托福阅读常考话题及练习题推荐四：工业革命（3）

1   托福阅读常考话题：工业革命练习题

Paragraph 5: The steam engine was quickly put to use in several industries in Britain. It drained mines and made possible the production of ever more coal to feed steam engines elsewhere. The steam power plant began to replace waterpower in the cotton-spinning mills as well as other industries during the 1780s, contributing to a phenomenal rise in industrialization. The British iron industry was radically transformed. The use of powerful, steam-driven bellows in blast furnaces helped iron makers switch over rapidly from limited charcoal to unlimited coke (which is made from coal) in the smelting of pig iron (the process of refining impure iron) after 1770. In the 1780s, Henry Cort developed the puddling furnace, which allowed pig iron to be refined in turn with coke. Cort also developed heavy-duty, steam-powered rolling mills, which were capable of producing finished iron in every shape and form.

9.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 5 as a development that greatly changed the production of iron?

A. The use of coke in the smelting of pig iron

B. The invention of a furnace that used coke to refine iron

C. The discovery of a method for increasing the production of charcoal

D. The invention of powerful machinery that could shape, form, and finish iron

Paragraph 6: The economic consequence of these technical innovations in steam power was a great boom in the British iron industry. In 1740 annual British iron production was only 17,000 tons, but by 1844, with the spread of coke smelting and the impact of Cort’s inventions, it had increased to 3,000,000 tons. This was a truly amazing expansion. Once scarce and expensive, iron became cheap, basic, and indispensable to the economy.

10.In paragraph 6, why does the author compare British iron production in 1740 with that of 1844?

A. To contrast the amounts of iron needed in Britain in two different centuries

B. To illustrate how easy it was to make money using Cort’s invention

C. To demonstrate the tremendous growth of the iron industry in Britain

D. To demonstrate how inexpensive coal had become

11.The word “indispensable” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. advantageous

B. essential

C. less costly

D. highly stimulating

12.According to the passage, which of the following is true about the development of steam power?

A. The steam engine’s basic technology can be traced back to medieval Britain when steam-powered machinery was being tried in farming activities.

B. Although Russia and Britain developed steam-power technology simultaneously, Britain was first to try it in a large-scale industry due to a greater need for iron.

C. Steam-power technology was largely the result of improvements developed to increase the supply of coal as a primary source of energy.

D. Adaptations to steam engines required for their use in cotton-spinning mills led to radical developments in machinery used in the iron industry.

By the eighteenth century, Britain was experiencing a severe shortage of energy. [■]Because of the growth of population, most of the great forests of medieval Britain had long ago been replaced by fields of grain and hay. [■]Wood was in ever-shorter supply, yet it remained tremendously important. [■]It served as the primary source of heat for all homes and industries and as a basic raw material. [■]Processed wood (charcoal) was the fuel that was mixed with iron ore in the blast furnace to produce pig iron (raw iron). The iron industry’s appetite for wood was enormous, and by 1740 the British iron industry was stagnating. Vast forests enabled Russia to become the world’s leading producer of iron, much of which was exported to Britain. But Russia’s potential for growth was limited too, and in a few decades Russia would reach the barrier of inadequate energy that was already holding England back.

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

Energy had not been a problem for Britain in the past because it relied on a rich source of energy: its vast forests.

14.Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THERR 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.

By the eighteenth century, Britain was experiencing a severe shortage of energy.

Answer Choices

A.The development of blast furnaces for the manufacture of pig iron made the Britain less dependent on wood.

B.After the medieval period, both Russia and Britain began to look for alternative sources of energy, such as steam power, in order to maintain the growth of their iron industries.

C.Two inventors designed the first steam engines in order to overcome the disadvantages of relying on horses to power the pumps used in mining coal.

D.James Watt was able to improve upon the efficiency of the steam engine and make it useful to several industries.

E.The puddling furnace increased the availability of charcoal to a variety of industries from cotton to iron production.

F.Steam power increased coal production, which in turn allowed extraordinary growth of the iron industry and the British economy.