戴爾美語練功坊 托福閱讀實力測驗題 8/30 - 英檢

戴爾美語練功坊 托福閱讀實力測驗試題(8/30日)

Glacier Formation

Glaciers are slowly moving masses of ice that have accumulated
on land in areas where more snow falls during a year than melts. Snow
falls as hexagonal crystals, but once on the ground, snow is soon
transformed into a compacted mass of smaller, rounded grains. (A)■
As the air space around them is lessened by compaction and melting,
the grains become denser. (B)■ With further melting, refreezing, and
increased weight from newer snowfall above, the snow reaches a
granular recrystallized stage intermediate between flakes and ice
known as firn. (C)■ With additional time, pressure, and refrozen
meltwater from above, the small firn granules become larger, interlocked
crystals of blue glacial ice. (D)■ When the ice is thick enough, usually
over 30 meters, the weight of the snow and firn will cause the ice crystals
toward the bottom to become plastic and to flow outward or downward
from the area of snow accumulation.

Glaciers are open systems, with snow as the system's input and
meltwater as the system' s main output. The glacial system is governed
by two basic climatic variables: precipitation and temperature. For a
glacier to grow or maintain its mass, there must be sufficient snowfall
to match or exceed the annual loss through melting, evaporation, and
calving, which occurs when the glacier loses solid chunks as icebergs to
the sea or to large lakes. If summer temperatures are high for too long,
then all the snowfall from the previous winter will melt. Surplus snowfall
is essential for a glacier to develop. A surplus allows snow to accumulate
and for the pressure of snow accumulated over the years to transform
buried snow into glacial ice with a depth great enough for the ice to flow.
Glaciers are sometimes classified by temperature as faster-flowing
temperate glaciers or as slower-flowing polar glaciers.

Glaciers are part of Earth's hydrologic cycle and are second only
to the oceans in the total amount of water contained. About 2 percent
of Earth's water is currently frozen as ice. Two percent may be a deceiving
figure, however, since over 80 percent of the world's freshwater is locked
up as ice in glaciers, with the majority of it in Antarctica. The total amount
of ice is even more awesome if we estimate the water released upon the
hypothetical melting of the world's glaciers. Sea level would rise about
60 meters. This would change the geography of the planet considerably.
In contrast, should another ice age occur, sea level would drop drastically.
During the last ice age, sea level dropped about 120 meters.

When snowfalls on high mountains or in polar regions, it may
become part of the glacial system. Unlike rain, which returns rapidly to
the sea or atmosphere, the snow that becomes part of a glacier is
involved in a much more slowly cycling system. Here water may be
stored in ice form for hundreds or even hundreds of thousands of
years before being released again into the liquid water system as
meltwater. In the meantime, however, this ice is not static. Glaciers move
slowly across the land with tremendous energy, carving into even the
hardest rock formations and thereby reshaping the landscape as they
engulf, push, drag, and finally deposit rock debris in places far from its
original location. As a result, glaciers create a great variety of landforms
that remain long after the surface is released from its icy covering.

Throughout most of Earth's history, glaciers did not exist, but
at the present time about 10 percent of Earth's land surface is covered
by glaciers. Present-day glaciers are found in Antarctica, in Greenland,
and at high elevations on all the continents except Australia. In the recent
past, from about 2.4 million to about 10,000 years ago, nearly a third of
Earth's land area was periodically covered by ice thousands of meters
thick. In the much more distant past, other ice ages have occurred.




1. The word " interlocked " in the passage is closest in meaning to
(A) intermediate
(B) linked
(C) frozen
(D) fully developed


2. According to paragraph 1, which of the following does NOT describe
a stage in the development of firn?
(A) Hexagonal crystals become larger and interlock to form a thick layer.
(B) Snow crystals become compacted into grains.
(C) Granules recrystallize after melting, refreezing, and further compaction.
(D) Grains become denser owing to reduced air space around them.


3. According to paragraph 2, surplus snow affects a glacier in all the
following ways EXCEPT:
(A) It provides the pressure needed to cause glacial ice to flow.
(B) It offsets losses of ice due to melting, evaporation, and calving.
(C) It brings about the formation of firn in the snow it buries.
(D) It results in temperate glaciers that are thicker than polar glaciers.


4. Paragraph 2 implies that which of the following conditions produces
the fastest moving glaciers?
(A) A climate characteristic of the polar regions
(B) A thick layer of ice in a temperate climate
(C) Long, warm summers
(D) Snow, firn and ice that have been buried for several years


5. Why does the author consider the hypothetical melting of the world's
glaciers?
(A) To contrast the effects of this event with the opposite effects of
a new ice age
(B) To emphasize how much water is frozen in glaciers
(C) To illustrate the disastrous effects of a warming trend
(D) To support the claim that glaciers are part of Earth' s hydrologic
cycle


6. According to paragraph 5, in what way is the present time unusual in
the history of Earth?
(A) There are glaciers.
(B) More land is covered by glaciers than at anytime in the past.
(C) There is no ice age
(D) No glaciers are found in Australia.


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

Firn has the appearance of wet sugar, but it is almost as hard as ice.

Where would the sentence best fit?



Answers:

1. interlocked " 連結的"
(A) intermediate 中間的 ; 居中的 (B) linked 連接的
(C) frozen : 冰凍的 (D) fully developed 發展完全的. 答案為 (B)
interlocked = linked = connected = combined


2. 下列何者並非描述" firn" (粒雪)之發展階段
此題為否定細節訊息題 (Negative Factual Information)
針對此種否定訊息細節題型 ----
Except / Not ---- 可利用文中是否出現負面字詞(negative words)
或列舉(enumeration) 之技巧進行解題.
根據題幹定位key word , firn ----- Snow falls as hexagonal crystals,
but once on the ground, snow is soon transformed into a compacted
mass of smaller, rounded grains. As the air space around them is
lessened by compaction and melting, the grains become denser. With
further melting, refreezing, and increased weight from newer snowfall
above, the snow reaches a granular recrystallized stage intermediate
between flakes and ice known as firn. With additional time, pressure,
and refrozen meltwater from above, the small firn granules become
larger, interlocked crystals of blue glacial ice.
選項(A) , Snow falls as hexagonal crystals, but once on the ground,
snow is soon transformed into a compacted mass of smaller, rounded
grains. 原文敘 述雪落下時為六角形結晶狀. 一旦接觸地面則變為grain
粒子狀, 方可稱為粒雪.
(A) 六角形之結晶狀雪變得更大並互為連結形成厚冰層. 為非.
正確答案選(A) ,


3. 第二段中, 多餘之雪(surplus snow) 影響冰河, 何者為非?
定位surplus snow ---- For a glacier to grow or maintain its mass,
there must be sufficient snowfall to match or exceed the annual loss
through melting, evaporation, and calving, which occurs when the
glacier loses solid chunks as icebergs to the sea or to large lakes. If
summer temperatures are high for too long, then all the snowfall from
the previous winter will melt. Surplus snowfall is essential for a glacier
to develop. A surplus allows snow to accumulate and for the pressure
of snow accumulated over the years to transform buried snow into
glacial ice with a depth great enough for the ice to flow. Glaciers are
sometimes classified by temperature as faster-flowing temperate
glaciers or as slower-flowing polar glaciers.
(D) 它導致溫帶地區之冰河比較起極地之冰河為厚. 文章並無提及此訊息.


4. 第二段暗示何者產生快速流動之冰河?
Glaciers are sometimes classified by temperature as faster-flowing
temperate glaciers or as slower-flowing polar glaciers.
正確答案為 B. (B) A thick layer of ice in a temperate climate


5. 題中作者為何提出"假設全世界之冰河若融化"
此題主要測驗"修辭目的" (Rhetorical Purpose)
原文 --- The total amount of ice is even more awesome if we
estimate the water released upon the hypothetical melting of the world's
glaciers. Sea level would rise about 60 meters. This would change the
geography of the planet considerably.
(B) 為強調冰凍於冰河之水量有多少. 答案為 B.


6. 根據第五段, 何者是 " 在地球歷史中, 現今為不尋常之狀況?
原文--- Throughout most of Earth's history, glaciers did not exist,
but at the present time about 10 percent of Earth's land surface is
covered by glaciers.
綜觀地球之歷史, 冰河是不存在的, 然而如今冰河卻覆蓋了地球 10%
之面積.
答案為(A) There are glaciers.


7. 此題為插入句型 (Insertion)
(1) succession (承接) ; (2) transition (轉折) ; (3) pronoun (代名詞)
Firn has the appearance of wet sugar, but it is almost as hard as ice.
此插入句---" 粒雪其外觀為潮濕之糖般, 然而它幾乎與冰一樣硬 ".
(A) ■ As the air space around them is lessened by compaction and
melting, the grains become denser. (B)■ With further melting,
refreezing, and increased weight from newer snowfall above,
the snow reaches a granular recrystallized stage intermediate
between flakes and ice known as firn. (C)■ With additional time,
pressure, and refrozen meltwater from above, the small firn
granules become larger, interlocked crystals of blue glacial ice.
(D)■ When the ice is thick enough, usually over 30 meters, the
weight of the snow and firn will cause the ice crystals toward the
bottom to become plastic and to flow outward or downward
from the area of snow accumulation.
此句主要描述firn 之樣貌 , 故而推斷應置於其定義(definition) 後,
以細節說明firn 之特質. 因而選擇答案(C).


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