托福考试易错题（2019/3/11）

第1题：Reading 5 "Speech and Writing" It is a widely held misconception that writing is more perfect than speech. To many people, writing somehow seems more correct and more stable, whereas speech can be careless, corrupted, and susceptible to change. Some people even go so far as to identify language with writing and to regard speech as a secondary form of language used imperfectly to approximate the ideals of the written language. → One of the basic assumptions of modern linguistics, however, is that speech is primary and writing is secondary. The most immediate manifestation of language is speech and not writing. Writing is simply the representation of speech in another physical medium. Spoken language encodes thought into a physically transmittable form, while writing, in turn, encodes spoken language into a physically preservable form. Writing is a two-stage process.All units of writing, whether letters or characters, are based on units of speech, i.e., words, sounds, or syllables. When linguists study language, they take the spoken language as their best source of data and their object of description (except in instances of languages like Latin for which there are no longer any speakers). There are several reasons for maintaining that speech is primary and writing is secondary. First, writing is a later historical development than spoken language. Current archeological evidence indicates that writing was first utilized in Sumer, that is, modern-day Iraq, about 6,000 years ago. As far as physical and cultural anthropologists can tell, spoken language has probably been used by humans for hundreds of thousands of years. → Second, writing does not exist everywhere that spoken language exists. This seems hard to imagine in our highly literate society, but the fact is that there are still many communities in the world where a written form of language is not used, and even in those cultures using a writing system, there are individuals who fail to learn the written form of their language. In fact, the majority of theEarth’s inhabitants are illiterate, though quite capable of spoken communication. However, no society uses only a written language with no spoken form. Third, writing must be taught, whereas spoken language is acquired automatically.All children, except children with serious learning disabilities, naturally learn to speak the language of the community in which they are brought up. They acquire the basics of their native language before they enter school, and even if they never attend school, they become fully competent speakers. Writing systems vary in complexity, but regardless of their level of sophistication, they must all be taught. Finally, neurolinguistic evidence (studies of the brain in action during language use) demonstrates that the processing and production of written language is overlaid on the spoken language centers in the brain. Spoken language involves several distinct areas of the brain; writing uses these areas and others as well. → So what gives rise to the misconception that writing is more perfect than speech There are several reasons. For one thing, the product of writing is usually more aptly worded and better organized, containing fewer errors, hesitations, and incomplete sentences than are found in speech. This perfection of writing can be explained by the fact that writing is the result of deliberation, correction, and revision, while speech is the spontaneous and simultaneous formulation of ideas; writing is therefore less subject to the constraint of time than speech is. In addition, writing is ultimately associated with education and edu

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第2题： Two Types of Social Groups One of the most basic elements of human life is the way in which we form social groups and interact with the members of those groups.According to sociologists, no one is ever entirely separate from the social networks that surround him or her, and the groups we belong to play an enormous role in determining how we see ourselves and our worlD、EarlyAmerican sociologistCharles H.Cooley (1864～1929) defined two principal categories of human groupings, and his ideas are still widely accepted today. He termed them primary and secondary, based on the kinds of relationships individuals in the group share with each other. In primary groups, we form whatCooley referred to as primary relationships. These are marked by strong, long-lasting emotional ties, feelings of intimacy and genuine concern for the well-being of the other person or people. Intangible items, such as love, respect, and support, are exchanged by individuals in primary groups, causing them to feel nurtured by the relationships the group affords them. Participation in the group is therefore seen as its own reward: there is no concrete, external goal that members are working towards. Due to the time and effort it takes to build such close bonds, primary groups are typically small. Some prominent examples given byCooley include families, groups of childhood friends, and the tight-knit communities adults enter into with their neighbors or other close peers. In the view ofCooley and later sociologists, it is the primary group that is most important in the development of an individual’s personal beliefs and values, and assists that person with his or her integration into society at large. Secondary groups, in contrast, are characterized by the lack of intimate relationships among their members. These secondary relationships involve less personal interaction and weaker emotional connections, and therefore they do not have as significant an impact on the development of an individual’s worldview. In addition, since ties between individuals are not as strong, many secondary groups either exist for only a short time before dissolving, or experience frequent changes in membership. Secondary groups can be quite large.A、company’s employees, a university’s student body, and even a country’s citizens are all examples of secondary groups. The items individuals exchange are usually tangible in nature, such as the labor provided in return for wages in the case of a commercial organization. Most notably, though, the reason that secondary groups form in the first place is to accomplish a specific task. Employees participate in the secondary group of their company with the intention of creating a product or service, as well as to receive pay. If the group fails to achieve its goal, it will most likely cease to exist. Cooley believed that both primary and secondary groups are universal to human societies. While modern sociologists agree with this, they have also observed that the ratio of primary to secondary groups varies according to the level of a society’s technological development. In less-developed nations, individuals spend most of their lives in a single location with prolonged exposure to a certain group of people. This enables them to develop close bonds more easily, so primary groups are commonplace.Developed countries, on the other hand, have witnessed an increase in secondary groups at the expense of primary groups. The fast pace, widespread technology and diversity of life in these societies make it harder for people to connect emotionally with each other. Instead, innovation

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第3题： The phrase "attests to" in line 21 is closest in meaning to A．( makes up for B．( combines with C．( interferes with D．( gives evidence of

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第4题： Natural Selection First coined byDarwin, the term natural selection refers to the process at the core of evolutionary theory. Simply put,Darwin believed that every living organism had to struggle to survive and reproduce.By random chance, some individuals in a species would have characteristics that made them better adapted to this struggle than their contemporaries. Such individuals would be more likely to reproduce and pass their characteristics on to their offspring. Over many generations, a series of small differences in characteristics would accumulate, until eventually the creatures that were produced would be so different from their original ancestors that they would constitute a new species. ■ A、AlthoughDarwin did not know how variations between individual members of the same species were able to arise in the first place or how such traits could then be passed on from species to species, we now know that this process occurs through genes. ■ B、Genes determine what characteristics an organism will possess, from its size to its skin color to its gender. ■ C、Sometimes these genes become damaged or altered--a process known as mutation. ■ D、Most mutations are either too small to have any effect, or have detrimental effects on the organism.A、few, however, can be beneficial to helping an organism survive. The organisms with these beneficial mutations are the ones that .survive and reproduce, passing their particular genetic mutation on to future generations. Originally,Darwin thought that two particular types of traits were naturally selected for evolution. The first type included any and all traits that helped an organism survive, either by giving it easier access to food, better protection from predators, or superior adaptability to shifting environmental conditions. Several examples of the natural selection of such traits have been observed sinceDarwin first proposed his theory. The most often cited example is the coloration of moths near industrial centers. Some of them have white wings and the others have black wings. Under normal conditions, the lighter-colored moths predominate since white moths are less visible against the light-colored bark of the trees in the forests where they live, which means they can more easily avoid predators. Near industrial centers, however, darker-colored moths predominate, as the pollution from the factory has darkened the bark of the nearby trees. Moths landing on these trees are much more difficult to see if they have black wings. This trait has now become most common in moth populations living in areas where pollutants have changed the color of the tree bark. The second type of naturally selected traits envisioned byDarwin involved those characteristics of an organism that made it easier for that organism to find a mate. This form of natural selection, often called sexual selection, was thought to explain the existence of highly developed traits in certain animals that seemed to play no particular role in their survival, and that in some cases seemed to make it even harder for them to survive.A、prime example of such a trait is the peacock’s elaborate, colorful tail feathers.A、long, unwieldy tail that can expand into a display of bright colors that draws the attention of any predator in the vicinity seems less likely than that of other kinds of birds to help the bird survive. However, researchers discovered that peahens invariably chose to mate with those peacocks whose tail feathers produced the most artistic displays. Thus, although the peacock’s tail feathers have no adaptive function in terms of coping with survival pressure, the gene that controls feather color is the one that is most likely to be passed on because of its role in the mating process. Many scientists now believe that a third type of naturally selected characteristics exists, namely those that may be harmful to an individual organi

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第5题：Imagine that you have received some land to use as you wish.How would you use this land Use specific details to explain your answer.

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