TPO托福閱讀真題答案及解析
11．Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incurred choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
○Ecologists now think that the stability of an environment is a result of diversity rather than patchiness.
○Patchy environments that vary from place to place do not often have high species diversity.
○Uniform environments cannot be climax communities because they do not support as many types of organisms as patchy environments.
○A patchy environment is thought to increase stability because it is able to support a wide variety of organisms.
12．The word adjacent in the passage is closest in meaning to
○Foreign
○Stable
○Fluid
○Neighboring
Paragraph 6: Ecologists are especially interested to know what factors contribute to the resilience of communities because climax communities all over the world are being severely damaged or destroyed by human activities. The destruction caused by the volcanic explosion of Mount St. Helens, in the northwestern United States, for example, pales in comparison to the destruction caused by humans. We need to know what aspects of a community are most important to the communitys resistance to destruction, as well as its recovery.
13．Look at the four squares [ ] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
In fact, damage to the environment by humans is often much more severe than damage by natural events and processes.
Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square to add the sentence to the passage.
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 process of succession and the stability of a climax community can change over time.
Answer choices
○The changes that occur in an ecosystem from the pioneer to the climax community can be seen in one human generation.
○A high degree of species diversity does not always result in a stable ecosystem.
○The level of resilience in a plant community contributes to its long-term stability.
○Ecologists agree that climax communities are the most stable types of ecosystems.
○Disagreements over the meaning of the term stability make it difficult to identify the most stable ecosystems.
○The resilience of climax communities makes them resistant to destruction caused by humans.
托福閱讀真題參考答案：
1. ○3 2. ○3 3. ○1 4. ○2 5. ○3 6. ○2 7. ○3 8. ○2 9. ○1 10. ○3 11. ○4 12. ○4 13. ○2 14. ○2 3 5
托福閱讀真題譯文：
生態系統的長期穩定
植物群體可以自由地聚集，他們特殊的結構取決于聚集區域的具體歷史。生態學家使用演替來詮釋植物群落和生態系統隨著時間推移所發生的變化。演替中 的第一個群落被稱作先鋒群落，而處于演替最后那個長期生存的群落被稱為頂極群落。先鋒群落和緊接著的植物群落的變化周期是從1到500年不等，植物數量和 混合種類數量的變化是慢慢積累的。頂極群落本身也改變，但其變化周期超過500年。
現代一個研究池塘的生態學會發現池塘在一年當中相對而言是不變的。個別魚類可能被替換，但一年一年魚的總數都趨于一致。也就是說，生態系統自身的性質比組成生態系統的單個生物體更為穩定。
生態學家們一度認為物種的多樣性使生態系統穩定，生態系統物種越多樣則生態系統越穩定。通過觀察得出的結論支持了這個觀點，長期持久的頂極群落通常要 比先鋒群落具備更為復雜的食物網和更多的物種。生態學家家們得出的結論是：頂點生態系統的穩定性明顯取決于他們的復雜化程度。舉個極端的例子，在單一作物 的農田中，一年的惡劣天氣或單一害蟲的入侵就可以摧毀所有作物。與此相反，在一個復雜的頂極群落里，如溫帶森林，他們便可以抵御來自氣候和害蟲的入侵。
不管怎樣，生態系統穩定性的問題非常復雜。首先，不是所有的生態學家都贊同穩定的含義。穩定性可以簡單地定義為缺乏變化。如果是這樣的話，頂極群 落將被視為最穩定的，因為根據定義，他們隨著時間推移而變化是最少。另外，穩定性也可以界定為生態系統在經歷了嚴重破壞之后回復原貌的速度，比如火災。這 種穩定性也被稱作彈性。在這種情況下，頂極群落將是最脆弱和最不穩定的，因為他們可能需要數百年時間才能恢復到頂點狀態。
即使是這種被定義為簡單地缺乏變化的穩定性并非總是與最多樣的物種聯系起來。至少在溫帶地區，會經常在演替過程中發現最多物種，而不是在頂極群落中。 例如，紅樹林一旦成熟，其中的物種數量以及單個物種的數量都會減少。總的來說，多樣性本身并不能保證穩定性，生態系統的數學模型也可以得出同樣的結論。一 般來說，一個更復雜的系統可能比一個簡單的系統更容易被破壞（一個十五速的賽車比一個孩子的三輪車更容易損壞）。
生態學家們更想弄清楚到底哪些因素有助于促成群落的恢復，因為世界各地的頂極群落都因為人類活動而遭受到嚴重的損壞或毀壞。就像美國西北部圣海倫火山 的猛烈噴發所造成的破壞，在人類活動對環境造成的的破壞面前也相形見絀。我們必須了解對群落抵抗破壞和恢復來說哪些是最重要的。
現在的很多生態學家們認為，頂極群落相對長期的穩定性并非來于自多樣性，而是來自環境的補綴，隨處變化的環境比統一的環境更有利于多種有機體的生 存。當地物種滅亡后，馬上就會被相鄰群落的移民取代。即便是另一種不同的物種，他們也可以填補那些已滅絕生物的空缺，并保持食物網的完整。
以上就是TPO托福閱讀真題答案及解析，TPO都是題庫里的真題。 現有1-24. 建議倒著做，序數越大越接近現在考題的難度，有余力的話，大家可以全部練習一下。
11．Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incurred choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
○Ecologists now think that the stability of an environment is a result of diversity rather than patchiness.
○Patchy environments that vary from place to place do not often have high species diversity.
○Uniform environments cannot be climax communities because they do not support as many types of organisms as patchy environments.
○A patchy environment is thought to increase stability because it is able to support a wide variety of organisms.
12．The word adjacent in the passage is closest in meaning to
○Foreign
○Stable
○Fluid
○Neighboring
Paragraph 6: Ecologists are especially interested to know what factors contribute to the resilience of communities because climax communities all over the world are being severely damaged or destroyed by human activities. The destruction caused by the volcanic explosion of Mount St. Helens, in the northwestern United States, for example, pales in comparison to the destruction caused by humans. We need to know what aspects of a community are most important to the communitys resistance to destruction, as well as its recovery.
13．Look at the four squares [ ] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
In fact, damage to the environment by humans is often much more severe than damage by natural events and processes.
Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square to add the sentence to the passage.
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 process of succession and the stability of a climax community can change over time.
Answer choices
○The changes that occur in an ecosystem from the pioneer to the climax community can be seen in one human generation.
○A high degree of species diversity does not always result in a stable ecosystem.
○The level of resilience in a plant community contributes to its long-term stability.
○Ecologists agree that climax communities are the most stable types of ecosystems.
○Disagreements over the meaning of the term stability make it difficult to identify the most stable ecosystems.
○The resilience of climax communities makes them resistant to destruction caused by humans.
托福閱讀真題參考答案：
1. ○3 2. ○3 3. ○1 4. ○2 5. ○3 6. ○2 7. ○3 8. ○2 9. ○1 10. ○3 11. ○4 12. ○4 13. ○2 14. ○2 3 5
托福閱讀真題譯文：
生態系統的長期穩定
植物群體可以自由地聚集，他們特殊的結構取決于聚集區域的具體歷史。生態學家使用演替來詮釋植物群落和生態系統隨著時間推移所發生的變化。演替中 的第一個群落被稱作先鋒群落，而處于演替最后那個長期生存的群落被稱為頂極群落。先鋒群落和緊接著的植物群落的變化周期是從1到500年不等，植物數量和 混合種類數量的變化是慢慢積累的。頂極群落本身也改變，但其變化周期超過500年。
現代一個研究池塘的生態學會發現池塘在一年當中相對而言是不變的。個別魚類可能被替換，但一年一年魚的總數都趨于一致。也就是說，生態系統自身的性質比組成生態系統的單個生物體更為穩定。
生態學家們一度認為物種的多樣性使生態系統穩定，生態系統物種越多樣則生態系統越穩定。通過觀察得出的結論支持了這個觀點，長期持久的頂極群落通常要 比先鋒群落具備更為復雜的食物網和更多的物種。生態學家家們得出的結論是：頂點生態系統的穩定性明顯取決于他們的復雜化程度。舉個極端的例子，在單一作物 的農田中，一年的惡劣天氣或單一害蟲的入侵就可以摧毀所有作物。與此相反，在一個復雜的頂極群落里，如溫帶森林，他們便可以抵御來自氣候和害蟲的入侵。
不管怎樣，生態系統穩定性的問題非常復雜。首先，不是所有的生態學家都贊同穩定的含義。穩定性可以簡單地定義為缺乏變化。如果是這樣的話，頂極群 落將被視為最穩定的，因為根據定義，他們隨著時間推移而變化是最少。另外，穩定性也可以界定為生態系統在經歷了嚴重破壞之后回復原貌的速度，比如火災。這 種穩定性也被稱作彈性。在這種情況下，頂極群落將是最脆弱和最不穩定的，因為他們可能需要數百年時間才能恢復到頂點狀態。
即使是這種被定義為簡單地缺乏變化的穩定性并非總是與最多樣的物種聯系起來。至少在溫帶地區，會經常在演替過程中發現最多物種，而不是在頂極群落中。 例如，紅樹林一旦成熟，其中的物種數量以及單個物種的數量都會減少。總的來說，多樣性本身并不能保證穩定性，生態系統的數學模型也可以得出同樣的結論。一 般來說，一個更復雜的系統可能比一個簡單的系統更容易被破壞（一個十五速的賽車比一個孩子的三輪車更容易損壞）。
生態學家們更想弄清楚到底哪些因素有助于促成群落的恢復，因為世界各地的頂極群落都因為人類活動而遭受到嚴重的損壞或毀壞。就像美國西北部圣海倫火山 的猛烈噴發所造成的破壞，在人類活動對環境造成的的破壞面前也相形見絀。我們必須了解對群落抵抗破壞和恢復來說哪些是最重要的。
現在的很多生態學家們認為，頂極群落相對長期的穩定性并非來于自多樣性，而是來自環境的補綴，隨處變化的環境比統一的環境更有利于多種有機體的生 存。當地物種滅亡后，馬上就會被相鄰群落的移民取代。即便是另一種不同的物種，他們也可以填補那些已滅絕生物的空缺，并保持食物網的完整。
以上就是TPO托福閱讀真題答案及解析，TPO都是題庫里的真題。 現有1-24. 建議倒著做，序數越大越接近現在考題的難度，有余力的話，大家可以全部練習一下。
