gre阅读练习每日一篇(二十八)

　　掌握了gre阅读里的长难句，到了实战演习的时候了。gre阅读练习每日一篇帮助gre考生循序渐进地进行练习和总结。希望gre考生在进行gre阅读练习时，也按着考试时候的时间规定自己的练习，这样才能有效果。

　　Hydrogeology is a science dealing with the properties, distribution, and circulation of water on the surface of the land, in the soil and underlying rocks, and in the atmosphere. The hydrologic cycle, a major topic in this science, is the complete cycle of phenomena through which water passes, beginning as atmospheric water vapor, passing into liquid and solid form as precipitation, thence along and into the ground surface, and finally again returning to the form of atmospheric water vapor by means of evaporation and transpiration.

　　The term geohydrology is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for hydrogeology. Geohydrology is concerned with underground water. There are many formations that contain water but are not part of the hydrologic cycle because of geologic changes that have isolated them underground. These systems are properly termed geohydrologic but not hydrogeologic. Only when a system possesses natural or artificial boundaries that associate the water within it with the hydrologic cycle may the entire system properly be termed hydrogeologic.

　　17. The authors primary purpose is most probably to

　　 present a hypothesis

　　 refute an argument

　　 correct a misconception

　　 predict an occurrence

　　 describe an enigma

　　18. It can be inferred that which of the following is most likely to be the subject of study by a geohydrologist?

　　 Soft, porous rock being worn away by a waterfall

　　 Water depositing minerals on the banks of a gorge through which the water runs

　　 The trapping of water in a sealed underground rock cavern through the action of an earthquake

　　 Water becoming unfit to drink through the release of pollutants into it from a manufacturing plant

　　 The changing course of a river channel as the action of the water wears away the rocks past which the river flows

　　19. The author refers to many formations primarily in order to

　　 clarify a distinction

　　 introduce a subject

　　 draw an analogy

　　 emphasize a similarity

　　 resolve a conflict

　　The historian Frederick J. Turner wrote in the 1890s that the agrarian discontent that had been developing steadily in the United States since about 1870 had been precipitated by the closing of the internal frontierthat is, the depletion of available new land needed for further expansion of the American farming system. Not only was Turners thesis influential at the time, it was later adopted and elaborated by other scholars, such as John D. Hicks in The Populist Revolt . Actually, however, new lands were taken up for farming in the United States throughout and beyond the nineteenth century. In the 1890s, when agrarian discontent had become most acute, 1,100,000 new farms were settled, which was 500,000 more than had been settled during the previous decade. After 1890, under the terms of the Homestead Act and its successors, more new land was taken up for farming than had been taken up for this purpose in the United States up until that time. It is true that a high proportion of the newly farmed land was suitable only for grazing and dry farming, but agricultural practices had become sufficiently advanced to make it possible to increase the profitability of farming by utilizing even these relatively barren lands.

　　The emphasis given by both scholars and statesmen to the presumed disappearance of the American frontier helped to obscure the great importance of changes in the conditions and consequences of international trade that occurred during the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1869 the Suez Canal was opened and the first transcontinental railroad in the United States was completed. An extensive network of telegraph and telephone communications was spun: Europe was connected by submarine cable with the United States in 1866 and with South America in 1874. By about 1870 improvements in agricultural technology made possible the full exploitation of areas that were most suitable for extensive farming on a mechanized basis. Huge tracts of land were being settled and farmed in Argentina, Australia, Canada, and in the American West, and these areas were joined with one another and with the countries of Europe into an interdependent market system. As a consequence, agrarian depressions no longer were local or national in scope, and they struck several nations whose internal frontiers had not vanished or were not about to vanish. Between the early 1870s and the 1890s, the mounting agrarian discontent in America paralleled the almost uninterrupted decline in the prices of American agricultural products on foreign markets. Those staple-growing farmers in the United States who exhibited the greatest discontent were those who had become most dependent on foreign markets for the sale of their products. Insofar as Americans had been deterred from taking up new land for farming, it was because market conditions had made this period a perilous time in which to do so.

　　20. The author is primarily concerned with

　　 showing that a certain interpretation is better supported by the evidence than is an alternative explanation

　　 developing an alternative interpretation by using sources of evidence that formerly had been unavailable

　　 questioning the accuracy of the evidence that most scholars have used to counter the authors own interpretation

　　 reviewing the evidence that formerly had been thought to obscure a valid interpretation

　　 presenting evidence in support of a controversial version of an earlier interpretation

　　21. According to the author, changes in the conditions of international trade resulted in an

　　 underestimation of the amount of new land that was being famed in the United States

　　 underutilization of relatively small but rich plots of land

　　 overexpansion of the world transportation network for shipping agricultural products

　　 extension of agrarian depressions beyond national boundaries

　　 emphasis on the importance of market forces in determining the prices of agricultural products

　　22. The author implies that the change in the state of the American farmers morale during the latter part of the nineteenth century was traceable to the American farmers increasing perception that the

　　 costs of cultivating the land were prohibitive within the United States

　　 development of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States occurred at the expense of the American farmer

　　 American farming system was about to run out of the new farmland that was required for its expansion

　　 prices of American agricultural products were deteriorating especially rapidly on domestic markets

　　 proceeds from the sales of American agricultural products on foreign markets were unsatisfactory

　　23. According to the passage, which of the following occurred prior to 1890?

　　 Frederick J. Turners thesis regarding the American frontier became influential.

　　 The Homestead Act led to an increase in the amount of newly farmed land in the United States.

　　 The manufacturers of technologically advanced agricultural machinery rapidly increased their marketing efforts.

　　 Direct lines of communication were constructed between the United States and South America.

　　 Technological advances made it fruitful to farm extensively on a mechanized basis.

　　24. The author implies that, after certain territories and countries had been joined into an interdependent market system in the nineteenth century, agrarian depressions within that system

　　 spread to several nations, excluding those in which the internal frontier remained open

　　 manifested themselves in several nations, including those in which new land remained available for farming

　　 slowed down the pace of new technological developments in international communications and transportation

　　 affected the local and national prices of the nonagricultural products of several nations

　　 encouraged several nations to sell more of their agricultural products on foreign markets

　　25. The author provides information concerning newly farmed lands in the United States as evidence in direct support of which of the following?

　　 A proposal by Frederick J. Turner that was later disputed by John D. Hicks

　　 An elaboration by John D. Hicks of a thesis that formerly had been questioned by Frederick J. Turner

　　 The established view that was disputed by those scholars who adopted the thesis of Frederick J. Turner

　　 The thesis that important changes occurred in the nature of international trade during the second half of the nineteenth century

　　 The view that the American frontier did not become closed during the nineteenth century or soon thereafter

　　26. The author implies that the cause of the agrarian discontent was

　　 masked by the vagueness of the official records on newly settled farms

　　 overshadowed by disputes on the reliability of the existing historical evidence

　　 misidentified as a result of influential but erroneous theorizing

　　 overlooked because of a preoccupation with market conditions

　　 undetected because visible indications of the cause occurred so gradually and sporadically

　　27. The authors argument implies that, compared to the yearly price changes that actually occurred on foreign agricultural markets during the 1880s, American farmers would have most preferred yearly price changes that were

　　 much smaller and in the same direction

　　 much smaller but in the opposite direction

　　 slightly smaller and in the same direction

　　 similar in size but in the opposite direction

　　 slightly greater and in the same direction

答案：17-27：CCAADEEBECD