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TOEFLReadingPassage2America’sWesternMigr
TOEFL Reading Passage 2

America’s Western Migration
1.AfterAmerica declared independence in 1776, its citizens began migrating from the original colonies along theAtlantic coast, crossing theAppalachian Mountains and heading west.By 1800, trading centers had been established from Ohio toAlabama and pioneers were already making their way towards the Mississippi River. With the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and further land acquisitions, the frontier of theAmerican nation was continually pushed westward, and groups of settlers were never far behinD、
2. This tremendous migration was carried out by individuals who chose to leave the relative safety of theEast and venture into unknown territories. They followed common trails, the earliest of which led to places like Missouri, Kansas, and NebraskA、After 1840, others into the Far West were opened and saw steadily increasing traffiC、The people who undertook such journeys were motivated by a variety of factors.EarlyAmerican cities, particularly those in the Northeast, had developed at a tremendous pace, leaving some longing for a return to simpler lifestyles. They were crowded, employment was often limited to the factories, and smoke from coal-burning industrial facilities polluted the air. For manyAmericans, the urban landscape did not match their image ’of the ideal life.
3. Yet economic pressure was likely the primary catalyst for westward migration. For some families in the early 1800s, it was difficult to obtain enough resources to live on. This was true in the South as well as the North, where instead of factories the expansive plantations ruled the economy.A、privileged few owned most of the farmland and dominated the agricultural market so that small farmers had trouble making money.Americans struggling under such conditions were very receptive to the reports constantly arriving from western settlers, which described vast regions of bountiful farmland waiting to be claimeD、These accounts were often terribly misleading, emphasizing the positive aspects of migration while ignoring the negative, but they nonetheless convinced many that their fortunes lay on the western frontier.
4. The U.S. government did everything it could to encourage the migration trend, seeing it as the best method for ensuring thatAmerica, rather than the Mexico,England, or the NativeAmericans, gained control of the western territories, Politicians passed a series of measures that made land available to farmers--or homesteaders--at drastically reduced rates or, in many cases, for free. For example, soldiers who served in the War of 1812 againstBritain were promised tracts of western farmland, and six million acres were distributed under this arrangement.Congress’s PreemptionAct of 1841 gave squatters, people who had begun living on a piece of land without ownership of it, the opportunity to purchase up to 160 acres for just $1.25 per acre. This concept was expanded under the 1862 HomesteadAct, which allowed any citizen to claim a 160-acre plot for nothing more than the trivial $10 fee charged to file an application. Then, if that person established a farm on the land and improved it for five years, he or she would be granted ownership of it.
5. While these government policies spurred migration, the advent of new transportation technologies ultimately enabled the large-scale settlement of western regions. In the early 1800s communities had to remain close to major rivers, for these provided the only sure means of transporting goods back to the eastern markets. Overland transportation by horse-drawn wagon was simply too slow and costly.Construction of canals was the first attempt to address this problem. TheErieCanal, running 363 miles from LakeErie to the Hudson River atAlbany, resulted in a significant drop in the cost of shipping merchandise fromB
IntheNorthAmericancolonies,redware,asimp
In the NorthAmerican colonies, red ware, a simple pottery fired at low temperatures, and stone　　　 ware, a strong, impervious grey pottery fired at high temperatures, were produced from two　　　 different native clays. These kind of pottery were produced to supplement importedEuropean　　　 pottery. When theAmerican Revolution (1775-1783) interrupted the flow of the superiorEuropean(5) 　 ware, there was incentive forAmerican potters to replace the imports with comparable domestic　　　 goods. Stoneware, which had been simple, utilitarian kitchenware, grew increasingly ornate　　　 throughout the nineteenth century, and in addition to the earlier scratched and drawn designs,　　　 three-dimensional molded relief decoration became popular. Representational motifs largely　　　 replaced the earlier abstract decorations.Birds and flowers were particularly evident, but other(10)　 subjects---lions, flags, and clipper ships---are founD、Some figurines, mainly of dogs and lions,　　　 were made in this medium. Sometimes a name, usually that of the potter, was die-stamped onto a　　　 piece.　　　 As more and more large kilns were built to create the high-fired stoneware, experiments revealed　　　 that the same clay used to produce low-fired red ware could produce a stronger, paler pottery if(15)　 fired at a hotter temperature. The result was yellow ware, used largely for serviceable items; but a　　　 further development was Rockingham ware---one of the most importantAmerican ceramics of the　　　 nineteenth century. (The name of the ware was probably derived from its resemblance toEnglish　　　 brown-glazed earthenware made in South Yorkshire.) It was created by adding a brown glaze to　　　 the fired clay, usually giving the finished product a mottled appearance. Various methods of(20)　 spattering or sponging the glaze onto the ware account for the extremely wide variations in color　　　 and add to the interest of collecting Rockingham.An advanced form of Rockingham was flint　　　 enamel, created by dusting metallic powders onto the Rockingham glaze to produce brilliant　　　 varicolored streaks.　　　 Articles for nearly every household activity and ornament could be bought in Rockingham ware:(25)　dishes and bowls, of course; also bedpans, foot warmers, cuspidors, lamp bases, doorknobs,　　　 molds, picture frames, even curtain tiebacks.All these items are highly collectible today and are　　　 eagerly sought.
A、few Rockingham specialties command particular affection among collectors and　　　 correspondingly high prices.The word "ornate" in line 7 is closest in meaning to
A、elaborate

B、puzzling
C．durable
D．common
Visiblyonlythroughlargetelescopes,Plutoh
Visibly only through large telescopes, Pluto has a yellowish color, which indicates that there is very little atmosphere.
{{B}}Narrator{{/B}}Listentoapartofadiscu

{{B}}Narrator{{/B}}
Listen to a part of a discussion in a business class. The professor is discussing what was taught in the last class.

According to the female students, when are air fares the lowestA．When they include weekend travel.
B．When they are booked well in advance.
C．When they are non-refundable.
D．When they are for business travel only.
{{B}}Narrator{{/B}}ColumbiaUniversityhas
{{B}}Narrator{{/B}}Columbia University has specific regulations for the respect of religious beliefs. Read selection from the "University and School Regulations". You will have 45 seconds to read it.Begin reading now.
{{B}}Narrator{{/B}} Now listen to two students as they discuss the regulation.
Reading2"PaleolithicArt"→Theseveralmille
Reading 2 "PaleolithicArt"
→ The several millennia following 30,000B、
C、saw a powerful outburst of artistic creativity. The artworks produced range from simple shell necklaces to human and animal forms in ivory, clay, and stone to monumental paintings, engravings, and relief sculptures covering the huge wall surfaces of caves. From the moment in 1879 that cave paintings were discovered atAltamira, scholars have wondered why the hunter-artists of the Old StoneAge decided to cover the walls of dark caverns with animal images. Various answers have been given, including that they were mere decoration, but this theory cannot explain the narrow range of subjects or the inaccessibility of many of the paintings. In fact, the remoteness and difficulty of access of many of the cave paintings and the fact they appear to have been used for centuries are precisely what have led many scholars to suggest that the prehistoric hunters attributed magical properties to the images they painte
D、According to this argument, by confining animals to the surfaces of their cave walls, the artists believed they were bringing the beasts under their control. Some have even hypothesized that rituals or dances were performed in front of the images and that these rites served to improve the hunters’ luck. Still others have stated that the painted animals may have served as teaching tools to instruct new hunters about the character of the various species they would encounter or even to serve as targets for spears!
By contrast, some scholars have argued that the magical purpose of the paintings was not to facilitate the destruction of bison and other species. Instead, they believe prehistoric painters created animal images to assure the survival of the herds. Paleolithic peoples depended on for their food supply and for their clothing.
A、central problem for both the hunting-magic and foodcreation theories is that the animals that seem to have been diet staples of Old StoneAge peoples are not those most frequently portraye
D、

Other scholars have sought to reconstruct an elaborate mythology based on the cave paintings, suggesting that Paleolithic humans believed they had animal ancestors. Still others have equated certain species with men and others with women and also found sexual symbolism in the abstract signs that sometimes accompany the images.
Almost all of these theories have been discredited over time, and art historians must admit that no one knows the intent of these paintings.
In fact, a single explanation for all Paleolithic murals, even paintings similar in subject, style, and composition (how the motifs are arranged on the surface), is unlikely to apply universally. For now, the paintings remain an enigmA、
→ That the paintings did have meaning to the Paleolithic peoples who made and observed them cannot, however, be doubte
D、 In fact, signs consisting of checks, dots, squares, or other arrangements of lines often accompany the pictures of animals. Several observers have seen a primitive writing form in these representations of nonliving things, but the signs, too, may have had some other significance. Some look like traps and arrows and, according to the hunting-magic theory, may have been drawn to insure success in capturing or killing animals with these devices.At Pech-Merle in France, the "spotted horses" painted on the cave wall may not have spots. Some scholars have argued that the "spots," which appear both within and without the horses’ outlines, are painted rocks thrown at the animals.
→ Representations of human hands also are common. Those around the Pech-Merle horses, and the majorit
{$mediaurl}Accordingtotheprofessor,whyis

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According to the professor, why is there no perfect frame of referenceA．Scientists have been unable to find one.
B．Nothing can move faster than light.
C．Everything is in motion.
D．There are an endless number of possible ones.
Reading1"ResourcesandIndustrialisminCana
Reading 1 "Resources and Industrialism inCanada"
→ While the much-anticipated expansion of the western frontier was unfolding in accordance with the design of the National Policy, a new northern frontier was opening up to enhance the prospects ofCanadian industrial development.
Long the preserve of the fur trade, theCanadian Shield and the westernCordilleras became a treasury of minerals, timber and hydroelectric power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.As early as 1883,CPR [Canadian Pacific Railway] construction crews blasting through the rugged terrain of northern Ontario discovered copper and nickel deposits in the vicinity of Sudbury.
As refining processes, uses, and markets for the metal developed, Sudbury became the world’s largest nickel producer. The building of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway led to the discovery of rich silver deposits aroundCobalt north of Lake Nipissing in 1903 and touched off a mining boom that spread northward to Kirkland Lake and the Porcupine district.
Although the economic importance of these mining operations was enduring, they did not capture the public imagination to the same extent as the Klondike gold rush of the late 1890s.

→ Fortune-seekers from all parts of the world flocked to the Klondike and Yukon River valleys to pan for gold starting in 1896.At the height of the gold rush in 1898, the previously unsettled subarctic frontier had a population of about 30,000, more than half of which was concentrated in the newly established town ofDawson. In the same year, the federal government created the Yukon Territory, administered by an appointed commissioner, in an effort to ward off the prospect of annexation toAlaskA、Even if the economic significance of the Klondike strike was somewhat exaggerated and short-lived, the tales of sudden riches, heroic and tragic exploits, and the rowdiness and lawlessness of the mining frontier were immortalized through popular fiction and folklore, notably the poetic verses of Robert W. Service.
→ Perhaps less romantic than the mining booms, the exploitation of forest and water resources was just as vital to national development. TheDouglas fir, spruce, and cedar stands ofBritishColumbia along with the white pine forests of Ontario satisfied construction demands on the treeless prairies as well as in the growing cities and towns of centralCanada and the United States.BritishColumbia’s forests also supplied lumber toAsiA、In addition, the softwood forest wealth of theCordilleras and the Shield was a valuable source of pulpwood for the development of the pulp and paper industry, which madeCanada one of the world’s leading exporters of newsprint. Furthermore, the fast flowing rivers of the Shield andCordilleras could readily be harnessed as sources of hydroelectric power, replacing coal in the booming factories of centralCanada as well as in the evolving mining and pulp and paper industries. The age of electricity under public ownership and control was ushered in by the creation of the Ontario Hydro-Electric PowerCommission (now Ontario Hydro) in 1906 to distribute and eventually to produce this vital source of energy.
→ Western settlement and the opening of the northern resource frontier stimulated industrial expansion, particularly in centralCanadA、As the National Policy had intended, a growing agricultural population in the West increased the demand for eastern manufactured goods, thereby giving rise to agricultural implements works, iron and steel foundries, machine shops, railway yards, textile mills, boot and shoe factories, and numerous smaller manufacturing enterprises t
TheancientEgyptianwaterclockrequiredsoph
The ancientEgyptian water clock required sophisticated calibration, since water dripped faster from its bowl when ______ and the pressure was greater.
A、the full bowl
B．was the bowl full
C．bowl full
D．the bowl was full