托福测试题

TOEFL Diagnostic Test Part I. Vocabulary TestSet One1. The word “incredible” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.confusingfortingC.unbelievableD.interesting2. The word “out of sight” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.far awayB.hiddenC.partly visibleD.discovered3. The word “dramatic” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.gradualplexC.visibleD.striking4. The word “precious” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.exactB.scarceC.valuableD.initial5. The word “exposed” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.explainedB.visibleC.identifiedD.located6. The word “threatened” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.restrictedB.endangeredC.preventedD.rejected7. The word “assistance” in the passage is close st in meaning toA.criticismB.leadershipC.helpD.approval8. The word “unprecedented” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.difficult to controlB.without any restrictionC.unlike anything in the pastD.rapidly expanding9. The word “particular” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.naturalB.finalC.specificplex10. The phrase "in the same breath" in the passage is closest in meaning toA.impatientlyB.humorouslyC.continuouslyD.immediately11. The word “guarantee” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.increaseB.ensureC.favorplicate12. The word “attain” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.requireB.resistC.achieveD.endure13. The word “rebound” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.declineB.recoveryC.exchangeD.movement14. The word “principal” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.majorB.likelyC.well protectedD.distinct15. The word “trappings” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.conditionsB.problemsC.influencesD.decorationsSet Two16. The w ord “accumulate” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.grow upB.build upC.spread outD.break apart17. The word “enhance” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.protectB.improveanizeD.match18. The word “exhibit” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.fight offB.showC.causeD.spread19. The word “suspended” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.grownB.protectedC.spread outD.hung20. The word “overwhelming” in the passage is closest in meaning t oA.powerfulB.favorableC.currentD.reasonable21. The word “championed” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.superfluousB.superviseC.invalidateD.supported22. The word “attributes” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.ascribesB.disintegrateC.defibrillateD.prerequisite23. The word “autonomous” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.superintendentB.importantC.independentD.superimpose24. The word “penchant” in the passage is closest in meaning topromiseB.inclinationC.jeopardyD.presumptuous25. The word “prevalent” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.parochialB.prevailingC.provincialD.underprivileged26. The word “delicate” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.fragileB.palatableplexD.magnanimous27. The phrase “devoid of” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.destitute ofB.assassinated byC.except forD.despair of28. The word “progressively” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.degeneratelyB.explosivelyC.inadvertentlyD.increasingly29. The word “diversification” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.emergence of many varietiesB.steady decline in numberC.gradual increase in body sizeD.sudden disappearance30. The word “integral” is closest in meaning toA.inherentB.valetudinarianC.antidisestablishmentarianD.cogentSet Three: Write down the Chinese meaning of each of the following words.31. entrepreneur 32. mammal 33. atmosphere 34. essay35. asteroid 36. astronomy 37. meteorology 38. geology39. linguistics 40. anthropology 41. archaeology 42. predator43. mechanism 44. spine 45. molecule 46. decomposition47. irrigate 48. ancestor 49. glacier 50. liquidPart II. Reading ComprehensionPassage OneVarious studies have shown that increased spending on education has not led to measurable improvements in learning. Between 1980 and 2008, staff and teachers at U.S. public schools grew roughly twice as fast as students. Yet students showed no additional learning in achievement tests.Universities show similar trends of increased administration personnel and costs without greater learning, as documented in Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa's recent book Academically Adrift Limited Learning on College Campuses.A survey shows that 63% of employers say that recent college graduates don't have the skills they need to succeed and 25% of employers say that entry-level writing skills are lacking. Some simplistically attribute the decline in our public education system to the drain of the skilled students by private schools, but far more significant events were at work. Public schools worked well until about the 1970s. In fact, until that time, public schools provided far better education than private ones. It was the underperforming students who were threw out of public schools and went to private ones.A prominent reason public schools did well was that many highly qualified women had few options for working outside the house other than being teachers or nurses. They accepted relatively low pay, difficult working conditions, and gave their very best.Having such a large supply of talented women teachers meant that society could pay less for their services. Women's liberation opened up new professional opportunities for women, and, over time, some of the best left teaching as a career option, bringing about a gradual decline in the quality of schooling.Also around that time, regulations, government, and unions came to dictate pay, prevent adjustments, and introduce bureaucratic (官僚的) standard for adjustment. Large education bureaucracies and unions came to dominate the landscape, confusing activity with achievement. Bureaucrats regularly rewrite curriculums, talk nonsense about the theories of education, and require ever more administrators. The end result had been that, after all the spending, students have worse math and reading skills than both their foreign peers and earlier generations spending far less on education — as all the accumulating evidence now documents.1. What do we learn from various studies on America's public education?A) Achievement tests have failed to truly reflect the quality of teaching.B) Public schools lack the resources to compete with private schools.C) Little improvement in education has resulted from increased spending.D) The number of students has increased much faster than that of teachers.2. How do some people explain the decline in public education?A) Government investment does not meet school's needs.B) Skilled students are moving for private schools.C) Qualified teachers are far from adequately paid.D) Training of students' basic skills is neglected.3. What was significant contribution to the past glory of public schools?A) Well-behaved students.B) Efficient administration.C) Talented women teachers.D) Generous pay for teachers.4. Why did some of the best women teachers leave teaching?A) New career opportunities were made available to them by women's liberation.B) Higher academic requirements made it difficult for them to stay in their jobs.C) They were unhappy with the bureaucratic administration in their schools.D) The heavy teaching loads left them little time and energy for family life.5. What docs the author think is one of the results of government involvement in education?A) Increasing emphasis on theories of education.B) Highly standardized teaching methods.C) Students' improved academic performance.D) An ever-growing number of administrators.Passage TwoMost people consider the landscape to be unchanging, but Earth is a dynamic body, and its surface is continually altering-slowly on the human time scale, but relatively rapidly when compared to the great age of Earth (about 4,500 billion years). There are two principal influences that shape the terrain: constructive processes such as uplift, which create new landscape features, and destructive forces such as erosion, which gradually wear away exposed landforms.Hills and mountains are often regarded as the epitome of permanence, successfully resisting the destructive forces of nature, but in fact they tend to be relatively short-lived in geological terms. As a general rule, the higher a mountain is, the more recently it was formed; for example, the high mountains of the Himalayas are only about 50 million years old. Lower mountains tend to be older, and are often the eroded relics of much higher mountain chains. About 400 million years ago, when the present-day continents of North America and Europe were joined, the Caledonian mountain chain was the same size as the modern Himalayas. Today, however, the relics of the Caledonian orogeny (mountain-building period) exist as the comparatively low mountains of Greenland, the northern Appalachians in the United States, the Scottish Highlands, and the Norwegian coastal plateau.The Earth's crust is thought to be divided into huge, movable segments, called plates, which float on a soft plastic layer of rock. Some mountains were formed as a result of these plates crashing into each other and forcing up the rock at the plate margins. In this process, sedimentary rocks that originally formed on the seabed may be folded upwards to altitudes of more than 26,000 feet. Other mountains may be raised by earthquakes, which fracture the Earth's crust and can displace enough rock to produce block mountains. A third type of mountain may be formed as a result of volcanic activity which occurs in regions of active fold mountain belts, such as in theCascade Range of western North America. The Cascades are made up of lavas and volcanic materials. Many of the peaks are extinct volcanoes.Whatever the reason for mountain formation, as soon as land rises above sea level it is subjected to destructive forces. The exposed rocks are attacked by the various weather processes and gradually broken down into fragments, which are then carried away and later deposited as sediments. Thus, any landscape represents only a temporary stage in the continuous battle between the forces of uplift and those of erosion.The weather, in its many forms, is the main agent of erosion. Rain washes away loose soil and penetrates cracks in the rocks. Carbon dioxide in the air reacts with the rainwater, forming a weak acid (carbonic acid) that may chemically attack the rocks. The rain seeps underground and the water may reappear later as springs. These springs are the sources of streams and rivers, which cut through the rocks and carry away debris from the mountains to the lowlands.Under very cold conditions, rocks can be shattered by ice and frost. Glaciers may form in permanently cold areas, and these slowly moving masses of ice cut out valleys, carrying with them huge quantities of eroded rock debris. In dry areas the wind is the principal agent of erosion. It carries fine particles of sand, which bombard exposed rock surfaces, thereby wearing them into yet more sand. Even living things contribute to the formation of landscapes. Tree roots force their way into cracks in rocks and, in so doing, speed their splitting. In contrast, the roots of grasses and other small plants may help to hold loose soil fragments together, thereby helping to prevent erosion by the wind.6. According to paragraph 1, which of the following statements is true of changes in Earth's landscape?A.They occur more often by uplift than by erosion.B.They occur only at special times.C.They occur less frequently now than they once did.D.They occur quickly in geological terms.7. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 2 about the mountains of the Himalayas?A.Their current height is not an indication of their age.B.At present, they are much higher than the mountains of the Caledonian range.C.They were a uniform height about 400 million years ago.D.They are not as high as the Caledonian mountains were 400 million years ago.8. According to paragraph 3, one cause of mountain formation is theA.effect of climatic change on sea levelB.slowing down of volcanic activityC.force of Earth's crustal plates hitting each otherD.replacement of sedimentary rock with volcanic rock9. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.A.When they are relatively young, hills and mountains successfully resist the destructiveforces of nature.B.Although they seem permanent, hills and mountains exist for a relatively short period ofgeological time.C.Hills and mountains successfully resist the destructive forces of nature, but only for ashort time.D.Hills and mountains resist the destructive forces of nature better than other types oflandforms.10. According to paragraph 6, which of the following is both a cause and result of erosion?A.glacial activityB.rock debrisC.tree rootsD.sand11. According to paragraph 6, grass roots performs the function ofA.destructive forceB.constructive forceC.preventive measureD.negative impact12. According to this passage, which one of the following statement is accurate?A.The formation of mountains is, as it is indicated, not so much earthquake as volcanicactivity that is the most important process contributing to earth’s crust.B.Destructive geological forces are mainly manifested by volcanic or earthquake activitiesand destroy mountains.C.The altitude of a mountains reveals that there is reverse correlation between height andage, just as Caledonian and Himalayas mountains.D.Earth, in contrast to the great age of earth, it is relatively speedy in terms of changing andtherefore it could be concluded that it is a static entity.Part III. Listening TestRecording One1. What is the possible topic of this excerpt?A.piece of landB.dating techniquesC.geologic featureRecording Two2. What is the possible topic of this excerpt?A.art in late 1900th centuryB.French womenC.some artistsRecording Three3. What is the possible topic of this excerpt?A.early agricultureB.near eastC.an ancient siteRecording Four4. What will the professor talk about in the very beginning of the lecture?A.vision correctionB.printing pressC.accessible booksD.demand for eyeglassesRecording Five5. What is the possible topic of this excerpt?A.Western United StatesB.National parksC.the largest cave in USD.Lechuguila CaveRecording Six6. What is the possible topic of this excerpt?A.a certain animalB.birds that preen feathersC.conflicting drivesD.displacement activities.Recording Seven7. What is the possible topic of this excerpt?A.passive habitat selectionB.active habitat selectionC.where to liveD.effect of a certain preferenceRecording Eight8. What is the possible topic of this excerpt?A.what kind of navigational tools the pacific islanders use to navigateB.how successful are Polynesians and Micronesians in navigationC.why locating near the equator is very important for pacific islanders for navigateD.why seafarers look for another place to settle downRecording Nine9. How many kinds of distraction display does the professor mention?Answer: _________________ (One Word)10. What are the names of distraction display mentioned in the recording?Answer: ________ (One or Two Words) display and birds giving impression of a _______ (Two Words) or some other small animals11. In the example of the Purple Sandpiper, what is the purpose of it dragging its wings? Answer: to pretend it has a second pair of ______ (One Word)Recording Ten12. How did ancient Greeks deal with not being able to see well?Answer: They had someone else ______ (One Word) for them or use “________ (Two Words)”Recording Eleven13. What is the first adaptation of salt marsh grasses to face highly saline conditions? Answer: _________________ (Two Words)14. Briefly summarize the process of osmosis.Answer: Water from the side containing __________________ (Two Words) of salt will move to the side with __________________ (Two Words) of salt.15. What is the second adaptation of certain plants to cope with saline environment? Answer: Such plants excrete ________ (Two Words)。