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今天考完托福，很多考生出来惊叹：
“我今天居然遇到听力加试了”
“我怎么感觉阅读比听力难诶”
“我平时做的可能都是假题”
“我的暑假注定要和托福在一起啦”
华叔想告诉你，你的感觉也许有挫败，但是一场托福考试下来，你真的会非常明白你备考的问题出在哪里。
这是科学测试的目的，检验考生并帮助考生更好做出改变。
比如，托福学习总时长是否够，这是刚性指标，到了就是到了，不到就是不到，它一定会让你在一场托福考试结束之后深有感触。
再比如，平时做题的题量/难度/时间控制是否到位，重复的次数和频率是否到位，不要小看这些，它都会体现在你提高或下降的每一分里。
今天华叔跟各位分享一篇听力和一篇阅读。
地质学讲座
Isthmus of Panama
这是A卷听力的最难的一篇讲座，地质学，重复的是2015-05-30大陆真题。
下面是这篇答案，考到这篇的来对。下次考托前，你应该参加我们的集训噢。
1.What is the lecture mainly about?
How the formation of the Isthmus of Panama helped start an ice age
2.According to the professor, what was probably the initial effect of the new land bridge between North and South America?
The flow of warm water increased along the eastern coast of North America.
3.The professor notes that trade winds from Africa carry water vapor from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. What does this point explain?
Click on 2 answers.
Why the Pacific Ocean is less salty than the Atlantic Ocean
Why the density of water in the Atlantic Ocean increased
4.According to professor, how could increased precipitation in the Northern Hemisphere have contributed to the cooling of the Arctic region?
It promoted the formation of sea ice, which reflected sunlight.
5.Why does the professor mention a fluctuation in tilt of Earth’s axis?
To suggest a possible contributing factor to the Arctic glaciation of three million years ago
6.What can be inferred about the woman when she says this?
“The Isthmus of Panama? That little strip that connects North and South America? But I mean, isn't that in the tropics?”
She is confused by the claim that the professor is making.
今天的考试，很多考生反映阅读难度明显增大，首次超过听力对人的折磨。华叔专业团队从考中的文章中做了比对，发现的确如此。
例如这篇The Importance of Mail Service to the Early United States(早期美国邮政业的重要性)，重复2016.07.09的首考真题，并在2017.04.01和2017.12.09重复考查，就是一篇高难度的文章。
下面，华叔带领考生做专业的快速阅读，迅速摸清托福文章的写法和题目设置原理。
难点预告
生词量大，长难句多，用语抽象，表达文学化
The Importance of Mail Service to the Early United States
早期美国邮政业的重要性
全文只分四段，按照托福学术文章的常见结构打开，即首段引出研究对象，第二段因果分析(邮政业为什么会发展)，第三&四段论述结果影响（对商业和交通运输业的促进）。
首段只有1句话，是超长的长难句，只用于引题，并未做出题，考生只需明白作者此处的用意，不需过多纠缠。该长难句如下给出，可做简单欣赏。
After the formation of the United States as a republic in the late eighteenth century, a series of interlocking improvements increased the circulation of information, in velocity and volume, in ways that encouraged and facilitated social mobility, economic ambition, and the willingness of persons to do business with strangers at a distance.
第2段，进入主体段落，因果分析邮政系统为什么会快速发展。在这里很多考生考后给出回忆说是和政治有关，但如何有关，却无法详细地“前因后果”地给出连贯叙述。记住：因果是考点，因果关系的连贯展开是考生务必要掌握的。
整个第2段，遵从“因果传递”、且“由表入里”的因果分析结构。邮局系统繁盛的原因，首先是关于邮局系统的两个早期决议使得邮局系统成为一个巨大的国家整合力量(an extraordinary force for national integration)，那就是，首先，任何新闻报纸都可以极其便宜便利地通过邮局系统发送(ready access to the post at trivial expense)，其次，只要有民众申请修建新的邮政路线和邮政局，那么国会都无条件批准(never turning down citizen petitions)。所以邮局系统的发展并不是源自商业考虑(commercial considerations)，因为如上所述，报纸投递极其便宜，基本都是免费的，所以邮局得靠对私人信件征收高额邮资来补贴报纸流通，所以根本不赚钱。那为什么要这样呢？原因继续深入分析，且回扣这段主题——邮局系统是整个国家的整合力量——很抽象，且看下句分析。
It was the widespread republican suspicion of elected politicians, gathered in the nation’s far-off capital in Washington, that fostered the popular conviction that liberty itself depended on cheaply spreading the news.
这是一个强调句，用以表达作者的强烈观点。考生要注意，强调句中夹杂着抽象的插入语，考生不要被从句子主干中分心而走偏。整句话的意思是说，正是这种美国共和人士对被选举出来的政客的普遍怀疑，才促使民众相信自由本身得建立在廉价的信息流通上。插入语的内容是在解释为什么“美国共和人士对被选举出来的政客的普遍怀疑”，因为政客聚集在偏远的首都华盛顿，不知道他们在那里干什么，所以必须得发展廉价的新闻流通，这才是美国邮政系统发展起来的根本原因，不是为了赚钱而是为了满足政治需求。下句话进一步做具体罗列各种政治上的需求，这里考查了EXCEPT题。先看这句，又是一个抽象的长难句：
Political rivals on the national stage required information about their enemies and their enemies’ constituents all over the nation, state and local officials demanded frequent communications from their representatives in Congress, and common voters—especially as the right to vote expanded to include all adult white males—had to be informed and inflamed about their favorite candidates and political parties.
整句有三个并列，一是政治上的竞争对手需要了解敌手和敌手选民的信息(constituents有选民的意思)，二是州和地方官员需要和他们在国会的代表们频繁交流信息，三是普通选民(common voters)需要对他们最喜爱的候选人和政党进行信息了解和情感激起(to be informed and inflamed)。
此句出成第7题In paragraph 2, which of the following is NOT a reason that newspapers was important to politics?
○Political competitors could obtain information about one another
○Local leaders could obtain information from their national representatives
○Voters could acquire information about individuals running for office
○Politicians could circulate arguments in favor of expadnding voting rights
正确答案选D。
第3段，文章从“原因论述”进入“结果影响”，段首第一句就表明了这种结构转换：If the circulation of news was encouraged for political purposes, it nevertheless revolutionized business as well.(如果说新闻的流通是出于政治目的的考虑，那么新闻的流通也变革了商业)。
下句具体展开为：Those newspapers were filled with prices and other market-related information, subjecting buyers and sellers everywhere to real market forces; information worked like an electric current in the capitalist free-market system, flipping switches and setting up situations.
整句话前半部分写实，后半部分写虚(打比方类比)，意思是：报纸里充斥着价格和其他市场相关的信息，报纸把任何地方的买方卖方暴露于真实的市场作用力；报纸信息就像资本主义自由市场系统里的电流，啪地翻转开关设定处境。由于篇幅关系此段后文不做具体解析了。
第4段，继续论述邮政业发展所带来的结果影响，段首主题句为：Delivering the mail, of course, turned out to be a major impetus behind campaigns for improved transportation.(邮局投递业的发展是一个巨大推动力，推动了交通的改进)。
然后紧跟一个长难句做具体展开：
Better postal service depended on the condition of local roads, which stimulated local officials and taxpayers (some more than others) to clear the roads, drain the mud holes, and build bridges and drainage tunnels where small, erratic streams threatened to cut off delivery for days or weeks at a time.
这句话也是句子简化题的所在考句。整句话按照英文原有的逻辑流动为：既然更好的邮政服务取决于当地道路的状况，那么这就激起了当地的官员和纳税人去清理道路、排掉泥坑里的水、并且在切断交通的地方建起桥梁和排水道（切断交通的地方是受不稳定的小溪流所威胁而中断交通数天或数周）。
对应第10题句子简化题：
Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
○Depending on the condition of local roads and the existence of bridges and drainage tunnels, some local areas had better postal service than others
○Postal delivery could be cut off for days or even weeks if local officials did not collect enough taxes to build bridges and improve road conditions
○To increase the speed and efficiency of the postal service, local officials and taxpayers became motivated to improve and maintain the condition of roads
○In spite of the best efforts of taxpayers and local officials to clear roads, mud holes in local raods and lack of bridges slowed postal service considerably
正确答案选C。
总结
篇幅字数限制，我们就演示到这里。可以看出，托福学术文章通常以“因果分析”和“结果影响”为主，因此因果关系是重要的考点。此外，还会夹杂对比、引用、举例、列数字等其他表现方式，这些方式都是为了证明主题，因此会被考查成“作者目的题/主题题”，在本篇中就考到了为什么作者要提到“法国北部的农民和美国乡村农民做比较”，或者叫做为什么作者要引用“法国贵族参观美国时发出的感慨”。而所有这些思路都是建立在语言的承载上，所以长难句一定要一次性顺读成功，这是是所有高分/满分考生必须做到的。所有的长难句都是绝好的语言考试出题点，要么被考查成“句子简化题”，要么“细节题”或“否定细节题”，如本文所示。
词汇题
explicit = clearly stated
integration = unity
suspicion = distrust
lucrative = payable
