Reading
TPO8
The Rise of Teotihuacán
【单词】
metropolis：n. 大都市
obsidian：n. 黑曜石
pinpoint：v. 查明
shrine：n. 圣地，圣陵，神龛
millenium：n. 千年期
ingenuity：n. 足智多谋，心灵手巧
foresightedness：n. 先见之明
circumstantially：adv. 依照情况地，偶然地
implicated：adj. 密切关联的，牵涉其中的
rival：n. 对手
modest：adj. 谦虚的，适度的，适中的，端庄的，害羞的
predominant：adj. 主要的
secure：adj. 安全的
commodity：n. 商品
exotic：adj. 异国的
magnet：n. 磁铁
thriving：adj. 繁荣的，欣欣向荣的
coerce：v. 逼迫，威胁，强迫
edge：n. 边，优势
pottery：n. 陶器
artifacts：n. 史前古器物
【长难句】
- Among the main factors are Teotihuacán’s geographic location on a natural trade route to the south and east of the Valley of Mexico, the obsidian resources in the Teotihuacán Valley itself, and the valley’s potential for extensive irrigation.
- The exact role of other factors is much more difficult to pinpoint―for instance, Teotihuacán’s religious significance as a shrine, the historical situation in and around the Valley of Mexico toward the end of the first millennium B.C., the ingenuity and foresightedness of Teotihuacán’s elite, and, finally, the impact of natural disasters, such as the volcanic eruptions of the late first millennium B.C.
- The archaeological evidence clearly indicates, though, that Teotihuacán was the center that did arise as the predominant force in the area by the first century A.D.
- It is also probable that as early as 200 B.C.Teotihuacán may have achieved some religious significance and its shrine (or shrines) may have served as an additional population magnet.
- The growing power of the elite, who controlled the economy, would give them the means to physically coerce people to move to Teotihuacán and serve as additions to the labor force.
【错题】
9.Which of the following allowed Teotihuacán to have “a competitive edge over its neighbors”?
A. A well-exploited and readily available commodity
B. The presence of a highly stable elite class
C. Knowledge derived directly from the Olmecs about the art of toolmaking
D. Scarce natural resources in nearby areas such as those located in what are now the Guatemalan and Mexican highlands
你的答案：D正确答案：A
【原文参考】
It seems likely that Teotihuacán’s natural resources, along with the city elite’s ability to recognize their potential, gave the city a competitive edge over its neighbors . The valley, like many other places in Mexican and Guatemalan highlands, was rich in obsidian. The hard volcanic stone was a resource that had been in great demand for many years, at least since the rise of the Olmecs (a people who flourished between 1200 and 400 B.C.), and it apparently had a secure market. Moreover, recent research on obsidian tools found at Olmec sites has shown that some of the obsidian obtained by the Olmecs originated near Teotihuacán. Teotihuacán obsidian must have been recognized as a valuable commodity for many centuries before the great city arose.
【解析】
关键词已经划出，所在句说natural resourc给了这个地方edge，然后就用大量笔墨说obsidian黑曜石是这里一种很主要的资源，所以答案是存在commodity，A正确；注意B项颇具干扰性，使城市有优势的不是elite，是他们对于这种潜力的认识；C完全没提到；D说到了资源，但又说资源是在邻近的地方，也错。
13.Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.Where would the sentence best fit?
In fact, artifacts and pottery from Teotihuacán have been discovered in sites as far away as the Mayan lowlands, the Guatemalan highlands, northern Mexico, and the Gulf Coast of Mexico..
你的答案：C正确答案：D
【原文参考】
The city of Teotihuacán, which lay about 50 kilometers northeast of modern-day Mexico City, began its growth by 200-100 B.C. At its height, between about A.D. 150 and 700, it probably had a population of more than 125,000 people and covered at least 20 square kilometers. [■]It had over 2,000 apartment complexes, a great market, a large number of industrial workshops, an administrative center, a number of massive religious edifices, and a regular grid pattern of streets and buildings. [■]Clearly, much planning and central control were involved in the expansion and ordering of this great metropolis. [■]Moreover, the city had economic and perhaps religious contacts with most parts of Mesoamerica (modern Central America and Mexico). [■]
【解析】
四个地名是过渡点，说明正确插入点之前必须有说到位置的，而四个选项中只有D之前有Mesoamrica，所以答案只能是D。排除法也可以，A之后的代词it指第一句中的主语T，过渡紧密，不选；B之后的planning和metropolis对应B之前的一系列设施，过渡紧密，不选；C之后的moreover与之前过渡紧密，不选。
Extinction of the Dinosaurs
【长难句】
- Many plants and animals disappear abruptly from the fossil record as one moves from layers of rock documenting the end of the Cretaceous up into rocks representing the beginning of the Cenozoic (the era after the Mesozoic).
- Scientists felt that they could get an idea of how long the extinctions took by determining how long it took to deposit this one centimeter of clay and they thought they could determine the time it took to deposit the clay by determining the amount of the element iridium (Ir) it contained.
【错题】
8.In paragraph 4, all the following questions are answered EXCEPT:
A. Why is there a layer of clay between the rocks of the Cretaceous and Cenozoic?
B. Why were scientists interested in determining how long it took to deposit the layer of clay at the end of the Cretaceous?
C. What was the effect of the surprising observation scientists made?
D. Why did scientists want more information about the dinosaur extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous?
你的答案：C正确答案：A
【原文参考】
Dissatisfaction with conventional explanations for dinosaur extinctions led to a surprising observation that, in turn, has suggested a new hypothesis. Many plants and animals disappear abruptly from the fossil record as one moves from layers of rock documenting the end of the Cretaceous up into rocks representing the beginning of the Cenozoic (the era after the Mesozoic). Between the last layer of Cretaceous rock and the first layer of Cenozoic rock, there is often a thin layer of clay. Scientists felt that they could get an idea of how long the extinctions took by determining how long it took to deposit this one centimeter of clay and they thought they could determine the time it took to deposit the clay by determining the amount of the element iridium (Ir) it contained.
【解析】
A的layer of clay定位至倒数第二句： Between the last layer of Cretaceous rock and the first layer of Cenozoic rock, there is often a thin layer of clay. 但原文只是说有layer，没说为什么有，所以A的问题没得到回答，选； B的how long和deposit 定位至最后一句，正确，不选： Scientists felt that they could get an idea of how long the extinctions took by determining how long it took to deposit this one centimeter of clay and they thought they could determine the time it took to deposit the clay by determining the amount of the element iridium (lr) it contained. C的surprising observation对应第一句和第二句： Dissatisfaction with conventional explanations for dinosaur extinctions led to a surprising observation that, in turn, has suggested a new hypothesis. C直接对应，正确，不选；D也对应第一句，说对传统理论的不满，导致了一个observation和相应的假说，所以D正确，不选。
Running Water on Mars
【单词】
runoff：n. [水文]径流
outflow：n. 流出
relic：n. 遗迹
catastrophic：adj. 灾难性的
equatorial：adj. 赤道的
onrushing：adj. 汹涌的，猛冲的
odd：adj. 古怪的，奇数的，剩余的，临时的
delta：n. 三角洲
mission specialist：任务专家
rim：n. 边
proponent：n. 建议者
terraced：adj. 台形的，阶地的
conceivably：adv. 令人信服地
detractor：n. 贬低者，诽谤者
depress：v. 压抑
hemisphere：n. 半球
carbonate：n. 碳酸盐
aside from：除……之外，暂且不论
gully：n. 冲沟，溪谷
inconclusive：adj. 不确定的，非决定性的
permafrost：n. 永久冻土
polar caps：极冠，极地冰冠
【长难句】
- They bear a strong resemblance to river systems on Earth, and geologists think that they are dried-up beds of long-gone rivers that once carried rainfall on Mars from the mountains down into the valleys.
- The onrushing water arising from these flash floods likely also formed the odd teardrop-shaped “islands” (resembling the miniature versions seen in the wet sand of our beaches at low tide) that have been found on the plains close to the ends of the outflow channels.
- Judging from the width and depth of the channels, the flow rates must have been truly enormous—perhaps as much as a hundred times greater than the 105 tons per second carried by the great Amazon river.
- A 2003 Mars Global Surveyor image shows what mission specialists think may be a delta—a fan-shaped network of channels and sediments where a river once flowed into a larger body of water, in this case a lake filling a crater in the southern highlands.
- A computer-generated view of the Martian north polar region shows the extent of what may have been an ancient ocean covering much of the northern lowlands.
- The Hellas Basin, which measures some 3,000 kilometers across and has a floor that lies nearly 9 kilometers below the basin’s rim, is another candidate for an ancient Martian sea.
- Proponents point to features such as the terraced “beaches” shown in one image, which could conceivably have been left behind as a lake or ocean evaporated and the shoreline receded.
- But detractors maintain that the terraces could also have been created by geological activity, perhaps related to the geologic forces that depressed the Northern Hemisphere far below the level of the south, in which case they have nothing whatever to do with Martian water.
- Yet even setting aside the unproven hints of ancient oceans, the extent of the outflow channels suggests that a huge total volume of water existed on Mars in the past.
- The answer may be that virtually all the water on Mars is now locked in the permafrost layer under the surface, with more contained in the planet’s polar caps.
【错题】
6.According to paragraph 2, all of the following are true of the outflow channels on Mars EXCEPT:
A. They formed at around the same time that volcanic activity was occurring on the northern plains.
B. They are found only on certain parts of the Martian surface.
C. They sometimes empty onto what appear to have once been the wet sands of tidal beaches.
D. They are thought to have carried water northward from the equatorial regions.
你的答案：D正确答案：C
【原文参考】
Outflow channels are probably relics of catastrophic flooding on Mars long ago. They appear only in equatorial regions and generally do not form extensive interconnected networks. Instead, they are probably the paths taken by huge volumes of water draining from the southern highlands into the northern plains. The onrushing water arising from these flash floods likely also formed the odd teardrop-shaped “islands” (resembling the miniature versions seen in the wet sand of our beaches at low tide) that have been found on the plains close to the ends of the outflow channels. Judging from the width and depth of the channels, the flow rates must have been truly enormous—perhaps as much as a hundred times greater than the 105 tons per second carried by the great Amazon river. Flooding shaped the outflow channels approximately 3 billion years ago, about the same times as the northern volcanic plains formed.
【解析】
EXCEPT题，排除法。A的volcanic activity做关键词定位至最后一句，正确，不选；B的certain parts与原文第二句的equatorial regions同义重合，正确，不选；C的beaches做关键词定位至倒数第三句，但原文说洪水形成的小岛形状像海滩上的沙子，跟C说的不同，所以C错，选；D的northward做关键词定位至第三句，再结合第二句，说明D正确，不选。
7.All of the following questions about geological features on Mars are answered in paragraph 3 EXCEPT:
A. What are some regions of Mars that may have once been covered with an ocean?
B. Where do mission scientists believe that the river forming the delta emptied?
C. Approximately how many craters on Mars do mission scientists believe may once have been lakes filled with water?
D. During what period of Mars’ history do some scientists think it may have had large bodies of water?
你的答案：D正确答案：C
【原文参考】
Some scientists speculate that Mars may have enjoyed an extended early Period during which rivers, lakes, and perhaps even oceans adorned its surface. A 2003 Mars Global Surveyor image shows what mission specialists think may be a delta—a fan-shaped network of channels and sediments where a river once flowed into a larger body of water, in this case a lake filling a crater in the southern highlands. Other researchers go even further, suggesting that the data provide evidence for large open expenses of water on the early Martian surface. A computer-generated view of the Martian north polar region shows the extent of what may have been an ancient ocean covering much of the northern lowlands. The Hellas Basin, which measures some 3,000 kilometers across and has a floor that lies nearly 9 kilometers below the basin’s rim, is another candidate for an ancient Martian sea.
【解析】
EXCEPT题，排除法。A的regions做关键词定位至第二句的后半部分和倒数第二句，正确，不选；B的delta做关键词定位至原文第二句，正确，不选；C的craters做关键词定位至第二句，但原文只说有crater被填满，没说几个，所以C错，选；D的large bodies of water与原文第一句的rivers, lakes and even oceans同义重合，正确，不选。
8.According to paragraph 3, images of Mars’ surface have been interpreted as support for the idea that
A. the polar regions of Mars were once more extensive than they are now
B. a large part of the northern lowlands may once have been under water
C. deltas were once a common feature of the Martian landscape
D. the shape of the Hellas Basin has changed considerably over time
你的答案：A正确答案：B
【原文参考】
Some scientists speculate that Mars may have enjoyed an extended early Period during which rivers, lakes, and perhaps even oceans adorned its surface. A 2003 Mars Global Surveyor image shows what mission specialists think may be a delta—a fan-shaped network of channels and sediments where a river once flowed into a larger body of water, in this case a lake filling a crater in the southern highlands. Other researchers go even further, suggesting that the data provide evidence for large open expenses of water on the early Martian surface. A computer-generated view of the Martian north polar region shows the extent of what may have been an ancient ocean covering much of the northern lowlands. The Hellas Basin, which measures some 3,000 kilometers across and has a floor that lies nearly 9 kilometers below the basin’s rim, is another candidate for an ancient Martian sea.
【解析】
排除法。A的polar做关键词定位至倒数第二句，原文没说比现在更extensive，错，不选；同时这句话说北部的lowland可能是个ancient ocean，与B选项说的在水下是同义重现，所以B正确，选；C的deltas做关键词定位至第二句，原文没说common，错，不选；D的专有名词定位至最后一句，没说变化，错，不选。
12.Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit?
These landscape features differ from runoff channels in a number of ways..
你的答案：C正确答案：A
【原文参考】
Outflow channels are probably relics of catastrophic flooding on Mars long ago. [■]They appear only in equatorial regions and generally do not form extensive interconnected networks. [■]Instead, they are probably the paths taken by huge volumes of water draining from the southern highlands into the northern plains. [■]The onrushing water arising from these flash floods likely also formed the odd teardrop-shaped “islands” (resembling the miniature versions seen in the wet sand of our beaches at low tide) that have been found on the plains close to the ends of the outflow channels. [■]Judging from the width and depth of the channels, the flow rates must have been truly enormous—perhaps as much as a hundred times greater than the 105 tons per second carried by the great Amazon river.
【解析】
A，两个过渡点，these landscape features和a number of ways，特别注意a number of ways应该是个提纲性的句子，所以应该尽量往前插，后面的若干句话都在叙述outflow与runoff channel的不同，所以A正确。these landscape features指代前面的relics of catastrophic flooding。
