2018年12月1日托福阅读真题+题目+答案：The Age of Sailing in Europe

2018年12月1日托福阅读真题+题目+答案：The Age of Sailing in Europe

Sailing began long before ships were capable of crossing entire oceans. Phoenicians are known to have sailed from the area of present-day Lebanon and Israel to the Atlantic Ocean and down the west coast of Africa over two thousand years ago. But the Phoenicians' boats (as well as those of other early Mediterranean sailors) were primitive in design and difficult to sail. These early galley ships had one mast and a single square sail, which meant they could sail well only downwind. Early sailors also lacked any reliable means of navigation on open seas. Once out of sight of land, sailors had nothing but the stars to guide them home, and without accurate timepieces and navigational tools, navigating by the night sky was a daunting and uncertain prospect. At that time, almost all travel by sea was within a single biogeographic province: from one end of the Mediterranean Sea to the other, or around the Baltic Sea, or from one South Pacific island to the next.

1.Paragraph 1 suggests that, for early sailors, watching the positions of the stars was

A not a reliable method to find their way on the open sea

B a means of navigation handed down from the ancient Phoenicians

C an acceptable substitute for accurate timepieces and navigational tools

D the only way of guiding a ship from the Mediterranean to the Baltic Sea

“Blue water sailors"- -those willing to sail out of sight of land- -had to wait for several major developments in sailing technology before they could make open ocean voyages with any reasonable expectation of being able to return home. European sailors received an important tool when the compass (a Chinese invention) became available, probably in the tenth century A.D. Together with maps, the t compass allowed sailors to break away from coastal routes and set out across the open ocean without losing track of where home lay. But if they were to make long voyages safely and regularly, sailors also needed boats they could control in contrary winds. Single-masted boats with square sails hanging perpendicular to the boat cannot sail upwind efficiently because the sail cannot be adjusted over a wide range of angles to the wind. Technical improvements that began to address this problem included arranging the sail fore-and-aft (that is, with the sail parallel to the length of the ship) and using several sails on several masts or a triangular sail at the front of the boat. Replacement of the ancient steering oar at the rear of the ship with a much larger and more easily controllable rudder board also helped provide better control. Once these crucial innovations had been made around 1300 A.D., ship design evolved rapidly and sailors began to set their sights on more distant shores.

2.The word "contrary" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A constant

B strong

C changing

D opposing

3.According to paragraph 2, which of the following was an improvement made to boats that allowed sailors to better manage strong winds?

A Sails were made of stronger materials in order to withstand the force of wind.

B The position of the sails in relation to the rest of the ship was changed.

C Ship designs changed to increase the overall size of ships.

D The ship's steering mechanism was moved from the back of the ship to the front.

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