名师解读剑八雅思阅读真题

　　TEST 1

　　READING PASSAGE 1

　　You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

　　A Chronicle of Timekeeping

　　Our conception of time depends on the way we measure it

　　A According to archaeological evidence, at least 5, 000 years ago, and long before the advent of the Roman Empire, the Babylonians began to measure time, introducing calendars to co-ordinate communal activities, to plan the shipment of goods and, in particular, to regulate planting and harvesting. They based their calendars on three natural cycles: the solar day, marked by the successive periods of light and darkness as the earth rotates on its axis; the lunar month, following the phases of the moon as it orbits the earth; and the solar year, defined by the changing seasons that accompany our planets revolution around the sun.

　　B Before the invention of artificial light, the moon had greater social impact. And, for those living near the equator in particular, its waxing and waning was more conspicuous than the passing of the seasons. Hence, the calendars that were developed at the lower latitudes were influenced more by the lunar cycle than by the solar year. In more northern climes, however, where seasonal agriculture was practised, the solar year became more crucial. As the Roman Empire expanded northward, it organised its activity chart for the most part around the solar year.

　　C Centuries before the Roman Empire, the Egyptians had formulated a municipal calendar having 12 months of 30 days, with five days added to approximate the solar year. Each period of ten days was marked by the appearance of special groups of stars called decans. At the rise of the star Sirius just before sunrise, which occurred around the all-important annual flooding of the Nile, 12 decans could be seen spanning the heavens. The cosmic significance the Egyptians placed in the 12 decans led them to develop a system in which each interval of darkness was divided into a dozen equal parts. These periods became known as temporal hours because their duration varied according to the changing length of days and nights with the passing of the seasons. Summer hours were long, winter ones short; only at the spring and autumn equinoxes were the hours of daylight and darkness equal. Temporal hours, which were first adopted by the Greeks and then the Romans, who disseminated them through Europe, remained in use for more than 2, 500 years.

　　D In order to track temporal hours during the day, inventors created sundials, which indicate time by the length or direction of the suns shadow. The sundials counterpart, the water clock, was designed to measure temporal hours at night. One of the first water clocks was a basin with a small hole near the bottom through which the water dripped out. The falling water level denoted the passing hour as it dipped below hour lines inscribed on the inner surface. Although these devices performed satisfactorily around the Mediterranean, they could not always be depended on in the cloudy and often freezing weather of northern Europe.

　　E The advent of the mechanical clock meant that although it could be adjusted to maintain temporal hours, it was naturally suited to keeping equal ones. With these, however, arose the question of when to begin counting, and so, in the early 14th century, a number of systems evolved. The schemes that divided the day into 24 equal parts varied according to the start of the count: Italian hours began at sunset, Babylonian hours at sunrise, astronomical hours at midday and great clock hours, used for some large public clocks in Germany, at midnight. Eventually these were superseded by small clock, or French, hours, which split the day into two 12-hour periods commencing at midnight.

　　F The earliest recorded weight-driven mechanical clock was built in 1283 in Bedfordshire in England. The revolutionary aspect of this new timekeeper was neither the descending weight that provided its motive force nor the gear wheels that transferred the power; it was the part called the escapement. In the early 1400s came the invention of the coiled spring or fusee which maintained constant force to the gear wheels of the timekeeper despite the changing tension of its mainspring. By the 16th century, a pendulum clock had been devised, but the pendulum swung in a large arc and thus was not very efficient.

　　G To address this, a variation on the original escapement was invented in 1670, in England. It was called the anchor escapement, which was a lever-based device shaped like a ships anchor. The motion of a pendulum rocks this device so that it catches and then releases each tooth of the escape wheel, in turn allowing it to turn a precise amount. Unlike the original form used in early pendulum clocks, the anchor escapement permitted the pendulum to travel in a very small arc. Moreover, this invention allowed the use of a long pendulum which could beat once a second and thus led to the development of a new floor-standing case design, which became known as the grandfather clock.

　　H Today, highly accurate timekeeping instruments set the beat for most electronic devices. Nearly all computers contain a quartz-crystal clock to regulate their operation. Moreover, not only do time signals beamed down from Global Positioning System satellites calibrate the functions of precision navigation equipment, they do so as well for mobile phones, instant stock-trading systems and nationwide power-distribution grids. So integral have these time-based technologies become to day-to-day existence that our dependency on them is recognised only when they fail to work.

　　Questions 1-4

　　Reading Passage 1 has eight paragraphs, A-H.

　　Which paragraph contains the following information?

　　Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

　　1 a description of an early timekeeping invention affected by cold temperatures

　　2 an explanation of the importance of geography in the development of the calendar in farming communities

　　3 a description of the origins of the pendulum clock

　　4 details of the simultaneous efforts of different societies to calculate time using uniform hours

　　Questions 5-8

　　Look at the following events and the list of nationalities below.

　　Match each event with the correct nationality, A-F.

　　Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet.

　　5 They devised a civil calendar in which the months were equal in length.

　　6 They divided the day into two equal halves.

　　7 They developed a new cabinet shape for a type of timekeeper.

　　8 They created a calendar to organise public events and work schedules.

　　List of Nationalities

　　A Babylonians

　　B Egyptians

　　C Greeks

　　D English

　　E Germans

　　F French

　　Answers:

　　1 D　　2 B　　3 F　　4 E　　5 B　　6 F　　7 D　　8 A

　　解析

　　篇章结构

　　体裁： 说明文

　　主题： 时间记录的历史

　　结构：

　　A段---人类计算时间的历史

　　B段---纬度对于计时的影响

　　C段---月、日的划分以及目光时的产生

　　D段---测量昼夜日光时的工具

　　E段---各国用机械钟计时的不同方法

　　F段---早期机械钟的发展

　　G段---机械钟的改进和落地摆钟的产生

　　H段---当代计时技术及其影响

　　解题地图

　　难度系数：

　　解题顺序：LABELLINGMATCHINGMATCHING

　　友情提示：遇到段落信息配对题，可以先放下做别的题，最后再来对付它!

　　必背词汇

　　1. coordinate v. 协调，配合

　　The agencies are working together to coordinate policy on food safety.

　　各机构正在共同努力，以配合相关食品安全政策的实施。

　　I couldnt get my brain to function or coordinate my muscles.

　　我不能让我的大脑活动或者与我的肌肉相协调。

　　2. successive adj. 连续的，相继的

　　The team has had five successive victories. 球队已经取得5次连续的胜利。

　　Successive governments have tried to deal with this issue. 历届政府都试图解决这个问题。

　　3. artificial adj. 人工的，人造的

　　This product contains no artificial preservatives. 本产品不含任何人工防腐剂。

　　Prior to treatment water may be stored in natural or artificial basins.

　　治疗前的水可以储存在自然或人工的盆地内。

　　4. crucial adj. 决定性的，关键的

　　This aid money is crucial to the governments economic policies.

　　这项援助资金对政府的经济政策来说是至关重要的。

　　Parents play a crucial role in preparing their child for school. 父母在准备孩子上学一事上起着重要的作用。

　　5. approximate v. 近似，接近

　　This figure approximates to a quarter of the UKs annual consumption.

　　这个数字接近英国年度消费额的四分之一。

　　Your story only approximates to the real facts. 你的故事仅仅是接近事实真相。

　　6. commence v. 开始

　　Work will commence on the new building immediately. 工作马上在新的大楼开始。

　　She commenced her medical career in 1956. 1956年时，她就开始了她的医药事业。

　　7. accurate adj. 正确无误的;精确的

　　It is difficult to get accurate figures on population numbers. 很难得到关于人口数量的准确数字。

　　The cutter is accurate to within a millimetre. 刀具可精确到一毫米之内。

　　认知词汇

　　archaeological adj. 考古学的，考古学上的

　　advent n. 出现，到来

　　shipment n. 运输，运送;运输的货物

　　solar adj. 太阳的

　　rotate v. 旋转;轮换

　　phase n. 月相，月亮的盈亏;时期，阶段

　　orbit v. 绕轨道而行 n. 轨道

　　accompany v. 伴随发生;陪伴

　　equator n. 赤道

　　wax v. 月亮渐盈

　　wane v. 月亮渐亏

　　conspicuous adj. 显而易见的，明显的

　　latitude n. 纬度

　　clime n. 气候带;

　　地区

　　formulate v. 制定;规划;确切表达

　　municipal adj. 市政的

　　cosmic adj. 宇宙的

　　interval n. 间隔;幕间休息

　　temporal adj. 时间的;现世的

　　equinox n. 昼夜平分时;春分;秋分

　　disseminate v. 传播，散布

　　sundial n. 日晷

　　counterpart n. 对应的事物

　　denote v. 表示，象征

　　dip v. 下降，下沉;浸，蘸

　　inscribe v. 在上刻

　　scheme n. 计划，方案 v. 密谋

　　astronomical adj. 天文学的;巨大的

　　supersede v. 取代，接替

　　split v. 分开;分裂

　　decending adj. 下降的;下行的

　　gear n. 齿轮，传动装置

　　coiled adj. 盘绕的，卷成圈的

　　fusee n. 均力圆锥轮

　　pendulum n. 钟摆

　　arc n. 弧，弧形

　　anchor n. 锚v. 抛锚;主持

　　quartz n. 石英

　　beam v. 发射电波，传送

　　calibrate v. 校准，测定

　　precision n. 精确;准确;细致

　　navigation n. 导航;领航

　　grid n. 输电网;煤气输送网

　　integral adj. 必需的，不可或缺的;完整的

　　试题解析

　　Questions 1-4

　　题目类型：MATCHING

　　题目解析：

　　1. a description of an early timekeeping invention affected by cold temperatures

　　对于早期受到寒冷气温影响的计时发明的描述 定位词 early timekeeping invention，cold temperatures 文中对应点 D段：Although these devices performed satisfactorily around the Mediterranean，they could not always be depended on in the cloudy and often freezing weather of northern Europe. 全文只有该句中提及寒冷气温。该句含义为尽管这些装置在地中海地区十分好用，但在多云并常有严寒天气的欧洲北部却不能一直使用。与题干中描述的内容相符。

　　2. an explanation of the importance of geography in the development of the calendar in farming communities

　　参考译文 对于农业社会中地理学对日历发展的重要性进行的解释 定位词 geography，development of the calendar，farming communities 文中对应点 B段：该段一共五句话，从第二句开始每一句话都介绍了一个地理位置的变化对calendar的影响。分别是：And，for those living near the equator in particular,Hence，the calendars that were developed at the lower latitudes,In more northern climes，however，As the Roman Empire expanded northward,

　　3. a description of the origins of the pendulum clock

　　参考译文 对于摆钟起源的描述 定位词 pendulum dock，origins 文中对应点 F段：定位词第一次出现在F段，对应句为By the 16th century，a pendulum clock had been devised，but the pendulum swung in a large arc and thus was not very efficient，含义为到了16世纪，人们发明了摆钟。但由于钟摆摆动弧度很大，因此并不十分有效。此句中devised意为发明，与题干中的origins对应。

　　4. details of the simultaneous efforts of different societies to calculate time using uniform hours

　　参考译文 关于不同国家为使用统一时间来计时而同时做出努力的细节 定位词 simultaneous efforts，different societies，uniform hours 文中对应点 E段：此题需要在文章中扫描大量出现大写字母、国家和地区处，对应E段中The schemes that divided the day into 24 equal parts varied according to the start of the count：Italian hours began at sunset，Babylonian hours at sunrise，astronomical hours at midday and great clock hours，used for some large public docks in Germany，at midnight，含义为人们计划将一天分为24个等份，而这些计划因为计时起点的不同而不同：意大利时间从日落开始算起，巴比伦时间从日出开始，天文学时间从中午开始，而德国一些大型公共时钟使用的大钟时间从午夜开始算起。

　　Questions 5-8

　　题目类型：MATCHING

　　题目解析：

　　题号 定位词 文中对应点 5 civil calendar，months，equal 题目：They devised a civil calendar in which the months were equal in length. 译文：他们发明了一种月份等长的民用日历。 C段：，the Egyptians had formulated a municipal calendar having 12months of 30 days 该句提到埃及人制定了市政日历，规定一年有12个月，每月有30天。所以答案为B。 6 day，two equal halves 题目：They divided the day into two equal halves. 译文：他们将一天均分为两部分。 E段：or French hours，which sprit the day into two 12-hour periods commencing at midnight. 即法国时间所取代，它将一天分成两个12小时时段，从午夜开始算起。所以答案为F。 7 new cabinet shape 题目：They developed a new cabinet shape for a type of timekeeper. 译文：他们为一种计时器设计了一个新的柜式外形。 G段：and thus led to the development of a new floor-standing case design 此句中的floor-standing case design就对应着cabinet shape，且该段第一行就出现了England这个代表国家的词汇。所以答案为D。 8 organise，public events 题目：They created a calendar to organise public events and work schedules. 译文：他们创造出了一种日光来安排公共事务和工作日程。 A段：the Babylonians began to measure time，introducing calendars to coordinate communal activities，to plan the shipment of goods and，in particular，to regulate planting and harvesting. 此句中的co-ordinate对应题干中的organise;communal activities对应public events。所以答案为A。