2016年1月24日托福阅读真题及答案解析

　第一篇：火星上的水

　　【文章解析】：

　　第一段：综述火星的大气特征，与地球形成对比，提出在这种气候条件下液态水不易在表面形成。

　　第二段：通过各种探测手段对火星表面地质特征(沉淀，水道)的研究得出结论：火星上确实存在液态水。

　　第三段：液态水的存在证明，火星上很可能存在生命迹象。

　　第四段：然而对于火星上生命迹象的研究存在很多的难题。

　　TPO相关阅读：

　　TPO08-3 Running waters on mars

　　TPO25-1 The surface of mars

　　两篇文章都是关于火星深入的研究文章,而其中TPO25-1主要关注火星表面火山的特点：huge volcanoes and extensive impact cratering，仅在最后一段对火星表面的水的存在做了简要的说明。 TPO08-3 主要研究火星表面的水，与24日真题更为相似。在此笔者也帮助各位考生对 TPO08-3的文章做进一步梳理。

　　TPO08-3 Running waters on mars结构分析

　　第一段：

　　1火星上曾经存在液态水，两种表面特征runoff channels and outflow channels支持了这个推断

　　2Runoff channels的特征

　　第二段：

　　outflow channels的特征

　　第三段：

　　1火星上早期可能广泛存在着液态水，这些水的数量极大，甚至有海洋存在

　　第四段：

　　提出另个理由对火星上存在液态水的反驳：1.terraces could also have been created by geological activity，2theMartian surface contains too few carbonate rock layers

　　第五段：

　　总结全文，得出结论：即使没有直接证据，但outflow channels 证明火星上过去确实还是存在水。并推测火星上所有的水实际上现在可能已经封存在其地下的永久冻层中，并且在极地地区最多。

　　TPO25-1 The surface of mars中关于液态水的内容

　　However, the ejecta on Mars gives the distinct impression of a liquid that has splashed or flowed out of crater. Geologists think that this fluidized ejecta crater indicates that a layer of permafrost, or water ice, lies just a few meters under the surface. Explosive impacts heated and liquefied the ice, resulting in the fluid appearance of the ejecta.

　　注：ejecta (debris formed as a result of an impact)

　　另外笔者还为各位考生总结了TPO中所有的天文类文章，方便大家进行分学科综合整理。

　　天文类文章：

　　TPO08-3 Running waters on mars

　　TPO16-3 Plants in our solar system

　　TPO22-3 The Allende meteorite

　　TPO25-1 The surface of mars(与TPO35-3重复)

　　TPO36-2 The origin of earth atmosphere

　　此外，听力部分

　　TPO30 Lecture3

　　OG Test 2 中也有关于火星的内容供大家参考

　　推荐阅读：

　　对于火星上存在液态水的最新研究：

　　NASA Confirms Evidence That Liquid Water Flows on Today’s Mars(2.15.9.28)

　　New findings from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provide the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows intermittently on present-day Mars.

　　Using an imaging spectrometer on MRO, researchers detected signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are seen on the Red Planet. These darkish streaks appear to ebb and flow over time. They darken and appear to flow down steep slopes during warm seasons, and then fade in cooler seasons. They appear in several locations on Mars when temperatures are above minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 Celsius), and disappear at colder times.

　　“Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water,’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected,” said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “This is a significant development, as it appears to confirm that water -- albeit briny -- is flowing today on the surface of Mars.”

　　These downhill flows, known as recurring slope lineae (RSL), often have been described as possibly related to liquid water. The new findings of hydrated salts on the slopes point to what that relationship may be to these dark features. The hydrated salts would lower the freezing point of a liquid brine, just as salt on roads here on Earth causes ice and snow to melt more rapidly. Scientists say it’s likely a shallow subsurface flow, with enough water wicking to the surface to explain the darkening.

　　"We found the hydrated salts only when the seasonal features were widest, which suggests that either the dark streaks themselves or a process that forms them is the source of the hydration. In either case, the detection of hydrated salts on these slopes means that water plays a vital role in the formation of these streaks," said Lujendra Ojha of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, lead author of a report on these findings published Sept. 28 by Nature Geoscience.

　　Ojha first noticed these puzzling features as a University of Arizona undergraduate student in 2010, using images from the MRO's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). HiRISE observations now have documented RSL at dozens of sites on Mars. The new study pairs HiRISE observations with mineral mapping by MRO’s Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM).

　　The spectrometer observations show signatures of hydrated salts at multiple RSL locations, but only when the dark features were relatively wide. When the researchers looked at the same locations and RSL weren't as extensive, they detected no hydrated salt.

　　Ojha and his co-authors interpret the spectral signatures as caused by hydrated minerals called perchlorates. The hydrated salts most consistent with the chemical signatures are likely a mixture of magnesium perchlorate, magnesium chlorate and sodium perchlorate. Some perchlorates have been shown to keep liquids from freezing even when conditions are as cold as minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 70 Celsius). On Earth, naturally produced perchlorates are concentrated in deserts, and some types of perchlorates can be used as rocket propellant.

　　Perchlorates have previously been seen on Mars. NASA's Phoenix lander and Curiosity rover both found them in the planet's soil, and some scientists believe that the Viking missions in the 1970s measured signatures of these salts. However, this study of RSL detected perchlorates, now in hydrated form, in different areas than those explored by the landers. This also is the first time perchlorates have been identified from orbit.

　　MRO has been examining Mars since 2006 with its six science instruments.

　　"The ability of MRO to observe for multiple Mars years with a payload able to see the fine detail of these features has enabled findings such as these: first identifying the puzzling seasonal streaks and now making a big step towards explaining what they are," said Rich Zurek, MRO project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

　　For Ojha, the new findings are more proof that the mysterious lines he first saw darkening Martian slopes five years ago are, indeed, present-day water.

　　"When most people talk about water on Mars, they're usually talking about ancient water or frozen water," he said. "Now we know there’s more to the story. This is the first spectral detection that unambiguously supports our liquid water-formation hypotheses for RSL."

　　The discovery is the latest of many breakthroughs by NASA’s Mars missions.

　　“It took multiple spacecraft over several years to solve this mystery, and now we know there is liquid water on the surface of this cold, desert planet,” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “It seems that the more we study Mars, the more we learn how life could be supported and where there are resources to support life in the future.”

　　(reference:https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-confirms-evidence-that-liquid-water-flows-on-today-s-mars)

　　第二篇：二战后欧洲经济

　　文章解析：

　　第一段：综述二战后各国经济的发展。(此段中出现很多细节性的对比数据，考查考生对杂乱的细节信息的收集与梳理能力)

　　第二段：战后经济发展的原因：马歇尔计划对欧洲经济发展的巨大推动作用，但是经济支援停止后，经济发展也陷入停滞。

　　第三段：战后经济发展的原因：政府在欧洲经济发展中起到的作用：支持私有化经济，维持经济的稳定性。

　　第四段：政府间的合作也对推动了经济的发展。

　　第五段：美国对于欧洲的经济援助停止后，当地的经济发展也陷入停滞，究其原因是没有有技术的工人操作现代化的机械。

　　注：马歇尔计划(The Marshall Plan)，又被称为欧洲复兴计划(European Recovery Program)，是第二次世界大战结束后美国对被战争破坏的西欧各国进行经济援助、协助重建的计划，对欧洲国家的发展和世界政治格局产生了深远的影响。该计划于1948年4月正式启动，并整整持续了4个财政年度之久。在这段时期内，西欧各国通过参加经济合作发展组织(OECD)总共接受了美国包括金融、技术、设备等各种形式的援助合计131.5亿美元。

　　TPO文章中并没有涉及二战之后经济发展的文章，但是各位考生可以参考TPO 10-3 Seventeenth-Century European Economic Growth. 这篇文章与24日真题都是研究某一特定时期的经济发展，并深入研究其发展的原因类的文章。

　　另外从最近的实战考试来说，经济类的文章考察也并不广泛，2015年6月出现过一篇economic prosperity in the Roman Augustan Age.

　　然而，关注欧洲体裁，尤其是欧洲历史方面的文章却频繁出现，如2015年真题曾出现过Europe in the High Middle Ages，Population Revolution in Eighteenth-Century Europe，Economic Decline in Europe during the Fourteenth Century，England’s Economy in the Sixteenth Century.甚至在2016年1月9日也出现了欧洲经济衰退内容的文章。历史类文章涉及特定的历史事件，背景相对我们熟悉的动物植物类较为陌生，专有词汇结合上下文不好把握，各位考生可以注意这些方面背景知识的积累。

　　第三篇：罗马的文化入侵

　　文章解析：

　　文章关注罗马文明在文化方面对于其他区域的影响。首先，拉丁语被广泛推崇，人们认为学习语言不仅是为了日常交流，更重要的是可以成为更好的人(当时人们对于罗马文化的推崇可见一斑)，语言的广泛传播的同时更推动了罗马文化和政治方面的深入影响。接下来阐述罗马建筑的影响，罗马在征服属地之后，影响当地的建筑风格，随后当地的建筑越来越罗马风。建筑除了装饰更重要的作用是用于政治和宗教聚会。随后记叙罗马民主意识的发展和传播。

　　TPO文章参考：

　　TPO07-3 Ancient rome and Greece

　　TPO19-1 The Roman army’s impact on Britain

　　从体裁方面来看，文章属于历史大类中的文明/文化类体裁，与上述TPO19-1的文章较为相似。但24日的真题更加侧重于罗马在文化方面对于其他地区的影响，相对TPO19-1的文章角度更加抽象，不好把握。

　　文明/文化类文章在历史这一大类的文章中的难度可以算得上是最高级的，抽象的概念和大量专有名词使很多考生对这种类型的文章感到非常的恐惧。而在所有的文明/文化体裁的文章中，希腊和罗马文明又比较受考官青睐。除了上面列举的两篇文章，TPO还出现了TPO29-1 Characteristics of Roman pottery. 2015年涉及古罗马文明的真题文章包括：The Western Roman Empire in the Fifth Century，Economic prosperity in the Roman Augustan Age.对于这种高难度的文章，建议各位考生集中总结专有词汇，补充背景知识。

　　词汇题：

　　adequate-suitable

　　spurt-a sudden increase

　　assess-evaluate

　　suffice-be enough

　　founding-establishment

　　massively-extensively

　　unprecedented-unlike anything in the past

　　era-period

　　fragment-pieces

　　pragmatic-practical (此处有干扰项commercial容易错选，文章中下一句举例说明：比如和士兵进行商品买卖交易。如果考生根据文章内容进行推断，则易选commercial.对此笔者提醒考生：托福阅读部分词汇题的准备一定要以提升硬实力，即扩充自己的词汇量为主，结合文章推断存在风险)

　　除此之外，这次考试的文章依旧出现了3-5段的段落设置，这也意味着长段落继续攻陷着考生们脆弱的小心脏。为此，各位考生有必要研究长段落的解决方法并对长段落做集中的练习。笔者推荐两种方法：第一，考生对于长段子可进行段落-题目交互式阅读。第二，考生需要着重分析段落的结构和句间关系，然后分层次进行阅读与答题。