2012年托福考试阅读强化练习四

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 22:41:43

Early Cinema
The cinema did not emerge as a form of mass consumption until its technology evolved from the initial "peepshow" format to the point where images were projected on a screen in a darkened theater. In the peepshow format, a film was viewed through a small opening in a machine that was created for that purpose. Thomas Edison’s peepshow device, the Kinetoscope, was introduced to the public in 1894. It was designed for use in Kinetoscope parlors, or arcades, which contained only a few individual machines and permitted only one customer to view a short, 50-foot film at any one time. The first Kinetoscope parlors contained five machines. For the price of 25 cents (or 5 cents per machine), customers moved from machine to machine to watch five different films (or, in the case of famous prizefights, successive rounds of a single fight).

These Kinetoscope arcades were modeled on phonograph parlors, which had proven successful for Edison several years earlier. In the phonograph parlors, customers listened to recordings through individual ear tubes, moving from one machine to the next to hear different recorded speeches or pieces of music. The Kinetoscope parlors functioned in a similar way. Edison was more interested in the sale of Kinetoscopes (for roughly $1,000 apiece) to these parlors than in the films that would be run in them (which cost approximately $10 to $15 each). He refused to develop projection technology, reasoning that if he made and sold projectors, then exhibitors would purchase only one machine-a projector-from him instead of several.

Exhibitors, however, wanted to maximize their profits, which they could do more readily by projecting a handful of films to hundreds of customers at a time (rather than one at a time) and by charging 25 to 50 cents admission. About a year after the opening of the first Kinetoscope parlor in 1894, showmen such as Louis and Auguste Lumiere, Thomas Armat and Charles Francis Jenkins, and Orville and Woodville Latham (with the assistance of Edison’s former assistant, William Dickson) perfected projection devices. These early projection devices were used in vaudeville theaters, legitimate theaters, local town halls, makeshift storefront theaters, fairgrounds, and amusement parks to show films to a mass audience.

With the advent of projection in 1895-1896, motion pictures became the ultimate form of mass consumption. Previously, large audiences had viewed spectacles at the theater, where vaudeville, popular dramas, musical and minstrel shows, classical plays, lectures, and slide-and-lantern shows had been presented to several hundred spectators at a time. But the movies differed significantly from these other forms of entertainment, which depended on either live performance or (in the case of the slide-and-lantern shows) the active involvement of a master of ceremonies who assembled the final program.

Although early exhibitors regularly accompanied movies with live acts, the substance of the movies themselves is mass-produced, prerecorded material that can easily be reproduced by theaters with little or no active participation by the exhibitor. Even though early exhibitors shaped their film programs by mixing films and other entertainments together in whichever way they thought would be most attractive to audiences or by accompanying them with lectures, their creative control remained limited. What audiences came to see was the technological marvel of the movies; the lifelike reproduction of the commonplace motion of trains, of waves striking the shore, and of people walking in the street; and the magic made possible by trick photography and the manipulation of the camera.

With the advent of projection, the viewer’s relationship with the image was no longer private, as it had been with earlier peepshow devices such as the Kinetoscope and the Mutoscope, which was a similar machine that reproduced motion by means of successive images on individual photographic cards instead of on strips of celluloid. It suddenly became public-an experience that the viewer shared with dozens, scores, and even hundreds of others. At the same time, the image that the spectator looked at expanded from the minuscule peepshow dimensions of 1 or 2 inches (in height) to the life-size proportions of 6 or 9 feet.

Paragraph 1: The cinema did not emerge as a form of mass consumption until its technology evolved from the initial "peepshow" format to the point where images were projected on a screen in a darkened theater. In the peepshow format, a film was viewed through a small opening in a machine that was created for that purpose. Thomas Edison’s peepshow device, the Kinetoscope, was introduced to the public in 1894. It was designed for use in Kinetoscope parlors, or arcades, which contained only a few individual machines and permitted only one customer to view a short, 50-foot film at any one time. The first Kinetoscope parlors contained five machines. For the price of 25 cents (or 5 cents per machine), customers moved from machine to machine to watch five different films (or, in the case of famous prizefights, successive rounds of a single fight).

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 22:41:44

1. According to paragraph 1, all of the following were true of viewing films in Kinetoscope parlors EXCEPT:
○One individual at a time viewed a film.
○Customers could view one film after another.
○Prizefights were the most popular subjects for films.
○Each film was short.

Paragraph 2: These Kinetoscope arcades were modeled on phonograph parlors, which had proven successful for Edison several years earlier. In the phonograph parlors, customers listened to recordings through individual ear tubes, moving from one machine to the next to hear different recorded speeches or pieces of music. The Kinetoscope parlors functioned in a similar way. Edison was more interested in the sale of Kinetoscopes (for roughly $1,000 apiece) to these parlors than in the films that would be run in them (which cost approximately $10 to $15 each). He refused to develop projection technology, reasoning that if he made and sold projectors, then exhibitors would purchase only one machine-a projector-from him instead of several.

2. The author discusses phonograph parlors in paragraph 2 in order to
○Explain Edison’s financial success
○Describe the model used to design Kinetoscope parlors
○Contrast their popularity to that of Kinetoscope parlors
○Illustrate how much more technologically advanced Kinetoscope parlors were

3. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence from the passage?
Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
○Edison was more interested in developing a variety of machines than in developing a technology based on only one.
○Edison refused to work on projection technology because he did not think exhibitors would replace their projectors with newer machines.
○Edison did not want to develop projection technology because it limited the number of machines he could sell.
○Edison would not develop projection technology unless exhibitors agreed to purchase more than one projector from him.

Paragraph 3: Exhibitors, however, wanted to maximize their profits, which they could do more readily by projecting a handful of films to hundreds of customers at a time (rather than one at a time) and by charging 25 to 50 cents admission. About a year after the opening of the first Kinetoscope parlor in 1894, showmen such as Louis and Auguste Lumiere, Thomas Armat and Charles Francis Jenkins, and Orville and Woodville Latham (with the assistance of Edison’s former assistant, William Dickson) perfected projection devices. These early projection devices were used in vaudeville theaters, legitimate theaters, local town halls, makeshift storefront theaters, fairgrounds, and amusement parks to show films to a mass audience.

4. The word readily in the passage is closest in meaning to
○Frequently
○Easily
○Intelligently
○Obviously

5. The word assistance in the passage is closest in meaning to
○Criticism
○Leadership
○Help
○Approval

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 22:41:45

Paragraph 4: With the advent of projection in 1895-1896, motion pictures became the ultimate form of mass consumption. Previously, large audiences had viewed spectacles at the theater, where vaudeville, popular dramas, musical and minstrel shows, classical plays, lectures, and slide-and-lantern shows had been presented to several hundred spectators at a time. But the movies differed significantly from these other forms of entertainment, which depended on either live performance or (in the case of the slide-and-lantern shows) the active involvement of a master of ceremonies who assembled the final program.

6. According to paragraph 4, how did the early movies differ from previous spectacles that were presented to large audiences?
○They were a more expensive form of entertainment.
○They were viewed by larger audiences.
○They were more educational.
○They did not require live entertainers.

Paragraph 5: Although early exhibitors regularly accompanied movies with live acts, the substance of the movies themselves is mass-produced, prerecorded material that can easily be reproduced by theaters with little or no active participation by the exhibitor. Even though early exhibitors shaped their film programs by mixing films and other entertainments together in whichever way they thought would be most attractive to audiences or by accompanying them with lectures* their creative control remained limited. What audiences came to see was the technological marvel of the movies; the lifelike reproduction of the commonplace motion of trains, of waves striking the shore, and of people walking in the street; and the magic made possible by trick photography and the manipulation of the camera.

7. According to paragraph 5, what role did early exhibitors play in the presentation of movies in theaters?
○They decided how to combine various components of the film program.
○They advised film-makers on appropriate movie content.
○They often took part in the live-action performances.
○They produced and prerecorded the material that was shown in the theaters.

Paragraph 6: With the advent of projection, the viewer’s relationship with the image was no longer private, as it had been with earlier peepshow devices such as the Kinetoscope and the Mutoscope, which was a similar machine that reproduced motion by means of successive images on individual photographic cards instead of on strips of celluloid. It suddenly became public-an experience that the viewer shared with dozens, scores, and even hundreds of others. At the same time, the image that the spectator looked at expanded from the minuscule peepshow dimensions of 1 or 2 inches (in height) to the life-size proportions of 6 or 9 feet.

8. Which of the following is mentioned in paragraph 6 as one of the ways the Mutoscope differed from the Kinetoscope?
○Sound and motion were simultaneously produced in the Mutoscope.
○More than one person could view the images at the same time with the Mutoscope.
○The Mutoscope was a less sophisticated earlier prototype of the Kinetoscope.
○A different type of material was used to produce the images used in the Mutocope.

9. The word it in the passage refers to
○The advent of projection
○The viewer’s relationship with the image
○A similar machine
○Celluloid

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 22:41:46

10. According to paragraph 6, the images seen by viewers in the earlier peepshows, compared to the images projected on the screen, were relatively
○Small in size
○Inexpensive to create
○Unfocused
○Limited in subject matter

11. The word expanded in the passage is closest in meaning to
○Was enlarged
○Was improved
○Was varied
○Was rejected

Paragraph 3: ■Exhibitors, however, wanted to maximize their profits, which they could do more readily by projecting a handful of films to hundreds of customers at a time (rather than one at a time) and by charging 25 to 50 cents admission. ■About a year after the opening of the first Kinetoscope parlor in 1894, showmen such as Louis and Auguste Lumiere, Thomas Armat and Charles Francis Jenkins, and Orville and Woodville Latham (with the assistance of Edison’s former assistant, William Dickson) perfected projection devices. ■These early projection devices were used in vaudeville theaters, legitimate theaters, local town halls, makeshift storefront theaters, fairgrounds, and amusement parks to show films to a mass audience.■

12. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage.
When this widespread use of projection technology began to hurt his Kinetoscope business, Edison acquired a projector developed by Armat and introduced it as “Edison’s latest marvel, the Vitascope."
Where would the sentence best fit?

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 answer choices 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 technology for modern cinema evolved at the end of the nineteenth century.
●
●
●
Answer Choices
○Kinetoscope parlors for viewing films were modeled on phonograph parlors.
○Thomas Edison’s design of the Kinetoscope inspired the development of large screen projection.
○Early cinema allowed individuals to use special machines to view films privately.
○Slide-and-lantern shows had been presented to audiences of hundreds of spectators.
○The development of projection technology made it possible to project images on a large screen.
○Once film images could be projected, the cinema became form of mass consumption.

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 22:41:47

参考答案：

1. ○3
This is a Negative Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found in paragraph l. Choice 3 is the correct answer. The paragraph does mention that one viewer at a time could view the films (choice 1), that films could be viewed one after another (choice 2), and that films were short (choice 4). Prizefights are mentioned as one subject of these short films, but not necessarily the most popular one.

2. ○2
This is a Rhetorical Purpose question. It asks why the author mentions "phonograph parlors" in paragraph 2. The correct answer is choice 2. The author is explaining why Edison designed his arcades like phonograph parlors; that design had been successful for him in the past. The paragraph does not mention the phonograph parlors to explain Edison’s financial success, so choice 1 is incorrect. The paragraph does not directly discuss the situations described in choices 3 and 4, so those answers too are incorrect.

3. ○3
This is a Sentence Simplification question. As with all of these items, a single sentence in the passage is highlighted:

He refused to develop projection technology, reasoning that if he made and sold projectors, then exhibitors would purchase only one machine-a projector-from him, instead of several.

The correct answer is choice 3. That choice contains all of the essential ideas in the highlighted sentence. It is also the only choice that does not change the meaning of the sentence. Choice 1 says that Edison was more interested in developing a variety of machines, which is not true. Choice 2 says that the reason Edison refused to work on projection technology was that exhibitors would never replace the projectors. That also is not true; the highlighted sentence implies that he refused to do this because he wanted exhibitors to buy several Kinetoscope machines at a time instead of a single projector. Choice 4 says that Edison refused to develop projection technology unless exhibitors agreed to purchase more that one projector from him. The highlighted sentence actually says that Edison had already reasoned or concluded that exhibitors would not buy more than one, so choice 4 is a change in essential meaning.

4. ○2
This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is readily. It is highlighted in the passage. Readily means "easily," so choice 2 is the correct answer. The other choices do not fit in the context of the sentence.

5. ○3
This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is assistance; it is highlighted in the passage. An assistant is a person who helps a leader, so choice 3, "help," is the correct answer.

6. ○4
This is a Factual Informal-ion question asking for specific information that can be found in paragraph 4. The correct answer is choice 4. Early movies were different from previous spectacles because they did not require live actors. The paragraph states (emphasis added):
"But the movies differed significantly from these other forms of entertainment, which depended on either live performance or (in the case of the slide-and-lantern shows) the active involvement of a master of ceremonies who assembled the final program."
So the fact that previous spectacles depended on live performances is explicitly stated as one of the ways (but not the only way) that those earlier entertainments differed from movies. The other answer choices are not mentioned in the paragraph.

7. ○1
This is a Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found in paragraph 5. The correct answer is choice 1, "They decided how to combine various components of the film program," because that idea is stated explicitly in the paragraph:
"Early exhibitors shaped their film programs by mixing films and other entertainments together."
The other choices, while possibly true, are not explicitly mentioned in the paragraph as being among the exhibitors’ roles.

8. ○4
This is a Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found in paragraph 6. The correct answer is choice 4, "A different type of material was used to produce the images used in the Mutoscope." The paragraph says that these machines were very similar but that they differed in one particular way:
". . . the Mutoscope, which was a similar machine that reproduced motion by means of successive images on individual photographic cards instead of on strips of celluloid."

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 22:41:48

9. ○2
This is a Reference question. The word being tested is it. That word is highlighted in the passage. Choice 2, "the viewer’s relationship with the image," is the correct answer. This is a simple-pronoun referent item. The sentence says that "it" suddenly became "public," which implies that whatever "it" is, it was formerly private. The paragraph says that the "viewer’s relationship to the image was no longer private," so that relationship is the "it" referred to here.

10. ○1
This is a Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found in paragraph 6. The correct answer is choice 1. The paragraph says that the images expanded from an inch or two to life-size proportions, so "small in size" must be correct. The paragraph does not mention the other choices.

11. ○1
This is a Vocabulary Question. The word being tested is expanded. It is highlighted in the passage. Choice 1, "was enlarged," is the correct answer. If something expanded, it grew or got bigger. "Enlarged" also means "grew or got bigger."
12. ○4
This is an Insert Text question. You can see the four black squares in paragraph 3 that represent the possible answer choices here.

■ Exhibitors, however, wanted to maximize their profits, which they could do more readily by projecting a handful of films to hundreds of customers at a time (rather than one at a time) and by charging 25 to 50 cents admission. ■About a year after the opening of the first Kinetoscope parlor in 1894, showmen such as Louis and Auguste Lumiere, Thomas Armat and Charles Francis Jenkins, and Orville and Woodville Latham (with the assistance of Edison’s former assistant, William Dickson) perfected projection devices. ■These early projection devices were used in vaudeville theaters, legitimate theaters, local town halls, makeshift storefront theaters, fairgrounds, and amusement parks to show films to a mass audience. ■

The inserted sentence fits best at square 4 because it represents the final result of the general use of projectors. After projectors became popular, Edison lost money, and although he had previously refused to develop projection technology, now be was forced to do so. To place the sentence anyplace else would interrupt the logical narrative sequence of the events described. None of the sentences in this paragraph can logically follow the inserted sentence, so squares 1, 2, and 3 are all incorrect.

13.○3, 5, 6
This is a Prose Summary question. It is completed correctly below. The correct choices are 3, 5, and 6. Choices 1, 2, and 4 are therefore incorrect.

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