托福阅读：Powering the Industrial Revolution

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 23:21:39

托福阅读：Powering the Industrial Revolution
Powering the Industrial Revolution 　　In Britain one of the mostdramatic changes of the Industrial Revolution was the harnessing of power.Until the reign of George Ⅲ(1760-1820)，available sources of power forwork and travel had not increased since the Middle Ages.There were threesources of power：animal or human muscles;the wind,operatingon sail or windmill; and running water .Only the lastof these was suited at all to the continuous operating of machines, andalthough waterpower abounded in Lancashire and Scotland and ran grain mills aswell as textile mills, it had one great disadvantage：streams flowed where natureintended them to and water-driven factories had to be located on their bankswhether or not the location was desirable for other reasons.Furthermore even the most reliable waterpower varied with the seasons and disappeared in a drought.The new age of machinery, in short, could not have been born without a new source of bothmovable and constant power.www.examｗ.com
　　The source had long been known butnot exploited.Early in the century, a pump hadcome into use in which expanding steam raised a piston in a cylinder, and atmospheric pressure brought it down again when thesteam condensed inside the cylinder to form a vacuum.This “atmospheric engine,” invented by Thomas Savery andvastly improved by his partner Thomas Newcomen,embodied revolutionary principles, but it was so slow and wasteful of fuel thatit could not be employed outside the coal mines for which it had been designed.In the 1760s, James Watt perfected a separatecondenser for the steam, so that the cylinderdid not have to be cooled at every stroke;then hedevised a way to make the piston turn a wheel and thus convert reciprocating (backand forth) motion into rotary motion.He thereby transformed an inefficientpump of limited use into a steam engine of a thousand uses.The final step camewhen steam was introduced into the cylinder to drive the piston backward as wellas forward thereby increasing the speed of the engine and cutting its fuelconsumption.
　　Watt's steam engine soon showedwhat it could do.It liberated industry from dependence on running water.The engine eliminated water in the mines by drivingefficient pumps, which made possible deeper and deeper mining.The readyavailability of coal inspired William Murdoch during the 1790s to develop thefirst new form of nighttime illumination to be discovered in a millennium and ahalf.Coal gas rivaled smoky oil lamps and flickering candles, and early in the new century, well-to-do Londoners grewaccustomed to gaslit houses and even streets.Iron manufacturers which hadstarved for fuel while depending on charcoal also benefited fromever-increasing supplies of coal; blast furnaces with steam- powered bellowsturned out more iron and steel for the new machinery.Steambecame the motive force of the Industrial Revolution as coal and iron ore werethe raw materials.
　　By 1800 more than a thousand steamengines were in use in the British Isles, and Britain retained a virtualmonopoly on steam engine production until the 1830s.Steam power did not merely spincotton and roll iron; early in the new century it also multiplied ten timesover the amount of paper that a single worker could produce in a day.At thesame time, operators of the first printing presses run by steam rather than byhand found it possible to produce a thousand pages in an hour rather thanthirty.Steam also promised to eliminate atransportation problem not fully solved by either canal boats of turnpikes.Boats could carry heavy weights, but canals could notcross hilly terrain; turnpikes could cross the hills, but the roadbeds couldnot stand up under great weights.These problems needed still another solution,and the ingredients for it lay close at hand.In some industrial regions,heavily laden wagons，with flanged wheels，were being hauled by horses alongmetal rails; and the stationary steam engine was puffing in the factory andmine.Another generation passed beforeInventors succeeded in combining these ingredients by putting the engine onwheels and the wheels on the rails, so as to provide a machine to take theplace of the horse.Thus the railroad age sprang from what had already happenedin the eighteenth century.来自www.Examw.com
　　Paragraph 1：In Britain one of the most dramatic changes of theIndustrial Revolution was the harnessingof power.Until the reign of George Ⅲ(1760-1820)，available sources of power forwork and travel had not increased since the Middle Ages.There were threesources of power：animal or human muscles;the wind, operating on sail orwindmill; and running water.Only the lastof these was suited at all to the continuous operating of machines, andalthough waterpower abounded in Lancashire and Scotland and ran grain mills aswell as textile mills, it had one great disadvantage:streams flowedwhere nature intended them to and water-driven factories had to be located ontheir banks whether or not the location was desirable for other reasons.Furthermore, even the mostreliable waterpower varied with the seasons and disappearedin a drought, the new age of machinery, in short, could not have been born without a new source of bothmovable and constant power.
　　Paragraph 2: The source had longbeen known but not exploited.Early inthe century, a pump had come into use inwhich expanding steam raised a piston in a cylinder,andatmospheric pressure brought it down again when the steam condensed inside thecylinder to form a vacuum.This “atmosphericengine,” invented by Thomas Savery and vastly improved by hispartner.Thomas Newcomen, embodiedrevolutionary principles, but it was so slow and wasteful of fuel that it couldnot be employed outside the coal mines for which it had been designed.In the1760s, James Watt perfected a separate condenser for the steam, so that the cylinder did not have to be cooled at everystroke; then he devised a way to make thepiston turn a wheel and thus convert reciprocating (back and forth) motion intorotary motion.He thereby transformed an inefficient pump of limited use into asteam engine of a thousand uses.The final step came when steam was introduced intothe cylinder to drive the piston backward as well as forward thereby increasingthe speed of the engine and cutting its fuel consumption.

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 23:21:40

　1.Which of the sentences belowbest expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in thepassage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave outessential information.</p>　　○ Running water was the best power source for factoriessince it could keep machines operating continuously but since it was abundantonly in Lancashire and Scotland, most mills andfactories that were located elsewhere could not be water driven.
　　○ The disadvantage ofusing waterpower is that streams do not necessarily flow in places that are the most suitable forfactories which explains why so many water—powered grain and textile mills werelocated in undesirable places
　　○ Since machines couldbe operated continuously only where running water was abundant, grain andtextile mills as well as other factories tended to be located only inLancashire and Scotland.
　　○ Running water was theonly source of power that was suitable for the continuous operation of machines, but to make use of it factories had to be located wherethe water was, regardless of whether such locations made sense otherwise.
　　2.Which of the following bestdescribes the relation of paragraph 2 to paragraph 1?
　　○Paragraph 2 shows howthe problem discussed in paragraph 1 arose.
　　○Paragraph 2 explainshow the problem presented in paragraph 1 came to be solved.
　　○Paragraph 2 provides amore technical discussion of the problem introduced in paragraph 1.
　　○Paragraph 2 shows whythe problem discussed in paragraph 1 was especially important to solve.
　　3.The word exploitedin the passage is closest in meaning to
　　○utilized
　　○recognized
　　○examinedwｗw.ExamＷ.CoM
　　○fully understood
　　4.The word vastlyin the passage is closet in meaning to
　　○quickly
　　○ultimately
　　○greatly
　　○initially
　　5.According to paragraph 2，the atmospheric enginewas slow because
　　○it had been designed to be used incoal mines
　　○the cylinder had to cool betweeneach stroke
　　○it made use of expanding steam toraise the piston in its cylinder

　　○it could be operated only when alarge supply of fuel was available

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 23:21:41

Paragraph 2: The source had longbeen known but not exploited.Early in the century, apump had come into use in which expanding steam raised a piston in a cylinder，and atmospheric pressure broughtit down again when the steam condensed inside the cylinder to form a vacuum.This “atmospheric engine,” invented by Thomas Savery andvastly improved by his partner.Thomas Newcomen,embodied revolutionary principles, but it was so slow and wasteful of fuel thatit could not be employed outside the coal mines for which it had been designed.In the 1760s, James Watt perfected a separatecondenser for the steam, so that the cylinderdid not have to be cooled at every stroke;then hedevised a way to make the piston turn a wheel and thus convert reciprocating (backand forth) motion into rotary motion.He thereby transformed an inefficientpump of limited use into a steam engine of a thousand uses.The final step camewhen steam was introduced into the cylinder to drive the piston backward as wellas forward thereby increasing the speed of the engine and cutting its fuelconsumption.</p>　　6.According to paragraph 2, Watt'ssteam engine differed from earlier steam engines, in each of the followingways, except:
　　○ It used steam to move a pistonin a cylinder.
　　○ It worked with greater speed.
　　○ It was more efficient in its use of fuel.
　　○ It could be used in many different ways.wｗw.ExamＷ.CoM
　　Paragraph 3: Watt's steam enginesoon showed what it could do.It liberated industry from dependence on runningwater.The engine eliminated water in themines by driving efficient pumps, which made possible deeper and deeper mining.The ready availability of coal inspired William Murdoch during the 1790s todevelop the first new form of nighttime illumination to be discovered in amillennium and a half.Coal gas rivaled smoky oil lamps and flickering candles, and early in the new century, well-to-do Londoners grewaccustomed to gaslit houses and even streets.Iron manufacturers whichhad starved for fuel while depending on charcoal also benefited fromever-increasing supplies of coal; blast furnaces with steam-powered bellowsturned out more iron and steel for the new machinery.Steambecame the motive force of the Industrial Revolution as coal and iron ore werethe raw materials.
　　7.In paragraph 3 the authormentions William Murdoch’s invention of a new form of nighttime illumination in order to
　　○indicate one of the importantdevelopments made possible by the introduction of Watt's steam engine
　　○make the point that Watt's steamengine was not the only invention of importance to the Industrial Revolution
　　○illustrate how important coal wasas a raw material for the Industrial Revolution
　　○provide an example of anothereighteenth-century invention that used steam as a power source
　　8.The phrase grewaccustomed to in the passage is closest in meaning to
　　○began to prefer
　　○ wanted to have
　　○ became used to

　　○ insisted on

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 23:21:42

Paragraph 4: By 1800 more than athousand steam engines were in use in the British Isles, and Britain retaineda virtual monopoly on steam engine production until the 1830s.Steam power did not merely spin cotton and roll iron;early in the new century it also multiplied ten times over the amount of paperthat a single worker could produce in a day.At the same time, operators of thefirst printing presses run by steam rather than by hand found it possible toproduce a thousand pages in an hour rather than thirty.Steam alsopromised to eliminate a transportation problem not fully solved by either canalboats of turnpikes.Boats could carry heavyweights, but canals could not cross hillyterrain; turnpikes could cross the hills, but the roadbeds could not stand upunder great weights.These problems needed still another solution, and theingredients for it lay close at hand.In some industrial regions, heavily ladenwagons, with flanged wheels, were being hauled by horses along metal rails; and the stationarysteam engine was puffing in the factory and mine.Another generationpassed; before Inventors succeeded in combining these ingredients by puttingthe engine on wheels and the wheels on the rails, so as to provide a machine totake the place of the horse.Thus the railroad age sprang from what had alreadyhappened in the eighteenth century.</p>　　9.The word retainedin the passage is closest in meaning to
　　○gained
　　○established
　　○profited from
　　○maintained
　　10.According to paragraph 4, which of the following statements about steam engines istrue?
　　○They were used for the productionof paper but not for printing
　　○By 1800,significantnumbers of them were produced outside of Britain
　　○They were used in factories beforethey were used to power trains中华考试网
　　○They were used in the constructionof canals and turnpikes
　　11.According to paragraph 4, providing a machine to take the place of the horse involved combining which two previouslyseparate ingredients?
　　○Turnpikes and canals
　　○Stationary steam engines andwagons with flanged wheels
　　○Metal rails in roadbeds and wagonscapable of carrying heavy loads
　　○Canal boats and heavily ladenwagons
　　Paragraph 3: █Watt'ssteam engine soon showed what it could do.█It liberated industryfrom dependence on running water.█Theengine eliminated water in the mines by driving efficient pumps, which made possibledeeper and deeper mining.█Theready availability of coal inspired William Murdoch during the 1790s to developthe first new form of nighttime illumination to be discovered in a millenniumand a half.
　　12.Look at the four squares [█] that indicate where the followingsentence could be added to the passage.
　　The factories did not have to goto the streams when power could come to the factories.
　　Where would thesentence best fit?
　　13.The Industrial Revolution wouldnot have been possible without a new source of power that was efficient, movable，and continuously available.
　　●
　　●

　　●

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 23:21:43

Answer Choices</p>　　1.In the early eighteenthcentury, Savery and Newcomen discovered that expanding steam could be used toraise a piston in a cylinder.
　　2.Watt’s steam engine played a leading role in greatly increasingindustrial production of all kinds.
　　3.Until the 1830s，Britain was the world’smajor producer of steam engines.中华考试网(www．Examw。com)
　　4.In the mid-1700s James Watt transformed an inefficientsteam pump into a fast，flexible，fuel-efficient engine.
　　5.In the 1 790s William Murdoch developed a newway of lighting houses and streets using coal gas.
　　6.The availability of steam engines was a major factor in the developmentof railroads，which solved a majortransportation problem .
　　参考答案：
　　1.○ 4
　　2.○2
　　3.○1
　　4.○ 3
　　5.○ 2
　　6.○ 1
　　7.○ 1.
　　8.○3
　　9.○ 4www.Examw.com
　　10.○3
　　11.○ 2
　　12.○3
　　13.○2
　　4 6

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[托福阅读] 托福阅读：Powering the Industrial Revolution