托福阅读9.10

Official 52 Passage 1 Stream Deposits

A large, swift stream or river can carry all sizes of particles, from clay to boulders. When the current slows down, its competence (how much it can carry) decreases and the stream deposits the largest particles in the streambed. If current velocity continues to decrease-as a flood wanes, for example-finer particles settle out on top of the large ones. Thus, a stream sorts its sediment according to size. A waning flood might deposit a layer of gravel, overlain by sand and finally topped by silt and clay.

Streams also sort sediment in the downstream direction. Many mountain streams are choked with boulders and cobbles, but far downstream, their deltas are composed mainly of fine silt and clay. This downstream sorting is curious because stream velocity generally increases in the downstream direction.（解释）

第一段就是讲了两个情况

Competence increases with velocity, so a river should be able to transport larger particles than its tributaries carry. One explanation for downstream sorting is that abrasion wears away the boulders and cobbles to sand and silt as the sediment moves downstream over the years. Thus, only the fine sediment reaches the lower parts of most rivers.

Particles tend to be largest upstream and smallest downstream, probably because water flowing downstream erodes fine sediment from the larger particles.

这个选项要读懂后半部分，读的时候就要分别概括段意

第二段

 

A stream deposits its sediment in three environments: Alluvial fans and deltas form where stream gradient (angle of incline) suddenly decreases as a stream enters a flat plain, a lake, or the sea; floodplain deposits accumulate on a floodplain adjacent to the stream channel; and channel deposits form in the stream channel itself.

Bars, which are elongated mounds of sediment, are transient features that form in the stream channel and on the banks. They commonly form in one year and erode the next.(这个小半句可能就是说这个只会保留一年)Rivers used for commercial navigation must be recharted frequently because bars shift from year to year. Imagine a winding stream. The water on the outside of the curve moves faster than the water on the inside. The stream erodes its outside bank because the current`s inertia drives it into the outside bank. At the same time, the slower water on the inside point of the bend deposits sediment, forming a point bar. （这里说了一堆是是在说一个形成过程，后文又说了另一种bar）A mid-channel bar is a sandy and gravelly deposit that forms in the middle of a stream channel.

难一点的作用题，要结合段落去看

 

Rivers that flow through arid and semiarid mountainous regions tend to form alluvial fans at bends in the river.

这种选项就是细节

A wide variety of deposits, including bars, alluvial fans, and deltas, are formed as a result of an increase in the speed of the downstream current.

这个选项是错误

Bars commonly shift from being point bars on a river bank to being mid-channel bars.

这个显然是胡说

Official 51 Passage 2  Population Growth in Nineteenth-Century Europe

According to paragraph 1, which of the following is true about Europe in the nineteenth century?
A A large increase in food production led to industrialization.
B Population changes occurred at the same pace in the major regions.
C The standard of living rose to the level of that in most parts of the world.
D The tremendous rise in population led to greater agricultural output in every region.

注意这个题目是选对的