最后与大家分享收集并整理的本月托福考试的词汇题：

abandoned=no longer occupied

intermittently=periodically

in essence=basically

resemble=look like

exquisite精致的

tend to = are often

supplement = add to

retained=kept

optimal=ideal

ephemeral=short-lived

conjecture猜测

附录：

考试文章1.

The Collapse of the Maya

2017.11.25

Paragraph 1

The Mayan society of Central America (2000 B.C-A.D 1500), like other ancient states, was characterized by populations unprecedented both in their size and density. It was not just the number of people that lived in the Mayan city-states but also the relatively small area into which they were concentrated. To support such populations, societies developed various intensive agricultural including large-scale irrigation and hill-slope (the cutting of horizontal ridges into hillsides so they can be farmed). These were designed both to increase yields from a given area and to increase the absolute amount of land under cultivation. These strategies were in essence very successful: they made it possible to feed larger populations than ever before and supported the growth of cites. But they also placed considerable strains on the environment and rendered it increasingly fragile and vulnerable to unexpected climatic events, and even to short-term fluctuations. Thus, the argument is that because of their size and ever more intensive agriculture, the Mayan and other ancient state societies were fundamentally unsustainable.

1.According to paragraph 1, ancient societies increased their agricultural output by

A.increasing the percentage of the population that worked as farmers

B.creating large irrigation systems

C.being highly selective of the fields they would farm

D.moving more people into the city to free up farmland 

2.Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 1 about the intensive agricultural methods of the Maya?

A.They helped the Maya overcome short-term fluctuations in the climate.

B.They could not supply all of the food required for the growth of Mayan cities.

C.They strained the environment more than the Maya’s previous farming techniques did.

D.They were invented by the Maya to help them grow new kinds of crops. 

Paragraph 2

Claims about environment degradation and disaster have figured prominently in discussion of the collapse of the Mayan city-states of the Central American lowlands. When two explorers came upon the Mayan cities in the 1830s, they were struck by the sight of tall pyramids and elaborately carved stones among luxuriant forest growth. Here was the archetypal picture of a great lost civilization: abandoned cities submerged in vegetation. Theories of catastrophic collapse or apocalyptic overthrow came naturally to mind to explain these dramatic scenes.

3.The word “abandoned” in the passage is closet in meaning to

A.carefully hidden   B. destroyed 

C. enormous      D. no longer occupied 

Paragraph 3

Recent studies of the Mayan collapse (beginning around A.D 900) have emphasized the gradual and progressive nature of the process, beginning in the earliest in the South and advancing northward. It was not a single, sudden event, as had once been thought. Warfare and social unrest are thought to have played a part, but these may well have arisen through pressure from other causes. The Mayan cities had, after all, flourished for over 500 years and had frequently been at war with each other. 

4.Why does the author include the information that Mayan cities had “flourished for over 500 years and had frequently been at war with each other”?

A.To identify a possible reason for the eventual collapse of Mayan society.

B.To make the point that war and social unrest alone do not account for the Mayan collapse.

C.To explain why recent studies argue that human actions were responsible for the Mayan collapse

D.To provide evidence that frequent wars weakened Mayan society only very gradually

5.According to paragraph 3, recent studies claim which of the following about the Mayan collapse?

A.It was caused primarily by frequent wars between rival city-states.

B.It was caused by a single sudden event.

C.It was preceded by social unrest in northern city-states.

D.It began in southern city-states and spread to others. 

Paragraph 4

But what about the possibility of food shortage? These could have come about through either natural or humanly induced changes in the environment. Increasingly fierce competition between Mayan cities led to an upsurge of monument construction during the eighth and ninth centuries A.D, which would have placed added strain on agricultural production and expansion. Interstate rivalry may hence have pushed the Maya toward overexploitation of their fragile ecosystem. Deforestation and soil erosion might ultimately have destroyed the capacity of the land to support the high population levels of the Mayan cities, leading to famine, social unrest, and the collapse of the major Mayan centers.
6.All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 4 as possible direct or indirect caused of food shortages EXCEPT

A.increased monument construction

B.rivalries between states

C.deforestation and erosion

D.introduction of new crops 

Paragraph 5
Yet it may be incorrect to lay the blame entirely on human action. Several of the lowland cities, such as Tikal, appear to have depended heavily on the cultivation of raised fields set in the marshy depressions known as bajos, which today flood intermittently in the rainy season but may originally have been permanent lakes. The raise-field system of intensive cultivation (created by digging surrounding canals and using the soil removed to elevate the fields for planting) allows year-round food production through the constant supply of soil nutrients that erode into the drainage ditches dug around the raised fields, nutrients that are then collected and replaced. Stable water levels were essential to this subsistence system, but evidence from Lake Chichancanab in Yucatan shows that between A.D 800 and A.D 1000 this region suffered its driest period of climate in several thousand years. We may expect that as a result water level fell, and the raised fields in many areas became unusable. But the human response must be viewed through the lens of the social, political, and cultural circumstances. These exerted a powerful mediating effect on the way the Maya endeavored to cope with their difficulties. Had population levels been lower, the impact of the drought may not have been catastrophic, as it was, the Maya were already reaching the limits of the available subsistence capacity, and Mayan elites had espoused certain social and political agendas (including expensive warfare and competition with each other).It was against this specific background that a period of drought led quickly to crisis and collapse. 

7.The word “intermittently” in the passage is closet in meaning to

A constantly   B periodically

C usually       D especially

8.According to paragraph 5, why did the raised fields in many areas become unusable?

A.The marshy depressions around the fields flooded in the rainy season

B.Intensive cultivation of the fields drained the soil of nutrients.

C.The area where the fields were located experienced a drop in water levels.

D.Unstable design caused the failure of the drainage ditches. 

Paragraph 5

Yet it may be incorrect to lay the blame entirely on human action. ■Several of the lowland cities, such as Tikal, appear to have depended heavily on the cultivation of raised fields set in the marshy depressions known as bajos, which today flood intermittently in the rainy season but may originally have been permanent lakes. ■The raise-field system of intensive cultivation (created by digging surrounding canals and using the soil removed to elevate the fields for planting) allows year-round food production through the constant supply of soil nutrients that erode into the drainage ditches dug around the raised fields, nutrients that are then collected and replaced. ■Stable water levels were essential to this subsistence system, but evidence from Lake Chichancanab in Yucatan shows that between A.D 800 and A.D 1000 this region suffered its driest period of climate in several thousand years. ■We may expect that as a result water level fell, and the raised fields in many areas became unusable. But the human response must be viewed through the lens of the social, political, and cultural circumstances. These exerted a powerful mediating effect on the way the Maya endeavored to cope with their difficulties. Had population levels been lower, the impact of the drought may not have been catastrophic, as it was, the Maya were already reaching the limits of the available subsistence capacity, and Mayan elites had espoused certain social and political agendas (including expensive warfare and competition with each other). It was against this specific background that a period of drought led quickly to crisis and collapse.

9.Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

Nature apparently also contributed to the food shortages.

Where would the sentence best fit?

10.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.

Since the discovery of the Mayan ruins in the 1830s, researchers have tried to explain the collapse of Mayan civilization. 

Answer choices

A.The Mayan attempt to develop intensive agricultural methods to support large populations in relatively small areas probably was unsuccessful and could have caused the Mayan collapse.

B.The discovery of intact pyramids submerged in vegetation among the Mayan ruins led researchers to believe that Mayan cities were simply overgrown rather than catastrophically destroyed.

C.Warfare and rivalry between Mayan states may have caused food shortages that contributed to the eventual collapse of Mayan civilization.

D.Early theories that the Mayan collapse was a sudden, catastrophic event were followed by views that treated the collapse as a gradual process.

E.The continuing warfare and social unrest that started in the North and spread to the South provided researchers with evidence that the Mayan collapse took hundreds of years to occur.

F.Drought between A.D. 800 and A.D. 1000 likely caused the Mayan system of intensive irrigated agriculture to fall, which could have brought about a rapid collapse of the Mayan State.

考试文章2大致内容回忆

Inca Highlands Adaptations

P1：在Inca Highlands，altitudes不同，人们就会因地制宜选择种植或者放牧。条件好的地方，人口很多。

P2：但是erratic climate和thin soil等不利条件还是会影响农业或者牧业。

P3：因此当地人想了多种解决办法。第1个就是“ecological complementarity”或者“verticality”。就是在不同海拔高度相邻的地方种植各种不同的作物，万一一种作物受灾了，其他作物还能活。

P4：第二个就是“energy averaging”。就是通过风干等技术储存在产量丰收年的粮食，粮食歉收的时候可以食用。

P5：第三个就是“vertical archipelagos”。他们并没有为了交换作物而发展trade。而是让一群人去较远的地方种植当地不能产的作物，等到成熟后再运回。这一群人还是被home地区当做是家人，享有应有的尊敬和权威。由此形成了各种分布较散的colonies。

考试文章3大致内容回忆

Predatory Bacteria

P1：最近人们发现有些bacteria虽然size小，但是也可以捕食猎物。

P2：predatory bacteria这种小的体型可能speed更快，能够快速攻击 prey。但是这种说法controversial，因为这种方式只在静水里面比较有效果，因为小的 bacteria 更容易被水流冲走，无法到达目的地。

P3：也有可能因为小的体型更容易attach到大size的prey上面。另外，它有rigid cell wall，这个cell wall虽然可以保护自身，却也限制了它不能变形，不像amoeba（阿米巴虫，一种变形虫）一样可以变形吞噬prey

P4：虽然个体小，但是还是发展了跟一般organisms类似的strategies，diets等。例如它像狮子一样既吃live又吃dead。

P5：predatory bacteria可以用来control cyanobacteria（蓝细菌）的泛滥。因为他们可以吃cyanobacteria。但是这种情况在静水里面会更有效果，在open sea就没有那么有效果

考试文章4大致内容回忆

在美国还是英国殖民地的时候，家庭农场本身养活了美国本土绝大多数的人，而且这些家庭都会生产小麦、玉米、肉类。他们只有很少一部分才拿出来进行交换，当地的农民很喜欢牛，因为牛可以生产出高质量的蛋白质，也就是牛奶，而且还可以运输东西。当然也有农民会专门的去生产一些肉类卖给市场。

当时主要的农作物是小麦，当然他们也会种植一些玉米。而且这两种植物的播种，成长和收获时间是不一样的，不至于年底的时候颗粒无收。当然当时人类主要吃的还是小麦、玉米这种植物，它们被种在土地的外围，因为不是很好消化。而且当时的农民也会烘干小麦来制作面包。军队也很喜欢小麦，他们也会把小麦卖到其他的市场来赚钱。

玉米已磨成的粉，不是很好消化。当时的农民大多数时候只会买小麦，而不会去买玉米。而且当时小麦的价格远比玉米的要高，但是当收成不好的时候，玉米的价格也会提升上来。

而玉米还有另外一个作用，就是它的根茎叶全都可以来当做饲料，因此也有一部分农民会种植玉米，当然都是种在土地的外围。

这种粮食供给系统，还有个很大的好处就是当出现粮食短缺的时候，还可以与其他的国家进行交换。

考试文章5大致内容回忆

The Origin of Earth's Atmosphere

第 一段讲了大气的起源，可以追溯到地球形成时期，并讲述了早期地球的形成过程；

第二段讲了随着地球初具雏形，地心和地球磁场也逐渐形成；

第三段讲了地幔和地表的出现；

第四段讲述了地球最终出现了稳定的大气。

10月共7场线下考试：10月9日、10月13日、10月16日（上午场和下午场）、10月23日、10月24日，10月30日，大体来说这个月的托福写作新题和老题混合出现，但是老题的比例仍然较高。下面是对于综合写作和独立写作的解析。

[综合写作]

从考试题型来看，七场场考试题型都是观点反驳类，涉及到了不同种类的话题，例如10月9日关于‘澳大利亚的历史’；10月13日关于‘sea mammal的捕捞’；10月16日（上午场）关于‘拯救红树林Mangrove以及restore其所生活地区的生态系统；10月16日（下午场）关于‘business strategies’；10月23日关于‘canned food上的铅导致的铅中毒’；10月24日关于‘大王乌贼的眼睛’，以及10月30日关于‘laocoon雕像是不是米开朗琪罗伪造的’。

同学们还是应该多练习各种不同话题的文章，以观点反驳类为主要方向熟悉自己的写作框架。

[独立写作]

独立写作七场考试出现了一道全新的考题，其它六道都是以前的线下以及家考的真题。

10月9日

这道题是一道新题，而且题目较长，但是类型还是大家比较熟悉的工作学习类话题。

Imagine you are working on a group project with two coworkers and the deadline (the time that the project should be submitted) is approaching. The project looks good but could be improved if you all work on it more; however, this would mean that you miss the deadline. One of your coworkers suggests submitting the project in its current condition to meet the deadline, while your other coworker thinks it is better to wait and submit the project after the deadline so that it is perfect. Which approach is better in your opinion: meeting deadlines even if a project is not yet perfect or submitting a project after a deadline so that it is perfect? Why?

思路参考：

总观点：选择按时交：

1.可以保证按照deadline要求递交，有时即使花时间修改作业，最终可能也不会对成绩提高有太大帮助，并且对其他按时交作业的同学来说不公平。

2.考虑到整个小组，并不是所有成员都有时间或者意愿去修改作业，这样会导致有些同学不满，或者大家时间无法协调而产生矛盾。

10月13日

这是一道重复家庭考题，线下首 次的新题。

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: During big events, such as weddings or graduations, some people choose to record many videos and take numerous pictures on their smartphones, while others decide to record few or no videos and take few or no pictures. Which choice or decision do you prefer and why?

思路参考

总观点：选择要摄像和拍照。

1.可以快速和没来到的朋友家人分享

2.后续想念的时候可以翻看，方便

3.可以发在社交媒体，增强和他人的联系

10月16日（上午场）

这道题重复了2019年12月1日的老题。

Sometimes you are required to meet with another person to provide feedback about that person's work (for example, when you must give your opinions about a classmate's work on an assignment or your thoughts about a coworker's contribution to a project). When you have both positive and negative feedback to give about a person's work, do you believe it is more effective to give the positive comments first or the negative comments first? why?

立场：先给正面反馈

1.对学生好

a.提高学生自信：学生先受到表扬的时候，他会更相信自己过去的努力是有效果的，未来的努力也会得到回报，这样更有自信  

b.提高学习兴趣：得到正面的反馈会激励学生去学习更多的知识，探究未知的领域，克服学习中的困难  

2.对员工好

a.和同事的关系更好：当同事首先得到的是正面反馈时，同事不会感觉到压力和紧张，更愿意这样的人相处  

b.受到老板欣赏：当老板首先得到下属的正面反馈时，老板会感觉到被尊重、被认可和被支持，这样的下属会容易得到老板的信任 

10月16日（下午场）

这道题重复2021年1月的家考题，相对题目较为简单。

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

Having a job in which you work with other people is better than having a job in which you work alone. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

思路参考：

总观点：work together

1.能有更多和人沟通交流的机会，提升交流能力，能交到更多朋友。

2.合作一般能完成更大的项目，成就感更高。

3.合作也更加高效（分工方向出发）

10月23日

这道题重复2018年2月4日，2016年5月29日，独立写作真题。这是一道出现频率也是比较高的老题。

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

It is better to take risks and explore new things when you are older rather than when you are younger.

思路参考：

总观点：年轻人去冒险

1.对工作好

a.获得更多的就业的信息：只有通过冒险，去尝试发现新事物，才能获得更多的就业信息，因为很多信息不会停留在表面，比如这个工作需要的人的特点经历，而需要去挖掘

b.培育坚强的品质，帮助工作：在冒险的过程中，要做好遇到阻碍的准备，因此要培育坚强的品质，抗压遇到困难不退缩

2.对生活好

a.遇到更多的朋友：在冒险的时候可以遇到不同背景的人，因此会遇到更多有相同兴趣的人，能遇到更多的朋友

b.忘记现有的烦恼：在冒险的过程中，注意力被新事物吸引，因此可以从现有的烦恼中分心出来，可以忘记现有的烦恼 

10月24日

这道题重复了2021年7月10日的考题.

If your friends would like to achieve a more positive lifestyle, which of the following suggestion would be the best?

1.Be more disciplined and have a stronger will

2.Work with people who share the same goals

3.Consult a professional expert

思路参考：

总观点：选Work with people who share the same goals

1.选2的原因

a.有共同目标的人可以一起交流想法，找到适合自己的方法坚持下去。

b.有共同目标的人可以相互监督

2.不选1的原因

虽然自律和意志力更强有助于设立目标，积极生活，但是一直自律其实很难，总会有破功的情况发生。

3.不选3的原因

虽然咨询专业人士更加专业高效，但是专业人士也有不少问题。如不一定对你的朋友很了解，不能给出对应建议。同时咨询专业人士价格不菲，资金压力大。

10月30日

这道题重复了2019年2月24日的考题.

A university recognized that first year students have poor study skills. It is believed that the best way to address this problem is to require all first year students to take courses on study skills, while others don’t agree with this requirement. What is your opinion?

立场：应该设置习惯课成必修课

1 效率：要求学生参加学习习惯课程能提高学生学习效率

要求学生参加学习习惯课程-大学课更多更难-需要更好的学习习惯才能应对-学习了好的学习习惯-学习会更有效率-能有更好的学术表现

2 工作：要求学生参加学习习惯课程能对未来工作生活有益处

要求学生参加学习习惯课程-不仅惠及现阶段的学习-也能帮助将来在工作和生活中进行快速学习-更好地融入新环境/学习需要的新知识-有利于未来事业和生活

3 社交：要求学生参加学习习惯课程能让学生扩大社交圈