12月1日托福考情速递

12月1日托福考试落下帷幕，考情速递也已经出炉了！

本月首场考试就给了个下马威加场难度丝毫不减！

阅读

R1

大陆漂移和南极形成引发了气候变化、海平面下降和生态灾难

1. 在过去的数百万年间，地球气候和地形的真正塑造者其实是大陆漂移这一宏大过程。曾经，一片完整的大陆稳居如今南极洲的位置，但渐渐地，澳洲和南美洲与之分离，这一过程始于大约几千万年前，它们逐渐远离了现代的南极洲。澳洲和南美洲缓缓向北迁移，而南极洲则独自向南移动。由于南极洲的地理位置，它成为了地球上最为寒冷的区域，且温暖的洋流也无法抵达，为南极洲提供能量。因此，随着时间的流逝，南极洲愈发寒冷，前方的积雪未融，后方的雪花已至，使得南极洲更加冰冷。然而，在数亿年前，南极洲其实并未有陆地存在，无论是南极还是北极，都未曾被陆地覆盖，因而也没有冰雪。因为真正的冰山需要几百英尺厚的雪层，这在海上是无法形成的。而由于板块的移动，地球经历了巨大的变化，导致部分动植物灭绝，同时也使得海平面下降。

与此同时，南极大陆的出现也极大地影响了地球的气候。随着南极冰盖的增多，越来越多的太阳能量被反射回太空。地球温度的降低使得南极洲的陆地面积不断扩大。反射的阳光越多，地球变得越冷。而且，由于冰盖中的水来自海洋，海平面也随之下降。

全球海平面的下降导致地中海与大西洋几乎完全隔绝，仅剩一条浅浅的海峡，于是地中海应运而生。被陆地环绕的地中海在太阳的直射下迅速蒸发。科学家们发现，大约在几百万年前，地中海曾出现过完全干涸的情况。科考队通过深钻发现，地中海海床下存在巨大的岩矿，这只有在海水完全蒸发后才会出现。无疑，这对当地居民是致命的，导致许多生物死亡。

海洋总是为周围环境提供帮助和改善。作为巨大的水库，海洋能够稳定当地气温。但当海洋消失后，该地区变得极其干旱，周围的植物和森林迅速变为草原。原本生活在当地的生物不得不迁徙或面临死亡。

R2

开花植物的起源

在当今地球，最为显著的植物群体是那些能够绽放花朵的植物。在已知的数十万种植物中，开花植物占据了极大的比例。然而，在考古学的记录中，这类植物的痕迹却相对稀少，原因在于它们较为脆弱，难以长期保存。因此，关于许多开花植物的考古记录可能存在相互矛盾之处。此外，在几亿年前，这些开花植物也相当罕见。

自古代至今，仅有两种植物成功进化出种子，这些种子具有重大意义，使得植物不再局限于潮湿环境或水中生长，而能在土壤中繁衍，从而大大降低了对环境的要求。开花植物都是由早期植物进化而来，随着时间推移，不同植物之间的特性逐渐分化。但植物学家发现，许多开花植物往往与其他植物伴生，这也是它们被定义为开花植物的原因。然而，经过几亿年的演变，许多相关的证据已经消失，使得它们很难再被归类为早期植物。

开花植物在整个生命周期中展现出多种形态，花朵只是吸引花粉传播者，进而与受精体结合。但化石通常只能保存生命周期的某一阶段，而且保存和石化过程常伴随着分裂和被埋入新环境。原有的树干可能保留在原地，覆盖着众多树枝和种子，而树叶可能被吹到更远的地方，花粉则散落得更远。因此，确定一个生命的完整生物周期变得极为困难。

在中国西部，曾发现过最古老的种子化石，被生物学家鉴定为草本植物，拥有叶片和细长的生命结构。其花朵为双性花，兼具繁殖和胚胎结构。同时，在同一地层中还发现了另一种开花植物的化石，可能是单性花植物。

此外，在中国另一地层发现的化石展示了植物根与芽的关联结构，具有双性花的特征。这表明这些古老的开花植物可能是由原始被子植物和化石植物演化而来。目前，科学界仍认为第一批开花植物可能生长在快速生长的杂草中，且其生活环境很可能位于河边，以确保水分能迅速输送到叶子，进行光合作用。

听力

C 1

In the past, students only cared about filling their stomachs when choosing food, but now they attach more importance to nutrition. That's why it's necessary to improve the existing website and turn it into an app so as to better serve the health needs of students. It will be an interesting project.

L1

In the field of zoology, it discussed the habits of animals, especially the nesting behavior of bees. The experiment aimed to explore whether bees have the ability to learn. In the experiment, bees needed to push open the lid to get the bowl filled with sugar water. In the first method, with continuous demonstrations on how to push the lid, 80% of the bees learned it. In the second method, with trained bees demonstrating, 60% of the bees mastered it. Finally, when the trained bees were replaced by robots for demonstration, only a few bees probably learned to push the lid. As for why this was the case, it's still unclear at present.

C 2

There was a discussion about the changes in the size of African bowls. Several speculations include the decrease in population and the changes in dining habits.

L 2

In the aspect of art history, there is a kind of mural that is popular in American communities. It can provide free trips for painters. Then some characteristics of the murals were introduced.

C 3

A student has recently performed excellently and is able to play three instruments simultaneously. The professor hopes that this student will continue to participate in the next performance and suggests learning a special instrument. This instrument doesn't require direct contact with hands, and the use of the left and right ears is different, although it's quite difficult to learn

C 4

A student has recently performed excellently and is able to play three instruments simultaneously. The professor hopes that this student will continue to participate in the next performance and suggests learning a special instrument. This instrument doesn't require direct contact with hands, and the use of the left and right ears is different, although it's quite difficult to learn.

口语

TASK 1独立口语题

Some students prefer to receive a grade for a class that is based on many short assignments. Others prefer to receive a grade that is based on one or two long assignments.

Which do you think is better and why?

TASK 2校园题

Change in Housing Policy for First-Year Students

Reading

Change in Housing Policy for First-Year Students Currently, university policy requires all students to live in dormitories during their first year of studies. Beginning next semester, however, first-year students will have the option of living off-campus. According to the dean of students, the policy change is necessary because the student population has grown in recent years, and there is no longer enough on-campus housing to accommodate all incoming students. The dean pointed out that the change will also allow interested first-year students to save money because they will have the option of finding more affordable housing off-campus.

Listening:

The womanthinksitis a good idea. With the increasing number of students, the capacity of on-campus dormitories has been unable to meet the housing needs of all new students.The housing office is trying to put 3 students in a 2 bedroom suit. Less space will let students feel stressful.

Also, there will be opportunities for first-year students who wish to save money. They canlook for more affordable housing options off-campus. Students whose family live near campus will help them save a lot of money since they could live home.

TASK 3学术讲座题

Cyclic Population Change

As species interact, predator and prey populations within an ecosystem change in size.These changes form a repeating cycle in which population numbers increase and decrease then eventually return to their original size. Then the cycle starts again. This phenomenon, known as cyclic population change, creates an important balance within the ecosystem. During the cycle, small, struggling populations are able recover and growing size. At the same time, large populations of species are prevented from becoming too large. In this manner, the process of cyclic population change keeps the size of both predator and prey populations in effective biological balance.

Listening:

Take wolfs and mice as an example.Mice are prey and wolves are predators.

First phase, lots of mice and less wolfs, the wolfs gets stable food resource to feed on the young and increase the population.Then it comes to the second phase, when the mice population shrinks, the wolfs will have less food resource, and the population of wolfs will decrease as well.In the third phase, the number of mice increased again and it is quite similar to the firstphase. And this continues to go on.

TASK 4 学术讲座题

The lecture is talking about steps involved in constructing zero-energy buildings.

First of all, the building consumes as little energy as possible, saving energy and improving the efficiency of use at the same time. For example, when the building is in a cold area, sealed windows can be used to reduce heat loss. When no heat is lost, less energy is needed to heat the house. Also, some new houses can use renewable energy as the sole source of energy for the house. So you don't have to use traditional energy. For example, some houses have installed solar panels on the ceiling, and then convert the heat of the solar panels to electricity and then power the house.

写作

综合写作

阅读部分：

An image of mysterious prints depicted in an English newspaper in 1855

In 1855 an English newspaper reported that one winter morning, residents of Devon, England, found a mysterious trail over 100 kilometers long of what seemed to be footprints in the snow (see illustration). Whoever or whatever left them had done seemingly impossible things: for example, the prints approached very high walls and then reappeared on the other side. Since 1855, several theories have been proposed to explain the mystery.

First, one possible explanation was proposed in 1855: when people at that time questioned why such prints would appear on either side of a high wall, it was suggested that the prints could have been made by a kangaroo, an animal that is known for its jumping ability, it may seem unlikely that a kangaroo, an Australian animal, would have been found in England. However, according to one report, kangaroos had escaped from a local zoo that winter.

A second theory concerns a hot air balloon. A local scientist had been conducting research with a hot air balloon that winter. The balloon was connected to the ground by a rope that broke, allowing the wind to carry the balloon across Devon, dragging the rope behind. The rope may have had metal bolts-metal fasteners-attached to it that previously held it down. These bolts could have left impressions in the snow, which were then mistaken for footprints.

A third possibility has been proposed by modern historians. According to this theory, the story was simply invented. Although the reporter who wrote the original article claimed he had learned about the mysterious prints from trustworthy and reliable witnesses, that may not have been the case. Newspapers at the time were not always held to the highest standards of accuracy; they sometimes printed misinformation or made-up stories in order to attract readers and increase sales.

听力部分：

In 1855, an English newspaper reported a mysterious trail of over 100 - kilometer - long footprints in the snow in Devon, England. Since then, several theories have been proposed to explain it, but they are all flawed.

The first theory suggested that the prints could have been made by a kangaroo that escaped from a local zoo. However, if these marks were made by kangaroos, they should have been easily recognizable. People would expect to find deep marks left by the powerful claws of kangaroos in the snow, but no one did.

The second theory involved a hot air balloon with a rope and metal bolts that might have left impressions in the snow. Although a balloon could fly over forests, it would be much more difficult for a balloon with a rope trailing behind, because the rope would quickly get tangled in tree branches. Therefore, it's impossible for the hot - air - balloon to fly that far over the forest without being stopped by branches.

The third theory proposed by modern historians is that the story was invented by the newspaper to attract readers. But the source of the news is believed to be a local, credible person who interviewed witnesses. Historians have confirmed that this story does have a real and reliable source. They found a letter sent to the newspaper by a respected resident of Devon. This respected local resident personally interviewed witnesses, collected their detailed descriptions of the footprints, and included these witness descriptions in his letter to the newspaper. This indicates that the story was not made up.

学术讨论

Doctor Achebe

This week we are talking about how different cities choose to either preserve or replace older, historic buildings. Some cities have strict rules about preserving older buildings and homes, especially those with historic architecture. Others tend to encourage new construction to replace structures that are aging and decaying. Should cities try to save historic buildings or replace them with more modern ones?

Kelly

It's important to preserve historic buildings. Keeping original architecture helps preserve a city's culture. Even on the practical side, most big cities get an economic benefit from tourism, and historic buildings like hotels and theaters are big attractions. Who wants to visit a city where all the buildings are glass and steel and look like buildings in every other city?

Paul

I think the preservation of old historic buildings involves a lot of problems,especially in densely populated cities.In modern cities,land is very valuable,and old buildings just do not provide as much living and working space as modern high-rise buildings.Also,they were not built to modern standards,so they may waste energy through inefficient heating and cooling.