【托福考前必备资料】托福阅读背景知识-The Civil War

TPO50阅读-1American Railroads原文 (1)译文 (2)题目 (3)答案 (8)背景知识 (9)原文American Railroads①In the United States,railroads spearheaded the second phase of the transportation revolution by overtaking the previous importance of canals.The mid-1800s saw a great expansion of American railroads.The major cities east of the Mississippi River were linked by a spiderweb of railroad tracks.Chicago's growth illustrates the impact of these rail links.In1849Chicago was a village of a few hundred people with virtually no rail service.By1860it had become a city of 100,000,served by eleven railroads.Farmers to the north and west of Chicago no longer had to ship their grain,livestock,and dairy products down the Mississippi River to New Orleans;they could now ship their products directly east.Chicago supplanted New Orleans as the interior of America's main commercial hub.②The east-west rail lines stimulated the settlement and agricultural development of the Midwest.By1860Illinois,Indiana,and Wisconsin had replaced Ohio, Pennsylvania,and New York as the leading wheat-growing states.Enabling farmers to speed their products to the East,railroads increased the value of farmland and promoted additional settlement.In turn,population growth in agricultural areas triggered industrial development in cities such as Chicago,Davenport(Iowa),and Minneapolis,for the new settlers needed lumber for fences and houses and mills to grind wheat into flour.③Railroads also propelled the growth of small towns along their routes.The Illinois Central Railroad,which had more track than any other railroad in1855, made money not only from its traffic but also from real estate speculation. Purchasing land for stations along its path,the Illinois Central then laid out towns around the stations.The selection of Manteno,Illinois,as a stop of the Illinois Central,for example,transformed the site from a crossroads without a single house in1854into a bustling town of nearly a thousand in1860,replete with hotels,lumberyards,grain elevators,and gristmills.By the Civil War(1861-1865), few thought of the railroad-linked Midwest as a frontier region or viewed its inhabitants as pioneers.④As the nation's first big business,the railroads transformed the conduct ofbusiness.During the early1830s,railroads,like canals,depended on financial aid from state governments.With the onset of economic depression in the late1830s, however,state governments scrapped overly ambitious railroad projects. Convinced that railroads burdened them with high taxes and blasted hopes,voters turned against state aid,and in the early1840s,several states amended their constitutions to bar state funding for railroads and canals.The federal government took up some of the slack,but federal aid did not provide a major stimulus to railroads before1860.Rather,part of the burden of finance passed to city and county governments in agricultural areas that wanted to attract railroads.Such municipal governments,for example,often gave railroads rights-of-way,grants of land for stations,and public funds.⑤The dramatic expansion of the railroad network in the1850s,however,strained the financing capacity of local governments and required a turn toward private investment,which had never been absent from the picture.Well aware of the economic benefits of railroads,individuals living near them had long purchased railroad stock issued by governments and had directly bought stock in railroads, often paying by contributing their labor to building the railroads.But the large railroads of the1850s needed more capital than such small investors could generate.Gradually,the center of railroad financing shifted to New York City,and in fact,it was the railroad boom of the1850s that helped make Wall Street in New York City the nation's greatest capital market.The stocks of all the leading railroads were traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during the1850s.In addition,the growth of railroads turned New York City into the center of modern investment firms.The investment firms evaluated the stock of railroads in the smaller American cities and then found purchasers for these stocks in New York City,Philadelphia,Paris,London,Amsterdam,and Hamburg.Controlling the flow of funds to railroads,the investment bankers began to exert influence over the railroads'internal affairs by supervising administrative reorganizations in times of trouble.译文美国铁路①在美国，铁路超越了运河从前的重要性，成为运输革命第二阶段的先锋。

托福阅读辅导:老托福阅读真题及答案passage29为了帮助大家备考托福阅读，练习更多阅读题目。

提高阅读水平，下面小编给大家带来托福阅读辅导:老托福阅读真题及答案PASSAGE 29，希望对大家有所帮助!:老托福阅读文本 passage29During 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 byhorses. Since steam-powered threshing machines were costly items —running from $ 1,000 to $4,000 —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.老托福阅读题目 passage291. 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 farming2. The word "crucial" in line 4 is closest in meaning to(A) obvious(B) unbelievable(C) important(D) desirable3. The phrase "avail themselves" in line 11 is closest in meaning to(A) take care(B) make use(C) get rid(D) do more4. 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 operate7. The word "they" in line 19 refers to(A) grain stalks(B) threshing machines(C) steam engines(D) horses8. 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 own9. The word "ponderous" in line 21 is closest in meaning to(A) advanced(B) heavy(C) complex(D) rapid老托福阅读答案 passage29ACBDC ABDB托福技巧：托福阅读做题要以TOEFL真题为基础托福阅读实战经验分享：词汇掌握了，你会发现阅读变得轻松很多。

31“黑色幽默”进入60年代之后，人们对生活中的“非理性”和“异化”现象，有了更深切的体会。

有些作家在作品中，用夸张、超现实的手法，将欢乐与痛苦、可笑与可怖、柔情与残酷、荒唐古怪与一本正经揉和在一起，使读者哭笑不得，感到不安，从而对生活能有更深一层的认识。

作者对世界前景的看法往往是悲观的。

这就是“黑色幽默”文学，代表作有海勒的《第二十二条军规》(1961)等。

有人将阿尔比的作品也列入“黑色幽默”派中。

阿尔比是美国荒诞派戏剧的代表人物。

他的喜剧并没有什么滑稽、幽默的成分，但是在使读者感到不安这一点上与“黑色幽默”一致。

这说明荒诞派戏剧与“黑色幽默”小说之间存在着血缘关系。

“非虚构小说”60、70年代，出现了“新新闻报道”或“非虚构小说”这一种新的文学样式。

有些作家认为现实生活的离奇已经超过了作家的想象力，与其虚构小说，不如用写小说的手法来描绘引起社会轰动的事件。

这样的体裁允许报道者描写事件时掺杂自己的观察和想象，也可以采用各种象征手法。

这种作品比一般报告文学深人细致，其中也包括作者的观察与想象，带有更多的作者个人色彩，艺术感染力较强，例如卡波特的《凶杀》(1966)与梅勒的《刽子手之歌》(1979)。

犹太人文学美国当代作家中，犹太裔作家占相当大的比重，犹太人文学几乎可以视为一种“次文化”或“文化支流”。

犹太人文学作品一般都具有古老的欧洲文化与现代的美国文化的双重色彩，两种文化的冲突与归并使犹太人文学增加了复杂性。

宗教思想与同胞遭到屠杀使犹太作家产生犯罪感与负疚感，历史的命运又使他们有流浪感与漂泊感，美国的异化社会也使他们感到找不到归宿。

因此，寻找“自我本质”便成为他们的作品中一个突出的主题。

有代表性的作品是贝洛的《奥吉。

玛琪历险记》。

实际上，这是犹太民族确立自己的民族地位与民族尊严的一种表现。

70年代后期，代表西方较新思想体系的贝洛与属于意第绪文化传统的辛格(1904- )相继得到诺贝尔奖金，说明犹太人文学在美国文学中的重要性。

新托福阅读背景知识精选篇新托福阅读背景知识：大苹果纽约大苹果纽约纽约，世界最大的城市，在这里，摩天大厦林立，有著名的第五大道(Fifth Avenue俗称第五街)、对世界经济极具影响力的华尔街Wall Street，以及艺术家们响往的格林威治村Greenwich Village。

帝国大厦EmpireStateBuilding长时期来象征著纽约摩天大楼的高达102层超高层大厦。

顶层高度达1，250英尺(381公尺)。

在第86楼上有一展望台，气候晴朗时，可以眺望周围50英里以内的景色。

洛克斐勒中心Rockefeller Center呈现美国典型的一面，在都市建筑学方面也颇饶兴趣的商业与娱乐中心。

自第49街与第50街之间，通过第五街的Promenade Gardens内，四季花草茂盛，美丽如图画，公园四周是具有代表性意义的大厦，诸如Paulding、RadioCityMusicHall,CenterTheatre等。

NBC与ABC的制作室就是RCA大厦的第70楼。

自由女神StatueofLiberty世界著名的自由女神像，位于纽约湾的利勃坦岛上，像高约46公尺。

自由女神像内部中空，可搭电梯直达神像头部。

此外，还有新设的移民博物馆Immigration Museum。

联合国theUnitedNations纽约的历史系由曼顿产生，而现代世界史则与联合国密切相关。

自第42街起直到第48街上，在广达18英亩的地基上，就兴建着著名的联合国大厦。

联合国容许观光客依到达先后次序入内参观会议情形。

中国城Chinatown中国城已具有百年以上的历史，城内居住的华裔第二代约有六千人。

中国城位于Chatham Square的西边一部份，城中主要街道为Mott。

城内有中国博物馆。

大都会美术馆TheMetropolitanMuseumofArt乃是世界最大美术馆之一。

自由代东方到现代，有关美术史的重要事项，一一呈现眼前。

内中有一美国馆，可由馆中陈列品窥知初期美国人的生活状况。

托福阅读真题及答案：PASSAGE 1By the mid-nineteenth century, the term "icebox" had entered the American language, but ice was still only beginning to affect the dietof ordinary citizens in the United States. The ice trade grew with the growth of cities. Ice was used in hotels, taverns, and hospitals, and by some forward-looking city dealers in fresh meat, fresh fish, and butter. After the Civil War (1861-1865), as ice was used to refrigerate freight cars, it also came into household use. Even before 1880, half the ice sold in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and one-third of thatsold in Boston and Chicago, went to families for their own use. This had become possible because a new household convenience, the icebox, a precursor of the modern refrigerator, had been invented.Making an efficient icebox was not as easy as we might now suppose. In the early nineteenth century, the knowledge of the physicsof heat, which was essential to a science of refrigeration, was rudimentary. The commonsense notion that the best icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting was of course mistaken, for it was the melting of the ice that performed the cooling. Nevertheless, earlyefforts to economize ice included wrapping the ice in blankets, which kept the ice from doing its job. Not until near the end of thenineteenth century did inventors achieve the delicate balance of insulation and circulation needed for an efficient icebox.But as early as 1803, an ingenious Maryland farmer, Thomas Moore, had been on the right track. He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of Washington, for which the village of Georgetown was the market center. When he used an icebox of his own design to transport his butter to market, he found that customers would pass up the rapidly melting stuff in the tubs of his competitors to pay a premium price for his butter, still fresh and hard in neat, one-pound bricks. One advantage of his icebox, Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have to travel to market at night in order to keep their produce cool.1. What does the passage mainly discuss?(A) The influence of ice on the diet(B) The development of refrigeration(C) The transportation of goods to market(D) Sources of ice in the nineteenth century2. According to the passage , when did the word "icebox" become part of the language of the United States?(A) in 1803(B) sometime before 1850(C) during the civil war(D) near the end of the nineteenth century3. The phrase "forward-looking" in line 4 is closest in meaning to(A) progressive(B) popular(C) thrifty(D) well-established4. The author mentions fish in line 4 because(A) many fish dealers also sold ice(B) fish was shipped in refrigerated freight cars(C) fish dealers were among the early commercial users of ice(D) fish was not part of the ordinary person's diet before the invention of the icebox5. The word "it" in line 5 refers to(A) fresh meat(B) the Civil War(C) ice(D) a refrigerator6. According to the passage , which of the following was an obstacle to the development of the icebox?(A) Competition among the owners of refrigerated freight cars(B) The lack of a network for the distribution of ice(C) The use of insufficient insulation(D) Inadequate understanding of physics7. The word "rudimentary" in line 12 is closest in meaning to(A) growing(B) undeveloped(C) necessary(D) uninteresting8. According to the information in the second paragraph, an ideal icebox would(A) completely prevent ice from melting(B) stop air from circulating(C) allow ice to melt slowly(D) use blankets to conserve ice9. The author describes Thomas Moore as having been "on the right track" (lines 18-19) to indicate that(A) the road to the market passed close to Moore's farm(B) Moore was an honest merchant(C) Moore was a prosperous farmer(D) Moore's design was fairly successful10. According to the passage , Moore's icebox allowed him to(A) charge more for his butter(B) travel to market at night(C) manufacture butter more quickly(D) produce ice all year round11. The "produce" mentioned in line 25 could include(A) iceboxes(B) butter(C) ice(D) markets正确答案：BBACC DBCDA B。

老托福阅读试题及答案：PASSAGE19为了帮助大家备考托福阅读，提高成绩，下面小编给大家带来老托福阅读真题及答案:passage 19，希望大家喜欢!老托福阅读试题及答案：PASSAGE 19The principal difference between urban growth in Europe and in the North American colonies was the slow evolution of cities in the former and their rapid growth in the latter. In Europe they grew over a period of centuries from town economies to their present urban structure. In North America, they started as wilderness communities and developed to mature urbanism in little more than a century.In the early colonial days in North America, small cities sprang up along the Atlantic Coastline, mostly in what are now New England and Middle Atlantic states in the United States and in the lower Saint Lawrence valley in Canada. This was natural because these areas were nearest to England and France, particularly England, from which most capital goods (assets such as equipment) and many consumer goods were imported. Merchandising establishments were, accordingly, advantageously located in port cities from which goods could be readily distributed to interior settlements. Here, too, were the favored locations for processing raw materials prior to export. Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Montreal, and other cities flourished, and, as the colonies grew, these cities increased in importance.This was less true in the colonial South, where life centered around large farms, known as plantations, rather than around towns, as was the case in the areas further north along the Atlantic coastline. The local isolation and the economic self-sufficiency of the plantations were antagonistic to the development of the towns. The plantations maintained their independence because they were located on navigable streams and each had a wharf accessible to the small shipping of that day. In fact, one of the strongest factors in the selection of plantation land was the desire to have its front on a water highway.When the United States became an independent nation in 1776, it did not have a single city as large as 50,000 inhabitants, but by 1820 it had a city of more than 10,000 people, and by 1880 it had recorded a city of over one million. It was not until after 1823, after the mechanization of the spinning had weaving industries, that cities started drawing young people away from farms. Such migration was particularly rapid following the Civil War (1861-1865).1. What does the passage mainly discuss?(A) Factors that slowed the growth of cities in Europe.(B) The evolution of cities in North America(C) Trade between North American and European cities(D) The effects of the United Sates' independence on urban growth in New England.2. The word "they" in line 4 refers to(A) North American colonies(B) cities(C) centuries(D) town economies3. The passage compares early European and North American cities on the basis of which of the following?(A) Their economic success(B) The type of merchandise they exported(C) Their ability to distribute goods to interior settlements(D) The pace of their development4. The word "accordingly" in line 11 is closest in meaning to(A) as usual(B) in contrast(C) to some degree(D) for that reason5. According to the passage , early colonial cities were established along the Atlantic coastline of North America due to(A) an abundance of natural resources(B) financial support from colonial governments(C) proximity to parts of Europe(D) a favorable climate6. The passage indicates that during colonial times, the Atlantic coastline cities prepared which of the following for shipment to Europe?(A) Manufacturing equipment(B) Capital goods(C) Consumer goods(D) Raw materials7. According to the passage , all of the following aspects of the plantation system influenced the growth of southern cities EXCEPT the(A) location of the plantations(B) access of plantation owners to shipping(C) relationships between plantation residents and city residents(D) economic self-sufficiency of the plantations8. It can be inferred from the passage that, in comparison with northern cities, most southern cities were(A) more prosperous(B) smaller(C) less economically self-sufficient(D) tied less closely to England than to France9. The word "recorded" in line 26 is closest in meaning to(A) imagined(B) discovered(C) documented(D) planned10. The word "drawing" in line 28 is closest in meaning to(A) attracting(B) employing(C) instructing(D) representing11. The passage mentions the period following the Civil War (line 29) because it was a time of(A) significant obstacles to industrial growth(B) decreased dependence on foreign trade(C) increased numbers of people leaving employment on farms(D) increased migration from northern states to southern states正确答案： BBDDC DCBCA C提升托福阅读能力的方法有哪些？方法一：概括地观察在练习时我们会读一些文章或者段子，首先我们可以进行略读。

托福阅读经典加试：苏美尔文明来源: 太傻网考试频道整理时间: 2008年07月04日Mesopotamia的背景：美索不达米亚亚洲西南部Tigris 和Euphrates 两河流域间的古王国,美索不达米亚古代西南亚介于底格里斯河和幼发拉底河之间的一个地区，位于现在的伊拉克境内。

可能在公元前5000年以前就开始有人在此定居。

这一地区孕育了众多的人类早期文明，其中包括苏美尔文明、阿卡德文明、巴比伦文明和亚述文明。

蒙古侵略者在公元1258年破坏了该地区发达的灌溉系统之后，这一地区的重要性就此减小。

其中巴比伦文明以其成就斐然而成为两河流域文明的典范，古巴比伦王国与古埃及、古印度和中国构成了人们所说的世界四大文明古国。

尼罗河文明：发源于非洲尼罗河（Nile）流域，又称古埃及文明，其历史也可追溯到公元前4000年。

公元前3100年左右，上埃及国王美尼斯统一上下埃及，开始了史称的埃及王朝时期，也就代表了古埃及文明的正式开始。

美索布达米娅文化Sumerian civilization第一段：美文化和埃及文化同时，但因为美的地域限制一直没有统一。

（有题）平原，经常受到入侵，四周沙漠，生活好，不统一。

开头，it is astonishing that...两个地方在同一时间产生了两种文化，并且互有交流。

一个是尼罗河的埃及文化，一个是两河流域的M地文化。

埃及文化仰仗尼罗河，河水孕育了富饶的土地，两岸有沙漠作为自然屏障。

M地不一样，河水土地narrow and shallow,周围没有起保护作用的天然屏障第二段：直到一种S人来统一，说了他们的来源和历史，他们建立了一种s文化第三段：S文化的实物遗迹少，这又两方面原因：一当地石料不丰富二当地人没有厚葬的习惯。

所以对S的了解主要基于文字。

当初美索不达米亚的居民生活好像挺好的，所以一直没有人提出统一的想法，很久以后才有，可是由于大量的花费在战争上什么的，很快就覆灭了。

由于当时的环境条件，那里的人们都用泥土/木头盖房子，所以和埃及不一样，现在我们没找到什么当初留下的建筑物。

托福阅读背景知识托福阅读背景知识关于美国的历史The continent's first inhabitants walked into North America across what is now the Bering Strait from Asia. For the next 20,000 years these pioneering settlers were essentially left alone to develop distinct and dynamic cultures. In the modern US, their descendants include the Pueblo people in what is now New Mexico; Apache in Texas; Navajo in Arizona, Colorado and Utah; Hopi in Arizona; Crow in Montana; Cherokee in North Carolina; and Mohawk and Iroquois in New York State.The Norwegian explorer Leif Eriksson was the first European to reach North America, some 500 years before a disoriented Columbus accidentally discovered 'Indians' in Hispaniola （now the Dominican Republic and Haiti） in 1492. By the mid-1550s, much of the Americas had been poked and prodded by a parade of explorers from Spain, Portugal, England and France.The first colonies attracted immigrants looking to get rich quickly and return home, but they were soon followed by migrants whose primary goal was to colonize. The Spanish founded the first permanent European settlement in St Augustine, Florida, in 1565; the French moved in on Maine in 1602, and Jamestown, Virginia, became the first British settlement in 1607. The first Africans arrived as 'indentured laborers' with the Brits a year prior to English Puritan pilgrims' escape of religious persecution. The pilgrims founded a colony at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, in 1620 and signed the famous Mayflower Compact - a declaration of self-government that would later be echoed in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. British attempts to assert authority in its 13 North American colonies led to the French and Indian War （1757-63）. The British were victorious but were left with a nasty war debt, which they tried to recoup by imposing new taxes. The rallying cry 'no taxation without representation' united the colonies, who ceremoniously dumped caffeinated cargo overboard during the Boston Tea Party. Besieged British general Cornwallis surrendered to American commander George Washington five years later at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781. In the 19th century, America's mantra was 'Manifest Destiny.' A combination of land purchases, diplomacy and outright wars of conquest had by 1850 given the US roughly its present shape. In 1803, Napoleondumped the entire Great Plains for a pittance, and Spain chipped in with Florida in 1819. The Battle of the Alamo during the 1835 Texan Revolution paved the way for Texan independence from Mexico, and the war with Mexico （1846-48） secured most of the southwest, including California.The systematic annihilation of the buffalo hunted by the Plains Indians, encroachment on their lands, and treaties not worth the paper they were written on led to Native Americans being herded into reservations, deprived of both their livelihoods and their spiritual connection to their land. Nineteenth-century immigration drastically altered the cultural landscape as settlers of predominantly British stock were joined by Central Europeans and Chinese, many attracted by the 1849 gold rush in California. The South remained firmly committed to an agrarian life heavily reliant on African American slave labor. Tensions were on the rise when abolitionist Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860. The South seceded from the Union, and the Civil War, by far the bloodiest war in America's history, began the following year. The North prevailed in 1865, freed the slaves and introduced universal adult male suffrage. Lincoln's vision for reconstruction, however, died with his assassination. America's trouncing of the Spaniards in 1898 marked the USA's ascendancy as a superpower and woke the country out of its isolationist slumber.The US still did its best not to get its feet dirty in WWI's trenches, but finally capitulated in 1917, sending over a million troops to help sort out the pesky Germans. Postwar celebrations were cut short by Prohibition in 1920, which banned alcohol in the country. The 1929 stock-market crash signaled the start of the Great Depression and eventually brought about Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, which sought to lift the country back to prosperity. After the Japanese dropped in uninvited on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the US played a major role in defeating the Axis powers. Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 not only ended the war with Japan, but ushered in the nuclear age. The end of WWII segued into the Cold War - a period of great domestic prosperity and a surface uniformity belied by paranoia and betrayal. Politicians like Senator Joe McCarthy took advantage of the climate to fan anticommunist flames, while the USSR and USA stockpiled nuclear weapons and fought wars by proxy in Korea, Africa and Southeast Asia. Tensions between the two countries reached their peak in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis.The 1960s was a decade of profound social change, thanks largely to the Civil Rights movement, Vietnam War protests and the discovery of sex, drugs and rock & roll. The Civil Rights movement gained momentum in 1955 with a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. As a nonviolent mass protest movement, it aimed at breaking down segregation and regaining the vote for disfranchised Southern blacks. The movement peaked in 1963 with Martin Luther King Jr's 'I have a dream speech' in Washington, DC, and the passage of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act. Meanwhile, America's youth were rejecting the conformity of the previous decade, growing their hair long and smoking lots of dope. 'Tune in, turn on, drop out' was the mantra of a generation who protested heavily （and not disinterestedly） against the war in Vietnam. Assassinations of prominent political leaders - John and Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr - took a little gloss off the party, and the American troops mired in Vietnam took off the rest. NASA's moon landing in 1969 did little to restore national pride. In 1974 Richard Nixon became the first US president to resign from office, due to his involvement in the cover-up of the Watergate burglaries, bringing American patriotism to a new low.The 1970s and '80s were a period of technological advancement and declining industrialism. Self image took a battering at the hands of Iranian Ayatollah Khomeni. A conservative backlash, symbolized by the election and popular two-term presidency of actor Ronald Reagan, sought to put some backbone in the country.The US then concentrated on bullying its poor neighbors in Central America and the Caribbean, meddling in the affairs of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and Grenada. The collapse of the Soviet Bloc's 'Evil Empire' in 1991 left the US as the world's sole superpower, and the Gulf War in 1992 gave George Bush the opportunity to lead a coalition supposedly representing a 'new world order' into battle against Iraq. Domestic matters, such as health reform, gun ownership, drugs, racial tension, gay rights, balancing the budget, the tenacious Whitewater scandal and the Monica Lewinsky 'Fornigate' affair tended to overshadow international concerns during the Clinton administration. In a bid to kickstart its then-ailing economy, the USA signed NAFTA, a free-trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, in 1993, invaded Haiti in its role of upholder of democracy in 1994, committed thousands of troops to peacekeeping operations in Bosnia in 1995, hosted the Olympics in 1996 and enjoyed,over the past few years, the fruits of a bull market on Wall St. The 2000 presidential election made history by being the most highly contested race in the nation's history.The Democratic candidate, Al Gore, secured the majority of the popular vote but lost the election when all of Florida's electoral college votes went to George W Bush, who was ahead of Gore in that state by only 500 votes. Demands for recounts, a ruling by the Florida Supreme Court in favor of partial recounts, and a handful of lawsuits generated by both parties were brought to a halt when the US Supreme Court split along party lines and ruled that all recounts should cease. After five tumultuous weeks, Bush was declared the winner. The early part of Bush's presidency saw the US face international tension, with renewed violence in the Middle East, a spy-plane standoff with China and nearly global disapproval of US foreign policy with regard to the environment. On the domestic front, a considerably weakened economy provided challenges for national policymakers. Whether the US can continue to hold onto its dominant position on the world stage and rejuvenate its economy remains to be seen.英属北美殖民地的建立（1607——1733）北美洲原始居民为印第安人。

托福阅读背景知识汇总托福考试中，阅读想要做的又快有准确，不仅需要提升英语阅读能力，还要掌握阅读背景知识。

下面就和大家分享托福阅读背景知识知多少，来欣赏一下吧。

托福阅读背景知识知多少阅读背景知识汇总一.考古学(archaeology)题材1.文化(cultural )考古学形态(physical)考古学(多见)2.化石(fossil )化石构成。

化石比原物更沉重(矿物质环境)化石形成原因。

坚硬物质，迅速掩埋。

化石与动物的进化关系。

3.人的左右手使用工具。

证据：敲击的划痕;手柄的形状。

牙齿上的划痕。

大脑左右半球的大小差别;趾骨的粗细差别。

作画时人像的方向4.古代陶瓷的考古。

Clay，model，wheel (转盘)，glaze，kiln5.古代文字的考古。

二.印第安题材1.白令海峡移民理论2.印第安文化3.印第安宗教观4.印第安建筑业：大、先进。

5.印第安手工业：好。

6.社会组织结构：严密、分工细、凝聚力强。

7.农业先进：A. irrigation; B. maize，squash，bean，pea。

三.动植物题材(必考)1.植物学题材(不多见)地衣、苔、真菌、蘑菇最常见。

树冠上方生物。

植物在生态平衡中的作用。

2.动物学题材(90%以上)考普通动物为多。

最近常考鸟类、蚂蚁、动物智能与灭绝(联系天文学与冰河理论)。

考动物进化(evolution)。

考动物的分类(classification)。

phyla(单数phylum)—门class—纲order—目family—科genus—属species—种carnivore/predator—食肉动物herbivore—食草动物omnivore—杂食动物动物的生活习性最为多见。

群居(social animal)动物的习性蚂蚁：社会组织结构—等级制(caste)：交流方式—信息素—气味;生活****;外来物种的有害性。

蜜蜂：群居个性;“8”字舞;蜜蜂智能;防御;天敌—大黄蜂。

托福考试阅读背景知识（下）第二次世界大战后第二次世界大战规模空前。

战争中发生的事，如600万犹太人被屠杀，原子弹在广岛爆炸，使美国知识分子感到震惊。

他们怀疑人性是否还有善良的一面，也感到人难以控制自己制造出来的巨大物质力量。

他们对文明与进步的信念发生了极大动摇。

50年代在“冷战”、麦卡锡主义和朝鲜战争的背景下，文坛趋于沉寂；印、70年代，经过越南战争、民权运动、学生运动、女权运动、水门案件，文坛活跃起来，出现了一批爱思索的作家。

在他们眼里，美国的社会变得十分复杂，价值观念混乱。

他们普遍感到不知怎样解释这样的现实，于是便通过怪诞、幻想、夸张的方式，再现生活中的混乱、恐怖和疯狂。

他们表现的是没有目标与方向的梦境世界他们讲的是支离破碎的故事，写的是“反英雄”、甚至是不完整的形象。

这个时期，文学作品中对**(包括同性爱)的描写也更为；露骨。

战争文学战后出现的第一股文学浪潮是战争小说。

其中较好的是梅勒的《裸者和死者》(1948)和詹姆斯·琼斯的《从这里到永恒》(1951)。

两部书的共同点是通过战争，写小兵、下级军官与军事机构的矛盾，即人的个性与扼杀个性的权力机构之间的冲突。

这些小说已经触及战后整个一代文学最突出的一个主题。

“怯懦的十年”50年代，右翼保守势力向30年代激进主义传统进攻，许多人由关心社会进步转而关心个人的私利。

这10年被称为“怯懦的十年”或“沉寂的十年”。

这期间，出现了一些作品，将资产阶级描绘成正面人物，鼓吹服从权威，如《穿灰法兰绒衣服的人》(1955)。

这类作品企图维护既定价值标准和现存社会秩序，很快就失去了影响。

另一方面，阿瑟·米勒等作家抵制麦卡锡主义，继续用作品抨击社会的不正义。

“垮掉的一代”50年代沉闷的政治空气使许多青年感到窒息，他们吸毒、群居，以颓唐、放纵的生活方式来表示自己的抗议。

其中有些人把这种生活与情绪写入文学作品，这便是“垮掉的一代”文学。

这种文学发展到60年代后，在国内民主运动高涨的背景下，增加了一些政治色彩。

托福阅读真题为了让大家更好的预备托福考试，我给大家整理一些托福阅读真题，下面我就和大家共享，来欣赏一下吧。

托福阅读真题1PASSAGE 1By the mid-nineteenth century, the term icebox had entered the American language, but icewas still only beginning to affect the diet of ordinary citizens in the United States. The ice tradegrew with the growth of cities. Ice was used in hotels, taverns, and hospitals, and by someforward-looking city dealers in fresh meat, fresh fish, and butter. After the Civil War (1861-1865),as ice was used to refrigerate freight cars, it also came into household use. Even before 1880, halfthe ice sold in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and one-third of that sold in Boston andChicago, went to families for their own use. This had become possible because a new householdconvenience, the icebox, a precursor of the modern refrigerator, had been invented.Making an efficient icebox was not as easy as we might now suppose. In the early nineteenthcentury, the knowledge of the physics of heat, which was essential to a science of refrigeration,was rudimentary. The commonsense notion that the best icebox was one that prevented the icefrom melting was of course mistaken, for it was the melting of the ice that performed the cooling.Nevertheless, early efforts to economize ice included wrapping the ice in blankets, which kept theice from doing its job. Not until near the end of the nineteenth century did inventors achieve thedelicate balance of insulation and circulation needed for an efficient icebox.But as early as 1803, an ingenious Maryland farmer, Thomas Moore, had been on the righttrack. He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of Washington, for which the villageof Georgetown was the market center. When he used an icebox of his own design to transport hisbutter to market, he found that customers would pass up the rapidly melting stuff in the tubs ofhis competitors to pay a premium price for his butter, still fresh and hard in neat, one-poundbricks. One advantage of his icebox, Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have totravel to market at night in order to keep their produce cool.1. What does the passage mainly discuss?(A) The influence of ice on the diet(B) The development of refrigeration(C) The transportation of goods to market(D) Sources of ice in the nineteenth century2. According to the passage , when did the word icebox become part of the language of theUnited States?(A) in 1803(B) sometime before 1850(C) during the civil war(D) near the end of the nineteenth century3. The phrase forward-looking in line 4 is closest in meaning to(A) progressive(B) popular(C) thrifty(D) well-established4. The author mentions fish in line 4 because(A) many fish dealers also sold ice(B) fish was shipped in refrigerated freight cars(C) fish dealers were among the early commercial users of ice(D) fish was not part of the ordinary persons diet before the invention of the icebox5. The word it in line 5 refers to(A) fresh meat(B) the Civil War(C) ice(D) a refrigerator6. According to the passage , which of the following was an obstacle to the development of theicebox?(A) Competition among the owners of refrigerated freight cars(B) The lack of a network for the distribution of ice(C) The use of insufficient insulation(D) Inadequate understanding of physics7. The word rudimentary in line 12 is closest in meaning to(A) growing(B) undeveloped(C) necessary(D) uninteresting8. According to the information in the second paragraph, an ideal icebox would(A) completely prevent ice from melting(B) stop air from circulating(C) allow ice to melt slowly(D) use blankets to conserve ice9. The author describes Thomas Moore as having been on the right track (lines 18-19) to indicatethat(A) the road to the market passed close to Moores farm(B) Moore was an honest merchant(C) Moore was a prosperous farmer(D) Moores design was fairly successful10. According to the passage , Moores icebox allowed him to(A) charge more for his butter(B) travel to market at night(C) manufacture butter more quickly(D) produce ice all year round11. The produce mentioned in line 25 could include(A) iceboxes(B) butter(C) ice(D) marketsPASSAGE 1 BBACC DBCDA B托福阅读真题2PASSAGE 2The geology of the Earths surface is dominated by the particular properties of water. Presenton Earth in solid, liquid, and gaseous states, water is exceptionally reactive. It dissolves,transports, and precipitates many chemical compounds and is constantly modifying the face ofthe Earth.Evaporated from the oceans, water vapor forms clouds, some of which are transported bywind over the continents. Condensation from the clouds provides the essential agent ofcontinental erosion: rain. Precipitated onto the ground, the water trickles down to form brooks,streams, and rivers, constituting what are called the hydrographic network. This immensepolarized network channels the water toward a single receptacle: an ocean. Gravity dominatesthis entire step in the cycle because water tends to minimize its potential energy by running fromhigh altitudes toward the reference point, that is, sea level.The rate at which a molecule of water passes though the cycle is not random but is a measureof the relative size of the various reservoirs. If we define residence time as the average time for awater molecule to pass through one of the three reservoirs — atmosphere, continent, and ocean— we see that the times are very different. A water molecule stays, on average, eleven days inthe atmosphere, one hundred years on a continent and forty thousand years in the ocean. Thislast figure shows the importance of the ocean as the principal reservoir of the hydrosphere butalso the rapidity of water transport on the continents.A vast chemical separation process takes places during the flow of water over the continents.Soluble ions such as calcium, sodium, potassium, and some magnesium are dissolved andtransported. Insoluble ions such as aluminum, iron, and silicon stay where they are and form thethin, fertile skin of soil on which vegetation can grow. Sometimes soils are destroyed andtransported mechanically during flooding. The erosion of the continents thus results from twoclosely linked and interdependent processes, chemical erosion and mechanical erosion. Theirrespective interactions and efficiency depend on different factors.1. The word modifying in line 4 is closest in meaning to(A) changing(B) traveling(C) describing(D) destroying2. The word which in line 5 refers to(A) clouds(B) oceans(C) continents(D) compounds3. According to the passage , clouds are primarily formed by water(A) precipitating onto the ground(B) changing from a solid to a liquid state(C) evaporating from the oceans(D) being carried by wind4. The passage suggests that the purpose of the hydrographic network (line 8) is to(A) determine the size of molecules of water(B) prevent soil erosion caused by flooding(C) move water from the Earths surface to the oceans(D) regulate the rate of water flow from streams and rivers5. What determines the rate at which a molecule of water moves through the cycle, as discussedin the third paragraph?(A) The potential energy contained in water(B) The effects of atmospheric pressure on chemical compounds(C) The amounts of rainfall that fall on the continents(D) The relative size of the water storage areas6. The word rapidity in line 19 is closest in meaning to(A) significance (B) method(C) swiftness(D) reliability7. The word they in line 24 refers to(A) insoluble ions(B) soluble ions(C) soils(D) continents8. All of the following are example of soluble ions EXCEPT(A) magnesium(B) iron(C) potassium(D) calcium9. The word efficiency in line 27 is closest in meaning to(A) relationship(B) growth(C) influence(D) effectivenessPASSAGE 2 AACCD CABD托福阅读真题3PASSAGE 3The Native Americans of northern California were highly skilled at basketry,using the reeds,grasses, barks, and roots they found around them to fashion articles of all sorts and sizes — notonly trays, containers, and cooking pots, but hats, boats, fish traps, baby carriers, and ceremonialobjects.Of all these experts, none excelled the Pomo — a group who lived on or near the coast duringthe 1800s, and whose descendants continue to live in parts of the same region to this day. Theymade baskets three feet in diameter and others no bigger than a thimble. The Pomo people weremasters of decoration. Some of their baskets were completely covered with shell pendants;others with feathers that made the baskets surfaces as soft as the breasts of birds. Moreover, thePomo people made use of more weaving techniques than did their neighbors. Most groups madeall their basketwork by twining — the twisting of a flexible horizontal material, called a weft,around stiffer vertical strands of material, the warp. Others depended primarily on coiling — aprocess in which a continuous coil of stiff material is held in the desired shape with tightwrapping of flexible strands. Only the Pomo people used both processes with equal ease andfrequency. In addition, they made use of four distinct variations on the basic twining process,often employing more than one of them in a single article.Although a wide variety of materials was available, the Pomo people used only a few. Thewarp was always made of willow, and the most commonly used weft was sedge root, a woodyfiber that could easily be separated into strands no thicker than a thread. For color, the Pomopeople used the bark of redbud for their twined work and dyed bullrush root for black in coiledwork. Though other materials were sometimes used, these four were the staples in their finestbasketry.If the basketry materials used by the Pomo people were limited, the designs were amazinglyvaried. Every Pomo basketmaker knew how to produce from fifteen to twenty distinct patternsthat could be combined in a number of different ways.1. What best distinguished Pomo basketsfrom baskets of other groups?(A) The range of sizes, shapes, and designs(B) The unusual geometric(C) The absence of decoration(D) The rare materials used2. The word fashion in line 2 is closest in meaning to(A) maintain(B) organize(C) trade(D) create3. The Pomo people used each of the following materials to decorate baskets EXCEPT(A) shells(B) feathers(C) leaves(D) bark4. What is the authors main point in the second paragraph?(A) The neighbors of the Pomo people tried to improve on the Pomo basket weaving techniques.(B) The Pomo people were the most skilled basket weavers in their region.(C) The Pomo people learned their basket weaving techniques from other Native Americans.(D) The Pomo baskets have been handed down for generations.5. The word others in line 9 refers to(A) masters(B) baskets(C) pendants(D) surfaces6. According to the passage , a weft is a(A) tool for separating sedge root(B) process used for coloring baskets(C) pliable maternal woven around the warp(D) pattern used to decorate baskets7. According to the passage , what did the Pomo people use as the warp in their baskets?(A) bullrush(B) willow(C) sedge(D) redbud8. The word article in line 17 is close in meaning to(A) decoration(B) shape(C) design(D) object9. According to the passage . The relationship between redbud and twining is most similar to therelationship between(A) bullrush and coiling(B) weft and warp(C) willow and feathers(D) sedge and weaving10. The word staples in line 23 is closest in meaning to(A) combinations(B) limitations(C) accessories(D) basic elements11. The word distinct in lime 26 is closest in meaning to(A) systematic(B) beautiful(C) different(D) compatible12. Which of the following statements about Pomo baskets can be best inferred from thepassage ?(A) Baskets produced by other Native Americans were less varied in design than those of thePomo people.(B) Baskets produced by Pomo weavers were primarily for ceremonial purposes.(C) There were a very limited number of basketmaking materials available to the Pomo people.(D) The basketmaking production of the Pomo people has increased over the years.PASSAGE 3 BDCBB CBDAD CA。