美國曆史類託福TPO閱讀分析

託福閱讀是托福考試當中相對比較容易的科目，也是比較容易拿分的科目，同學們要在這方面多加努力，盡力拿到更好的分數。下面小編給大家帶來美國曆史類託福TPO閱讀分析。

美國曆史類託福TPO閱讀分析

歷史背景：美國殖民歷史和西進運動

獨立戰爭結束後，美國掀起了長達一個世紀的西遷，出於不同的目的，大批移民從西部原殖民洲遷入東部。西進運動既是適應自由經濟的發展需要，又得益於政策的支持和交通技術的發展。TPO 20的這篇閱讀就以農業發展爲切入點討論了West Migration的發展條件。

原文A段節選

The story of the westward movement of population in the United States is, in the main, the story of the expansion of American agriculture—of the development of new areas for the raising of livestock and the cultivation of wheat, corn, tobacco, and cotton. After 1815 improved transportation enabled more and more western farmers to escape a self-sufficient way of life and enter a national market economy.

分析：全文分析第一句話是一個典型的長難句，如果我們抓住主幹，可以簡化爲：the story is the story. 兩個story的定語關鍵詞分別是west movement 和 American agriculture。句子主體意思就可以概括爲：美國西進運動的故事即美國農業的故事。

次句提出了一個新的要點：交通。這一點將會在後面的段落展開去講。另外，農業擴張的結果是農民走出自給自足的生活方式，進入全國性市場經濟(運動的結果)。

原文B段節選

Why were these hundreds of thousands of settlers—most of them farmers, some of them artisans—drawn away from the cleared fields and established cities and villages of the East? Certain characteristics of American society help to explain this remarkable migration.

分析：B段設問句承上(farmers; drawn away)啓下(why). 次句交代本段主旨：美國社會因素

原文C段節選

The West had plenty of attractions: the alluvial river bottoms, the fecund soils of the rolling forest lands, the black loams of the prairies were tempting to New England farmers...

分析：這一段講西部自身的吸引力

原文D段節選：

Transportation was becoming less of a problem for those who wished to move west and for those who hand farm surpluses to send to market.

分析：這一段講農民西遷的技術因素—交通的發展。

原文E段節選：

Two other developments presaged the end of the era of turnpikes and started a transportation revolution that resulted in increased regional specialization and the growth of a national market economy.

分析：是對上一段的拓展，關鍵詞transportation revolution。進一步講交通發展促發了全國性農業經濟的出現。

全文結構梳理：

A 西進運動的歷史是農業擴張的歷史

B 農業擴張的條件一：美國社會因素

C 農業擴張的條件二：西部吸引力

D&E 農業擴張的條件三：交通運輸發展(分陸上和水路交通兩方面)

我們還可以看到，在DE兩段中出現了關鍵詞market economy，這一點是農業西遷的結果，也是首段中曾經出現過的。所以我們在閱讀首段時，要圈劃關鍵詞，並在後面段落中有意地去注意這些關鍵詞的復現。這對我們把握全文主旨和脈絡是非常有幫助的。

必備詞彙：

westward 朝西的，向西的

migration 移民

cultivation 種植

livestock 牲畜

attraction 吸引力

surplus 盈餘

presage 預示

regional 地區的

specialization 專業化

託福閱讀練習題：文藝復興類

The medieval artists didn’t know about perspective; they didn’t want to make their people look like real， individual people in a real， individual scene. They wanted to show the truth， the eternal quality of their religious stories. So these artists didn’t need to know about perspective.

In the European Renaissance period， artists wanted to show the importance of the individual person and his or her possessions and surroundings. A flat medieval style couldn’t show this level of reality and the artists needed a new technique. It was the Italian artist Brunelleschi who discovered the technique of perspective drawing. At first the artists of the Renaissance only had single-point perspective. Later they realized that they could have two-pointed perspective and still later multi-point perspective.

With two-point perspective they could turn an object (like a building) at an angle to the picture and draw two sides of it. The technique of perspective which seems so natural to us now is an invented technique， a part of the “grammar of painting”. Like all bits of grammar there are exceptions about perspective. For example， only vertical and horizontal surfaces seem to meet on eye level. Sloping roof tops don’t meet on eye level.

For 500 years， artists in Europe made use of perspective drawing in their pictures. Nevertheless， there are a range of priorities that artists in displaying individual styles. Crivelli wanted to show depth in his picture and he used a simple single-point perspective. Cezanne always talked about space and volume. Van Gogh， like some of the other painters of the Impressionist period， was interested in Japanese prints. And Japanese artists until this century were always very strong designers of “flat” pictures. Picasso certainly made pictures which have volume and depth. However， he wanted to keep our eyes on the surface and to remind us that his paintings are paintings and not illusions.

It is technically easy to give an illusion of depth. However， a strong two dimensional design is just as important as a feeling of depth， and perhaps more important.

1 The passage mainly discusses

(a) the difference between medieval and Renaissance art

(b) how the technique of perspective influenced the modern art

(c) the discovery of the technique of perspective

(d) the contribution of Renaissance artists

2 The word “eternal” in line 3 is closest in meaning to

(a) timeless

(b) infinite

(c) frequent

(d) constant

3 According to the passage， which is the main concern for medieval artists?

(a) the individual person and his/her possessions and surroundings

(b) real people， real scenes

(c) eternal timeless truth of the earth

(d) themes of religious stories

4 The discovery of perspective was the result of

(a) Renaissance artists’ to prove that the medieval artists could show level of reality

(b) the need to turn an object at an angle and draw more than one side of it

(c) the subject being shifted from religious stories to individual person and　surroundings.

(d) natural evolution of human senses

5 The word “it” in line 12 refers to

(a) the picture

(b) perspective

(c) angle

(d) the object

6 The word “Grammar ” in line 13 is closest in meaning to

(a) construction

(b) grammatical rules

(c) rules and regulations

(d) tones and volume

7 The author’s purpose to give the example in line14-15 is to

(a) explain how perspective work in painting

(b) support two-pointed perspective

(c) illustrate that there are exceptions about perspective

(d) point out that the technique of perspective though seems so natural is an invented technique

8 The following artists’ priorities in style shift away from perspective except

(a) Crivelli

(b) Cezanne

(c) Japanese artists

(d) Brunelleschi

9 The word ”Illusion” in line 25 is closest in meaning to

(a) deception

(b) photograph

(c) decoration

(d) illustration

10 It can be inferred from the passage that Renaissance artists

(a) embraced the medieval style of eternal truth

(b) needed to develop a new approach towards painting to show a new level of reality

(c) were inspired by vertical and horizontal surfaces in inventing the technique of perspective

(d) saw two dimensional design more important than a feeling of depth