TPO23 托福阅读Passage2 Seventeenth-Century Dutch Agriculture 文本+题目原文+答案解析

Seventeenth-Century Dutch Agriculture 

Agriculture and fishing formed the primary sector of the economy in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century. Dutch agriculture was modernized and commercialized new crops and agricultural techniques raised levels of production so that they were in line with market demands, and cheap grain was imported annually from the Baltic region in large quantities. According to estimates, about 120,000 tons of imported grain fed about 600,000 people: that is about a third of the Dutch population. Importing the grain, which would have been expensive and time consuming for the Dutch to have produced themselves, kept the price of grain low and thus stimulated individual demand for other foodstuffs and consumer goods.

Apart from this, being able to give up labor-intensive grain production freed both the land and the workforce for more productive agricultural divisions. The peasants specialized in livestock husbandry and dairy farming as well as in cultivating industrial crops and fodder crops: flax, madder, and rape were grown, as were tobacco, hops, and turnips. These products were bought mostly by urban businesses. There was also a demand among urban consumers for dairy products such as butter and cheese, which, in the sixteenth century, had become more expensive than grain. The high prices encouraged the peasants to improve their animal husbandry techniques; for example, they began feeding their animals indoors in order to raise the milk yield of their cows.

In addition to dairy farming and cultivating industrial crops, a third sector of the Dutch economy reflected the way in which agriculture was being modernized-horticulture. ■In the sixteenth century, fruit and vegetables were to be found only in gardens belonging to wealthy people. ■This changed in the early part of the seventeenth century when horticulture became accepted as an agricultural sector. ■Whole villages began to cultivate fruit and vegetables. ■The produce was then transported by water to markets in the cities, where the consumption of fruit and vegetables was no longer restricted to the wealthy.

As the demand for agricultural produce from both consumers and industry increased, agricultural land became more valuable and people tried to work the available land more intensively and to reclaim more land from wetlands and lakes. In order to increase production on existing land, the peasants made more use of crop rotation and, in particular, began to apply animal waste to the soil regularly, rather than leaving the fertilization process up to the grazing livestock. For the first time industrial waste, such as ash from the soap-boilers, was collected in the cities and sold in the country as artificial fertilizer. The increased yield and price of land justified reclaiming and draining even more land.

The Dutch battle against the sea is legendary. Noorderkwartier in Holland, with its numerous lakes and stretches of water, was particularly suitable for land reclamation and one of the biggest projects undertaken there was the draining of the Beemster lake which began in 1608. The richest merchants in Amsterdam contributed money to reclaim a good 7,100 hectares of land. Forty-three windmills powered the drainage pumps so that they were able to lease the reclamation to farmers as early as 1612, with the investors receiving annual leasing payments at an interest rate of 17 percent. Land reclamation continued, and between 1590 and 1665, almost 100,000 hectares were reclaimed from the wetland areas of Holland, Zeeland, and Friesland. However, land reclamation decreased significantly after the middle of the seventeenth century because the price of agricultural products began to fall, making land reclamation far less profitable in the second part of the century.

Dutch agriculture was finally affected by the general agricultural crisis in Europe during the last two decades of the seventeenth century. However, what is astonishing about this is not that Dutch agriculture was affected by critical phenomena such as a decrease in sales and production, but the fact that the crisis appeared only relatively late in Dutch agriculture. In Europe as a whole, the exceptional reduction in the population and the related fall in demand for grain since the beginning of the seventeenth century had caused the price of agricultural products to fall. Dutch peasants were able to remain unaffected by this crisis for a long time because they had specialized in dairy farming industrial crops, and horticulture. However, toward the end of the seventeenth century, they too were overtaken by the general agricultural crisis.

TPO23托福阅读 Passage2 Seventeenth-Century Dutch Agriculture 题目

Question 1 of 14: By indicating that production was in line with market demands the author means that Dutch farmers were able to

A. exceed other European countries in agricultural production

B. produce crops mat were similar to those popular in other European countries

C. supply sufficient quantities of the agricultural products that the Dutch population wanted to buy

D. satisfy the demand for high quality agricultural products from the Baltic region

Question 2 of 14:  Which are 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. Buying imported grain led to the Dutch demanding that other foodstuffs and consumer goods be imported.

B. Because the Dutch were able to import inexpensive grain, they had money available to create a demand for other food products and consumer goods.

C. Keeping the price of grain low was a primary goal of the Dutch at a time when they could not produce enough grain to provide for all their needs.

D. The demand for other foodstuffs and consumer goods forced the Dutch to import grain and other products at a time when maintaining low prices was especially important.

Question 3 of 14: The phrase “Apart from” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. Besides

B. Despite

C. As a result of

D. Instead of

Question 4 of 14: According to paragraph 2, the increases demands on Dutch agriculture made by urban consumers had which of the following results?

A. Seasonal shortages of the products consumers most wanted

B. Increased production of high-quality grain products

C. Raised prices charged by peasants to urban consumers

D. Different ways of caring for dairy-producing animals

Question 5 of 14: The word “consumption” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. sale

B. storage

C. exportation

D. utilization

Question 6 of 14: According to paragraph 3, the modernization of agriculture in the Netherlands was evident in all of the following ways EXCEPT:

A. The production of fruits and vegetables became a commercial venture.

B. The wealthy stopped growing fruits and vegetables in their gardens and grew flowers instead.

C. Horticultural produce was transported to city markets by water.

D. Many more people were able to afford to eat fresh fruits and vegetables.

Question 7 of 14: Select the TWO answer choices that, according to paragraph 4, indicate two methods people used to increase the productivity of their land. To receive credit you must select TWO answers

A. They planted different crops in different sections of the farm each year.

B. They used improved irrigation methods to increase the yield of crops.

C. They increased the use of fertilizers to supply more nutrients to plants.

D. They used new horticultural practices to produce different varieties of plants in the same section of the farm.

Question 8 of 14: The word “they” in the passage refers to

A. merchants

B. hectares

C. windmills

D. drainage pumps

Question9 of 14: According to paragraph 5, which of the following was an important reason why land-reclamation projects in the first half of the seventeenth century proceeded rapidly?

A. Windmills became powerful enough to run drainage pumps efficiently.

B. Merchants invested large amounts of money in reclamation.

C. High interest rates discouraged people from buying land already available.

D. Reclaimed land was much more suitable for agriculture than the existing land.

Question10 of 14:The word “legendary” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. continuous

B. well documented

C. famous

D. expensive

Question11 of 14: The word “astonishing” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. incredible

B. unfortunate

C. predicted

D. evident

Question 12 of 14: Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

A. A presentation of a theory and the evidence in favor of it

B. A general statement followed by examples and relevant details

C. An analysis of a problem and its solution

D. A series of statements leading to a conclusion

Question13 of 14: Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage

Some villages specialized in growing cabbages and carrots; others grew onions, mustard, and coriander; and still others produced fruit and cultivated trees in nurseries.

Where would the sentence best fit?

A. In the sixteenth century, fruit and vegetables were to be found only in gardens belonging to wealthy people. 

B. This changed in the early part of the seventeenth century when horticulture became accepted as an agricultural sector. 

C. Whole villages began to cultivate fruit and vegetables. 

D. The produce was then transported by water to markets in the cities, where the consumption of fruit and vegetables was no longer restricted to the wealthy.

Question14 of 14: Agriculture formed one of the primary sectors of the economy in seventeenth-century Netherlands.

A. The Baltic region produced large quantities of grain for export to other regions, including the Netherlands.

B. The richest people grew enough fruits and vegetables to supply the entire country with fresh produce.

C. An agricultural crisis that began in Europe did not affect Dutch land-reclamation projects.

D. Specialization in dairy farming, industrial crops, and horticulture allowed the Dutch to be more productive than some other regions in Europe.

E. Land reclamation and improvement allowed the Dutch to meet demands for their agricultural products.

F Because the Dutch had specialized their agricultural output they were less susceptible to the crisis that Europe experienced from the beginning of the century.

TPO23托福阅读Passage2Seventeenth-Century Dutch Agriculture 真题解析

Question 1 of 14

答案：C

解析：以market demands做关键词定位至第二句，提到农业现代化，commercialized的作物和先进的agricultural technique使得产量升高，从而可以满足市场的需要，因此这些人满足市场需要的原因是作物的产量高，所以正确答案是C。A和B都完全没提到，D错误，因为原文说的是从Baltic进口，不是满足Baltic的需要。

Question 2 of 14

答案：B

解析： 这个句子的大致结构是import使得价格下降，因此刺激需求，所以正确答案是B。选项A的进口其他食物和C的primary goal原文都未提及，D的结构完全和原句不符合，错误。

Question 3 of 14

答案：A

解析：apart from“除……之外还有”，所以正确答案是besides。原文提到   这个，不进行需要大量劳动力的grain production，也使得劳力和土地都被解放出来进行更productive的产业。整句话在说不生产grain的一个优点，上一个题的长句子已经说了一个优点，因此这是在说另外一个优点，应该是“除了……还有……”，所以A是正确答案。B“尽管”C“因此”D“而不是”都完全不合文意。

Question 4 of 14

答案：D

解析：以urban consumers做关键词定位至倒数第二句，提到城市消费者需要奶制品，而奶制品比谷物价格贵得多，但这句只说了现象，没说结果，往下看。提到高价使农民改善了牲畜饲养技术，所以正确答案是D。A的shortage原文未提及，B的grain是原文说放弃的，C的high price不是农民收的。

Question 5 of 14

答案：D

解析：consumption“消费，使用，吃掉”。所以正确答案是D的utilization，原词来自consume。原文提到蔬果通过水路运到城市里的市场中，蔬菜与水果的

使用/消费不仅限于富人，富人运水果，存水果和卖水果都不合文意，前文提到以前只有富人能吃得起蔬果，所以正确答案是D。

Question 6 of 14

答案：B

解析：此题可以采用排除法，A选项没有很好的关键词，暂时可以不管；B的flower未提及，原文提到的不只是富人种蔬果，不是富人改种花，所以B与原文相反，选；C的city markets by water做关键词定位至最后一句，正确，不选；同时这句话也可以判断出D选项正确，不选；倒数第二句提到整个村子都种蔬果，也就是A说的commercial venture，A正确，不选。

Question 7 of 14

答案：AC

解析：以increase the productivity做关键词定位至第二句，提到用animal waste和crop rotation来提高土地的生产率，A的different crops in different sections和原文的crop rotation是同义替换，正确；C的fertilizer是原文animal waste的同义替换，所以正确答案是A和C。B的irrigation methods和D的new horticultural practices原文未提及。

Question 8 of 14

答案：A

解析：they往前看主语应可能会误选windmills，但代入后发现不对，只有人才能lease the reclamation，所以正确答案是前句的主语merchants，正确答案A。

Question 9 of 14

答案：B

解析：以land-reclamation projects in the first half of the seventeenth century做关键词定位至第二句，提到Noorderkwartier这个地方特别适合land reclamation，又说最大的工程是1608年排开Beemster湖的水，但一直都没说原因，所以往下看。下一句说阿姆斯特丹的富商给了钱，这才是land reclamation的原因，所以正确答案是B。A，C和D都未提及。

Question 10 of 14

答案：C

解析：legendary“传说的，传奇的，著名的”，所以正确答案是C。单词来自legend，传说。原文说荷兰人围海造地是怎么样的，代入好像都不矛盾，但A的持续的，B的“良好记录的”，和D的“昂贵的”明显在下文没有相关信息支持。

Question 11 of 14

答案：A

解析：astonishing“吃惊的”，所以正确答案是A的incredible。原文提到令人       的是，不是产销量的下降影响了农业，而是荷兰农业受影响很晚，前句说最终受到了影响，所以应该是作者对这么晚才受影响感到惊奇，所以答案是A。C和D与原文意思倾向相反，而且作者没有表现出对受影响有负向情绪，所以B不正确。

Question 12 of 14

答案：B

解析：提问全文的题，看各段的开头。第一段首句提到农业和渔业是十七世纪荷兰经济最主要的部分，第二段到第四段都在说农业的变迁，第五段说围海造地，第六段说受到整体危机的影响，整个都围绕农业展开的，所以正确答案是B。文中并没有提出一个理论并给予支持，A错误，也没有提出问题，C错误，D的分总式与原文结构也不符合，错误。

Question 13 of 14

答案：D

解析：以villages作过渡点可以确定答案是C或者D， C和D点之间的那个句子和待插入句是总分关系，所以应该先总述village开始cultivate fruit and vegetables，再分述不同的villages，正确答案是D。

Question 14 of 14

答案：DEF

解析：A选项是第一段提到的一个细节，而且第一段也没提到B地区的grain很多，不选；B选项的相关信息在第三段有提到，但第三段提到的是后来不仅限于有钱人种蔬果，也从来没说过有钱人种蔬果提供给所有的人，所以不选；C选项与第六段首句相反，不选；D选项对应原文第三段，正确；E选项对应第五段，正确；F选项对应最后一段最后部分的内容，正确。

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