第二章 8天挑战——24个经典托福话题

Day 1

Global Warming

1. Global warming and climate change are terms for the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth's climate system and its related effects. Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming. Although the increase of near-surface atmospheric temperature is the measure of global warming often reported in the popular press, most of the additional energy stored in the climate system, since 1970, has gone into the oceans. The rest has melted ice and warmed the continents and atmosphere. Many of the observed changes since the 1950s have been unprecedented over the previous tens to thousands of years.

2. Scientific understanding of global warming is increasing. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in 2014 that scientists were more than 95% certain that global warming is mostly being caused by human activities, mainly increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Human-made carbon dioxide continues to increase above levels not seen in hundreds of thousands of years. Currently, about half of the carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels remains in the atmosphere. The rest is absorbed by vegetation and the oceans.

3. Climate model projections summarized in the report indicated that during the 21st century, the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to 1.7℃ for their lowest emissions scenario and 2.6 to 4.8℃ for the highest emissions scenario. These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of the major industrialized nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing.

Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region around the globe. Anticipated effects include warming global temperature, rising sea levels, changing precipitation, and expansion of deserts in the subtropics.

4. Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the oceans and greatest in the Arctic, with the continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost and sea ice. Other likely changes include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves, droughts, heavy rainfall with floods, and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes. Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of populated areas due to rising sea levels. Because the climate system has a large influence on the human beings and CO2will stay in the atmosphere for a long time, many of these effects will not only exist for decades or centuries, but will persist for tens of thousands of years.

5. ■ Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction, adaptation to its effects, building systems resilient to its effects, and possible future climate engineering. ■ Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change （UNFCCC）. ■ Its ultimate objective is known to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change and expected to expand its study fields. ■ They've also pointed out that global warming should be, in a much broader and more sophisticated scale expected to be driven from various angles, limited to well below 2.0℃ relative to pre-industrial levels, with efforts made to limit warming to 1.5℃.

6. Public reactions to global warming and concern about its effects are also increasing. A global 2015 Pew Research Center report showed that a median of 54% consider it a highly serious problem. There are significant regional differences, with Americans and Chinese, whose economies are responsible for the greatest annual CO2 emissions, among the least concerned. It also found that skepticism about the danger of global warming was highest in Australia, Norway, New Zealand and the United States, in that order, correlating positively with per capita emissions of carbon dioxide. Therefore, it strongly recommended that national science academies need to call on world leaders for policies to cut global emissions.

01. The word unprecedented in the passage is closest in meaning to

（A）unpromising

（B）rare

（C）valid

（D）warning

02. According to Paragraph 1, why did extra energy disappear?

（A）It was becoming warmer.

（B）It wasn't reported in the popular press.

（C）It was stored in the climate system.

（D）It ran into waters.

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

（A）Humans created carbon dioxide to go beyond the level not seen in hundreds of thousands of years.

（B）Human's involvement in carbon dioxide has not been seen in hundreds of thousands of years.

（C）Increasing levels of carbon dioxide caused by humans have not been seen in hundreds of thousands of years.

（D）Humans have not seen increasing levels of carbon dioxide in hundreds of thousands of years.

04. The word associated in the passage is closest in meaning to

（A）initial

（B）deformed

（C）overwhelming

（D）relevant

05. According to Paragraph 3, which of the following is NOT true of expected impacts on future climate change?

（A）Species extinctions.

（B）Increasing global temperature.

（C）Rising sea levels.

（D）Changes of an amount of rain.

06. Based on the information in Paragraph 3, climate model projections' two scenarios are

（A）discussed in corporate conferences.

（B）showing the next generation's climate change.

（C）different from region to region.

（D）not addressed by scientific fields yet.

07. Which of the following can be inferred from Paragraph 4 about Arctic?

（A）Its glaciers are getting close to the equator.

（B）Heat waves and droughts are expected to more frequently occur throughout the world.

（C）Its oceans are going through global warming impacts in a larger degree.

（D）More serious threats to humans are highly expected.

08. The author discusses the CO2in Paragraph 4 in order to

（A）prove that it will decrease drop yields.

（B）highlight that it will last for a longer time.

（C）account for the reason why the climate system has a large effect on humans.

（D）focus on the probability that the amount of CO2will increase.

09. In Paragraph 5, the author's description of preventive measures against global warming mentions which of the following?

（A）Current efforts are not sufficient to counter global warming.

（B）UNFCCC has contributed to limiting dangerous anthropogenic climate change.

（C）Sea level's increasing rate is over-whelmingly speedy and unexpected.

（D）The current temperature is lower than in the pre-industrial period.

10. The word in the passage limited is closest in meaning to

（A）intensive

（B）confined

（C）detrimental

（D）hazardous

11. According to Paragraph 6, which of the following is NOT true of the report related to global warming?

（A）Global warming and CO2emission are considered as a serious problem.

（B）Australia and Norway have the greatest portion of CO2emissions in the world.

（C）Negative point of view was predo-minant over the United States.

（D）It recommends international cooperation to cut down global emissions.

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

Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required.

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

13-14. 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.

Global warming, caused by humans, is threatening all species' overall activities and living patterns across the globe.

Legacies of John F. Kennedy

1. John F. Kennedy, commonly referred to by his initials JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th President of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963. The Cuban Missile Crisis, The Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the establishment of the Peace Corps, developments in the Space Race, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Trade Expansion Act to lower tariffs, and the civil rights movement all took place during his presidency. A member of the Democratic Party, his New Frontier domestic program was largely enacted as a memorial to him after his death.

2. ■ After military service in the United States Naval Reserve in World War II, Kennedy represented Massachusetts's 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953.■ He was elected subsequently to the U.S. Senate and served as the junior senator from Massachusetts from 1953 until 1960. ■ At age 43, he became the youngest elected president and the second-youngest president.■ Kennedy was also the first person born in the 20th century to serve as president. To date, Kennedy has been the only Roman Catholic president and the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography Profiles in Courage.

3. Kennedy's time in office was marked by high tensions with communist states. Kennedy increased the number of American military advisers in South Vietnam. In Cuba, a failed attempt was made at the Bay of Pigs to overthrow the country's dictator Fidel Castro in April 1961. Kennedy's administration subsequently rejected plans by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to orchestrate false-flag attacks on American soil in order to gain public approval for a war against Cuba. In October 1962, it was discovered that Soviet ballistic missiles had been deployed in Cuba. The resulting period of the Cuban Missile Crisis, is seen by many historians as the high threat that the human race would ever come to nuclear war between the two nuclear armed countries.

4. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested that afternoon and determined to have fired shots that hit the President from a sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository. Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby mortally wounded Oswald two days later in a jail corridor. The FBI and the Warren Commission officially concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin, but its report was sharply criticized. The United States House Select Committee on Assassinations （HSCA） agreed that Oswald fired the shots that killed the president, but also concluded that Kennedy was likely assassinated as the result of a conspiracy. The majority of Americans alive at the time of the assassination: 52% to 29%, and continuing through 2013, believed that there was a conspiracy and that Oswald was not the only shooter.

5. Since the 1960s, information concerning Kennedy's private life has come to light, including his health problems and allegations of infidelity. Kennedy continues to rank higher in historians' polls of U.S. presidents and with the general public. His average approval rating of 70% is the highest of any president in US Daily News.

15. According to Paragraph 1, John F. Kennedy was NOT involved in

（A）religious conflicts.

（B）space exploration.

（C）international trade.

（D）human rights.

16. The word lower in the passage is closest in meaning to

（A）manipulate

（B）raise

（C）soar

（D）reduce

17. The author discusses the only president in Paragraph 2 in order to

（A）highlight his political accomplishments.

（B）illustrate he was elected as a US senator.

（C）state he was awarded for his writing.

（D）focus on his defeating Richard Nixon.

18. The author mentions Kennedy's experiences EXCEPT

（A）a Republican candidate.

（B）a junior senator.

（C）military service.

（D）the youngest elected president.

19. What is true of John F. Kennedy's admini-stration period as a president in Paragraph 3?

（A）His presidency began in 1962.

（B）His New Frontier movement was a tribute to him after his death.

（C）His administration competed for space exploration.

（D）His government needed the public consensus against a war.

20. The word approval in the passage is closest in meaning to

（A）proof

（B）acknowledgement

（C）evidence

（D）improvement countries.

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

（A）Many historians think the Cuban Missile Crisis of some threat that the human race would be in conflict with nuclear war between two superpower countries.

（B）The resulting period of the Cuban Missile Crisis, according to many historians, is regarded as the high threat that two nuclear armed countries will use nuclear weapons to kill the human race.

（C）Many historians believe that the Cuban Missile Crisis increased the high threat that human beings would come to nuclear war between the two nuclear armed

（D）The resulting period of the Cuban Missile Crisis gave the two nuclear countries the possibility of nuclear war against the whole human being.

22. The word officially in the passage is closest in meaning to

（A）consequently

（B）privately

（C）formally

（D）formerly

23. According to Paragraph 4, the Oswald case was sharply criticized because

（A）it needed to add the accurate location.

（B）it implied some conspiracy.

（C）it proved the sole shooter.

（D）it didn't cover the Warren Commission's report.

24. According to Paragraph 4, which of the following is NOT true of Kennedy's death?

（A）Oswald in school aimed at assassinating Kennedy.

（B）After the murder case, a report was released.

（C）The HSCA and the FBI report had the same result.

（D）Oswald was severely injured in a jail.

25. Which of the following can be inferred from Paragraph 5 about Kennedy?

（A）He was involved in some financial scandals.

（B）He was given a lower recognition in the past.

（C）The general public knew about his personal life before the 1960s.

（D）His approval rate is the highest in the US Daily News.

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

Kennedy defeated Vice President, and Republican candidate, Richard Nixon in the 1960 U.S. Presidential Election.

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

27-28. 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 Kennedy administration challenged a lot of political and military conflicts during his tenure.

The Hubble Space Telescope

1. The Hubble Space Telescope （HST） is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990, and remains in operation. Although not the first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well known as both a vital research tool and a public relations tactic for astronomy. The HST is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble, and is one of NASA's Great Observatories, along with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope.

2. ■ These were projects that were both scientifically important and would require significant telescope time. ■It would be explicitly dedicated to each project by those panels. ■ This guaranteed that these particular projects would be completed early, in case the telescope failed sooner than expected. ■The panels identified three such projects. First, a study of the nearby intergalactic medium would be used for quasar absorption lines to determine the properties of the intergalactic medium and the gaseous content of galaxies and groups of galaxies. Second, a medium deep survey would be used for the wide field camera to take data whenever one of the other instruments was being used. Third, a project was strongly required to determine the Hubble constant within ten percent by reducing the errors, both external and internal, in the calibration of the distance scale.

3. Hubble has helped resolve some long-standing problems in astronomy, as well as raising new questions, yet some results have required new theories to explain them. Among its primary mission targets was to measure distances to Cepheid variable stars more accurately than ever before, and thus constrain the value of the Hubble constant, the measure of the rate at which the universe is expanding, which is also related to its age. Before the launch of HST, estimates of the Hubble constant typically had errors of up to 50%, but Hubble measurements of Cepheid variables in the Virgo Cluster and other distant galaxy clusters provided a measured value with an accuracy of ±10%, which is consistent with other more accurate measurements made since Hubble's launch using other techniques. The estimated age is now about 13.7 billion years, but before the Hubble Telescope scientists predicted an age, ranging from 10 to 20 billion years.

4. Many objective measures show the positive impact of Hubble data on astronomy. Over 9,000 papers based on Hubble data have been published in peerreviewed journals, and countless more have appeared in conference proceedings.Looking at papers several years after their publication, about one-third of all astronomy papers have no citations, while only 2% of papers based on Hubble data have no citations. On average, a paper based on Hubble data receives about twice as many citations as papers based on non-Hubble data. Of the 200 papers published each year that receive the most citations, about 10% are based on Hubble data.

5. All images from Hubble are monochro-matic grayscale, in which its cameras incorporate a variety of filters each sensitive to specific wavelengths of light. Color images are created by combining separate monochrome images taken through different filters. This process can also create false-color versions of images including infrared and ultraviolet channels, where infrared is typically rendered as a deep red and ultraviolet is rendered as a deep blue.

29. The word vital in the passage is closest in meaning to

（A）dormant

（B）acquired

（C）basic

（D）habitual

30. According to Paragraph 1, Hubble is

（A）larger than the Spitzer Space Telescope.

（B）still working around the Earth.

（C）named after Compton Gamma Ray.

（D）one of the most popular telescopes.

31. The author's three projects mention all of the following EXCEPT

（A）a study to determine the properties of the intergalactic medium.

（B）a research to take data while one of the other devices was utilized.

（C）a survey to convey particular substances which would be completed early.

（D）a project related to measuring the distance scale.

32. The word dedicated in the passage is closest in meaning to

（A）opposed

（B）devoted

（C）dictated

（D）undermined

33. According to Paragraph 2, particular projects would be finished early in the event of

（A）a huge amount of gaseous content.

（B）panels' misunderstanding of orbit time.

（C）Hubble's earlier malfunction.

（D）unexpected the Hubble constant.

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

（A）Because Hubble has been helpful to resolve some-rooted matters as well as raising new issues, some outcomes have caused new theories to answer them.

（B）Hubble has been a solution key to some long-standing astronomical matters as well as causing new questions, and new theories for some results have been required to answer them.

（C）Hubble has assisted resolving some astronomical problems and at the same time raised new questions, but some results have needed new theories to cover those flaws.

（D）While Hubble has helped resolve some long-standing astronomical matters, some results need to be explained and raised by new theories.

35. The phrase is consistent with in the passage refers to

（A）identifies

（B）gains

（C）enhances

（D）matches

36. In Paragraph 3, the author mentions 13.7 billion years in order to

（A）compare Hubble's accurate data with scientists' previous predictions.

（B）show how difficult prediction of the distance was.

（C）illustrate the efficacy of other measurements.

（D）explain why other distant galaxy clusters provided a measured value with more accuracy.

37. According to Paragraph 4, Hubble's influence on papers is still powerful for all of the examples EXCEPT

（A）several years after their publication, about one-third of all astronomy papers have no citations.

（B）over 9,000 papers based on Hubble data have been published.

（C）of hundreds of papers published with the most citations, about 10% are based on Hubble data.

（D）a paper based on Hubble data receives about double than that based upon non-Hubble data.

38. The word its in the passage refers to

（A）Hubble data

（B）grayscale

（C）Hubble

（D）light

39. It can be inferred from Paragraph 5 that color images

（A）are sensitive to specific wavelengths of light.

（B）create false-color versions of images of ultraviolet channels only.

（C）are single color in which cameras combine a lot of filters.

（D）depend upon infrared and ultraviolet.

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

In the early 1980s, NASA convened four panels to discuss key projects.

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

41-42. Directions: Select the appropriate phrases from the answer choices and match them to the term to which they relate. Two of the answer choices will NOT be used.This question is worth 2 points.