TPO5托福阅读Passage2 The Origin of the Pacific Island People文本+题目文本+答案解析

The Origin of the Pacific Island People

The greater Pacific region, traditionally called Oceania, consists of three cultural areas: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Melanesia, in the southwest Pacific, contains the large islands of New Guinea, the Solomons, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia. Micronesia, the area north of Melanesia, consists primarily of small scattered islands. Polynesia is the central Pacific area in the great triangle defined by Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand. Before the arrival of Europeans, the islands in the two largest cultural areas, Polynesia and Micronesia, together contained a population estimated at 700,000.

Speculation on the origin of these Pacific islanders began as soon as outsiders encountered them, in the absence of solid linguistic, archaeological, and biological data, many fanciful and mutually exclusive theories were devised. Pacific islanders are variously thought to have come from North America, South America, Egypt, Israel, and India, as well as Southeast Asia. [■] Many older theories implicitly deprecated the navigational abilities and overall cultural creativity of the Pacific islanders. [■] For example, British anthropologists G. Elliot Smith and W. J. Perry assumed that only Egyptians would have been skilled enough to navigate and colonize the Pacific. [■] They inferred that the Egyptians even crossed the Pacific to found the great civilizations of the New World (North and South America).[■] In 1947 Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl drifted on a balsa-log raft westward with the winds and currents across the Pacific from South America to prove his theory that Pacific islanders were Native Americans (also called American Indians). Later Heyerdahl suggested that the Pacific was peopled by three migrations: by Native Americans from the Pacific Northwest of North America drifting to Hawaii, by Peruvians drifting to Easter Island, and by Melanesians. In 1969 he crossed the Atlantic in an Egyptian-style reed boat to prove Egyptian influences in the Americas. Contrary to these theorists, the overwhelming evidence of physical anthropology, linguistics, and archaeology shows that the Pacific islanders came from Southeast Asia and were skilled enough as navigators to sail against the prevailing winds and currents.

The basic cultural requirements for the successful colonization of the Pacific islands include the appropriate boat-building, sailing, and navigation skills to get to the islands in the first place, domesticated plants and gardening skills suited to often marginal conditions, and a varied inventory of fishing implements and techniques. It is now generally believed that these prerequisites originated with peoples speaking Austronesian languages (a group of several hundred related languages) and began to emerge in Southeast Asia by about 5000 B.C.E. The culture of that time, based on archaeology and linguistic reconstruction, is assumed to have had a broad inventory of cultivated plants including taro, yarns, banana, sugarcane, breadfruit, coconut, sago, and rice. Just as important, the culture also possessed the basic foundation for an effective maritime adaptation, including outrigger canoes and a variety of fishing techniques that could be effective for overseas voyaging.

Contrary to the arguments of some that much of the pacific was settled by Polynesians accidentally marooned after being lost and adrift, it seems reasonable that this feat was accomplished by deliberate colonization expeditions that set out fully stocked with food and domesticated plants and animals. Detailed studies of the winds and currents using computer simulations suggest that drifting canoes would have been a most unlikely means of colonizing the Pacific. These expeditions were likely driven by population growth and political dynamics on the home islands, as well as the challenge and excitement of exploring unknown waters. Because all Polynesians, Micronesians, and many Melanesians speak Austronesian languages and grow crops derived from Southeast Asia, all these peoples most certainly derived from that region and not the New World or elsewhere. The undisputed pre-Columbian presence in Oceania of the sweet potato, which is a New World domesticate, has sometimes been used to support Heyerdahl’s “American Indians in the Pacific” theories. However, this is one plant out of a long list of Southeast Asian domesticates. As Patrick Kirch, an American anthropologist, points out, rather than being brought by rafting South Americans, sweet potatoes might just have easily been brought back by returningPolynesian navigators who could have reached the west coast of South America.

TPO1托福阅读Passage1The Origin of the Pacific Island People题目

Question 1 of 14：According to paragraph 1, all of the following are true statements about Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia EXCEPT:

A. Collectively, these regions are traditionally known as Oceania.

B. These islands of Micronesia are small and spread out.

C. Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand mark the boundaries of Polynesia.

D. Melanesia is situated to the north of Micronesia.

Question 2 of 14：By stating that the theories are “mutually exclusive ” the author means that

A. if one of the theories is true, then all the others must be false

B. the differences between the theories are unimportant

C. taken together, the theories cover all possibilities

D. the theories support each other

Question 3 of 14：The word “overwhelming ” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. powerful

B. favorable

C. current

D. reasonable

Question 4 of 14：According to paragraph 2, which of the following led some early researchers to believe that the Pacific islanders originally came from Egypt?

A. Egyptians were known to have founded other great civilizations.

B. Sailors from other parts of the world were believed to lack the skills needed to travel across the ocean.

C. Linguistic, archaeological, and biological data connected the islands to Egypt.

D. Egyptian accounts claimed responsibility for colonizing the Pacific as well as the Americas.

Question 5 of 14：Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 2 about early theories of where the first inhabitants of the Pacific islands came from?

A. They were generally based on solid evidence.

B. They tried to account for the origin of the characteristic features of the languages spoken by Pacific islanders.

C. They assumed that the peoples living in Southeast Asia did not have the skills needed to sail to the Pacific islands.

D. They questioned the ideas of Elliot Smith and W. J. Perry.

Question 6 of 14：The word “implements ” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. skills

B. tools

C. opportunities

D. practices

Question 7 of 14：All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 3 as required for successful colonization of the Pacific islands EXCEPT

A. knowledge of various Austronesian languages

B. a variety of fishing techniques

C. navigational skills

D. knowledge of plant cultivation

Question 8 of 14：In paragraph 3, why does the author provide information about the types of crops grown and boats used in Southeast Asia during the period around 5000 B.C.E.?

A. To evaluate the relative importance of agriculture and fishing to early Austronesian peoples

B. To illustrate the effectiveness of archaeological and linguistic methods in discovering details about life in ancient times

C. To contrast living conditions on the continent of Asia with living conditions on the Pacific islands

D. To demonstrate that people from this region had the skills and resources necessary to travel to and survive on the Pacific islands

Question 9 of 14：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. Some people have argued that the Pacific was settled by traders who became lost while transporting domesticated plants and animals.

B. The original Polynesian settlers were probably marooned on the islands, but they may have been joined later by carefully prepared colonization expeditions.

C. Although it seems reasonable to believe that colonization expeditions would set out fully stocked, this is contradicted by much of the evidence.

D. The settlement of the Pacific islands was probably intentional and well planned rather than accidental as some people have proposed.

Question 10 of 14：The word “undisputed ” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. mysterious

B. unexpected

C. acknowledged

D. significant

Question 11 of 14：According to paragraph 4, which of the following is NOT an explanation for why a group of people might have wanted to colonize the Pacific islands?

A. As their numbers increased, they needed additional territory.

B. The winds and currents made the islands easy to reach.

C. The political situation at home made emigration desirable.

D. They found exploration challenging and exciting.

Question 12 of 14：Why does the author mention the views of “Patrick Kirch "

A. To present evidence in favor of Heyerdahl’s idea about American Indians reaching Oceania

B. To emphasize the familiarity of Pacific islanders with crops from many different regions of the world

C. To indicate that supposed proof for Heyerdahl’s theory has an alternative explanation

D. To demonstrate that some of the same crops were cultivated in both South America and Oceania

Question 13 of 14：Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

Later theories concentrate on journeys in the other direction.

A.    Many older theories implicitly deprecated the navigational abilities and overall cultural creativity of the Pacific islanders. 

B.    For example, British anthropologists G. Elliot Smith and W. J. Perry assumed that only Egyptians would have been skilled enough to navigate and colonize the Pacific. 

C.    They inferred that the Egyptians even crossed the Pacific to found the great civilizations of the New World (North and South America).

D.   In 1947 Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl drifted on a balsa-log raft westward with the winds and currents across the Pacific from South America to prove his theory that Pacific islanders were Native Americans (also called American Indians).

Question 14 of 14：Directions: Choices 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. Together, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia make up the region described as the Pacific islands, or Oceania.

A.The first Europeans to reach the area assumed that the islands’ original inhabitants must have drifted to Oceania, perhaps from Egypt or the Americas.

B.It is now believed that the process of colonization required a great deal of skill, determination, and planning and could not have happened by chance.

C.Using linguistic and archaeological evidence, anthropologists have determined that the first Pacific islanders were Austronesian people from Southeast Asia.

D.New evidence suggests that, rather than being isolated, Pacific islanders engaged in trade and social interaction with peoples living in Southeast Asia.

E.Computer simulations of the winds and currents in the Pacific have shown that reaching the Pacific islands was probably much easier than previously thought.

F. Although early colonizers of the islands probably came from agriculture-based societies, they were obliged to adopt an economy based on fishing.

TPO5托福阅读Passage2The Origin of the Pacific Island People答案解析

Question 1 of 14

正确答案：D

题目解析：EXCEPT题，排除法。A对应第一句第二个逗号之前的部分，正确，不选;B选项对应第二句，注意scattered就是spread out，所以正确，不选;而且第二句还与D选项相反，应该是Micronesia在Melanesia北面，所以D错，选;C选项对应第三句，正确，不选。

Question 2 of 14

正确答案：A

题目解析：mutual: 共同，exclusive想到exclude再想到include，所以是不包含的，排他的，那mutually exclusive的意思就是不相容的，互相矛盾的，所以答案应该是A。对应原文：Speculation on the origin of these Pacific islanders began as soon as outsiders encountered them, in the absence of solid linguistic, archaeological, and biological data, many fanciful and mutually exclusive theories were devised.前文说由于缺乏各方面证据，各种各样的想象的和什么样的理论被设计出来。从语境看，应该是五花八门的理论，各不相同的理论，所以A代入后非常符合这个语境。

Question 3 of 14

正确答案：A

题目解析：overwhelming: 压倒性的，势不可挡的，而且over表示在……之上或者是超过之意，所以A正确。对应原文：Contrary to these theorists, the overwhelming evidence of physical anthropology, linguistics, and archaeology shows that the Pacific islanders came from Southeast Asia and were skilled enough as navigators to sail against the prevailing winds and currents.原文说与上面的例子不同，怎么样的证据显示这些太平洋岛民来自东南亚。首先原文没提到时间概念，所以current不对;原文也没说之前的都不合理，所以reasonable不对;favorable赞同的，倾向的靠谱，但是从前后搭配和整体语境来看，还是A的程度更加贴近原词。

Question 4 of 14

正确答案：B

题目解析：以Egypt和early researchers双关键词回原文定位至第四句(For example句)，说两个人认为只有埃及人有技术能够航行到并且占领太平洋的岛，至于后半句是两个人推断出来的东西，不是答案，所以A错B对，C和D都没说。

Question 5 of 14

正确答案：C

题目解析：以early (older) theories做关键词定位至第三句，说早期的理论认为那些岛民的航海能力不行，紧接着给出例子，就是上一题定位的那句，只有埃及人才有能力航行到并且占领这些岛，所以通过例子证明C正确，东南亚人没那个技术航线到这些岛上;原文说没证据，所以A反了;B和D都没说。

Question 6 of 14

正确答案：B

题目解析：implement: (动词)实施，执行;(名词)工具。原文中是名词。所以B正确。对应原文：The basic cultural requirements for the successful colonization of the Pacific islands include the appropriate boat-building, sailing, and navigation skills to get to the islands in the first place, domesticated plants and gardening skills suited to often marginal conditions, and a varied inventory of fishing implements and techniques.原句中与它并列的是technique，所以意思应当与technique接近但不相同，所以A错;C和D都不能与technique并列，最合适的还是tools，工具和技术。

Question 7 of 14

正确答案：A

题目解析：EXCEPT题，排除法，B/C/D三个答案都在第一句，一上来就说successful colonization的条件是blabla，A语言的问题是在下一句说的，已经不是条件了，所以A错，选。

Question 8 of 14

正确答案：D

题目解析：功能目的题，以5000 B.C.E.为关键词定位至第二句，但事实上关于种的作物的信息在第三句中的”The culture of that time”，往第二句看，这些前提条件是说A语言的人有的，也就是说A有占领太平洋岛屿的能力，正确答案D。

Question 9 of 14

正确答案：D

题目解析：原句的主要逻辑是对立，而contrary to引导的内容相对次要，主要内容是后半句。原句说：这个feat是通过有意的占领完成的，不认识deliberate的看后面的解释，说装满了东西，当然是有备而来的;而不是之前说的意外意占领的。A说这些人是lost到这些岛上来的，反了;B说两批人，第一批是lost的，后来有人装满了东西加入了他们，和原文逻辑矛盾，内容出入较大，jioned later随意改写了原文的意思;C也说lost，注意although后面的文字与句子的真实意思相反;所以只有D对。

Question 10 of 14

正确答案：C

题目解析：dispute: 争辩，undisputed: 无可辩驳的，毫无疑问的。所以C的acknowledged(广为承认的)正确。A是神秘的;B是意外的，出乎意料的;D是重大的，有意义的。对应原文：The undisputed pre-Columbian presence in Oceania of the sweet potato, which is a New World domesticate, has sometimes been used to support Heyerdahl’s “American Indians in the Pacific” theories.原文说一个什么样的证据能够用来支持某人的理论，AB明显不靠谱，significant貌似正确，但是和dispute的意思毫无关联，也不对。

Question 11 of 14

正确答案：B

题目解析：EXCEPT题，排除法，ACD都定位到第三句话：These expeditions were likely driven by population growth and political dynamics on the home islands, as well as the challenge and excitement of exploring unknown waters. A选项的their number increased对应原文第三句的population growth;正确，不选;C的political situation at home对应第三句中的political dynamics on the home islands，正确，不选;D选项的challenging and exciting对应第三句中的challenge and excitement，正确，不选;B没说，选。

Question 12 of 14

正确答案：C

题目解析：功能目的题，往前看，however句与前句有紧密的衔接，所以再往前看一句。说甜土豆的出现支持了H的理论，紧接着就来了个转折，说明PK的观点不支持H的观点，A反了;C的alternative explanation正确;B和D都没说。

Question 13 of 14

正确答案：D

题目解析：D 两个过渡点，later theories和other direction。根据later theories看，A一定不对，老的理论还没说不能出现新的理论;B后的for example和C后的they都说明这两处的过渡非常紧密，不能插入任何句子，都不对，所以D正确;而且D之前说从埃及到南美，D之后说从南美洲出发，刚好对应插入句中的other direction。

Question 14 of 14

正确答案：ABC

题目解析：从文章题目可知可能是现象解释，对太平洋岛人起源的探究解释。 首段介绍太平洋的地理背景信息，人口数量信息。 二段介绍对岛人起源的早期研究。末句用证据驳斥了这些早期理论。 三段说早期航行来到这里的技术条件，说来自东南亚的A人有这些条件。 四段延续三段说A人的航行动机，现在的研究驳斥早期研究。 引导句是对首段背景信息的概括。正确答案应为以后各段的主旨。 A(the first)选项对应原文第二段的前半部分，正确。 B(it is now)选项对应原文第三段，正确。 C(using)选项对应原文第二段最后一句及三四两段，正确。 D(new)选项不对，原文只是说甜土豆是可能是从南美带来的，而且还提出可能是岛民自己带回来的，不是什么贸易，不选。 E(although)选项原文没说，不选。 F(computer)选项与第四段中的一个细节矛盾，原文说drifting conoes would have been a most unlikely means , 不是更容易，不选。

全套TPO阅读原文+题目文本+答案解析手册（合计1300页文档），在雷哥托福微信公众号获取

雷哥托福上课详情请咨询老师

1、请联系官方QQ：2250281936；

2、请联系官方个人微信号：toefl12345；

3、请咨询官方电话：400-6021-727；

【使用提示】

1、雷哥托福在线直播课，不限地域，全球考生均可报名参与。

2、获取更多托福信息，请关注雷哥托福微信公众号：toeflgo