TPO6托福阅读Passage1 Powering the Industrial Revolution文本+题目文本+答案解析

Powering the Industrial Revolution

In Britain one of the most dramatic changes of the Industrial Revolution was the harnessing of power. Until the reign of George Ⅲ(1760-1820), available sources of power for work and travel had not increased since the Middle Ages. There were three sources of power: animal or human muscles; the wind, operating on sail or windmill; and running water. Only the last of these was suited at all to the continuous operating of machines, and although waterpower abounded in Lancashire and Scotland and ran grain mills as well as textile mills, it had one great disadvantage: streams flowed where nature intended them to, and water-driven factories had to be located on their banks whether or not the location was desirable for other reasons. Furthermore, even the most reliable waterpower varied with the seasons and disappeared in a drought. The new age of machinery, in short, could not have been born without a new source of both movable and constant power.

The source had long been known but not exploited. Early in the eighteenth century, a pump had come into use in which expanding steam raised a piston in a cylinder, and atmospheric pressure brought it down again when the steam condensed inside the cylinder to form a vacuum. This “atmospheric engine,” invented by Thomas Savery and vastly improved by his partner, Thomas Newcomen, embodied revolutionary principles, but it was so slow and wasteful of fuel that it could not be employed outside the coal mines for which it had been designed. In the 1760s, James Watt perfected a separate condenser for the steam, so that the cylinder did not have to be cooled at every stroke; then he devised a way to make the piston turn a wheel and thus convert reciprocating (back and forth) motion into rotary motion. He thereby transformed an inefficient pump of limited use into a steam engine of a thousand uses. The final step came when steam was introduced into the cylinder to drive the piston backward as well as forward, thereby increasing the speed of the engine and cutting its fuel consumption.

[■]Watt's steam engine soon showed what it could do. [■]It liberated industry from dependence on running water. [■]The engine eliminated water in the mines by driving efficient pumps, which made possible deeper and deeper mining. [■]The ready availability of coal inspired William Murdoch during the 1790s to develop the first new form of nighttime illumination to be discovered in a millennium and a half. Coal gas rivaled smoky oil lamps and flickering candles, and early in the new century, well-to-do Londoners grew accustomed to gaslit houses and even streets. Iron manufacturers, which had starved for fuel while depending on charcoal, also benefited from ever-increasing supplies of coal: blast furnaces with steam-powered bellows turned out more iron and steel for the new machinery. Steam became the motive force of the Industrial Revolution as coal and iron ore were the raw materials.

By 1800 more than a thousand steam engines were in use in the British Isles, and Britain retained a virtual monopoly on steam engine production until the 1830s. Steam power did not merely spin cotton and roll iron; early in the new century, it also multiplied ten times over the amount of paper that a single worker could produce in a day. At the same time, operators of the first printing presses run by steam rather than by hand found it possible to produce a thousand pages in an hour rather than thirty. Steam also promised to eliminate a transportation problem not fully solved by either canal boats or turnpikes. Boats could carry heavy weights, but canals could not cross hilly terrain; turnpikes could cross the hills, but the roadbeds could not stand up under great weights. These problems needed still another solution, and the ingredients for it lay close at hand. In some industrial regions, heavily laden wagons, with flanged wheels, were being hauled by horses along metal rails; and the stationary steam engine was puffing in the factory and mine. Another generation passed before inventors succeeded in combining these ingredients, by putting the engine on wheels and the wheels on the rails, so as to provide a machine to take the place of the horse. Thus the railroad age sprang from what had already happened in the eighteenth century.

TPO6托福阅读Passage1 Powering the Industrial Revolution题目

Question 1 of 13：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. Running water was the best power source for factories since it could keep machines operating continuously, but since it was abundant only in Lancashire and Scotland, most mills and factories that were located elsewhere could not be water driven.

B. The disadvantage of using waterpower is that streams do not necessarily flow in places that are the most suitable for factories, which explains why so many water-powered grain and textile mills were located in undesirable places.

C. Since machines could be operated continuously only where running water was abundant, grain and textile mills, as well as other factories, tended to be located only in Lancashire and Scotland.

D. Running water was the only source of power that was suitable for the continuous operation of machines, but to make use of it, factories had to be located where the water was, regardless of whether such locations made sense otherwise.

Question 2 of 13：Which of the following best describes the relation of paragraph 2 to paragraph 1?

A. Paragraph 2 shows how the problem discussed in paragraph 1 arose.

B. Paragraph 2 explains how the problem presented in paragraph 1 came to be solved.

C. Paragraph 2 provides a more technical discussion of the problem introduced in paragraph 1.

D. Paragraph 2 shows why the problem discussed in paragraph 1 was especially important to solve.

Question 3 of 13：The word “exploited ” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. utilized

B. recognized

C. examined

D. fully understood

Question 4 of 13：The word “vastly ” in the passage is closet in meaning to

A. quickly

B. ultimately

C. greatly

D. initially

Question 5 of 13：According to paragraph 2, the “atmospheric engine ” was slow because

A. it had been designed to be used in coal mines

B. the cylinder had to cool between each stroke

C. it made use of expanding steam to raise the piston in its cylinder

D. it could be operated only when a large supply of fuel was available

Question 6 of 13：According to paragraph 2, Watt's steam engine differed from earlier steam engines in each of the following ways EXCEPT:

A. It used steam to move a piston in a cylinder.

B. It worked with greater speed.

C. It was more efficient in its use of fuel.

D. It could be used in many different ways.

Question 7 of 13：In paragraph 3, the author mentions William Murdoch’s invention of a new form of nighttime illumination in order to

A. indicate one of the important developments made possible by the introduction of Watt's steam engine

B. make the point that Watt's steam engine was not the only invention of importance to the Industrial Revolution

C. illustrate how important coal was as a raw material for the Industrial Revolution

D. provide an example of another eighteenth-century invention that used steam as a power source

Question 8 of 13：The phrase “grew accustomed to ” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. began to prefer

B. wanted to have

C. became used to

D. insisted on

Question 9 of 13：The word “retained ” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. gained

B. established

C. profited from

D. maintained

Question 10 of 13：According to paragraph 4, which of the following statements about steam engines is true?

A. They were used for the production of paper but not for printing.

B. By 1800, significant numbers of them were produced outside of Britain.

C. They were used in factories before they were used to power trains.

D. They were used in the construction of canals and turnpikes.

Question 11 of 13：According to paragraph 4, providing a machine to take the place of the horse involved combining which two previously separate ingredients?

A. Turnpikes and canals

B. Stationary steam engines and wagons with flanged wheels

C. Metal rails in roadbeds and wagons capable of carrying heavy loads

D. Canal boats and heavily laden wagons

Question 12 of 13：Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.Where would the sentence best fit?

The factories did not have to go to the streams when power could come to the factories.

A. Watt's steam engine soon showed what it could do. 

B. It liberated industry from dependence on running water. 

C. The engine eliminated water in the mines by driving efficient pumps, which made possible deeper and deeper mining. 

D. The ready availability of coal inspired William Murdoch during the 1790s to develop the first new form of nighttime illumination to be discovered in a millennium and a half. 

Question 13 of 13：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 Industrial Revolution would not have been possible without a new source of power that was efficient, movable, and continuously available.

A.In the early eighteenth century, Savery and Newcomen discovered that expanding steam could be used to raise a piston in a cylinder.

B.Watt's steam engine played a leading role in greatly increasing industrial production of all kinds.

C.Until the 1830s, Britain was the world’s major producer of steam engines.

D.In the mid-1700s James Watt transformed an inefficient steam pump into a fast, flexible, fuel-efficient engine.

E.In the 1790s William Murdoch developed a new way of lighting houses and streets using coal gas.

F. The availability of steam engines was a major factor in the development of railroads, which solved a major transportation problem.

TPO6托福阅读Passage1 Powering the Industrial Revolution答案解析

Question 1 of 13

正确答案：D

题目解析：原句很长，首先分析清楚最应该断句的地方，是第一个逗号，前半句是只有最后一个，也就是前面说的流水能够满足要求;后半句的结构是尽管怎样，有一个很大的缺点，缺点是blabla;原文说L和S两个地方水能充足，但没说只有这两个地方充足，A和C错;B缺失了原文的前半句，属于遗漏重要信息，错。

Question 2 of 13

正确答案：B

题目解析：问第二段与第一段的关系，第一段说了水能的缺点，这是上一题读到的，提出了一个问题;第二段一开始就说这个能源早就发现了，也就是蒸汽。两段就说一个提出问题，一个提出解决方案，所以B对。

Question 3 of 13

正确答案：A

题目解析：exploit: 开采，开发，利用，剥削。所以A的utilize正确。B是认知;C是检查;D是充分理解。对应原文:The source had long been known but not exploited.原文说已经知道了，但是没怎么样，所以B的recognize明显和known矛盾,排除;而且整段都在说怎么用，也描述了蒸汽使用的推进过程，一开始没什么效率，后来改良了，所以A的选项代入后符合这个语境;而fully understood和examine的信息都没有，所以都不选。

Question 4 of 13

正确答案：C

题目解析：vastly: 极大地。A是快速地;B是最后;C是极大地;D是开始。所以C的greatly正确。对应原文:This “atmospheric engine,” invented by Thomas Savery and vastly improved by his partner, Thomas Newcomen, embodied revolutionary principles, but it was so slow and wasteful of fuel that it could not be employed outside the coal mines for which it had been designed.原文说了呈现了“革命性的“(revolutionary)原理，那么就可以推断出改良是比较大的，答案就是C。ABD都不能和revolutionary呼应。

Question 5 of 13

正确答案：B

题目解析：以画出来的atmospheric engine和slow做关键词，读所在句第三句。但这句话中，slow的地方没给出原因，往下看：In the 1760s, James Watt perfected a separate condenser for the steam, so that the cylinder did not have to be cooled at every stroke; then he devised a way to make the piston turn a wheel and thus convert reciprocating (back and forth) motion into rotary motion.说1760年瓦特完善了这个蒸汽机，使得每个stroke之间不再需要冷却了，也就是说以前的蒸汽机是要冷却的，所以慢，正确答案B。

Question 6 of 13

正确答案：A

题目解析：A选项的piston对应到第二句和最后一句：Early in the eighteenth century, a pump had come into use in which expanding steam raised a piston in a cylinder, and atmospheric pressure brought it down again when the steam condensed inside the cylinder to form a vacuum. 从第二句话知道以前就用steam去move piston，而最后一句说后来也是，所以这个并没有改变。所以A错，选。B第speed定位到最后一句，对应increasing the speed，所以B正确，不选：The final step came when steam was introduced into the cylinder to drive the piston backward as well as forward, thereby increasing the speed of the engine and cutting its fuel consumption.C的efficient和D的many different ways都可以从倒数第二句中找到：He thereby transformed an inefficient pump of limited use into a steam engine of a thousand uses. CD正确，不选。

Question 7 of 13

正确答案：A

题目解析：功能目的题，整个William Murdoch所在的那句都是一个例子，往前看，之前一句话说这个engine能够排水，使得深层开矿成为可能，但还是在说一个机器的作用，不是中心，所以看到中心句，说瓦特的蒸汽机能做很多事情，William Murdoch的这个东西是一个根据瓦特的东西弄出来的，所以答案A。

Question 8 of 13

正确答案：C

题目解析：get accustomed to: 习惯于，所以C的became used to正确。A是开始倾向于;B是想要拥有;D是坚持。对应原文：Coal gas rivaled smoky oil lamps and flickering candles, and early in the new century, well-to-do Londoners grew accustomed to gaslit houses and even streets. 原文说煤气胜过了油灯和蜡烛，伦敦人怎么样了由煤气照明的屋子和街道;A的prefer表示比较，前文已经胜过了就没必要再比较了;B说想要有，同理前文已经说有了，所以B错;insist on是坚持，原文没说要改，所以跟坚持无关。

Question 9 of 13

正确答案：D

题目解析：retain: 保留，保持。A是获得;B是建立;C是从…中获益;D是保持，坚持。所以D的maintain正确。对应原文：By 1800 more than a thousand steam engines were in use in the British Isles, and Britain retained a virtual monopoly on steam engine production until the 1830s.原文说已经有一千部蒸汽机在英伦三岛，而且英国怎么样了垄断;选项当中的gain和establish都有从无到有的意思，而原文从一开始就说英国工业革命成功的原因是利用能源，所以不是从无到有，profit from从中获利原文没说，错。

Question 10 of 13

正确答案：C

题目解析：问题当中无明显关键词，排除法。第二句的分号之后和第三句说明A不对，造纸和印刷都用了蒸汽机：At the same time, operators of the first printing presses run by steam rather than by hand found it possible to produce a thousand pages in an hour rather than thirty. B的1800做关键词定位至第一句，说直到1830年英国才失去蒸汽机的垄断地位，所以B反了：By 1800 more than a thousand steam engines were in use in the British Isles, and Britain retained a virtual monopoly on steam engine production until the 1830s.C对应到倒数第二句，说another generation passed before蒸汽机用在铁路上，所以C正确：By 1800 more than a thousand steam engines were in use in the British Isles, and Britain retained a virtual monopoly on steam engine production until the 1830s.原文第四句提到canal和turnpike的时候，没说蒸汽机用来建设它们：Steam also promised to eliminate a transportation problem not fully solved by either canal boats or turnpikes.

Question 11 of 13

正确答案：B

题目解析：以ingredients做关键词定位至倒数第二句，有combining these ingredients：Another generation passed before inventors succeeded in combining these ingredients, by putting the engine on wheels and the wheels on the rails, so as to provide a machine to take the place of the horse.这句话by后面就提到了两个事物就是wheel和engine。如果还不确定的话，可以往前看一句，these说明答案在前句。前句分别说到蒸汽机和马车，所以答案是B。

Question 12 of 13

正确答案：C

题目解析：C，两个过渡点，factories和stream，分别对应原文的industry和running water，就此，B或者C正确;但B之后的代词it指代前文的Watt’s steam engine，过度紧密，不插入任何句子，所以C正确。

Question 13 of 13

正确答案：BDF

题目解析：BDF in the early选项是第二段中的一个细节，不选。Watt’s steam engine选项对应原文第三段第一句，或者说整个第三段，正确。Until选项对应第四段第一句，但这句话 不是中心句，所以是细节，不选。In the mid选项对应原文第二段后三句，正确。in the 1790s选项是第三段中的一个细节，不选。the availability选项对应原文第四段后三句，正确。

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