1996年5月托福阅读全真试题
Therefore， in the 1950's and 1960's， The baby boom hit an antiquated and inadequate school system. Consequently，the "custodial rhetoric" of the 1930's and early 1940's no longer made sense； that is， keeping youths aged sixteen and older out of the labor market by keeping them in school could no longer be a high priority for an institution unable to find space and staff to teach younger children aged five to sixteen. With the baby boom， the focus of educators and of laymen interested in education inevitably turned toward the lower grades and back to basic academic skills and discipline. The system no longer had much interest in offering nontraditional， new， and extra services to older youths.
13.What does the passage mainly discuss？
（A） The teaching profession during the baby boom
（B） Birth rates in the United States in the 1930's and 1940's
（C） The impact of the baby boom on public education
（D） The role of the family in the 1950's and 1960's
14.The word "it" in line 15 refers to
（A） 1955
（B） economics
（C） the baby boom
（D） value
15.The word "overtaxed" in line 20 is closest in meaning to
（A） well prepared
（B） plentifully supplied
（C） heavily burdened
（D） charged too much
16.The public schools of the 1950's and 1960' faced all of the following problems EXCEPT
（A） a declining number of students
（B） old-fashioned facilities
（C） a shortage of teachers
（D） an inadequate number of school buildings
17.According to the passage， why did teachers leave the teaching profession after the outbreak of the war？
（A） The needed to be retained
（B） They were dissatisfied with the curriculum
（C） Other jobs provided higher salaries
（D） Teaching positions were scarce
18.The word "inadequate" in line 28 is closest in meaning to
（A） deficient
（B） expanded
（C） innovative
（D） specialized
19.The "custodial rhetoric" mentioned in line 29 refers to
（A） raising a family
（B） keeping older individuals in school
（C） running an orderly house hold
（D） maintaining discipline in the classroom
20.The word "inevitably" in line 35 is closest in meaning to
（A） unwillingly
（B） impartially
（C） irrationally
（D） unavoidably
21.Where in the passage does the author refer to the attitude of Americans toward raising a family in the 1950's and 1960's？
（A） Lines 1-4
（B） Lines 16-17
（C） Lines 27-28
（D） Lines 34-36
22.Which of the following best characterizes the organization of the passage？
（A） The second paragraph presents the effect of circumstances described in the first paragraph.
（B） The second paragraph provides a fictional account to illustrate a problem presented in the first paragraph.
（C） The second paragraph argues against a point made in the first paragraph.
（D） The second paragraph introduces a problem not mentioned in the first paragraph.
Questions 23-32
Nineteenth-century writers in the United States，whether they wrote novels， short stories， poems， or plays，were powerfully drawn to the railroad in its golden year. In fact， writes responded to the railroads as soon as the first were built in the 1830's. By the 1850's， the railroad was a major presence in the life of the nation. Writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau saw the railroad both as a boon to democracy and as an object of suspicion. The railroad could be and was a despoiler of nature； furthermore，in its manifestation of speed and noise， it might be a despoiler of human nature as well. By the 1850's and 1860's， there was a great distrust among writer and intellectuals of the rapid industrialization of which the railroad was a leading force. Deeply philosophical historians such as Henry Adams lamented the role that the new frenzy for business was playing in eroding traditional values. A distrust of industry and business continued among writers throughout the rest of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth.
For the most part， the literature in which the railroad plays an important role belong to popular culture rather than to the realm of serious art. One thinks of melodramas， boys' books， thrillers， romances， and the like rather than novels of the first rank. In the railroads' prime years， between 1890 and 1920， there were a few individuals in the United States，most of them with solid railroading experience behind them，who made a profession of writing about railroading-works offering the ambience of stations， yards， and locomotive cabs. These writers， who can genuinely be said to have created a genre， the "railroad novel." are now mostly forgotten， their names having faded from memory. But anyone who takes the time to consult their fertile writings will still find a treasure trove of information about the place of the railroad in the lift of the United States.