本期為大家講解的題目來自TPO54-Passage1。這篇文章的標(biāo)題是The Commercialization of Lumber，講的是在十九世紀(jì)的美國，木材實現(xiàn)商業(yè)化的過程。

　　我們知道托福閱讀的很多題目在原文中是可以找到解題的暗示點的，比如在這篇閱讀里就有幾個有意思的題。

　　8.The word "facilitate" in the passage is closest in meaning to

　　A. expand

　　B. ease

　　C. transform

　　D. permit

　　第8題是一個詞匯題，讓考生選一個與"facilitate"在語境中意思最為接近的單詞。了解托福的考生們都知道，托福閱讀的詞匯題都是要結(jié)合語境做題的，那我們就來先看看這里的語境吧。

　　Paragraph 4: For industrial lumbering to succeed, a way had to be found to neutralize the effects of the seasons on production. Traditionally, cutting took place in the winter, when snow and ice made it easier to drag logs on sleds or sleighs to the banks of streams. Once the streams and lakes thawed, workers rafted the logs to mills, where they were cut into lumber in the summer. If nature did not cooperate—if the winter proved dry and warm, if the spring thaw was delayed—production would suffer. To counter the effects of climate on lumber production, loggers experimented with a variety of techniques for transporting trees out of the woods. In the 1870s, loggers in the Great Lakes states began sprinkling water on sleigh roads, giving them an artificial ice coating to facilitate travel. The ice reduced the friction and allowed workers to move larger and heavier loads.

　　本段主要講的是季節(jié)與木材生產(chǎn)之間的關(guān)系，原文中提到了三個季節(jié)，“Traditionally, cutting took place in the winter, when snow and ice made it easier to drag logs on sleds or sleighs to the banks of streams. Once the streams and lakes thawed, workers rafted the logs to mills, where they were cut into lumber in the summer.”，其中正常情況下，伐木會在冬天進(jìn)行，因為雪和冰可以使得用雪橇更容易將原木拖到河流岸邊，這里需要注意關(guān)鍵詞“snow and ice made it easier to drag”。

　　但如果大自然不配合的話，“If nature did not cooperate—if the winter proved dry and warm, if the spring thaw was delayed—production would suffer.”比如冬天如果又干燥又暖和，那就不好拖了。這里其實是在提出問題，下文需要解決問題，解決問題的一種方法就是“sprinkling water on sleigh roads, giving them an artificial ice coating to facilitate travel”，即“在雪道上灑水，鋪上一層人造冰”。這里的關(guān)鍵詞是“an artificial ice coating to facilitate travel”，而上文的關(guān)鍵詞是“snow and ice made it easier to drag”，解決問題的原理都是要利用ice，所以我們可以知道，“facilitate”就是“made it easier”的意思，故第8題詞匯題答案選B. ease。

　　另外，本段還出了一個句子插入題。

　　13.Look at the four squares [■]to add the sentence to the passage.

　　Some sleighs were capable of carrying over 100 tons worth of timber.

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　Paragraph 4: For industrial lumbering to succeed, a way had to be found to neutralize the effects of the seasons on production. Traditionally, cutting took place in the winter, when snow and ice made it easier to drag logs on sleds or sleighs to the banks of streams. Once the streams and lakes thawed, workers rafted the logs to mills, where they were cut into lumber in the summer. ■ If nature did not cooperate—if the winter proved dry and warm, if the spring thaw was delayed—production would suffer. To counter the effects of climate on lumber production, loggers experimented with a variety of techniques for transporting trees out of the woods. ■ In the 1870s, loggers in the Great Lakes states began sprinkling water on sleigh roads, giving them an artificial ice coating to facilitate travel. ■ The ice reduced the friction and allowed workers to move larger and heavier loads. ■

　　做題之前我們先來看看作者在前文使用的一種表達(dá)方法吧。

　　Paragraph 1: In nineteenth-century America, practically everything that was built involved wood. Pine was especially attractive for building purposes. It is durable and strong, yet soft enough to be easily worked with even the simplest of hand tools. It also floats nicely on water, which allowed it to be transported to distant markets across the nation. The central and northern reaches of the Great Lakes states—Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota—all contained extensive pine forests as well as many large rivers for floating logs into the Great Lakes, from where they were transported nationwide.

　　首先在第一段中，作者提到“Pine was especially attractive for building purposes.” 意思是“松木在建筑用途中尤為受歡迎。”句中的“attractive”是一個評價性詞匯，意思是“有吸引力的”，我們把形容詞轉(zhuǎn)換成名詞“attractiveness”，即“吸引力”，這是一個抽象名詞，于是作者在下文就集中列舉寫了松木在哪些具體方面有“吸引力”，如“It is durable and strong, yet soft enough to be easily worked with even the simplest of hand tools. It also floats nicely on water, which allowed it to be transported to distant markets across the nation.”

　　Paragraph 3: The commercialization of lumbering was in part the product of technological change. The early, thick saw blades tended to waste a large quantity of wood, with perhaps as much as a third of the log left behind on the floor as sawdust or scrap. In the 1870s, however, the British-invented band saw, with its thinner blade, became standard issue in the Great Lakes states' lumber factories. Meanwhile, the rise of steam-powered mills streamlined production by allowing for the more efficient, centralized, and continuous cutting of lumber. Steam helped to automate a variety of tasks, from cutting to the carrying away of waste. Mills also employed steam to heat log ponds, preventing them from freezing and making possible year-round lumber production.

　　在第三段中，作者提到“The early, thick saw blades tended to waste a large quantity of wood, with perhaps as much as a third of the log left behind on the floor as sawdust or scrap.”，前半句意思是“早先的粗鋸條容易浪費大量的木頭”，其中“quantity” 又是一個抽象名詞，意思是“數(shù)量”，浪費了大量的木頭到底是浪費多少呢，后半句接著說“as much as a third of the log…”，即大約有三分之一的原木變成了鋸末或碎片。

　　后面還有一句，“Steam helped to automate a variety of tasks, from cutting to the carrying away of waste.”意思是“蒸汽幫助許多任務(wù)實現(xiàn)自動化，從伐木到帶走廢料。”句中的“variety”也是抽象名詞，意思是“種類”，蒸汽實現(xiàn)了各項任務(wù)的自動化，具體是哪些任務(wù)呢?后半句提到的伐木和運走廢料就是任務(wù)的具體內(nèi)容了。

　　從以上這些地方我們可以看出，閱讀文章的作者在好幾處都使用了從抽象到具體的表達(dá)手法，這也可以看成是對做句子插入題的一個小提示吧。那接下來我們再回到句子插入題。

　　13.Look at the four squares [■]to add the sentence to the passage.

　　Some sleighs were capable of carrying over 100 tons worth of timber.

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　Paragraph 4: For industrial lumbering to succeed, a way had to be found to neutralize the effects of the seasons on production. Traditionally, cutting took place in the winter, when snow and ice made it easier to drag logs on sleds or sleighs to the banks of streams. Once the streams and lakes thawed, workers rafted the logs to mills, where they were cut into lumber in the summer. ■ If nature did not cooperate—if the winter proved dry and warm, if the spring thaw was delayed—production would suffer. To counter the effects of climate on lumber production, loggers experimented with a variety of techniques for transporting trees out of the woods. ■ In the 1870s, loggers in the Great Lakes states began sprinkling water on sleigh roads, giving them an artificial ice coating to facilitate travel. ■ The ice reduced the friction and allowed workers to move larger and heavier loads. ■

　　在已知句“Some sleighs were capable of carrying over 100 tons worth of timber.”中，解題的信號詞是“100 tons”。剛才我們做詞匯題的時候讀到過，冬天干燥溫暖時，木材生產(chǎn)就會遭殃。這里依舊是先提出問題，下一句解決問題。“To counter the effects of climate on lumber production, loggers experimented with a variety of techniques for transporting trees out of the woods.”， 為了對抗氣候在原木生產(chǎn)中的影響，伐木工人嘗試了很多不同的方法來將樹木運送出樹林。“a variety of techniques”，各種各樣的方法是抽象信息，具體方法就是下一句提到的“sprinkling water on sleigh roads, giving them an artificial ice coating”，即灑水、鋪一層人造冰。

　　下一句進(jìn)一步解釋，“The ice reduced the friction and allowed workers to move larger and heavier loads.”冰減輕了摩擦，讓運輸變得便利，并使工人能移動更大更重的貨物。“larger and heavier loads”，“更大更重”是抽象信息，到底是多大多重呢，這里正好可以銜接題目里的“100 tons”，即100噸那么重，故句子插入題的最佳位置是第四個■。考生們在做題過程中也要善于發(fā)現(xiàn)上下文的提示哦～