托福阅读真题Official 50 Passage 1（七）

托福阅读真题Official 50 Passage 1（七）

American Railroads

In the United States,railroads spearheaded the second phase of the transportation revolution by overtaking the previous importance of canals.The mid-1800s saw a great expansion of American railroads.The major cities east of the Mississippi River were linked by a spiderweb of railroad tracks.Chicago’s growth illustrates the impact of these rail links.In 1849 Chicago was a village of a few hundred people with virtually no rail service.By 1860 it had become a city of 100,000,served by eleven railroads.Farmers to the north and west of Chicago no longer had to ship their grain,livestock,and dairy products down the Mississippi River to New Orleans;they could now ship their products directly east.Chicago supplanted New Orleans as the interior of America’s main commercial hub.

The east-west rail lines stimulated the settlement and agricultural development of the Midwest.By 1860 Illinois,Indiana,and Wisconsin had replaced Ohio,Pennsylvania,and New York as the leading wheat-growing states.Enabling farmers to speed their products to the East,railroads increased the value of farmland and promoted additional settlement.In turn,population growth in agricultural areas triggered industrial development in cities such as Chicago,Davenport(Iowa),and Minneapolis,for the new settlers needed lumber for fences and houses and mills to grind wheat into flour.

Railroads also propelled the growth of small towns along their routes.The Illinois Central Railroad,which had more track than any other railroad in 1855,made money not only from its traffic but also from real estate speculation.Purchasing land for stations along its path,the Illinois Central then laid out towns around the stations.The selection of Manteno,Illinois,as a stop of the Illinois Central,for example,transformed the site from a crossroads without a single house in 1854 into a bustling town of nearly a thousand in 1860,replete with hotels,lumberyards,grain elevators,and gristmills.By the Civil War(1861–1865),few thought of the railroad-linked Midwest as a frontier region or viewed its inhabitants as pioneers.

As the nation’s first big business,the railroads transformed the conduct of business.During the early 1830s,railroads,like canals,depended on financial aid from state governments.With the onset of economic depression in the late 1830s,however,state governments scrapped overly ambitious railroad projects.Convinced that railroads burdened them with high taxes and blasted hopes,voters turned against state aid,and in the early 1840s,several states amended their constitutions to bar state funding for railroads and canals.The federal government took up some of the slack,but federal aid did not provide a major stimulus to railroads before 1860.Rather,part of the burden of finance passed to city and county governments in agricultural areas that wanted to attract railroads.Such municipal governments,for example,often gave railroads rights-of-way,grants of land for stations,and public funds.

The dramatic expansion of the railroad network in the 1850s,however,strained the financing capacity of local governments and required a turn toward private investment,which had never been absent from the picture.Well aware of the economic benefits of railroads,individuals living near them had long purchased railroad stock issued by governments and had directly bought stock in railroads,often paying by contributing their labor to building the railroads.But the large railroads of the 1850s needed more capital than such small investors could generate.Gradually,the center of railroad financing shifted to New York City,and in fact,it was the railroad boom of the 1850s that helped make Wall Street in New York City the nation’s greatest capital market.The stocks of all the leading railroads were traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during the 1850s.In addition,the growth of railroads turned New York City into the center of modern investment firms.The investment firms evaluated the stock of railroads in the smaller American cities and then found purchasers for these stocks in New York City,Philadelphia,Paris,London,Amsterdam,and Hamburg.Controlling the flow of funds to railroads,the investment bankers began to exert influence over the railroads’internal affairs by supervising administrative reorganizations in times of trouble.

Question 13 of 14

Look at the four squares[■]that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.Indeed,the network became so dense that by the 1860s the United States had more miles of railroad tracks than did all the rest of the world.Look at the four squares[■]that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

正确答案：A

题目详解

题型分类：插入句子题

题干分析：考察句子和句子之间的衔接判断，通过Indeed可以推断前文说过the network became dense，而这一句是在进一步阐述有多密集。原句大意：事实上，铁路网非常密，以至于在19世纪60年代，美国拥有比世界上其他地区更多的铁路。

选项分析：

A选项前一句a spiderweb of railroad tracks：铁路蜘蛛网，与插入句dense（密集）呼应。后一句的these rail links与插入句the network became so dense呼应。

B选项逻辑错误，应该先说事实，再说影响（the impact）。

C选项后一句it与前面的Chicago呼应，该处不能插句子。

D选项Chicago与前一句it呼应，该处不能插句子。

Question 14 of 14

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.

The expansion of railroads in the mid-1800s played an important role in the development of the American Midwest.

Answer Choices:

A.

Increased rail line between the East and the Midwest resulted in the rapid rise of major Midwestern cities such as Chicago,as well as in the growth of small towns along railroad routes.

B.

Once Chicago became a major commercial hub with direct rail connections to New Orleans and the East,Midwestern farmers were no longer limited to selling most of their products locally.

C.

Real estate speculation by railroads in the 1850s drove up the value of farmland and encouraged many Midwestern farmers to sell their land and make a new life in the cities.

D.

State government financing of railroads largely ended in the 1830s and was replaced by a combination of local and federal government support and money from private investors.

E.

Both canals and railroads fell out of public favor in the early 1840s,but by the mid-1850s the economic benefits of railroads had once again become generally recognized.

F.

In the 1850s railroads turned to investment banks in New York City for capital to expand and by doing so,helped establish the city as the main financial center in the United States.

正确答案：ADF

题目详解

题型分类：文章总结题

题干分析：选择概括性的正确选项。

选项分析：

A选项为第一段、第二段和第三段的重要信息。the rapid rise of major Midwestern cities such as Chicago对应第一段第四句Chicago’s growth illustrates the impact of these rail links和第二段第一句stimulated the settlement and agricultural development of the Midwest。the growth of small towns along railroad routes对应第三段第一句Railroads also propelled the growth of small towns along their routes。

D选项为第四段、五段前半部分重要信息。largely ended in the 1830s对应第四段第三句in the late 1830s,however,state governments scrapped overly ambitious railroad projects。a combination of local and federal government support对应第四段倒数第三句The federal government took up some of the slack,but federal aid did not provide a major stimulus to railroads before 1860，和第四段倒数第二句。money from private investors出自第五段第一句a turn toward private investment。

F选项为第五段后半部分重要信息，the city as the main financial center对应第五段第三句helped make Wall Street in New York City the nation’s greatest capital market。

B选项对应文章第一段，但文中并没有提到农民在当地出售农作物。

C选项与第三段内容有关，但原文并未提及many Midwestern farmers to sell their land。

E选项与原文第四段、五段内容有关，但文中没有说once again become generally recognized。