

worrywhetheronewilleverbeabletodeciphertheIndusscript.Inthe

restofmytalk,IdliketotellyouabouthowIlearnedtostop

worryingandlovethechallengeposedbytheIndusscript.Ivealways

beenfascinatedbytheIndusscripteversinceIreadaboutitinamiddle

schooltextbook.AndwhywasIfascinated?Wellitsthelastmajor

undecipheredscriptintheancientworld.Mycareerpathledmeto

becomeacomputationalneuroscientist,soinmydayjob,Icreate

computermodelsofthebraintotrytounderstandhowthebrainmakes

predictions,howthebrainmakesdecisions,howthebrainlearnsandso

on.

6:15

Butin20xx,mypathcrossedagainwiththeIndusscript.Thats

whenIwasinIndia,andIhadthewonderfulopportunitytomeetwith

someIndianscientistswhowereusingcomputermodelstotryto

analyzethescript.AndsoitwasthenthatIrealizedtherewasan

opportunityformetocollaboratewiththesescientists,andsoIjumped

atthatopportunity.AndIdliketodescribesomeoftheresultsthatwe

havefound.Orbetteryet,letsallcollectivelydecipher.Areyouready?

6:41

Thefirstthingthatyouneedtodowhenyouhaveanundeciphered

scriptistrytofigureoutthedirectionofwriting.Herearetwotextsthat

containsomesymbolsonthem.Canyoutellmeifthedirectionof

writingisrighttoleftorlefttoright?Illgiveyouacoupleofseconds.

Okay.Righttoleft,howmany?Okay.Okay.Lefttoright?Oh,itsalmost

50/50.Okay.Theansweris:ifyoulookattheleft-handsideofthetwo

texts,youllnoticethattheresacrampingofsigns,anditseemslike4,000

yearsago,whenthescribewaswritingfromrighttoleft,theyranoutof

space.Andsotheyhadtocramthesign.Oneofthesignsisalsobelow

thetextonthetop.Thissuggeststhedirectionofwritingwasprobably

fromrighttoleft,andsothatsoneofthefirstthingsweknow,that

directionalityisaverykeyaspectoflinguisticscripts.AndtheIndus

scriptnowhasthisparticularproperty.

7:34

Whatotherpropertiesoflanguagedoesthescriptshow?Languages

containpatterns.IfIgiveyoutheletterQandaskyoutopredictthenext

letter,whatdoyouthinkthatwouldbe?MostofyousaidU,whichis

right.NowifIaskedyoutopredictonemoreletter,whatdoyouthink

thatwouldbe?Nowtheresseveralthoughts.TheresE.ItcouldbeI.It

couldbeA,butcertainlynotB,CorD,right?TheIndusscriptalso

exhibitssimilarkindsofpatterns.Theresalotoftextthatstartwiththis

diamond-shapedsymbol.Andthisinturntendstobefollowedbythis

quotationmarks-likesymbol.AndthisisverysimilartoaQandU

example.Thissymbolcaninturnbefollowedbythesefish-likesymbols

andsomeothersigns,butneverbytheseothersignsatthebottom.And

furthermore,theressomesignsthatreallyprefertheendoftexts,suchas

thisjar-shapedsign,andthissign,infact,happenstobethemost

frequentlyoccurringsigninthescript.

8:24

Givensuchpatterns,herewasouridea.Theideawastousea

computertolearnthesepatterns,andsowegavethecomputerthe

existingtexts.Andthecomputerlearnedastatisticalmodelofwhich

symbolstendtooccurtogetherandwhichsymbolstendtofolloweach

other.Giventhecomputermodel,wecantestthemodelbyessentially

quizzingit.Sowecoulddeliberatelyerasesomesymbols,andwecanask

ittopredictthemissingsymbols.Herearesomeexamples.Youmay

regardthisasperhapsthemostancientgameofWheelofFortune.

9:04

Whatwefoundwasthatthecomputerwassuccessfulin75percent

ofthecasesinpredictingthecorrectsymbol.Intherestofthecases,

typicallythesecondbestguessorthirdbestguesswastherightanswer.

Theresalsopracticaluseforthisparticularprocedure.Theresalotof

thesetextsthataredamaged.Heresanexampleofonesuchtext.And

wecanusethecomputermodelnowtotrytocompletethistextand

makeabestguessprediction.Heresanexampleofasymbolthatwas

predicted.Andthiscouldbereallyusefulaswetrytodecipherthescript

bygeneratingmoredatathatwecananalyze.

9:36

Nowheresoneotherthingyoucandowiththecomputermodel.So

imagineamonkeysittingatakeyboard.Ithinkyoumightgetarandom

jumbleoflettersthatlookslikethis.Sucharandomjumbleoflettersis

saidtohaveaveryhighentropy.Thisisaphysicsandinformationtheory

term.Butjustimagineitsareallyrandomjumbleofletters.Howmanyof

youhaveeverspilledcoffeeonakeyboard?Youmighthaveencountered

thestuck-keyproblem-sobasicallythesamesymbolbeingrepeated

overandoveragain.Thiskindofasequenceissaidtohaveaverylow

entropybecausetheresnovariationatall.Language,ontheotherhand,

hasanintermediatelevelofentropy;itsneithertoorigid,norisittoo

random.WhatabouttheIndusscript?Heresagraphthatplotsthe

entropiesofawholebunchofsequences.Attheverytopyoufindthe

uniformlyrandomsequence,whichisarandomjumbleofletters-and

interestingly,wealsofindtheDNAsequencefromthehumangenome

andinstrumentalmusic.Andbothofthesearevery,veryflexible,which

iswhyyoufindthemintheveryhighrange.Atthelowerendofthescale,

youfindarigidsequence,asequenceofallAs,andyoualsofinda

computerprogram,inthiscaseinthelanguageFortran,whichobeys

reallystrictrules.Linguisticscriptsoccupythemiddlerange.

10:49

NowwhatabouttheIndusscript?WefoundthattheIndusscript

actuallyfallswithintherangeofthelinguisticscripts.Whenthisresult

wasfirstpublished,itwashighlycontroversial.Therewerepeoplewho

raisedahueandcry,andthesepeopleweretheoneswhobelievedthat

theIndusscriptdoesnotrepresentlanguage.Ievenstartedtogetsome

hatemail.MystudentssaidthatIshouldreallyseriouslyconsidergetting

someprotection.Whodhavethoughtthatdecipheringcouldbea

dangerousprofession?Whatdoesthisresultreallyshow?Itshowsthat

theIndusscriptsharesanimportantpropertyoflanguage.So,astheold

sayinggoes,ifitlookslikealinguisticscriptanditactslikealinguistic

script,thenperhapswemayhavealinguisticscriptonourhands.What

otherevidenceistherethatthescriptcouldactuallyencodelanguage?

11:38

Welllinguisticscriptscanactuallyencodemultiplelanguages.Sofor

example,heresthesamesentencewritteninEnglishandthesame

sentencewritteninDutchusingthesamelettersofthealphabet.Ifyou

dontknowDutchandyouonlyknowEnglishandIgiveyousomewords

inDutch,youlltellmethatthesewordscontainsomeveryunusual

patterns.Somethingsarenotright,andyoullsaythesewordsare

probablynotEnglishwords.Thesamethinghappensinthecaseofthe

Indusscript.Thecomputerfoundseveraltexts-twoofthemareshown

here-thathaveveryunusualpatterns.Soforexamplethefirsttext:

theresadoublingofthisjar-shapedsign.Thissignisthemost

frequently-occurringsignintheIndusscript,anditsonlyinthistextthat

itoccursasadoublingpair.

12:23

Whyisthatthecase?Wewentbackandlookedatwherethese

particulartextswerefound,anditturnsoutthattheywerefoundvery,

veryfarawayfromtheIndusValley.TheywerefoundinpresentdayIraq

andIran.Andwhyweretheyfoundthere?WhatIhaventtoldyouisthat

theInduspeoplewerevery,veryenterprising.Theyusedtotradewith

peopleprettyfarawayfromwheretheylived,andsointhiscase,they

weretravelingbyseaallthewaytoMesopotamia.,present-dayIraq.And

whatseemstohavehappenedhereisthattheIndustraders,the

merchants,wereusingthisscripttowriteaforeignlanguage.Itsjustlike

ourEnglishandDutchexample.Andthatwouldexplainwhywehave

thesestrangepatternsthatareverydifferentfromthekindsofpatterns

youseeinthetextthatarefoundwithintheIndusValley.Thissuggests

thatthesamescript,theIndusscript,couldbeusedtowritedifferent

languages.Theresultswehavesofarseemtopointtotheconclusion

thattheIndusscriptprobablydoesrepresentlanguage.

13:19

Ifitdoesrepresentlanguage,thenhowdowereadthesymbols?

Thatsournextbigchallenge.Soyoullnoticethatmanyofthesymbols

looklikepicturesofhumans,ofinsects,offishes,ofbirds.Mostancient

scriptsusetherebusprinciple,whichis,usingpicturestorepresent

words.Soasanexample,heresaword.Canyouwriteitusingpictures?

Illgiveyouacoupleseconds.Gotit?Okay.Great.Heresmysolution.You

couldusethepictureofabeefollowedbyapictureofaleaf-andthats

belief,right.Therecouldbeothersolutions.InthecaseoftheIndus

script,theproblemisthereverse.Youhavetofigureoutthesoundsof

eachofthesepicturessuchthattheentiresequencemakessense.So

thisisjustlikeacrosswordpuzzle,exceptthatthisisthemotherofall

crosswordpuzzlesbecausethestakesaresohighifyousolveit.

14:17

Mycolleagues,IravathamMahadevanandAskoParpola,havebeen

makingsomeheadwayonthisparticularproblem.AndIdliketogiveyou

aquickexampleofParpolaswork.Heresareallyshorttext.ltcontains

sevenverticalstrokesfollowedbythisfish-likesign.AndIwantto

mentionthatthesesealswereusedforstampingclaytagsthatwere

attachedtobundlesofgoods,soitsquitelikelythatthesetags,atleast

someofthem,containnamesofmerchants.AnditturnsoutthatinIndia

theresalongtraditionofnamesbeingbasedonhoroscopesandstar

constellationspresentatthetimeofbirth.InDravidianlanguages,the

wordforfishismeenwhichhappenstosoundjustlikethewordfor

star.Andsosevenstarswouldstandforelumeen,whichistheDravidian

wordfortheBigDipperstarconstellation.Similarly,theresanother

sequenceofsixstars,andthattranslatestoarumeen,whichistheold

DravidiannameforthestarconstellationPleiades.Andfinally,theres

othercombinations,suchasthisfishsignwithsomethingthatlookslikea

roofontopofit.Andthatcouldbetranslatedintomeymeen,whichis

theoldDravidiannamefortheplanetSaturn.Sothatwasprettyexciting.

Itlookslikeweregettingsomewhere.

15:29

ButdoesthisprovethatthesesealscontainDravidiannamesbased

onplanetsandstarconstellations?Wellnotyet.Sowehavenowayof

validatingtheseparticularreadings,butifmoreandmoreofthese

readingsstartmakingsense,andiflongerandlongersequencesappear

tobecorrect,thenweknowthatweareontherighttrack.Today,wecan

writeawordsuchasTEDinEgyptianhieroglyphicsandincuneiform

script,becausebothoftheseweredecipheredinthe19thcentury.The

deciphermentofthesetwoscriptsenabledthesecivilizationstospeakto

usagaindirectly.TheMayansstartedspeakingtousinthe20thcentury,

buttheInduscivilizationremainssilent.

16:14

Whyshouldwecare?TheInduscivilizationdoesnotbelongtojust

theSouthIndiansortheNorthIndiansorthePakistanis;itbelongstoall

ofus.Theseareourancestors-yoursandmine.Theyweresilencedby

anunfortunateaccidentofhistory.Ifwedecipherthescript,wewould

enablethemtospeaktousagain.Whatwouldtheytellus?Whatwould

wefindoutaboutthem?Aboutus?Icantwaittofindout.

16:45

Thankyou.

16:47

托福阅读材料之空气污奥问题

AirPollution

ComesFromManySources

Hereswhatyouneedtoknowaboutthewarmingplanet,howits

affectingus,andwhatsatstake.

Smoghangingovercitiesisthemostfamiliarandobviousformof

airpollution.Buttherearedifferentkindsofpollution—somevisible,

someinvisible—thatcontributetoglobalwarming.Generallyany

substancethatpeopleintroduceintotheatmospherethathasdamaging

effectsonlivingthingsandtheenvironmentisconsideredairpollution.

Carbondioxide,agreenhousegas,isthemainpollutantthatis

warmingEarth.Thoughlivingthingsemitcarbondioxidewhenthey

breathe,carbondioxideiswidelyconsideredtobeapollutantwhen

associatedwithcar