托福閱讀原文

　　Petroleum, consisting of crude oil andnatural gas, seems to originate from organic matter in marine sediment.Microscopic organisms settle to the seafloor and accumulate in marine mud. Theorganic matter may partially decompose, using up the dissolved oxygen in thesediment. As soon as the oxygen is gone, decay stops and the remaining organicmatter is preserved.

　　Continued sedimentation—the process ofdeposits’ settling on the sea bottom—buries the organic matter and subjects itto higher temperatures and pressures, which convert the organic matter to oiland gas. As muddy sediments are pressed together, the gas and small droplets ofoil may be squeezed out of the mud and may move into sandy layers nearby. Overlong periods of time (millions of years), accumulations of gas and oil cancollect in the sandy layers. Both oil and gas are less dense than water, sothey generally tend to rise upward through water-saturated rock and sediment.

　　Oil pools are valuable undergroundaccumulations of oil, and oil fields are regions underlain by one or more oilpools. When an oil pool or field has been discovered, wells are drilled intothe ground. Permanent towers, called derricks, used to be built to handle thelong sections of drilling pipe. Now portable drilling machines are set up andare then dismantled and removed. When the well reaches a pool, oil usuallyrises up the well because of its density difference with water beneath it orbecause of the pressure of expanding gas trapped above it. Although this riseof oil is almost always carefully controlled today, spouts of oil, or gushers,were common in the past. Gas pressure gradually dies out, and oil is pumpedfrom the well. Water or steam may be pumped down adjacent wells to help pushthe oil out. At a refinery, the crude oil from underground is separated intonatural gas, gasoline, kerosene, and various oils. Petrochemicals such as dyes,fertilizer, and plastic are also manufactured from the petroleum.

　　As oil becomes increasingly difficult tofind, the search for it is extended into more-hostile environments. The developmentof the oil field on the North Slope of Alaska and the construction of theAlaska pipeline are examples of the great expense and difficulty involved innew oil discoveries. Offshore drilling platforms extend the search for oil tothe ocean’s continental shelves—those gently sloping submarine regions at theedges of the continents. More than one-quarter of the world’s oil and almostone-fifth of the world’s natural gas come from offshore, even though offshoredrilling is six to seven times more expensive than drilling on land. Asignificant part of this oil and gas comes from under the North Sea betweenGreat Britain and Norway.

　　Of course, there is far more oilunderground than can be recovered. It may be in a pool too small or too farfrom a potential market to justify the expense of drilling. Some oil lies underregions where drilling is forbidden, such as national parks or other publiclands. Even given the best extraction techniques, only about 30 to 40 percentof the oil in a given pool can be brought to the surface. The rest is far toodifficult to extract and has to remain underground.

　　Moreover, getting petroleum out of theground and from under the sea and to the consumer can create environmentalproblems anywhere along the line. Pipelines carrying oil can be broken byfaults or landslides, causing serious oil spills. Spillage from hugeoil-carrying cargo ships, called tankers, involved in collisions or accidentalgroundings (such as the one off Alaska in 1989) can create oil slicks at sea.Offshore platforms may also lose oil, creating oil slicks that drift ashore andfoul the beaches, harming the environment. Sometimes, the ground at an oil fieldmay subside as oil is removed. The Wilmington field near Long Beach,California, has subsided nine meters in 50 years; protective barriers have hadto be built to prevent seawater from flooding the area. Finally, the refiningand burning of petroleum and its products can cause air pollution. Advancingtechnology and strict laws, however, are helping control some of these adverseenvironmental effects.

　　托福閱讀試題

　　1. The word “accumulate” in the passage(paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to

　　A.grow up

　　B.build up

　　C.spread out

　　D.break apart

　　2. According to paragraph 1, which of thefollowing is true about petroleum formation?

　　A.Microscopic organisms that live in mudproduce crude oil and natural gas.

　　B.Large amounts of oxygen are needed forpetroleum formation to begin.

　　C.Petroleum is produced when organicmaterial in sediments combines with decaying marine organisms.

　　D.Petroleum formation appears to begin inmarine sediments where organic matter is present.

　　3. In paragraphs 1 and 2, the author’sprimary purpose is to

　　A.describe how petroleum is formed

　　B.explain why petroleum formation is a slowprocess

　　C.provide evidence that a marineenvironment is necessary for petroleum formation

　　D.show that oil commonly occurs inassociation with gas

　　4. Which of the sentences below bestexpresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage(paragraph 2) ? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leaveout essential information.

　　A.Higher temperatures and pressures promotesedimentation, which is responsible for petroleum formation.

　　B.Deposits of sediments on top of organicmatter increase the temperature of and pressure on the matter.

　　C.Increase pressure and heat from theweight of the sediment turn the organic remains into petroleum.

　　D.The remains of microscopic organismstransform into petroleum once they are buried under mud.

　　5. The word “adjacent” in the passage(paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to

　　A.nearby

　　B.existing

　　C.special

　　D.deep

　　6. Which of the following can be inferredfrom paragraph 3 about gushers?

　　A.They make bringing the oil to the surfaceeasier.

　　B.They signal the presence of huge oilreserves.

　　C.They waste more oil than they collect.

　　D.They are unlikely to occur nowadays.

　　7. Which of the following strategies foroil exploration is described in paragraph 4?

　　A.Drilling under the ocean’s surface

　　B.Limiting drilling to accessible locations

　　C.Using highly sophisticated drillingequipment

　　D.Constructing technologically advanceddrilling platforms

　　8. What does the development of the Alaskanoil field mentioned in paragraph 4 demonstrate?

　　A.More oil is extracted from the sea thanfrom land.

　　B.Drilling for oil requires major financialinvestments.

　　C.The global demand for oil has increasedover the years.

　　D.The North Slope of Alaska has substantialamounts of oil.

　　9. The word “sloping” in the passage(paragraph 4) is closest in meaning to

　　A.shifting

　　B.inclining

　　C.forming

　　D.rolling

　　10. According to paragraph 5, the decisionto drill for oil depends on all of the following factors EXCEPT

　　A.permission to access the area where oilhas been found

　　B.the availability of sufficient quantitiesof oil in a pool

　　C.the location of the market in relation tothe drilling site

　　D.the political situation in the regionwhere drilling would occur

　　11. The word “foul” in the passage(paragraph 6) is closest in meaning to

　　A.reach

　　B.flood

　　C.pollute

　　D.alter

　　12. In paragraph 6, the author’s primarypurpose is to

　　A.provide examples of how oil explorationcan endanger the environment

　　B.describe accidents that have occurredwhen oil activities were in progress

　　C.give an analysis of the effects of oilspills on the environment

　　D.explain how technology and legislation helpreduce oil spills

　　13. Look at the four squares [█] thatindicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Unlesssomething acts to halt this migration, these natural resources will eventuallyreach the surface.

　　Continued sedimentation—the process ofdeposits’ settling on the sea bottom—buries the organic matter and subjects itto higher temperatures and pressures, which convert the organic matter to oiland gas. █【A】As muddysediments are pressed together, the gas and small droplets of oil may besqueezed out of the mud and may move into sandy layers nearby. █【B】Over longperiods of time (millions of years),accumulations of gas and oil can collect inthe sandy layers. █【C】Bothoil and gas are less dense than water, so they generally tend torise upward through water-saturated rock and sediment. █【D】

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　14. Directions: An introductory sentencefor a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary byselecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in thepassage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideasthat are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. Thisquestion is worth 2 points.

　　“Petroleum” is abroad term that includesboth crude oil and natural gas.

　　A.Petroleum formation is the result ofbiological as well as chemical activity.

　　B.The difficulty of finding adequatesources of oil on land has resulted in a greater number of offshore drillingsites.

　　C.Petroleum extraction can have a negativeimpact on the environment.

　　D.Petroleum tends to rise to the surface,since it is lower in density than water.

　　E.Current methods of petroleum extractionenable oil producers to recover about half of the world’s petroleum reserves.

　　F.Accidents involving oil tankers occurwhen tankers run into shore reefs or collide with other vessels.

　　托福閱讀答案

　　1.accumulate 沉積，聚集，累積之意，所以build up正確，注意grow up表示長大，這個和累積不是一個概念，原文與之并列的動詞是settle，叫做落下來，穩(wěn)定下來，所以break apart意思反了，而且grow up和spread out在某種意義上是差不多的，所以都不對

　　2.以petroleum formation做關鍵詞，沒有，但有petroleumoriginate from blablabla，說石油起源于海洋沉積物當中的有機物，與D選項說的完全一致，D正確;A錯，原文沒說live;B錯，原文沒說需要大量氧氣，只說用光了氧氣之后有機物能夠保存;C錯，原文沒說combine

　　3.問兩段，分別看兩段的開頭，第一段開頭說石油是怎么開始的，第二段第一句說繼續(xù)沉積blabla，也就是在延續(xù)第一段所說的石油的形成過程，所以A正確

　　4. 去掉原句中的插入語，原句變成了sedimentationbury and subject to blabla，convert to petro，A錯，沒說溫度壓力提升sedimentation;B遺漏了重要信息，原句的變成石油沒說;C正確;D完全沒重現(xiàn)原文的重要信息，錯

　　5.adjacent 相鄰的，臨近的，答案A，原句說水或者蒸汽可以從什么樣的井弄下去，把油壓出來。根據(jù)物理學的U型管原理，從注水的U型管一端向管內(nèi)吹起，另外一端的液面就會上升，同理，從臨近的油井壓入水或者蒸汽，石油就會被壓出來，所以答案是A，B存在C特殊D深都不對

　　6.以gusher做關鍵詞定位至本段倒數(shù)第四句，說gusher在過去是非常普遍的，意思就是現(xiàn)在不普遍了，答案D，而且前半句還說仔細控制了，仔細控制的結果就是不再發(fā)生了，也能選出D答案

　　7. 第四段第一句就說了hostileenvironment，緊接著就用大量文字寫了offshore石油鉆探，第五段也一直在說在那些不能鉆石油的地方鉆探，所以A的under the ocean’s surface最靠譜;B說反了;C的equipment和D的platform都沒說

　　8.第二句和第三句說到了阿拉斯加的石油開采是一個例子，great expense and difficulty involved in new oil discoveries，說明使用開采花錢又需要技術，正確答案B，需要大量投資;其他選項都沒說

　　9.slope坡，sloping傾斜的，斜坡的。sloping所在的句子是對前面海洋大陸架的一個解釋，大路邊緣逐漸傾斜的海下地區(qū)，所以inclining傾斜的正確;A變換的C形成的D滾動的都不對

　　10.排除法，A對應第三句，因為有drillingis forbidden，正確，不選;B對應倒數(shù)第二句，pool，正確，不選;C項對應第二句，location of the market，正確，不選;D沒說，錯，選

　　11.foul弄臟，污染，污穢的，所以pollute正確。原句說海上鉆井平臺有可能漏油，產(chǎn)生海面浮油，并且怎么樣海灘，之前都說了一大堆不好的事兒，所以pollute正確，A到達B沖刷D改變感情色彩都不對

　　12.問整個第六段，看第一句，說整個從石油開采一直到市場上的任何一環(huán)都有可能污染環(huán)境，所以A是正確答案;只是說有可能污染環(huán)境，沒說事故，B不對;原文只是給出事實，沒有任何分析，C錯;D錯因為沒說減少污染

　　13. 四個過渡點，名詞surface，代詞thismigration，代詞these natural resources和連詞unless，代詞thesenatural resources是不能用的，因為被反復提到的oil and gas干擾;D的move和D的rise都可以對應this migration，而只有rise才能對的上surface，所以選D不選B

　　14.petroleumformation選項對應原文第一段首句，第一段的倒數(shù)兩句，正確

　　the difficulty選項對應原文第四段第三句，正確

　　petroleum extraction選項對應原文第六段第一句，正確

　　petroleum tends選項對應第二段最后一句，是個細節(jié)，不選

　　current選項不選，原文說了30%-40%

　　accidents選項原文沒說，不選