托福写作真题及解析

托福写作真题及解析（共5篇）

托福写作真题及解析 篇1

学习：

(1)The African Iron Age is traditionally considered that period in Africa between the second century AD up to about 1000 AD, when iron smelting was practiced. In Africa, unlike the Europe and Asia, the Iron Age is not prefaced by a Bronze or Copper Age, but rather all the metals were brought together. The advantages of iron over stone are obvious--iron is much more efficient at cutting trees or quarrying stone than stone tools. But iron smelting technology is a smelly, dangerous one. This brief essay covers Iron Age up to the end of the first millennium AD.

Pre-Industrial Iron Ore Technology

To work iron, one must extract the ore from the ground and break it into pieces, then heat the pieces to a temperature of at least 1100 degrees centigrade under controlled conditions.

African Iron Age people built a cylindrical clay furnace and used charcoal and a hand-operated bellows to reach the level of heating for smelting. Once smelted, the metal was separated from its waste products or slag, and then brought to its shape by repeated hammering and heating, called forging.

African Iron Age Lifeways

From the 2nd century AD to about 1000 AD, the Chifumbaze spread iron throughout the largest portion of Africa, eastern and southern Africa. The Chifumbaze were farmers of squash, beans, sorghum and millet, and kept cattle, sheep, goats and chickens.

They built hill top settlements, at Bosutswe, large villages like Schroda, and large monumental sites like Great Zimbabwe. Gold, ivory, and glass bead working and trade was part of many of the societies. Many spoke a form of Bantu; many forms of geometric and schematic rock art are found throughout south and eastern Africa.

(2)In Africa, where there was no continent-wide universal Bronze Age, the use of iron succeeded immediately the use of stone.[14] Metallurgy was characterized by the absence of a Bronze Age, and the transition from “stone to steel” in tool substances. Sub-Saharan Africa has produced very early instances of carbon steel found to be in production around years ago in northwest Tanzania, based on complex preheating principles. Nubia was one of the relatively few places in Africa to have a sustained Bronze Age along with Egypt and much of the rest of North Africa. The Meroitic script was developed in the Napatan Period (c. 700–300 BC).

托福写作真题及解析 篇2

真题回顾

此次写作考试同往常一样，依然采取了“多题多卷”的形式，分别考查了三道作文题，下面来回顾一下题目。

题目一：

Directions： For this part， you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay about a course that has impressed you most in college. You should state the reasons and write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.

题目二：

Directions： For this part， you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay about a campus activity that has benefited you most in college. You should state the reasons and write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.

题目三：

Directions： For this part， you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay about a classmate of yours who has influenced you most in college. You should state the reasons and write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.

此次写作考试考查的话题如下：①大学里给你印象最深的一门课;②大学里使你受益最多的一项校园活动;③大学里对你影响最深的一位同学。这些都是考生非常熟悉的话题，写作难度相对较低，考生可以采取叙议结合的写作方式。

命题特点

此次四级写作考试具有以下四个命题特点。

1. 反押题

纵观近几年的真题题目，四级写作往往侧重考查“环境”“文化”“网络”等热点话题。结合2014年的时事变化和历年四级写作的命题思路，很多考生和老师都容易把押题方向定为“环境污染”“两代关系”等。然而，此次四级写作依旧坚持反押题原则，既没有考查传统议论文，也没有考查图表/图画作文，反而延续了2014年6月的命题思路，题目非常“接地气”，让不少考生大跌眼镜。

2014年6月四级写作的题目如下：Suppose a foreign friend of yours is going to visit your hometown/your campus/China， what is the most interesting place you would like to take him/her to see and why？ （假设有位外国朋友来你的家乡/学校/中国，你想带他/她去参观哪个最好玩的地方？为什么？）类似的话题在2001年和2004年的四级写作考试中都出现过。由于每个人的家乡、校园和想带他人去参观的地方都不一样，所以考生可以选择自己最熟悉的内容去描述。此次四级写作的题目也是如此，考查的话题都与校园生活有关，考生可选取最熟悉的内容来写。

2. 易审题

在以往的考试中，无论是写传统型的议论文还是开放式的图画/图表作文，都经常有考生因为跑题而失分。然而，此次四级考试的作文题目很开放，也很清晰，并没有侧重考查考生的审题能力，所以不太存在跑题、偏题的可能性，审题相对比较容易，考生写起来也都有话可说。例如，2012年12月的四级写作题目为“Education Pays”，考核形式为图表作文。不少考生在作答时就没能准确理解题目的含义，误以为pays就是“花费”的意思，进而断定整篇文章的立意为“教育花费”。而实际上这个题目的意思是“教育是值得的”，pays在此处意为“有利，有好处，值得”。尽管这道题目中的单词都是考生认识的单词，没有超纲，也没有出现偏词、怪词或者考生不熟悉的固定搭配，但依然有很多考生没能审清题目，丢了好多分。好在2014年12月的写作题目没有这么强的迷惑性，甚至比往年的题目都更简单易懂。

3. 重视语言

当写作主题十分明确，大多数考生都不会跑题时，这样的写作题目往往更侧重考查考生的语言水平，考生要比拼的是基础和实力。一篇文章要想不“假大空”，就无需使用太多华丽而空洞的语言或口号，而要灵活运用基础词汇和固定表达，写出语法正确、语言流畅的文章。对于这样的写作题目，内容不及语言重要，但这只是相对的。考生如果一味瞎写主体内容肯定会影响分数。因此，考生平时应尽量多加练习，以期在考场上也能迅速想到一些合理的理由和贴切的例证，然后在完成主体内容的基础上完善语言。当然，在写作中，考生要敢于表达自己的思想，不能一味地为了保证语言正确而裹足不前，只写一些停留在小学生水平的文字。

4. 综合考查

此类话题型作文其实是在综合考查考生的写作能力，要求考生在写作中完美结合描述、记叙与议论。在围绕话题进行说明时，考生既需要举例、描述，又需要添加评论和议论，这对考生的语言能力和叙事逻辑都提出了更高的要求。例如，题目三（a classmate of yours who has influenced you most）的写作要点主要包括能给考生带去深远影响的那位同学的事迹、经历以及令考生感到振奋的故事等，这些都需要考生描写和叙述出来。

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虽然四级写作并没有在题目要求中注明一定要举例子，但这其实是题目的隐性要求，需要考生举例子、讲故事。以题目一（a course that has impressed you most）为例，考生可以在第一段先写出课程名称，比如自己印象最深的一门课是英语课或公共演说课。然后，考生要描述具体的课程内容、授课教师及授课形式等。最后，考生要在最后一段论述这门课能对自己产生怎样的影响，以及未来自己要如何对待这门课程等。

写作思路

针对此次四级考试的三道题目，考生均可以采用“三段式”的写作结构：第一段引入话题;第二段结合个人经历进行描述和记叙;第三段对全文内容进行总结、提炼和升华。大部分考生平时对话题型作文的练习偏少，由于此类作文的描述对象较为灵活，可用模板不多，所以更能体现出考生真实的书面表达水平。

此次考试，考生可以遵循如下的写作思路。首先，考生一定要抓住题目中的关键词“一个”（即“一门”“一项”“一位”），在开头点明自己印象最深的一门课是什么，受益最多的一项校园活动是什么，或是对自己影响最深的一位同学是谁，再对其进行详细的描写和叙述。然后，考生可以结合个人经历详细描述那门课/那项校园活动/那位同学的亮点，即那门课为何能给自己留下深刻的印象，那项校园活动能给自己带来哪些益处，以及那位同学都有哪些性格特点、优势或长处，为何能对自己影响最深等。最后，考生可以在结尾段加入自己的收获或反思等。

以题目二（a campus activity that has benefited you most）为例，考生可以在开头点明大学期间让自己获益最多的校园活动是辩论赛。在第二段，考生可以简要描述辩论赛的活动内容及益处。例如，通过参加辩论赛，考生不仅能增强自信，锻炼口才，还能结交到很多朋友，一举多得。最后，考生可以在第三段写一下未来自己会如何通过类似的校园活动来提升自我，让自己变得更有竞争力，并让自己的大学生活变得更丰富充实、更有意义。

备考小贴士

此次四级写作考试技巧和能力并重。考生已普遍适应了写“总—分—总”式的议论文，而且大部分考生对写作模板的依赖性非常强，几乎通篇的长句都是用模板句拼凑出来的。然而，2014年的两次考试都反常规地考查了大部分考生都很陌生的说明文写作，这其实是对基础英语写作能力的一种回归。有的考生因为看过或背过议论文的范文就直接照搬，结果导致失分。

笔者建议考生在考场上先构思好文章的整体结构，然后再动笔去写。但是构思不等于要打草稿，因为考试时间毕竟有限，打完草稿再誊写很可能来不及。考生只需花3～5分钟构思即可，大致想一下每段要写什么，然后记几个关键词来提示自己（可以记在准考证空白处）。在接下来的20多分钟里，考生可以根据这几个关键词的提示来扩展写作内容。

参考范文

下面是两篇示范例文，供各位考生参考。因篇幅有限，仅提供题目一和题目三的范文。

题目一（a course that has impressed you most in college）

There are many courses in each college year， but the course which has impressed me most in college is Advanced English Audio-Visual & Speaking. The reasons why I like this course are as follows.

The first reason is that I have learnt a lot from this course. My listening ability， speaking ability and translation ability have all improved greatly after taking this course. The second reason is that I like the teacher of this course， Mr. Qin， very much. He is a charming gentleman with great patience. His oral English is perfect， sounding like an American speaker. He is very strict but we still extremely like him.

Just as the proverb goes， “A strict teacher trains an outstanding student.” Thanks to Mr. Qin’s guidance and teachings in this course， all my classmates have made great progress in learning English.

题目三（a classmate of yours who has influenced you most in college）

I have made so many friends in my college life. They have exerted enormous influence on my life. However， one of the most impressive of my friends is my roommate， Li Ming.

In the class meeting on the first day of school， Li Ming did not impress us at all. We started to notice him because he was always late for class. We were impressed by his apparent laziness. I came to know him and his situation because we were roommates and spent much time together： His mother was seriously ill and had been bedridden for a long time. His father had mercilessly left him and his mother. Hence， it was him that shouldered the heavy burden of taking care of his sick mother and supporting the whole family. Finally， despite great pressure， he balanced his life and study perfectly： He was no longer late， he took good care of his mother and even won the scholarship several years in a row.

The experience of Li Ming is one of the most convincing cases of the power of persistence and will. He left a deep impression and imposed a durable influence on me. Indeed， a friend such as him can be regarded as an asset to my life.

TPO托福阅读真题答案及解析 篇3

The Long-Term Stability of Ecosystems

Plant communities assemble themselves flexibly, and their particular structure depends on the specific history of the area. Ecologists use the term “succession” to refer to the changes that happen in plant communities and ecosystems over time. The first community in a succession is called a pioneer community, while the long-lived community at the end of succession is called a climax community. Pioneer and successional plant communities are said to change over periods from 1 to 500 years. These changes—in plant numbers and the mix of species—are cumulative. Climax communities themselves change but over periods of time greater than about 500 years.

An ecologist who studies a pond today may well find it relatively unchanged in a year’s time. Individual fish may be replaced, but the number of fish will tend to be the same from one year to the next. We can say that the properties of an ecosystem are more stable than the individual organisms that compose the ecosystem.

At one time, ecologists believed that species diversity made ecosystems stable. They believed that the greater the diversity the more stable the ecosystem. Support for this idea came from the observation that long-lasting climax communities usually have more complex food webs and more species diversity than pioneer communities. Ecologists concluded that the apparent stability of climax ecosystems depended on their complexity. To take an extreme example, farmlands dominated by a single crop are so unstable that one year of bad weather or the invasion of a single pest can destroy the entire crop. In contrast, a complex climax community, such as a temperate forest, will tolerate considerable damage from weather to pests.

The question of ecosystem stability is complicated, however. The first problem is that ecologists do not all agree what “stability” means. Stability can be defined as simply lack of change. In that case, the climax community would be considered the most stable, since, by definition, it changes the least over time. Alternatively, stability can be defined as the speed with which an ecosystem returns to a particular form following a major disturbance, such as a fire. This kind of stability is also called resilience. In that case, climax communities would be the most fragile and the least stable, since they can require hundreds of years to return to the climax state.

Even the kind of stability defined as simple lack of change is not always associated with maximum diversity. At least in temperate zones, maximum diversity is often found in mid-successional stages, not in the climax community. Once a redwood forest matures, for example, the kinds of species and the number of individuals growing on the forest floor are reduced. In general, diversity, by itself, does not ensure stability. Mathematical models of ecosystems likewise suggest that diversity does not guarantee ecosystem stability—just the opposite, in fact. A more complicated system is, in general, more likely than a simple system to break down. A fifteen-speed racing bicycle is more likely to break down than a child’s tricycle.

Ecologists are especially interested to know what factors contribute to the resilience of communities because climax communities all over the world are being severely damaged or destroyed by human activities. The destruction caused by the volcanic explosion of Mount St. Helens, in the northwestern United States, for example, pales in comparison to the destruction caused by humans. We need to know what aspects of a community are most important to the community’s resistance to destruction, as well as its recovery.

Many ecologists now think that the relative long-term stability of climax communities comes not from diversity but from the “patchiness” of the environment, an environment that varies from place to place supports more kinds of organisms than an environment that is uniform. A local population that goes extinct is quickly replaced by immigrants from an adjacent community. Even if the new population is of a different species, it can approximately fill the niche vacated by the extinct population and keep the food web intact.

Paragraph 1: Plant communities assemble themselves flexibly, and their particular structure depends on the specific history of the area. Ecologists use the term “succession” to refer to the changes that happen in plant communities and ecosystems over time. The first community in a succession is called a pioneer community, while the long-lived community at the end of succession is called a climax community. Pioneer and successional plant communities are said to change over periods from 1 to 500 years. These changes—in plant numbers and the mix of species—are cumulative. Climax communities themselves change but over periods of time greater than about 500 years.

TPO托福阅读题目

1. The word “particular” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○Natural

○Final

○Specific

○Complex

2. According to paragraph 1, which of the following is NOT true of climax communities?

○They occur at the end of a succession.

○They last longer than any other type of community.

○The numbers of plants in them and the mix of species do not change.

○They remain stable for at least 500 years at a time.

Paragraph 2: An ecologist who studies a pond today may well find it relatively unchanged in a year’s time. Individual fish may be replaced, but the number of fish will tend to be the same from one year to the next. We can say that the properties of an ecosystem are more stable than the individual organisms that compose the ecosystem.

3. According to paragraph 2, which of the following principles of ecosystems can be learned by studying a pond?

○Ecosystem properties change more slowly than individuals in the system.

○The stability of an ecosystem tends to change as individuals are replaced.

○Individual organisms are stable from one year to the next.

○A change in the members of an organism does not affect an ecosystem’s properties

Paragraph 3: At one time, ecologists believed that species diversity made ecosystems stable. They believed that the greater the diversity the more stable the ecosystem. Support for this idea came from the observation that long-lasting climax communities usually have more complex food webs and more species diversity than pioneer communities. Ecologists concluded that the apparent stability of climax ecosystems depended on their complexity. To take an extreme example, farmlands dominated by a single crop are so unstable that one year of bad weather or the invasion of a single pest can destroy the entire crop. In contrast, a complex climax community, such as a temperate forest, will tolerate considerable damage from weather of pests.

4. According to paragraph 3, ecologists once believed that which of the following illustrated the most stable ecosystems?

○Pioneer communities

○Climax communities

○Single-crop farmlands

○Successional plant communities

Paragraph 4: The question of ecosystem stability is complicated, however. The first problem is that ecologists do not all agree what “stability” means. Stability can be defined as simply lack of change. In that case, the climax community would be considered the most stable, since, by definition, it changes the least over time. Alternatively, stability can be defined as the speed with which an ecosystem returns to a particular form following a major disturbance, such as a fire. This kind of stability is also called resilience. In that case, climax communities would be the most fragile and the least stable, since they can require hundreds of years to return to the climax state.

5. According to paragraph 4, why is the question of ecosystem stability complicated?

○The reasons for ecosystem change are not always clear.

○Ecologists often confuse the word “stability” with the word “resilience.”

○The exact meaning of the word “stability” is debated by ecologists.

○There are many different answers to ecological questions.

6. According to paragraph 4, which of the following is true of climax communities?

○They are more resilient than pioneer communities.

○They can be considered both the most and the least stable communities.

○They are stable because they recover quickly after major disturbances.

○They are the most resilient communities because they change the least over time.

Paragraph 5: Even the kind of stability defined as simple lack of change is not always associated with maximum diversity. At least in temperate zones, maximum diversity is often found in mid-successional stages, not in the climax community. Once a redwood forest matures, for example, the kinds of species and the number of individuals growing on the forest floor are reduced. In general, diversity, by itself, does not ensure stability. Mathematical models of ecosystems likewise suggest that diversity does not guarantee ecosystem stability—just the opposite, in fact. A more complicated system is, in general, more likely than a simple system to break down. (A fifteen-speed racing bicycle is more likely to break down than a child’s tricycle.)

7. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 5 about redwood forests?

○They become less stable as they mature.

○They support many species when they reach climax.

○They are found in temperate zones.

○They have reduced diversity during mid-successional stages.

8. The word “guarantee” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○Increase

○Ensure

○Favor

○Complicate

9. In paragraph 5, why does the author provide the information that “(A fifteen-speed racing bicycle is more likely to break down than a child’s tricycle)”?

○To illustrate a general principle about the stability of systems by using an everyday example

○To demonstrate that an understanding of stability in ecosystems can be applied to help understand stability in other situations

○To make a comparison that supports the claim that, in general, stability increases with diversity

○To provide an example that contradicts mathematical models of ecosystems

Paragraph 6: Ecologists are especially interested to know what factors contribute to the resilience of communities because climax communities all over the world are being severely damaged or destroyed by human activities. The destruction caused by the volcanic explosion of Mount St. Helens, in the northwestern United States, for example, pales in comparison to the destruction caused by humans. We need to know what aspects of a community are most important to the community’s resistance to destruction, as well as its recovery.

10. The word “pales” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○Increases proportionally

○Differs

○Loses significance

○Is common

Paragraph 7：Many ecologists now think that the relative long-term stability of climax communities comes not from diversity but from the “patchiness” of the environment, an environment that varies from place to place supports more kinds of organisms than an environment that is uniform. A local population that goes extinct is quickly replaced by immigrants from an adjacent community. Even if the new population is of a different species, it can approximately fill the niche vacated by the extinct population and keep the food web intact.

11.Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incurred choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

○Ecologists now think that the stability of an environment is a result of diversity rather than patchiness.

○Patchy environments that vary from place to place do not often have high species diversity.

○Uniform environments cannot be climax communities because they do not support as many types of organisms as patchy environments.

○A patchy environment is thought to increase stability because it is able to support a wide variety of organisms.

12.The word “adjacent” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○Foreign

○Stable

○Fluid

○Neighboring

Paragraph 6: Ecologists are especially interested to know what factors contribute to the resilience of communities because climax communities all over the world are being severely damaged or destroyed by human activities. The destruction caused by the volcanic explosion of Mount St. Helens, in the northwestern United States, for example, pales in comparison to the destruction caused by humans. We need to know what aspects of a community are most important to the community’s resistance to destruction, as well as its recovery.

13.Look at the four squares [ ] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

In fact, damage to the environment by humans is often much more severe than damage by natural events and processes.

Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square to add the sentence to the passage.

14.Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

The process of succession and the stability of a climax community can change over time.

Answer choices

○The changes that occur in an ecosystem from the pioneer to the climax community can be seen in one human generation.

○A high degree of species diversity does not always result in a stable ecosystem.

○The level of resilience in a plant community contributes to its long-term stability.

○Ecologists agree that climax communities are the most stable types of ecosystems.

○Disagreements over the meaning of the term “stability” make it difficult to identify the most stable ecosystems.

托福阅读真题解析 篇4

题目：The north long-neck turtle

内容回忆：

第1段介绍了生活在澳洲热带的long-neck turtle，它们的栖息地非常地特殊，会随着干湿两季的不同，改变栖息地;

第2段讲到研究者们找了两年也没有找到这种龟的栖息地，但是当地的土著人知道，他们知道这种龟会将蛋产在水下。为了验证这个说法，研究者在水下放了很多radio transmitter，turtle下蛋的时候，transmitter会附在蛋上，结果真的发现，long-neck turtle会在水下14-17米的泥下下蛋;

第3段讲为什么turtle会选这里下蛋，这和它们生存的环境有关，它们生存的环境没有稳定的水，干湿两季是主要原因。

第4段讲到 为什么这种龟下蛋在水下，蛋可以生存下来，不同于别的蛋，它们的蛋特别抗压。

词汇题：

1.ingenious = comprehensive

2.feat = achievement

3.bizarre = strange

11月14号托福阅读真题解析 篇5

今天的托福阅读部分难度较大，常考的生物类话题没有出现，三篇文章中两篇为历史农业类题材，一篇为天文地质类题材。

第一篇：Climate Change and the Natufian People

文章大意：

气候干旱(arid)，河水干涸，导致猎物(game)减少，N人发明了新的箭头(arrowhead)来捕杀猎物。空气中二氧化碳(carbon dioxide)含量下降，阻止(inhibit)植物光合作用(photosynthesis)，农作物的减少使得农业变得必要。对A村落遗迹的研究发现，人口数量的增加使得人们对作物重视，驯化了(domesticate)黑麦(rye)，而人们搬走之后，黑麦又逐渐变回野生状态(wild)。人们离开了林地(woodland)，转向那些河流干涸带来的冲积河谷(alluvial valley)，那里的土壤肥沃利于农业增产。

文章点评：

历史/农业类文章，难度适中。

Tpo中此类文章非常多，在备考时，建议考生精读tpo21-2 the Origins of Agriculture，就能对农业话题有足够的背景知识。例如：人们起初都是以“打猎-采集(hunter-gather)”和游牧(nomad)的生活方式为主的，向农业的发展，主要可能由人口的增长、气候的波动(fluctuation)而不能持续获得猎物等因素导致。

同时tpo24-3 Moving into Pueblo也提供了一些常考的逻辑线索，人口的移动或者生活方式的转变往往有一些客观原因;比如人口增长让人们有获取食物的需求，气温低使得人们向低海拔(lower elevation)迁移，合作(cooperation)的需要促使部落之间的交流，等等。

阅读过词类文章后，考生们对此类题型应当胜券在握。

第二篇：Development of Ideas About the Moon’s Surface

文章大意：

人们对月球表面弹坑来源的讨论，不同年代的不同科学家提出的不同理论(theory)，总体围绕弹坑是由陨石撞击(meteorite impact)还是由火山活动(volcanism)造成的。中间涉及一些科学实验方法：比如模拟(mimic)陨石撞击，用铅球(lead)撞击粘土(clay);振动曲线表明撞击不是椭圆形(ellipse)，而无论从何角度都是圆形(circle)等等。同时，还对月海(Maria: a dark region of considerable extent on the surface of the moon)的来源做了讨论。

最终得出结论坑是由于陨石撞击导致的，月海是火山活动带来的

文章点评：

天文/地质类文章，难度高。

这篇文章考生普遍反映很难，有些考生表示在这篇文章上耗时过长导致影响了最后一篇文章的答题。这篇文章主要难在提出了许多theories，中间涉及多个人名和观点，且每个理论所持的观点和被支持还是被反驳交代比较隐晦，不像以往tpo中对每个理论的提出和正确与否都有明确的说明。例如tpo15-2 Mass Extinction 就有明确的提出理论反驳理论的过程，同学们可以细细体会一下。在备考天文相关文章时还要求对天文学背景有一些了解，推荐阅读tpo25-1 the Surface of Mars。

在实战时，若考生在今后的考试中遇到此类难题也不要惊慌，留足时间做第三篇文章，完成后再回头理清思绪，借助笔记，将每个人名和他们的理论一一对应，有助于对文章的理解。

第三篇：the Plow and the Horse in Medieval Europe

文章大意：

(配图：原始的犁(plow)和新的犁)

欧洲经济增长停滞(stagnation)，引出农业发展。过去的犁挖得浅，挖不动潮湿的土地，改良的犁挖得深，并且过去要犁两遍的土地现在只要犁一遍。这个犁的进步，变成了财富的象征。新的马具(harness)的引入使得马取代了牛(oxen)用于耕地，并且马跑的快，成为了交通工具促进贸易。而养马是很贵的，不像牛吃干草就行了，马的饲料要像种农作物一样耕种。

文章点评：

历史/农业类，难度适中。

文章脉络清晰，容易理解。备考时熟悉农业相关词汇，实战时注重今昔对比，和文章态度。

附：托福农业类常考词汇

agriculture (farming) 农业

farmland 农田

soil erosion 泥土流失

silt 粉砂，泥沙

clay 黏土，湿土

clod 土块

agrarian 土地的，农业的

ridge 田埂

furrow 犁沟

plot (patch)小块地

ranch 农场，牧场

orchard 果园

nursery 苗圃

sickle 镰刀

spade 铲，锹

shovel (平头) 铲

pick 稿

cultivate (till) 耕作

harvest 收割

weed 除草

irrigate 灌溉

granary(grain store) 粮仓

mill 碾，磨

wheat 小麦

corn 玉米

barley 大麦

sorghum 高粱

oats燕麦

rye 黑麦

millet 粟，小米

horticulture 园艺学

hydroponics 水栽法，营养液栽培法

husbandry (animal husbandry) 畜牧业

pasture 牧场

livestock 家畜

fowl (poultry) 家禽

cattle 牛，家畜

buffalo 野牛

dairy (dairy cattle) 奶牛

hay (作饲料用)干草

haystack 干草堆

fodder (feed) 饲料

barn(shed) 牲口槽

今日部分词汇题：

Stagnation = lack of growth

Implication = consequence

Mimic = reproduce

Vast = huge

Drawn to = be attracted towards

Exclusively = solely

Sustained = continued

Conventional = standard

托福词汇之分数类

grade (mark 、score) 分数

perfect grade 优异成绩

low grade 低分

high mark 高分

passing grade 及格分

failing grade 不及格分

full marks 满分

straight A’s 全A

be all A’s and B’s 全是A和B

B plus B加

A minus A减

pass the exam with flying colors 以优异成绩通过考试

graduate with honors 以荣誉毕业

托福词汇之作业类

thesis/essay/dissertation 论文

assignment 作业

homework = coursework = schoolwork = studies 作业

lab report 实验报告

book report 读书报告

presentation 发言

term paper 学期论文

project 作业

broad (论文等)内容宽泛的

narrow down (论文等)缩小范围

托福词汇之教师评价类

professor 教授

lecturer = instructor 讲师

teaching assistant = TA 助教

research assistant = RA 助研

counselor, adviser 咨询者，顾问

B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) 文学士

M.A (degree of Master of Arts) 文学硕士

M.S. (Master of Science) 理硕士

M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) 医学博士

Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy) (哲学)博士

president 大学校长

teacher/faculty 教师

student’s advisor 学生顾问

physicist 物理学家

mathematician 数学家

chemist 化学家

historian 历史学家