1995年10月托福阅读全真试题
（A） To illustrate another means of pulling water
（B） To demonstrate why wood is a good building material
（C） To indicate the size of a column of water
（D） To emphasize the strength of cohesive forces in water
13.Where in the passage does the author give an example of a plant with low root pressure？
（A） Lines3-4
（B） Lines5-7
（C） Lines10-11
（D） Lines12-13
Question 14-22
Mass transportation revised the social and economic fabric of the American city in three fundamental ways. It catalyzed physical expansion， it sorted out people and land uses，and it accelerated the inherent instability of urban life. By opening vast areas of unoccupied land for residential expansion，the omnibuses， horse railways， commuter trains， and electric trolleys pulled settled regions outward two to four times more distant from city centers than they were in the pre- modern era. In 1850， for example， the borders of Boston lay scarcely two miles from the old business district； by the turn of the century the radius extended ten miles. Now those who could afford it could live far removed from the old city center and still commute there for work， shopping， and entertainment. The new accessibility of land around the periphery of almost every major city sparked an explosion of real estate development and fueled what we now know as urban sprawl. Between 1890 and 1920， for example， some 250，000 new residential lots were recorded within the borders of Chicago， most of them located in outlying areas. Over the same period，another 550，000 were plotted outside the city limits but within the metropolitan area. Anxious to take advantage of the possibilities of commuting， real estate developers added 800，000 potential building sites to the Chicago region in just thirty years - lots that could have housed five to six million people.
Of course， many were never occupied； there was always a huge surplus of subdivided， but vacant， land around Chicago and other cities. These excesses underscore a feature of residential expansion related to the growth of mass transportation：
urban sprawl was essentially unplanned. It was carried out by thousands of small investors who paid little heed to coordinated land use or to future land users. Those who purchased and prepared land for residential purposes， particularly land near or outside city borders where transit lines and middle-class inhabitants were anticipated， did so to create demand as much as to respond to it. Chicago is a prime example of this process. Real estate subdivision there proceeded much faster than population growth.
14. With which of the following subjects is the passage mainly concerned？
（A） Types of mass transportation.
（B） Instability of urban life.
（C） How supply and demand determine land use.
（D） The effects of mass transportation on urban expansion.
15. The author mentions all of the following as effects of mass transportation on cities EXCEPT
（A） growth in city area
（B） separation of commercial and residential districts.
（C） Changes in life in the inner city.
（D） Increasing standards of living.
16. The word "vast" in line 5 is closest in meaning to
（A） large
（B） basic
（C） new
（D） urban
17. The word "sparked" in line 15 is closest in meaning to
（A） brought about
（B） surrounded
（C） sent out
（D） followed
18. Why does the author mention both Boston and Chicago？
（A） To demonstrate positive and negative effects of growth.
（B） To show that mass transit changed many cities.
（C） To exemplify cities with and without mass transportation.
（D） To contrast their rates of growth
19. The word "potential" in line 23 is closest in meaning to
（A） certain
（B） popular
（C） improved
（D） possible
20. The word "many" in line 25 refers to
（A） people
（B） lots
（C） years
（D） developers
21. According to the passage， what was one disadvantage of residential expansion？
（A） It was expensive.
（B） It happened too slowly.
（C） It was unplanned.
（D） It created a demand for public transportation.
22. The author mentions Chicago in the second paragraph as an example of a city