托福閱讀TPO30(試題+答案+譯文)第2篇:ThePaceofEvolutionaryChange為了幫助大家備考托福。提高閱讀成績(jī)，打有準(zhǔn)備的仗，下面小編給大家?guī)?lái)托福閱讀TPO30(試題+答案+譯文)第2篇:ThePaceofEvolutionaryChange，希望大家喜歡。托福閱讀原文【1】Aheateddebatehasenlivenedrecentstudiesofevolution.Darwin'soriginalthesis,andtheviewpointsupportedbyevolutionarygradualists,isthatspecieschangecontinuouslybutslowlyandinsmallincrements.Suchchangesareallbutinvisibleovertheshorttimescaleofmodernobservations,and,itisargued,theyareusuallyobscuredbyinnumerablegapsintheimperfectfossilrecord.Gradualism,withitsstressontheslowpaceofchange,isacomfortingposition,repeatedoverandoveragainingenerationsoftextbooks.Bytheearlytwentiethcentury,thequestionabouttherateofevolutionhadbeenansweredinfavorofgradualismtomostbiologists'satisfaction.【2】Sometimesaclosedquestionmustbereopenedasnewevidenceornewargumentsbasedonoldevidencecometolight.In1972paleontologistStephenJayGouldandNilesEldredgechallengedconventionalwisdomwithanopposingviewpoint,thepunctuatedequilibriumhypothesis,whichpositsthatspeciesgiverisetonewspeciesinrelativelysuddenbursts,withoutalengthytransitionperiod.Theseepisodesofrapidevolutionareseparatedbyrelativelylongstaticspansduringwhichaspeciesmayhardlychangeatall.【3】Thepunctuatedequilibriumhypothesisattemptstoexplainacuriousfeatureofthefossilrecord—onethathasbeenfamiliartopaleontologistformorethanacenturybuthasusuallybeenignored.Manyspeciesappeartoremainunchangedinthefossilrecordformillionsofyears—asituationthatseemstobeatoddswithDarwin'smodelofcontinuouschange.Intermediatedfossilforms,predictedbygradualism,aretypicallylacking.Inmostlocalitiesagivenspeciesofclamorcoralpersistsessentiallyunchangedthroughoutathickformationofrock,onlytobereplacedsuddenlybyanewanddifferentspecies.【4】TheevolutionofNorthAmericanhorse,whichwasoncepresentedasaclassictextbookexampleofgradualevolution,isnowprovidingequallycompellingevidenceforpunctuatedequilibrium.Aconvincing50-million-yearsequenceofmodernhorseancestors—eachslightlylarger,withmorecomplexteeth,alongerface,andamoreprominentcentraltoe—seemedtoprovidestrongsupportforDarwin'scontentionthatspeciesevolvegradually.Butcloseexaminationofthosefossildepositsnowrevealsasomewhatdifferentstory.Horsesevolvedindiscretesteps,eachofwhichpersistedalmostunchangedformillionsofyearsandwaseventuallyreplacedbyadistinctivenewermodel.Thefour-toedEohippusprecededthethree-toedMiohippus,forexample,butNorthAmericanfossilevidencesuggestsajerky,uneventransitionbetweenthetwo.Ifevolutionhadbeenacontinuous,gradualprocess,onemightexpectthatalmosteveryfossilspecimenwouldbeslightlydifferentfromeveryyear.【5】Ifitseemsdifficulttoconceivehowmajorchangescouldoccurrapidly,considerthis:analterationofasinglegeneinfilesisenoughtoturnanormalflywithasinglepairofwingsintoonethathastwopairsofwings.【6】Thequestionabouttherateofevolutionmustnowbeturnedaround:doesevolutioneverproceedgradually,ordoesitalwaysoccurinshortbursts?Detailedfieldstudiesofthickrockformationscontainingfossilsprovidethebestpotentialtestsofthecompetingtheories.【7】Occasionally,asequenceoffossil-richlayersofrockpermitsacomprehensivelookatonetypeoforganismoveralongperiodoftime.Forexample,PeterSheldon'sstudiesoftrilobites,anowextinctmarineanimalwithasegmentedbody,offeradetailedglimpseintothreemillionyearsofevolutioninonemarineenvironment.Inthatstudy,eachofeightdifferenttrilobitespecieswasobservedtoundergoagradualchangeinthenumberofsegments—typicallyanincreaseofoneortwosegmentsoverthewholetimeinterval.Nosignificantdiscontinuouswereobserved,leadingSheldontoconcludethatenvironmentalconditionswerequitestableduringtheperiodheexamined.【8】Similarexhaustivestudiesarerequiredformanydifferentkindsoforganismsfrommanydifferentperiods.Mostresearchersexpecttofindthatbothmodesoftransitionfromonespeciestoanotherareatworkinevolution.Slow,continuouschangemaybethenormduringperiodsofenvironmentalstability,whilerapidevolutionofnewspeciesoccursduringperiodsofenvironmentstress.ButalotmorestudieslikeSheldon'sareneededbeforewecansayforsure.托福閱讀試題1.Theword"innumerable"inthepassageisclosestinthemeaningtoA.countless.B.occasional.C.large.D.repeated.2.Accordingtoparagraph1,allofthefollowingaretrueEXCEPTA.Darwinsawevolutionarychangeashappeningslowlyandgradually.B.Gapsinthefossilrecordwereusedtoexplainwhyitisdifficulttoseecontinuoussmallchangesintheevolutionofspecies.C.Darwin'sevolutionarythesiswasrejectedbecausesmallchangescouldnotbeobservedintheevolutionaryrecord.D.Bytheearlytwentiethcentury,mostbiologistsbelievedthatgradualismexplainedevolutionarychange.3.Whichofthesentencesbelowbestexpressestheessentialinformationinthehighlightedsentenceinthepassageparagraph2?Incorrectchoiceschangethemeaninginimportantwaysorleaveoutessentialinformation.A.Thepunctuatedequilibriumhypothesischallengedgradualism,whichholdsthatspeciesevolveinrelativelysuddenburstsofbriefduration.B.ThepunctuatedequilibriumhypothesisdevelopedbyStephenJayGouldandNilesEldredgewaschallengedin1972.C.In1972StephenJayGouldandNilesEldredgechallengedgradualismbypositingthatchangefromonespeciestoanothercannotoccurwithoutalengthytransitionperiod.D.Thepunctuateequilibriumhypothesis,inoppositiontogradualism,holdsthattransitionsfromonespeciestoanotheroccurincomparativelysuddenburst.4.Accordingtoparagraph1andparagraph2,thepunctuatedequilibriumhypothesisandthegradualismhypothesisdifferedaboutA.Whetherthefossilrecordiscomplete.B.Whetherallspeciesundergochange.C.Whetherevolutionproceedsanaconstantrate.D.Howmanynewspeciesoccuroverlongperiodsoftime.5.Accordingtoparagraph3,thelackofintermediatefossilsinthefossilrecordofsomespeciesA.hasbeenextensivelystudiedbypaleontologistforoveracentury.B.contradictstheideathatmostspecieshaveremainedunchangedformillionsofyears.C.challengestheviewthatevolutionarychangeisgradual.D.ismostcommoninthefossilrecordsofclamandcoralspecies.6.Theword"compelling"inthepassageparagraph4isclosestinthemeaningtoA.surprising.B.persuasive.C.controversial.D.detailed.7.Paragraph4mentionsthatNorthAmericanhorseshavechangedinallthefollowingwaysEXCEPTinA.thenumberoftoestheyhave.B.thelengthoftheirface.C.theiroverallsize.D.thenumberofyearstheylive.8.Theword"alteration"inthepassageparagraph5isclosestinmeaningtoA.imperfection.B.replacement.C.change.D.duplication.9.Accordingtoparagraph7,PeterSheldon'sstudiesdemonstratedwhichofthefollowingabouttrilobites?A.Theyunderwentgradualchangeoveralongtimeperiod.B.Theyexperiencedanumberofdiscontinuoustransitionsduringtheirhistory.C.Theyremainedunchangedduringalongperiodofenvironmentalstability.D.Theyevolvedinwaysthatcannotbecountedforbyeitherofthetwocompetingtheories.10.Theword"occasionally"inthepassageparagraph7isclosestinmeaningtoA.undoubtedly.B.basically.C.onceinawhile.D.tosomeextent.11.Themainpurposeofparagraph7istoA.Describeonetestofthecompetingtheories.B.Provideanexampleofpunctuatedequilibrium.C.Describehowsegmentedanimalsevidencebothcompetingtheories.D.Explainwhytrilobitesbecameextinct.12.Lookatthefoursquares[■]thatindicatewherethefollowingsentencecanbeaddedtothepassage.Wherecouldthesentencebestfit?Theybelievethatenvironmentalconditionsmayplayacrucialroleindeterminingwhichofthetwomodeswillbeinoperationoveragivenperiod.■【A】Similarexhaustivestudiesarerequiredformanydifferentkindsoforganismsfrommanydifferentperiods.■【B】Mostresearchersexpecttofindthatbothmodesoftransitionfromonespeciestoanotherareatworkinevolution.■【C】Slow,continuouschangemaybethenormduringperiodsofenvironmentalstability,whilerapidevolutionofnewspeciesoccursduringperiodsofenvironmentstress.■【D】ButalotmorestudieslikeSheldon'sareneededbeforewecansayforsure.13.Directions:selectedfromthesevenphrasesbelowthephrasesthatcorrectlycharacterizepunctuatedequilibriumandthephrasesthatcorrectlycharacterizegradualism.Twoofthephraseswillnotbeused.Thisquestionisworth3points.A.Statesthatnewspeciesemergefromexistingspeciesduringrelativelybriefperiodoftime.B.WasfirstformulatedbyCharlesDarwin.C.ExplainwhyNorthAmericanhorseshavebecomesmallerovertime.D.Statesthatnewspeciesevolveslowlyandcontinuouslyfromexistingspecies.E.Explainthelackofintermediatefossilformsinthefossilrecordofmanyspecies.F.Competitionisusuallystrongestwhenthedensityofthecompetingpopulationsisthesame.G.Statesthataspecieswillnotchangeunlessitsenvironmentchanges.1)GradualismABCDEFG2)punctuatedequilibriumABCDEFG托福閱讀答案1.innumerable是不可計(jì)數(shù)的，A是無(wú)數(shù)的，B是偶然的，C是大的，D是重復(fù)的。這個(gè)單詞是numerable加否定前綴，很容易就能推出意思來(lái)。2.A答案對(duì)應(yīng)第一段第二句，B對(duì)應(yīng)第一段第三句，D對(duì)應(yīng)一段最后一句。C與原文沖突，原文一直在說(shuō)darwin理論被人們廣泛接受。3.高亮句子的主干部分是斷點(diǎn)平衡論挑戰(zhàn)了原來(lái)的漸進(jìn)論，然后解釋了斷點(diǎn)平衡論的內(nèi)容。A選項(xiàng)which修飾不明，容易產(chǎn)生誤解;B選項(xiàng)與原文矛盾，C與原文不符，原文S和N的觀點(diǎn)是change的發(fā)生是withoutlengthytransition的。D和原文意思相符，并且也包含了所有的主干部分。4.根據(jù)原文，漸進(jìn)論是說(shuō)物種演變是通過(guò)長(zhǎng)時(shí)間的緩慢改變發(fā)生的;斷點(diǎn)平衡論是說(shuō)物種演變是短期爆發(fā)的。所以選擇C，進(jìn)化是否是勻速發(fā)生的。5.根據(jù)lackofintermediatefossils定位到第三段倒數(shù)第二句，在往前看一句說(shuō)，這一情況對(duì)于達(dá)爾文學(xué)說(shuō)是不和的，而達(dá)爾文學(xué)說(shuō)正是漸進(jìn)論，這一段的最后也說(shuō)原來(lái)的物種突然被替換，而不是漸漸進(jìn)化改變的。所以C符合原文意思。A與原文第一句破折號(hào)后矛盾，原文說(shuō)這一現(xiàn)象一直被Ignored，B選項(xiàng)原文矛盾，該現(xiàn)象應(yīng)該是反對(duì)了達(dá)爾文學(xué)說(shuō)，支持了物種有長(zhǎng)期不改變的論點(diǎn)。D雖然正確但是只是本段的細(xì)節(jié)，不能表達(dá)主題，所以不選。6.Compel本身是強(qiáng)迫，此處作為evidence的形容詞可以延伸為說(shuō)服力強(qiáng)的。因此答案選B有說(shuō)服力的。A是驚奇的，C是有爭(zhēng)議的，D是細(xì)節(jié)的。都不沾邊。另外通過(guò)句義可以判斷，前文說(shuō)馬的進(jìn)化wasonce是經(jīng)典的漸進(jìn)論的證明，isnow(輕微轉(zhuǎn)折)提了"equally"怎么樣的證據(jù)證明了點(diǎn)斷平衡論，前文既然說(shuō)對(duì)gradualevolution很支持，那么后文出現(xiàn)equally，那應(yīng)該對(duì)點(diǎn)斷論也是有力證據(jù)。因此選B。7.對(duì)應(yīng)部分在第四段的第二句和第五句，只有D選項(xiàng)沒(méi)有出現(xiàn)。8.這一句話說(shuō)一個(gè)怎么樣的單一基因就足以變一個(gè)普通飛禽的一對(duì)的正常翅為兩對(duì)翅膀，所以有推理應(yīng)該是要改變這個(gè)基因。所以選C，Alteration是修改，變更，A選項(xiàng)是不完美，B是替換，D是復(fù)制帶入后都改變了原文的意思。9.根據(jù)PeterSheldon定位到原文第二句。后面對(duì)trilobites進(jìn)行了描述，A選項(xiàng)對(duì)應(yīng)了原文第三句，后文又繼續(xù)說(shuō)沒(méi)有明顯的斷點(diǎn)。所以A正確。B與原文第四句沖突。C與第三句沖突，D原文沒(méi)有這種說(shuō)法。而且上文也表明它符合gradualevolvement。10.occasionally，是偶然偶爾的意思。A是毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)的，B是基本上，C是偶爾有一次。D是在一定程度上。因此應(yīng)該選C。并且上文提出問(wèn)題說(shuō)是否有過(guò)逐漸進(jìn)化?那么下文給的是一個(gè)逐漸進(jìn)化的例子，所以應(yīng)該是在表達(dá)偶爾有一兩個(gè)的意思。11.上文說(shuō)實(shí)地勘測(cè)會(huì)給competingtheories提供test，第七段就給了試驗(yàn)例子，那么就證明是A正確。B與原文沖突，這個(gè)例子是支持漸進(jìn)論的。C也不對(duì)，理由同上。D與原文目的不符。12.首先句子開(kāi)頭出現(xiàn)了They，那么我們應(yīng)該能在前文找到一個(gè)提到人物的地方，句子又提出environmentalcondition的作用，那么后文應(yīng)該會(huì)出現(xiàn)對(duì)這一理論的解釋，那么C是符合的，也可以進(jìn)行代入驗(yàn)證。13.A斷點(diǎn)平衡論論點(diǎn)為物種變化發(fā)生突然，快速，符合。B對(duì)應(yīng)文章第一段第一句話，符合漸進(jìn)論。C與原文第四段第二句矛盾，原文說(shuō)馬進(jìn)化會(huì)變大。不選。D原文第一段第一句，符合漸進(jìn)論。E對(duì)應(yīng)原文第三段。符合點(diǎn)斷平衡論。F原文沒(méi)提到，不選。G原文最后一段，說(shuō)漸進(jìn)論應(yīng)該會(huì)是環(huán)境比較穩(wěn)定的情況下的進(jìn)化規(guī)則。符合漸進(jìn)論。托福閱讀譯文【1】最近的一個(gè)關(guān)于進(jìn)化的研究引發(fā)了激烈的爭(zhēng)論。達(dá)爾文的原始論點(diǎn)和進(jìn)化漸進(jìn)主義者支持的觀點(diǎn)是物種會(huì)持續(xù)地改變，但非常緩慢，增量也很小。這種改變是普遍的，但是現(xiàn)在短時(shí)間的觀察是不能察覺(jué)的，并且，這個(gè)觀點(diǎn)聲稱，它們通常被掩蓋于不完美的化石記錄的不可計(jì)數(shù)的缺失中。漸進(jìn)主義及其對(duì)物種緩慢變化的引力讓人欣然接受，并在世代的教科書(shū)中重復(fù)出現(xiàn)。在20世紀(jì)早前之前，令大部分的生物學(xué)家滿足