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Introduction
Many students sent me E-mail, asking me to recommend some reading materials. Of assorted iBT preparing materials, Barron, Longman, Delta, etc, which is the best? As often as not, I feel at a loss: does brand equal to quality? These branded institutions are highly publicized, however, their passages and questions are not necessarily of quality. Does the brand “Sanlu” mean something to you? “QUALITY and safety are the foundations of social harmony,” proclaim posters at the headquarters of the Sanlu Group, until recently one of China’s biggest producers of milk powder. Now we all know that Sanlu Scandal has been more than an embarrassment. To say that these “branded” passages are not of quality does not mean they are not stylish, elegant or carefully-written; in fact, I discovered that the passage types, sentence patterns, arguing methods, and arrangement of questions are not quite consistent with, and sometimes even wildly divergent from those of ETS. I reflect that practicing with these materials cannot expect a satisfactory result. At this, we should collect ETS’s original passages and questions. Such passages available include:
13 passages in Official Guide (OG);
19sets from TPO, with 3 passages included in each set, 57 passages in total;
3 passages provided by ETS to the applicants for a test on line in the early time of iBT,
1 passage extracted from the simulated exam software provided by ETS;
(3 passages in TPO are abstracted from OG, so they are exactly the same)
Then, I cannot resist the temptation to make such a text: I typed every letter of the 13 passages in OG into computer; I paid dollars for the TPO and completed it myself, filming the screen and capturing every page. Then I typed all the passages with the help of videos and captured pictures. The 3 passages in the on-line test happened to be available to me; and as for the one passage in the simulated exam, though with a little difficulty, I nevertheless succeeded make an electronic text of it. Of course, I finished all these questions and attached the answer to end of this text. Eventually, the final “deluxe” edition of this text, including 71 passages in aggregate (3 passages in TPO are abstracted from OG, so they are exactly the same. Then taking 3 from 74 leaves 71 passages at last. ) I insist that before carefully finished and studied these 71passages, we should not let ourselves distracted by any other materials. Sometimes, I yelled to my students, only a joke, “If you had not studied these passages and questions 3 times at least, how could you be barefaced enough to sit in the exam room? Shame on you to waste your mother’s money buying other costly books!”
In addition, have you got ants in your pants every time you make a stab at writing? Do you go berserk for your personal statement? If you are preparing for the iBT, SAT, GRE, etc, writing, essays, or your personal statement, these passages can also be of help: polished by ETS, words, sentence, and structures of these passages are “epic…”, and worth imitating for none-native English users. Frequently, friends asked me to help with their personal statement, complaining why what they had written looked so naïve, immature and awkward, even littered with those “glorious noble” GRE words (Actually, these words made their personal statement even freak!). And they asked, “Wenyong, my brother, how you forged your impressive writing skills?” I said, “Read! Read! And read again! The more you read, the better you write.” “Are these iBT passages really so amazing?” I affected a tone of a comedian, “try them!”
How good can these passages be? “They are golden, they are precious, they are diamonds!”
Yours
Wenyong
目录
1.7
APPLIED ARTS AND FINE ARTS
2.12
THE ORIGINS OF CETACEANS
3.19
DESERT FORMATION
4.28
EARLY CINEMA
5.37
AGGRESSION
6.46
ARTISANS AND INDUSTRIALIZATION
7.55
SWIMMING MACHINES
8.63
NINETEENTH-CENTURY POLITICS IN THE UNITED STATES
9.72
THE EXPRESSION OF EMOTIONS
10.81
GEOLOGY AND LANDSCAPE
11.90
GROUNDWATER
12.97
THE ORIGINS OF THEATER
13.104
TIMBERLINE VEGETATION ON MOUNTAINS
14.111
ARCHITECTURE
15.118
Depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer
16.125
The Long-Term Stability of Ecosystems
17.132
Opportunists and Competitors
18.138
Lascaux Cave Paintings
19.145
Electricity from Wind
20.152
Deer Populations of the Puget Sound
21.159
Cave Art in Europe
22.166
Petroleum Resources
23.173
Meteorite Impact and Dinosaur Extinction
24.180
MINERALS AND PLANTS
25.187
THE ORIGIN OF THE PACIFIC ISLAND PEOPLE
26.195
THE CAMBRIAN EXPLOSION
27.202
Powering the Industrial Revolution
28.209
William Smith
29.216
Infantile Amnesia
30.223
The Geologic History of the Mediterranean
31.230
Ancient Rome and Greece
32.237
Agriculture, Iron, and the Bantu Peoples
33.244
THE RISE OF TEOTIHUACAN
34.251
EXTINCTION OF THE DINOSAURS
35.259
RUNNING WATER ON MARS
36.266
Colonizing the Americas via the Northwest Coast
37.274
REFLECTION IN TEACHING
38.281
THE ARRIVAL OF PLANT LIFE IN HAWAII
39.288
FEEDING HABITS OF EAST AFRICAN HERBIVORES
40.295
LOIE FULLER
41.302
GREEN ICEBERGS
42.309
Chinese Pottery
43.316
Variations in the Climate
44.323
Seventeenth-Century European Economic Growth
45.330
Ancient Egyptian Sculpture
46.337
Orientation and Navigation
47.344
Begging by Nestlings
48.351
Which Hand Did They Use?
49.358
Transition to Sound in Film
50.366
Water in the Desert
51.373
Types of Social Groups
52.380
Biological Clocks
53.387
Methods of Studying Infant Perception
54.394
Children and Advertising
55.401
Maya Water Problems
56.408
Pastoralism in Ancient Inner Eurasia
57.415
A Warm-Blooded Turtle
58.422
Mass Extinctions
59.429
Glacier Formation
60.436
Trade and the Ancient Middle East
61.443
Development of the Periodic Table
62.451
Planets in Our Solar System
63.457Europe's Early Sea Trade with Asia-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
64.464
Animal Signals in the Rain Forest------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
65.472
Symbiotic Relationships
66. Industrialization in the Netherlands and Scandinavia 479
67.485
The mystery of yawning
68.491
Lightning
69.497
The Roman Army's Impact on Britain
70.504
Succession, Climax, and Ecosystems
71.511
Discovering the Ice Ages
519
托福阅读知识体系
520
《文勇的新托福强化阅读白金班》
522
《穿越重洋,给你思维的力量》
APPLIED ARTS AND FINE ARTS
Although we now tend to refer to the various crafts according to the materials used to construct them-clay, glass, wood, fiber, and metal-it was once common to think of crafts in terms of function, which led to their being known as the "applied arts." Approaching crafts from the point of view of function, we can divide them into simple categories: containers, shelters and supports. There is no way around the fact that containers, shelters, and supports must be functional. The applied arts are thus bound by the laws of physics, which pertain to both the materials used in their making and the substances and things to be contained, supported, and sheltered. These laws are universal in their application, regardless of cultural beliefs, geography, or climate. If a pot has no bottom or has large openings in its sides, it could hardly be considered a container in any traditional sense. Since the laws of physics, not some arbitrary decision, have determined the general form of applied-art objects, they follow basic patterns, so much so that functional forms can vary only within certain limits. Buildings without roofs, for example, are unusual because they depart from the norm. However, not all functional objects are exactly alike; that is why we recognize a Shang Dynasty vase as being different from an Inca vase. What varies is not the basic form but the incidental details that do not obstruct the object's primary function.
Sensitivity to physical laws is thus an important consideration for the maker of applied-art objects. It is often taken for granted that this is also true for the maker of fine-art objects. This assumption misses a significant difference between the two disciplines. Fine-art objects are not constrained by the laws of physics in the same way that applied-art objects are. Because their primary purpose is not functional, they are only limited in terms of the materials used to make them. Sculptures must, for example, be stable, which requires an understanding of the properties of mass, weight distribution, and stress. Paintings must have rigid stretchers so that the canvas will be taut, and the paint must not deteriorate, crack, or discolor. These are problems that must be overcome by the artist because they tend to intrude upon his or her conception of the work. For example, in the early Italian Renaissance, bronze statues of horses with a raised foreleg usually had a cannonball under that hoof. This was done because the cannonball was needed to support the weight of the leg. In other words, the demands of the laws of physics, not the sculptor's aesthetic intentions, placed the ball there. That this device was a necessary structural compromise is clear from the fact that the cannonball quickly disappeared when sculptors learned how to strengthen the internal structure of a statue with iron braces (iron being much stronger than bronze).
Even though the fine arts in the twentieth century often treat materials in new ways, the basic difference in attitude of artists in relation to their materials in the fine arts and the applied arts remains relatively constant. It would therefore not be too great an exaggeration to say that practitioners of the fine arts work to overcome the limitations of their materials, whereas those engaged in the applied arts work in concert with their materials.
Paragraph 1: Although we now tend to refer to the various crafts according to the materials used to construct them-clay, glass, wood, fiber, and metal-it was once common to think of crafts in terms of function, which led to their being known as the "applied arts." Approaching crafts from the point of view of function, we can divide them into simple categories: containers, shelters and supports. There is no way around the fact that containers, shelters, and supports must be functional. The applied arts are thus bound by the laws of physics, which pertain to both the materials used in their making and the substances and things to be contained, supported, and sheltered. These laws are universal in their application, regardless of cultural beliefs, geography, or climate. If a pot has no bottom or has large openings in its sides, it could hardly be considered a container in any traditional sense. Since the laws of physics, not some arbitrary decision, have determined the general form of applied-art objects, they follow basic patterns, so much so that functional forms can vary only within certain limits. Buildings without roofs, for example, are unusual because they depart from the norm. However, not all functional objects are exactly alike; that is why we recognize a Shang Dynasty vase as being different from an Inca vase. What varies is not the basic form but the incidental details that do not obstruct the object's primary function.
3. The word they in the passage refers to
○Applied-art objects
○The laws of physics
○Containers
○The sides of pots
4. Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence? Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
○Functional applied-art objects cannot vary much from the basic patterns determined by the laws of physics.
○The function of applied-art objects is determined by basic patterns in the laws of physics.
○Since functional applied-art objects vary only within certain limits, arbitrary decisions cannot have determined their general form.
○The general form of applied-art objects is limited by some arbitrary decision that is not determined by the laws of physics.
Paragraph 2: Sensitivity to physical laws is thus an important consideration for the maker of applied-art objects. It is often taken for granted that this is also true for the maker of fine-art objects. This assumption misses a significant difference between the two disciplines. Fine-art objects are not constrained by the laws of physics in the same way that applied-art objects are. Because their primary purpose is not functional, they are only limited in terms of the materials used to make them. Sculptures must, for example, be stable, which requires an understanding of the properties of mass, weight distribution, and stress. Paintings must have rigid stretchers so that the canvas will be taut, and the paint must not deteriorate, crack, or discolor. These are problems that must be overcome by the artist because they tend to intrude upon his or her conception of the work. For example, in the early Italian Renaissance, bronze statues of horses with a raised foreleg usually had a cannonball under that hoof. This was done because the cannonball was needed to support the weight of the leg. In other words, the demands of the laws of physics, not the sculptor's aesthetic intentions, placed the ball there. That this device was a necessary structural compromise is clear from the fact that the cannonball quickly disappeared when sculptors learned how to strengthen the internal structure of a statue with iron braces (iron being much stronger than bronze).
5. According to paragraph 2, sculptors in the Italian Renaissance stopped using cannonballs in bronze statues of horses because
○They began using a material that made the statues weigh less
○They found a way to strengthen the statues internally
○The aesthetic tastes of the public had changed over time
○The cannonballs added too much weight to the statues
6. Why does the author discuss the bronze statues of horses created by artists in the early Italian Renaissance?
○To provide an example of a problem related to the laws of physics that a fine artist must overcome
○To argue that fine artists are unconcerned with the laws of physics
○To contrast the relative sophistication of modern artists in solving problems related to the laws of physics
○To note an exceptional piece of art constructed without the aid of technology
7. 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.
This passage discusses fundamental differences between applied-art objects and fine-art objects.
●
●
●
Answer Choices
○Applied-art objects fulfill functions, such as containing or sheltering, and objects with the same function have similar characteristics because they are constrained by their purpose.
○It is easy to recognize that Shang Dynasty vases are different from Inca vases.
○Fine-art objects are not functional, so they are limited only by the properties of the materials used.
○Renaissance sculptors learned to use iron braces to strengthen the internal structures of bronze statues.
○In the twentieth century, fine artists and applied artists became more similar to one another in their attitudes toward their materials.
○In all periods, fine artists tend to challenge the physical limitations of their materials while applied artists tend to cooperate with the physical properties of their materials.
8. Directions: Complete the table below to summarize information about the two types of art discussed in the passage. Match the appropriate statements to the types of art with which they are associated. This question is worth 3 points.
TYPES OF ART STATEMENTS
The Applied Arts Select 3
●
●
●
The Fine Arts Select 2
●
●
Statements
○An object's purpose is primarily aesthetic.
○Objects serve a functional purpose.
○The incidental details of objects do not vary.
○Artists work to overcome the limitations of their materials.
○The basic form of objects varies little across cultures.
○Artists work in concert with their materials.
○An object's place of origin is difficult to determine.
参考
答案
八年级地理上册填图题岩土工程勘察试题省略号的作用及举例应急救援安全知识车间5s试题及答案
:
3. ○1
4. ○1
5. ○2
6. ○1
7. ○1, 3, 6
8. ○2, 5, 6
○1, 4
参考译文
实用艺术和创造艺术
在现代,人们将根据工艺品的制造材质对他们进行分类,如陶土,玻璃,木头,纤维还有金属。但最初人们根据工艺品的功能将他们通通定义为“实用工艺品”。根据工艺品的实用性,我们可以把手工艺品简单分为:容器,遮蔽物,支撑物。毫无疑问它们都是具有一定功能的物品。这些实用工艺品以自然规律为基础,它们的制作材料及其容纳、支撑、遮盖的内容需要符合这些规律。这些规律在工艺品应用过程中非常普遍,不会因文化信仰、地理条件和气候的改变而改变。如果一个壶没有底座,或者在一侧有一个大开口,那么它在任何传统意义上都很难被视为是一个容器。自然规律决定了实用工艺品的一般形式,而不是武断的结论决定的,它们遵循基本的样式,以至于它们的功能不会变化太大。举个例子,没有屋顶的建筑是很少见的,因为它违反了自然规律。但是,并不是所有的功能物品都一模一样,比如我们知道的为什么商代花瓶和印加花瓶不同。它们的区别不是基本功能的不同,而是那些不影响其基本功能的细节存在区别。
实用工艺品的生产者会着重考虑这件工艺品对自然规律的敏感性。所以人们认为对纯工艺品的生产来说也是一样。但这种推断忽略了两种工艺品之间重要的区别。纯工艺品不像实用工艺品那样会受到自然规律的限制。因为它们最主要的并不是体现其功能性,其实它们仅受限于制作材料的性质。比方说雕塑必须要牢固,这就需要了解质量,重力分布和压力的性质。油画必须有坚固的支架,才能让画布保持绷紧,并且油画不可以有毁损,裂纹,褪色。类似困难都是艺术家们必须克服的,这些困扰往往影响了艺术家对于工艺品的设计。就好像在意大利文艺复兴早期,踢出前腿马匹的青铜像往往有一个金属球置于它的前蹄下。这样设计是因为需要金属球来支撑腿的重量。换而言之,摆在那里的金属球是客观条件的需要,而不是艺术家的美学意愿。当雕塑家学会如何了用铁支架加强雕塑的内部结构后(铁比青铜更结实),就不再使用金属球了,由此看来,铁球的使用是对于必要结构性的妥协。
尽管在20世纪纯工艺品的制作通常采用新的制造工艺,人们对两种工艺品的基本态度仍然保持对立。因此,毫不夸张地说,纯艺术工艺品的生产者需要克服原材料的限制进行生产,而从事实用性工艺品的生产者则依据材料的性质来进行生产。
THE ORIGINS OF CETACEANS
It should be obvious that cetaceans-whales, porpoises, and dolphins-are mammals. They breathe through lungs, not through gills, and give birth to live young. Their streamlined bodies, the absence of hind legs, and the presence of a fluke1 and blowhole2 cannot disguise their affinities with land dwelling mammals. However, unlike the cases of sea otters and pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses, whose limbs are functional both on land and at sea), it is not easy to envision what the first whales looked like. Extinct but already fully marine cetaceans are known from the fossil record. How was the gap between a walking mammal and a swimming whale bridged? Missing until recently were fossils clearly intermediate, or transitional, between land mammals and cetaceans.
Very exciting discoveries have finally allowed scientists to reconstruct the most likely origins of cetaceans. In 1979, a team looking for fossils in northern Pakistan found what proved to be the oldest fossil whale. The fossil was officially named Pakicetus in honor of the country where the discovery was made. Pakicetus was found embedded in rocks formed from river deposits that were 52 million years old. The river that formed these deposits was actually not far from an ancient ocean known as the Tethys Sea.
The fossil consists of a complete skull of an archaeocyte, an extinct group of ancestors of modern cetaceans. Although limited to a skull, the Pakicetus fossil provides precious details on the origins of cetaceans. The skull is cetacean-like but its jawbones lack the enlarged space that is filled with fat or oil and used for receiving underwater sound in modern whales. Pakicetus probably detected sound through the ear opening as in land mammals. The skull also lacks a blowhole, another cetacean adaptation for diving. Other features, however, show experts that Pakicetus is a transitional form between a group of extinct flesh-eating mammals, the mesonychids, and cetaceans. It has been suggested that Pakicetus fed on fish in shallow water and was not yet adapted for life in the open ocean. It probably bred and gave birth on land.
Another major discovery was made in Egypt in 1989. Several skeletons of another early whale, Basilosaurus, were found in sediments left by the Tethys Sea and now exposed in the Sahara desert. This whale lived around 40 million years ago, 12 million years after