TPO26 托福阅读 Passage1 Energy and the Industrial Revolution文本+题目原文+答案解析

Energy and the Industrial Revolution

For years historians have sought to identify crucial elements in the eighteenth-century, rise in industry, technology, and economic power, known as the Industrial Revolution, and many give prominence to the problem of energy. Until the eighteenth century, people relied on energy derived from plants as well as animal and human muscle to provide power. Increased efficiency in the use of water and wind helped with such tasks as pumping, milling, or sailing. However, by the eighteenth century, Great Britain in particular was experiencing an energy shortage. Wood, the primary source of heat for homes and industries and also used in the iron industry as processed charcoal, was diminishing in supply. Great Britain had large amounts of coal; however, there were not yet efficient means by which to produce mechanical energy or to power machinery. This was to occur with progress in the development of the steam engine.

In the late 1700s James Watt designed an efficient and commercially viable steam engine that was soon applied to a variety of industrial uses as it became cheaper to use. The engine helped solve the problem of draining coal mines of groundwater and increased the production of coal needed to power steam engines elsewhere. A rotary engine attached to the steam engine enabled shafts to be turned and machines to be driven, resulting in mills using steam power to spin and weave cotton. Since the steam engine was fired by coal, the large mills did not need to be located by rivers, as had mills that used water-driven machines. The shift to increased mechanization in cotton production is apparent in the import of raw cotton and the sale of cotton goods. Between 1760 and 1850, the amount of raw cotton imported increased 230 times. Production of British cotton goods increased sixtyfold, and cotton cloth became Great Britain’s most important product, accounting for one-half of all exports. The success of the steam engine resulted in increased demands for coal, and the consequent increase in coal production was made possible as the steam-powered pumps drained water from the ever-deeper coal seams found below the water table.

 The availability of steam power and the demands for new machines facilitated the transformation of the iron industry. Charcoal, made from wood and thus in limited supply, was replaced with coal-derived coke (substance left after coal is heated) as steam-driven bellows came into use for producing of raw iron. Impurities were burnt away with the use of coke, producing a high-quality refined iron. Reduced cost was also instrumental in developing steam-powered rolling mills capable of producing finished iron of various shapes and sizes. The resulting boom in the iron industry expanded the annual iron output by more than 170 times between 1740 and 1840, and by the 1850s Great Britain was producing more tons of iron than the rest of the world combined. The developments in the iron industry were in part a response to the demand for more machines and the ever-widening use of higher-quality iron in other industries.

 Steam power and iron combined to revolutionize transport, which in turn had further implications. Improvements in road construction and sailing had occurred, but shipping heavy freight over land remained expensive, even with the use of rivers and canals wherever possible. Parallel rails had long been used in mining operations to move bigger loads, but horses were still the primary source of power. 【■】However, the arrival of the steam engine initiated a complete transformation in rail transportation, entrenching and expanding the Industrial Revolution. 【■】As transportation improved, distant and larger markets within the nation could be reached, thereby encouraging the development of larger factories to keep pace with increasing sales. 【■】Greater productivity and rising demands provided entrepreneurs with profits that could be reinvested to take advantage of new technologies to further expand capacity, or to seek alternative investment opportunities.【■】Also, the availability of jobs in railway construction attracted many rural laborers accustomed to seasonal and temporary employment. When the work was completed, many moved to other construction jobs or to factory work in cities and towns, where they became part of an expanding working class.

TPO26托福阅读 Passage1 Energy and the Industrial Revolution 题目

Question 1 of 14:  Why does the author provide the information that “Great Britain had large amounts of coal”?

A. To reject the claim that Britain was facing an 
energy shortage in the eighteenth century 


B. To explain why coal rather than other energy resources became the primary source of heat for homes and industries in eighteenth-century
Britain 


C. To indicate that Britain’s energy shortage was not the result of a lack of fuel.

D. To explain why coal mining became an important industry in nineteenth-century

Question 2 of 14: What was “the problem of energy” that had to be solved to make the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century possible?

A. Water and wind could not be used efficiently.

B. There was no efficient way to power machinery. 


C. Steam engines required large amounts of coal, which was in short supply. 


D. Neither humans nor animals were strong enough to provide the power required for industrial application.

Question 3 of 14:  Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 2 as a development in cotton mills brought about by Watt’s steam engine?

A. The importing of huge quantities of raw cotton by Britain 


B. Increased mechanization 


C. More possibilities for mill location 


D. Smaller mills 


Question 4 of 14: The phrase “apparent in” in the passage is
closest in meaning to

A. clearly seen in 


B. aided by 


C. associated with 


D. followed by 


Question 5 of 14: According to paragraph 2, what was Britain’s most important export by 1850?

A. Raw cotton 


B. Cotton cloth 


C. Steam-powered pumps 


D. Coal

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

A. resulting 


B. encouraging 


C. well documented 


D. immediate

Question 7 of 14: What is the role of paragraph 2 in the passage as a whole?

A. It explains how by increasing the supply of raw materials from other countries, British industries were able to reduce costs and increase production. 


B. It explains how the production of mechanical energy and its benefits spread quickly across countries that were linked commercially with Great Britain.

C. It demonstrates why developments in a single industry could not have caused the Industrial Revolution. 


D. It illustrates why historians have assigned great importance to the issue of energy in the rise of the Industrial Revolution.

Question 8 of 14:  According to paragraph 3, why was the use of coke important for the iron industry?

A. It helped make wood into charcoal. 


B. It reduced the dependency on steam-powered 
machines used for the production of iron. 


C. It replaced charcoal in the production of raw and refined iron.

D. It powered the machines used to extract coal in coal mines.

Question9 of 14： According to paragraph 3, all of the following were true of the iron industry in Great Britain during the 1800s EXCEPT:

A. Steam-driven bellows were used to produce raw iron. 


B. By the 1850s Britain was the world’s largest 
producer of iron. 


C. Steam-powered mills made it possible to 
produce iron of different shapes and sizes.

D. Greater demand for higher-quality iron increased its price.

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

A. anticipated 


B. accelerated 


C. spread 


D. started 


Question11 of 14: Paragraph 4 implies which of the following
about the transformation in rail transportation?

A. Because railway construction employed mostly rural laborers, unemployment increased among urban workers. 


B. It resulted in more trade within the country, but less trade with markets that could be reached only by ocean shipping. 


C. It made shipping freight overland to distant markets less expensive.

D. It resulted in higher wages for factory workers.

Question 12 of 14: The phrase “accustomed to” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. in need of 


B. used to 


C. tired of

D. encouraged by

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

The first steam-powered locomotives were slow but they rapidly improved in speed and carrying capacity.


Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square to add the sentence to the passage.

A. However, the arrival of the steam engine initiated a complete transformation in rail transportation, entrenching and expanding the Industrial Revolution. 

B. As transportation improved, distant and larger markets within the nation could be reached, thereby encouraging the development of larger factories to keep pace with increasing sales. 

C. Greater productivity and rising demands provided entrepreneurs with profits that could be reinvested to take advantage of new technologies to further expand capacity, or to seek alternative investment opportunities. 

D. Also, the availability of jobs in railway construction attracted many rural laborers accustomed to seasonal and temporary employment. 

Question 14 of 14: 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 coming of the Industrial Revolution in eighteenth-century Britain depended on the development of the steam engine to power machinery.

A. For years, historians disregarded the issue of energy as a major element in the rise of the Industrial Revolution and focused instead on technological developments and increased production.

B. The introduction and growth of steam-powered rail transport was a major factor in Britain’s economic expansion during the Industrial Revolution.

C. An expansion of the Industrial Revolution outside Great Britain occurred when British industries began to import raw cotton and high-quality iron.

D. By 1850, the use of steam power in Britain’s mills, mines, and iron industry made Britain a world leader in the production of cotton cloth and iron.

E. Since the basic infrastructure was in place, the Industrial Revolution fueled itself with enlarging markets requiring ever more expansion of factories and workforce.

F. By the end of the 1800s, railway construction attracted so many laborers that factories could not find enough workers to keep up with increasing sales.

TPO26托福阅读Passage1 Energy and the Industrial Revolution 真题解析

Question 1 of 14

正确答案：C

解析：定位到第一段最后4句话，倒数第2句作为例证是转折结构，转折前说英国有大量煤炭，转折后说没有有效途径生产成机械能或发动机械，所以能源短缺不是由于缺乏燃料，C正确；倒数第4句是主题句，最后3句是支持主题句的例证。主题句是英国能源短缺，排除A；倒数第3句说木材是主要工业材料，排除B；文中未提及coal mining，排除D。

Question 2 of 14

正确答案：B

解析：定位到倒数第2句，英国有大量煤炭，但没有有效途径生产成机械能或发动机械，B正确，同时排除C；根据第3句中的water and wind helped with tasks…，排除A；只有第3句中提到了energy from plants and human muscle，并没有叙述二者是否足够强大以提供能量，且未提及neither，排除D。

Question 3 of 14

正确答案：D

解析：在第二段中，根据Between 1760 and 1850, the amount of raw cotton imported increased 230 times，排除A；根据The shift to increased mechanization in cotton production is apparent，排除B；根据the large mills did not need to be located by rivers，排除C；只有磨坊大小的变化在第二段中未被提及，D正确。

Question 4 of 14

正确答案：A

解析：apparent in, 显而易见的；近义词组是clearly seen in。根据词组所在句下一句the amount of raw cotton imported increased 230 times这个信息，词组所在句中 increased mechanization in cotton production is apparent in import of raw cotton的意思是“棉花生产的机械化增长在原棉进口量上就看得出来”。 

Question 5 of 14

正确答案：B

解析：定位到倒数第2句，Between 1760 and 1850, cotton cloth became Great Britain’s most important product, accounting for one-half of all exports，1760-1850年间，棉纺织品变成了最重要的出口产品，并且占总量的二分之一，B正确。raw cotton在文中仅提到了进口量提高，steam-powered pumps和coal出口中所占的比重在文中未提及，排除ACD。

Question 6 of 14

正确答案：A

解析：consequent，随之发生的，作为结果的；近义词是resulting。consequent在第二段最后一句，句意是：蒸汽机的成功导致对煤炭需求的增加，因为蒸汽泵能从更深的煤层抽水，让随之而来的煤炭生产的增长变为可能。

Question 7 of 14

正确答案：D

解析：第一段大意是历史学家一直在探寻工业革命的崛起的重要因素。第二段提到了这个重要因素就是蒸汽机的发明，并解释蒸汽机对英国工业带来的重要影响，包括产煤和产棉。第三段和第四段的大意是蒸汽动力推动的产业变革。A和C的叙述都不符合第二段大意；原文是关于英国的，并没有提到其他国家，排除B；D项，解释了为什么解决能源问题对工业革命起了巨大作用，完全符合题意，且与文章开篇点明的主旨相对应，D正确。 

Question 8 of 14

正确答案：C

解析：根据关键词coke定位到第三段第2句和第3句，这2句话的主干意思是 Charcoal was replaced with coke for producing raw iron, producing a high-quality refined iron(木炭被焦炭取代)，C正确。原文只是说Charcoal, made from wood，但并没说是焦炭把木头变成木炭的，排除A；根据最后一句话，焦炭的应用增加了钢铁制造对蒸汽机的依赖(demand for more machines)，而不是减少了，排除B；焦炭为机器提供动力在文中没有依据，排除D

Question 9 of 14

正确答案：D

解析：在第三段中，A项对应第2句coke as steam-driven bellows for producing of raw iron；B项对应倒数第2句…by the 1850s Great Britain was producing more tons of iron than the rest of the world combined；C项对应倒数第3句…capable of producing finished iron of various shapes and sizes; 原文中完全没有提到铁的价格，故选D。

Question 10 of 14

正确答案：D

解析：initiate，开始；近义词是start。anticipate，预料，预期，期盼；accelerate，（使）加速，加快。 

Question 11 of 14

正确答案：C

解析：第四段第2句提到shipping heavy freight over land remained expensive，第4句转折，the arrival of steam engine initiated a complete transformation in rail transportation，第5句的distant and larger markets within the nation could be reached就是transformation in rail-transportation的具体变化，可推断C正确；原文完全没有提及城市失业率是否上升，排除A；原文中提到了海洋运输，但并没有提到需要海洋运输的市场交易有所下降，排除B；原文没有提及工人工资，排除D。

Question 12 of 14

正确答案：B

解析：accustomed to，习惯于；近义词是used to, 习惯于，适应。accustomed to的意思也可以通过段落最后一句话的意思推断，“工人们完成一项工作后就到另一个工地上工作”，说明他们是很习惯于做seasonal and temporary（季节性和临时性的）工作。

Question 13 of 14

正确答案：B

解析：插入句意为“最初的蒸汽机车很慢，但是它们在速度和载重方面有了迅速改进”。B处前的句子中有the arrival of the steam engine initiated transformation in rail transportation，插入句中的the first steam-powered locomotives是steam engine的举例，B处后的as transportation improved后的叙述是对插入句中rapidly improved的进一步叙述，插入句放在B处能做到承上启下。

Question 14 of 14

正确答案：BDE

解析：B项对应第四段提到的运输方式对于工业发展的影响；D项对应第二段的最后2句和第三段的倒数第2句，到1850年时，蒸汽动力使得英国在棉纺织和钢铁生产领域处于世界领先地位；E项对应第四段的大意，道路轨道交通等基础设施使得市场扩大、工厂增加、劳动力增多。

A项的叙述与第一段明显不符；文章并没有提到英国以外的工业革命情况，C错误；工厂的劳动力满足不了生产需求这一点，文中没有依据，F错误。

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