托福备考托福阅读34套TPO样题+解析+译文TPO 33—2 铁路和商品化农业

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2023年12月24日发(作者：)

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TPO 33—2 铁路和商品化农业

原文：

Railroads and Commercial Agriculture in Nineteenth-Century United States

【1】By 1850 the United States possessed roughly 9,000 miles of railroad track; Ten

years later it had over 30,000 miles, more than the rest of the world combined. Much

of the new construction during the 1850s occurred west of the Appalachian

Mountains—over 2,000 miles in the states of Ohio and Illinois alone.

【2】The effect of the new railroad lines rippled outward through the economy.

Farmers along the tracks began to specialize in corps that they could market in

distant locations. With their profits they purchased manufactured goods that earlier

they might have made at home. Before the railroad reached Tennessee, the state

produced about 25,000 bushels (or 640 tons) of wheat, which sold for less than 50

cents a bushel. Once the railroad came, farmers in the same counties grew 400,000

bushels (over 10,000 tons) and sold their crop at a dollar a bushel.

【3】The new railroad networks shifted the direction of western trade. In 1840 most

northwestern grain was shipped south down the Mississippi River to the bustling

port of New Orleans. But low water made steamboat travel hazardous in summer,

and ice shut down traffic in winter. Products such as lard, tallow, and cheese quickly

spoiled if stored in New Orleans’ hot and humid warehouses. Increasingly, traffic

from the Midwest flowed west to east, over the new rail lines. Chicago became the

region’s hub, linking the farms of the upper Midwest to New York and other

eastern cities by more than 2,000 miles of track in 1855. Thus while the value of

goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued to increase, the South’s overall

share of western trade dropped dramatically.

【4】A sharp rise in demand for grain abroad also encouraged farmers in the

Northeast and Midwest to become more commercially oriented. Wheat, which in

1845 commanded $1.08 a bushel in New York City, fetched $2.46 in 1855; in similar

fashion the price of corn nearly doubled. Farmers responded by specializing in cash

crops, borrowing to purchase more land, and investing in equipment to increase

productivity.

【5】As railroad lines fanned out from Chicago, farmers began to acquire open

prairie land in Illinois and then Iowa, putting the fertile, deep black soil into

production. Commercial agriculture transformed this remarkable treeless

environment. To settlers accustomed to eastern woodlands, the thousands of

square miles of tall grass were an awesome sight. Indian grass, Canada wild rye, and

native big bluestem all grew higher than a person. Because eastern plows could not

penetrate the densely tangled roots of prairie grass, the earliest settlers erected

farms along the boundary separating the forest from the prairie. In 1837, however,

John Deere patented a sharp-cutting steel plow that sliced through the sod without

soil sticking to the blade. Cyrus McCormick refined a mechanical reaper that

harvested fourteen times more wheat with the same amount of labor. By the 1850s

McCormick was selling 1,000 reapers a year and could not keep up with demand,

while Deere turned out 10,000 plows annually.

【6】The new commercial farming fundamentally altered the Midwestern landscape

and the environment. Native Americans had grown corn in the region for years, but

never in such large fields as did later settlers who became farmers, whose surpluses

were shipped east. Prairie farmers also introduced new crops that were not part of

the earlier ecological system, notably wheat, along with fruits and vegetables.

【7】Native grasses were replaced by a small number of plants cultivated as

commodities. Corn had the best yields, but it was primarily used to feed livestock.

Because bread played a key role in the American and European diet, wheat became

the major cash crop. Tame grasses replaced native grasses in pastures for making

hay.

【8】Western farmers altered the landscape by reducing the annual fires that had

kept the prairie free from trees. In the absence of these fires, trees reappeared on

land not in cultivation and, if undisturbed, eventually formed woodlots. The earlier

unbroken landscape gave way to independent farms, each fenced off in a precise

checkerboard pattern. It was an artificial ecosystem of animals, woodlots, and crops,

whose large, uniform layout made western farms more efficient than the more-irregular farms in the East.

题目：

ing to paragraph 1, each of the following is true about railroad track in the

United States EXCEPT:

1850 the United States had less than 10,000 miles of railroad track.

the end of the 1850s, Ohio and Illinois contained more railroad track than any

other state in the country.

of the railroad track built in the United States during the 1850s was located

west of the Appalachian Mountain.

1860 there were more miles of railroad track in the United States than in any

other country.

can be inferred from paragraph 2 that the new railroads had which of the

following effects on farm communities?

new farms were located along the tracks.

s began to grow wheat as a commercial corp.

farmers decided to grow a wider variety of crops.

for manufactured goods increased among farmers.

word "bustling" in the passage (paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to

.

ant.

g.

.

ing to paragraph 3, in what way did the new rail networks change western

trade?

estern farmers almost completely stopped shipping goods by steamboat.

western goods began to be shipped east by way of Chicago rather than

south to New Orleans.

o largely replaced New York and other eastern cities as the final market for

goods for the West.

value of goods shipped west soon became greater than the value of goods

shipped east.

ing to paragraph 3, what was a disadvantage of shipping goods from

northwestern areas to New Orleans?

was no reliable way to get goods from New Orleans to eastern cities.

cost of shipping goods by river to New Orleans continued to increase.

shipped from New Orleans' neighboring areas had a significant

competitive advantage because of their lower transportation costs.

temperatures and humidity.

aph 4 supports the idea that the price of wheat more than doubled between

1845 and 1855 because

price of corn nearly doubled during that same period.

for grain increased sharply outside the United States.

s in the Northeast and Midwest began to specialize in cash crops.

farmers had borrowed heavily to purchase land and equipment for raising

wheat.

word "transformed" in the passage (paragraph 5) is closest in meaning to

ted.

d.

ed.

d.

word "erected" in the passage (paragraph 5) is closest in meaning to

for.

on.

red.

.

does author point out that "Indian grass, Canada wild rye, and native big

bluestem all grew higher than a person"(paragraph 5)?

provide a reason why people from the eastern woodlands of the United States

were impressed when they saw the prairie.

identify an obstacles to the development of the railroad lines fanning out from

Chicago.

explain why the transformation of the prairies by commercial agriculture was

so remarkable.

provide evidence supporting the claim that the prairies had fertile, deep black

soil.

ing to paragraph 5, the first settlers generally did not farm open prairie

land because

could not plow it effectively with the tools that were available.

e land was usually very expensive to buy.

soil along boundaries between the forest and the prairie was more fertile than

the soil of the open prairie.

railroad lines had not yet reached the open prairie when the first settlers

arrived.

word "surpluses" in the passage (paragraph 6) is closest in meaning to

goods

cial goods

essed goods

ortable goods

ing to paragraph 8, prairie farmers changed the landscape by doing all of

the following EXCEPT:

ng annual fires.

ng the land into large, regularly-shaped lots.

ng trees that eventually formed woodlots.

g off their farms.

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

added to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit? The problems were not

limited to routes of transport.

The new railroad networks shifted the direction of western trade. ■【A】In 1840 most

northwestern grain was shipped south down the Mississippi River to the bustling

port of New Orleans. ■【B】But low water made steamboat travel hazardous in

summer, and ice shut down traffic in winter. ■【C】Products such as lard, tallow, and

cheese quickly spoiled if stored in New Orleans' hot and humid warehouses. ■【D】Increasingly, traffic from the Midwest flowed west to east, over the new rail lines.

Chicago became the region's hub, linking the farms of the upper Midwest to New

York and other eastern cities by more than 2,000 miles of track in 1855. Thus while

the value of goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued to increase, the

South's overall share of western trade dropped dramatically.

14. Prose Summary

The huge expansion of rail lines in Midwestern United States during the 1850s had

major economic and environmental effects.

uction of new rail lines into the Midwest had been effectively stopped by

the Appalachian Mountains, but by 1850 improved construction technology had

made further advances possible.

lines to Chicago and on to the East made it easier to get Midwestern goods

to distant markets, while growing demand encouraged crop specialization and led

to higher crop prices.

e of the growing volume of traffic coming by rail from the Northeast and

Midwest, the value of goods arriving in New Orleans for shipment to markets

abroad increased dramatically.

to rail lines combined with the development of more-efficient farming

equipment allowed e fertile land of the open prairies to be used for large-scale

commercial agriculture.

ion of annual prairie fires allowed trees to reappear, and native grasses were

replaced by a few commercially grown plants as previously unbroken grasslands

were divided into large fenced fields.

Americans had grown corn on the prairies for years but had not produced

large surpluses because the varieties they planted had far poorer yields than those

introduced by commercial farmers.

答案：

1.否定细节题：定位句 By 1850 the United States possessed roughly 9,000 miles of

railroad track;对应 A 选项。定位句 Much of the new construction during the 1850s

occurred west of the Appalachian Mountains E over 2.000 miles in the states of Ohio

and Illinois alone.对应C选项，同时由于该句子中没有出 现有关Ohio and Illinois比较的相关信息.因此B选项错误。定位句then years later it had over 30,000 miles，more

than the rest of the world combined. 对应D选项。

2.推断题：定位句The effect of the new railroad lines rippled outward through the

economy. Farmers along the tracks began to specialize in corps that they could

market in distant locations. With their profits they purchased manufactured goods

that earlier they might have made at home.意思是说因为铁路建设带动了经济，农民开始有钱了，于是就开始买手工制品了。因此就可以推断出，农民有钱了就有了买东西的欲望和需求。

ng， 繁忙的，对应D。

4.细节题：定位句 The new railroad networks shifted the direction of western trade.

Chicago became the legion's hub, linking the farms of the upper Midwest to New

York and other eastern cities by more than 2.000 miles of track in 1855.意思是铁路的建设转移了西方贸易的方向，芝加哥成为了贸易中心，取代了原先的新奥尔良。因此答案

是B。

5.细节题：Thus while the value of goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued

to increase, the South's overall share of western trade dropped dramatically.意思是说因为虽然货物本身的价值在增加，但是南部的市场份额却在下降，就暗示了越来越少人的人愿意通过该途径运货，即要么速度太慢要么成本太高。因此这道题的答案是B。

6.细节题：定位句A sharp rise in demand for grain abroad also encouraged farmers

in the Northeast and Midwest to become more commercially oriented.国外的粮食需求猛增，然后该段最后出现的结果就是价格上升。

orm，变形，对应B。

，建立，对应D。

9.修辞目的题：定位句As railroad lilies fanned out from Chicago, farmers began to

acquire open prairie land in Illinois and then Iowa, putting the fertile, deep black

soil into production.该段的主旨：农民将肥沃的黑土投入生产中，题干中的信息是一个具体的例子，表明的是具体的产物。

10.细节题：定位句 Because eastern plows could not penetrate the densely tangled

roots of prairie grass, the earliest settlers erected farms along the boundary

separating the forest from the prairie.原因是梨不能穿透草地，因此答案只可能是A。

ses，剩余，多余的东西，选A。

12.否定细节题：定位句 Western farmers altered the landscape by reducing the

annual fires that had kept the prairie free from trees.对应A选项。定位句The earlier

unbroken landscape gave to independent farms, each fenced off in a precise

checkerboard pattern.对应D选项。定位句 The earlier unbroken landscape gave to

independent farms. each fenced off in a precise checkerboard pattern. It was an

artificial ecosystem of animals, woodlots. and crops, whose large, uniform layout

made western farms more efficient than the more -irregular farms in the East,

checkerboard pattern 棋盘格样式，对应B选项。C选项错在没有提到planting trees。

13.句子插入题：原句的意思是问题不仅局限在道路运输上，因此我们可以推 断出该句子的下一句应该会提到其他的问题，因此第三个方框满足要求。前面再讲水路问题，后面讲到了天气和湿度问题。插入的句子正好起到了承上启下的作用。

to rail lilies combined with the development of more - efficient fanning

equipment allowed fertile land of the open prairies of the open prairies to be used

for large - scale commercial agriculture.正确。对应第二、五段，铁路的发展带动经济，农民获得土地，改进农作用具，提高农作物的产量。

Reduction of annual prairie fires allowed trees to reappear, and native grasses were

replaced by a few commercially grown plants as previously unbroken grasslands

were decided into large fenced fields.正确。对应第八段主旨，农民通过各式各样的方法改变地貌，发展农业。

E正确。对应第三段主要内容 The new railroad networks shifted the direction of

western trade. Chicago became the region's hub，linking the farms of the upper

Midwest to New York and other eastern cities by more than 2.000 miles of track in

1855. Thus while the value of goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued to

increase, the South's overall share of western trade dropped dramatically.水利交通的没落和铁路运输的兴起。

本文标签： 选项定位对应问题农民