2004年1月份托福阅读真题及其答案

 

 

Questions 32-40
              Next to its sheer size, the profound isolation of its many small islands is the most
       distinctive feature of the Pacific Ocean. Over 25,000 islands are scattered across the
       surface of the Pacific, more than in all the other oceans combined, but their land area
     Line  adds up to little more than 125,000 square kilometers, about the size of New York State,
     5 and their inhabitants total less than two million people, about a quarter of the number that
       live in New York City. The oceanic islands of the Pacific are some of the most isolated
       places on Earth. Many are uninhabitable, by virtue of their small size and particular
       characteristics, but even the most favored are very isolated fragments of land, strictly
       circumscribed by the ocean, strictly limited in terms of the numbers of people they can
     10 support. This basic fact of environmental circumstance has been the most pervasive
       influence in determining the social arrangements, and cultural practices of the people that
       settled in the Pacific Islands.
          The peopling of the Pacific Islands has been described as the greatest feat of maritime
       colonization in human history. Contrary to the conclusions of Thor Heyerdahls Kon-Tiki
     15 expedition of 1946, the evidence of plant dispersal, archaeology, linguistics, and genetics
       now shows quite conclusively that the Pacific Islands were not populated from tile east by
       South Americans who drifted on balsa-wood rafts and the prevailing wind and current, but
       from the west, by groups from mainland Asia who gradually spread from island to island
       out into the Pacific. The process began over 40,000 years ago and reached Easter Island
     20  the most isolated place on Earth-about 1.500 years ago. It ended about 1,000 years ago,
       when people first settled in Hawaii and New Zealand.
          Simply surviving those ocean crossings of indeterminate length, in open canoes, to
       arrive on the shores of uninhabited and hitherto unknown islands, was a formidable
       achievement. But having found an oasis of land in a watery wilderness, crossed its reef,
     25  and landed, on its shores, the survivors then faced a series of pressing problems for which
       solutions had to be found quickly if the small group was to become a vigorous, self-
       sustaining island population.

32. The word "scattered" in line 2 is closest in meaning to 

 A) widely known    

 B) usually estimated    

 C) rarely inhabited    

 D) irregularly distributed   

 
33. Why does the author mention New York City in line 6 ? 

 A) To emphasize how small the population of the Pacific Islands is    

 B) To emphasize the extreme distances between the Pacific Islands and other regions    

 C) To note the economic ties of the Pacific Islands to other regions    

 D) To note the lack of urban environments on the Pacific Islands   

 
34. The phrase "by virtue or" in line 7 is closest in meaning to 

 A) regarding    

 B) because of    

 C) taking advantage of    

 D) in place of   

 
35. The word "circumscribed" in line 9 is closest in meaning to 

 A) located    

 B) flooded    

 C) restricted    

 D) pushed   

 
36. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as, evidence used to determine Iht origins of Pacific Islands people? 

 A) Oral histories    

 B) Plant dispersal    

 C) Linguistics    

 D) Archaeology   

 
37. According to the-passage where did the original inhabitants of the Pacific Islands come from? 

 A) South America    

 B) Hawaii    

 C) New Zealand    

 D) Asia   

 
38. The word "It' in line 20 refers to 

 A) Pacific    

 B) process    

 C) isolated place    

 D) Earth   

 
39. The word "indeterminate" in line 22 is closest in meaning to 

 A) undecided    

 B) uncertain    

 C) unacceptable    

 D) increasing   

 
40. The passage is most likely followed by a discussion of 

 A) how settlers adapted to newly discovered Pacific Ocean Islands    

 B) the design and construction of canoes used in the Pacific Islands    

 C) the characteristics sties of reefs in the Pacific Islands    

 D) how early explorers of the Pacific Ocean found their way from island to island