2013年托福考试阅读模拟试题及答案2_第2页

　　PARAGRAPH 2

　　In the late 1700s James Watt designed an efficient and commercially viable steam engine that was soon applied to a 1 variety of industrial uses as it became cheaper to use. The engine helped solve the problem of draining coal mines of groundwater and increased the production of coal needed to power steam engines elsewhere. A rotary engine attached to the steam engine enabled shafts to be turned and machines to be driven, resulting in mills using steam power to spin and weave cotton. Since the steam engine was fired by coal, the large mills did not need to be located by rivers, as had mills that used water- driven machines. The shift to increased mechanization in cotton production is apparent in the import of raw cotton and the sale of cotton goods. Between 1760 and 1850, the amount of raw cotton imported increased 230 times. Production of British cotton goods increased sixtyfold, and cotton cloth became Great Britain's most important product, accounting for one-half of all exports. The success of the steam engine resulted in increased demands for coal, and the M consequent increase in coal production was made possible as the steam-powered pumps drained water from the ever-deeper coal seams found below the water table.

　　3、Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 2 as a development in cotton mills brought about by Watt's steam engine?

　　The importing of huge quantities of raw cotton by Britain

　　Increased mechanization

　　More possibilities for mill location

　　Smaller mills

4、The phrase "apparent in" in the passage is closest in meaning to

　　clearly seen in

　　aid in

　　associated with

　　followed By

　　5、According to paragraph 2, what was Britain's most important export by 1850?

　　Raw cotton

　　Cotton cloth

　　Steam-powered pumps

　　Coal

　　6、The word "consequent" in the passage is closest in meaning to

　　resulting

　　encouraging

　　well documented

　　immediate

　　7、What is the role of paragraph 2 in the passage as a whole?

　　It explains how by increasing the supply of raw materials from other countries, British industries were able to reduce costs and increase production.

　　It explains how the production of mechanical energy and its benefits spread quickly across countries that were linked commercially with Great Britain.

　　It demonstrates why developments in a single industry could not have caused the Industrial Revolution.

　　It illustrates why historians have assigned igreat importance to the issue of energy in the rise of the Industrial Revolution.

　　PARAGRAPH 3

　　The availability of steam power and the demands for new machines facilitated the transformation of the iron industry. Charcoal, made from wood and thus in limited supply, was replaced with coal-derived coke (substance left after coal is heated) as steam-driven bellows came into use for producing of raw iron. Impurities were burnt away with the use of coke, producing a high-quality refined iron. Reduced cost was also instrumental in developing steam-powered rolling mills capable of producing finished iron of various shapes and sizes. The resulting boom in the iron industry expanded the annual iron output by more than 170 times between 1740 and 1840, and by the 1850s Great Britain was producing more tons of iron than the rest of the world combined. The developments in the iron industry were in part a response to the demand for more machines and the ever-widening use of higher-quality iron in other industries.

　　8、According to paragraph 3, why was the use of coke important for the iron industry?

　　It helped make wood into charcoal.

　　It reduced the dependency on steam-powered machines used for the production of iron.

　　It replaced charcoal in the production of raw and refined iron.

　　It powered the machines used to extract coal in coal mines.

　　9、According to paragraph 3, all of the following were true of the iron industry in Great Britain during t|| 1800s EXCEPT:

　　Steam-driven bellows were used to prHlice raw iron.

　　By the 1850s Britain was the world's largest producer of iron.

　　Steam-powered mills made it possible to produce iron of different shapes and sizes.

　　Greater demand for higher-quality iron increased its price.