托福 新托福 06 - William Smith
题目
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
6.The word “virtually” in the passage is closest in meaning to
  • A.possibly
  • B.absolutely
  • C.surprisingly
  • D.nearly
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    In 1769 in a little town in Oxfordshire, England, a child with the very ordinary name of William Smith was born into the poor family of a village blacksmith. He received rudimentary village schooling, but mostly he roamed his uncle's farm collecting the fossils that were so abundant in the rocks of the Cotswold hills. When he grew older, William Smith taught himself surveying from books he bought with his small savings, and at the age of eighteen he was apprenticed to a surveyor of the local parish. He then proceeded to teach himself geology, and when he was twenty-four, he went to work for the company that was excavating the Somerset Coal Canal in the south of England.

    This was before the steam locomotive, and canal building was at its height. The companies building the canals to transport coal needed surveyors to help them find the coal deposits worth mining as well as to determine the best courses for the canals. This job gave Smith an opportunity to study the fresh rock outcrops created by the newly dug canal. He later worked on similar jobs across the length and breadth of England, all the while studying the newly revealed strata and collecting all the fossils he could find. Smith used mail coaches to travel as much as 10,000 miles per year. In 1815 he published the first modern geological map, “A Map of the Strata of England and Wales with a Part of Scotland,” a map so meticulously researched that it can still be used today.

    In 1831 when Smith was finally recognized by the Geological Society of London as the “father of English geology,” it was not only for his maps but also for something even more important. Ever since people had begun to catalog the strata in particular outcrops, there had been the hope that these could somehow be used to calculate geological time. But as more and more accumulations of strata were cataloged in more and more places, it became clear that the sequences of rocks sometimes differed from region to region and that no rock type was ever going to become a reliable time marker throughout the world. Even without the problem of regional differences, rocks present a difficulty as unique time markers. Quartz is quartz—a silicon ion surrounded by four oxygen ions—there’s no difference at all between two-million-year-old Pleistocene quartz and Cambrian quartz created over 500 million years ago.

    As he collected fossils from strata throughout England, Smith began to see that the fossils told a different story from the rocks. Particularly in the younger strata, the rocks were often so similar that he had trouble distinguishing the strata, but he never had trouble telling the fossils apart. While rock between two consistent strata might in one place be shale and in another sandstone, the fossils in that shale or sandstone were always the same. Some fossils endured through so many millions of years that they appear in many strata, but others occur only in a few strata, and a few species had their births and extinctions within one particular stratum. Fossils are thus identifying markers for particular periods in Earth's history.

    Not only could Smith identify rock strata by the fossils they contained, he could also see a pattern emerging: certain fossils always appear in more ancient sediments, while others begin to be seen as the strata become more recent. By following the fossils, Smith was able to put all the strata of England's earth into relative temporal sequence. About the same time, Georges Cuvier made the same discovery while studying the rocks around Paris. Soon it was realized that this principle of faunal (animal) succession was valid not only in England or France but virtually everywhere. It was actually a principle of floral succession as well, because plants showed the same transformation through time as did fauna. Limestone may be found in the Cambrian or—300 million years later—in the Jurassic strata, but a trilobite—the ubiquitous marine arthropod that had its birth in the Cambrian—will never be found in Jurassic strata, nor a dinosaur in the Cambrian.

    1769年,在英国牛津郡的一个小镇上,一个小男孩儿出生在村里一户穷铁匠家,他的名字很普通,叫做威廉•史密斯。史密斯只在村里的学校接受了最基本的教育,大部分的时间都是在他叔叔的农场里搜寻化石,这些化石在科茨沃尔德山的岩石里是很常见的。长大后,他开始用微薄的积蓄买书自学测量,18岁的时候,史密斯成为了当地教区测量员的助理。后来,他又自学了地质学,24岁的时候,他开始为挖掘英格兰南部Somerset Coal运河的那家公司工作。 那是在蒸汽火车发明之前,运河建筑正处于顶峰时期。致力于开掘运河来运输煤的公司需要测量员帮助他们探寻值得挖掘的煤矿的地址以及最佳的运河路线。这份工作为史密斯提供了机会,使他能够接触和学习那些因为运河开掘而露出地面的新鲜岩层。后来他仍从事类似的工作,行遍全国,不断地研究那些新出现的地层,同时收集他所能发现的化石。史密斯乘着邮件马车每年行进将近1万英里。1815年,他绘制了第一张现代地质学地图——《英格兰、威尔士及部分苏格兰地区地层地图》,这张地质地图绘制得非常精确,直到现在仍有参考价值。 1831年,史密斯最终被伦敦地质学会认可,并赋予他“英国地质学之父”的称号,这不仅仅是因为那张地图,而且是为了其他更重要的原因。从人们开始对露出地面的特殊岩层进行分类的时候起,大家就开始认为这些岩石可能会以某种方式被用于计算地质年代。但是,随着各地越来越多的岩层的积累和分类,岩层顺序也因地区的不同而不同,因此,全世界没有一种特定的岩层能被认作是划分地质年代的标志。即便排除区域差异的影响,岩石作为确定年代的标记还是存在一些难题。石英就是石英---四个氧离子包围一个硅离子的化合物——而200万年前更新世的石英和5亿年前寒世纪的石英并无差别。 史密斯在全英国的岩层中不断搜集化石,后来他发现化石所反映的史实和岩石反映的完全不同,尤其是那些新产生的地层里的岩石,这些岩石非常类似,不易于区分地层。而区分其中的化石对史密斯来说简直就是轻而易举。在同一地层中发现的岩石可能在这片地层中属于泥板岩,而在另一片地层中可能是砂岩,而在那些泥板岩或者砂岩中的化石往往都是一样的。有的化石经历了数百年万之久,它们存在于很多岩层中,但有的化石只存在于部分地层,还有一部分生物的化石从出现至灭绝都只出现在一个特定的岩层中。因此,化石才是真正划分地球历史特定年代的指针。 史密斯不仅可以通过岩石中包含的化石来识别地层,而且可以看出他们显露出来的模式:一些特定的化石往往出现在更为久远的沉积物当中,而其他的化石则可以在距今年代较近的地层中发现。通过追踪化石,史密斯将英国范围内所有的地层进行了彼此出现时间的排序。同时,乔治•居维叶在研究巴黎周围的岩石时也得出了同样的发现。很快人们就开始认识到,这种动物物种的延续性是符合逻辑的,不仅仅是在英国、法国,而实际上在全世界范围都是适用的。事实上,这一原则同样适用于证实植物的延续性,因为植物和动物一样,它们的化石也显示了时间的推移。人类有可能在侏罗纪时期的地层中发现寒世纪或者3亿年后的石灰岩,但绝不可能在侏罗纪时期地层中发现三叶虫化石(三叶虫是寒世纪非常普遍的水生节肢动物),也不可能发现寒世纪时期的恐龙化石。

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    最新提问
    • wx_6697
      觉得B C 意思一样,不知道选哪个
    • wx_5576
      这道题C为什么对,E为什么不对?
    • wx_5576
      B为什么不能选啊?
    • wx_6697
      TPO30 passage 2 Q5我选的 D,不明白为啥不对?
    • wx_6697
      鑫哥,TPO6passage3Q5 答案是给错了吗?好多人都选A
    • wx_6697
      这题也很容易选错选成了D
    • wx_6697
      这道题A为什么错了
    • 芊儿
      为什么这道题不选c??a中的variety不是应该对应文中的differentiating 吗??求解!
    • wx_1000
      这道题不选E是因为太细节了吗
    • 王金阁
      这个题为什么不选C啊。。。
    • 芊儿
      这道题的D选项不是和文中的better able to reproduce in open settings相对应么??
    • 风荨火
      有大佬解释一下这个为啥选D嘛?
    • 以沫
      请问这个D 在哪里提现?为什么D错?
    • 芊儿
      第六题 的C选择为什么不对,感觉A是明显驳斥啊...
    • wx_6697
      鑫哥,这道题D是从哪里看出来的
    • wx_6697
      这题选的A,根据是Joly’s calculations clearly supported those geologists who insisted on an age for Earth far in excess of a few million years.想问鑫哥为啥不选A
    • wx_6697
      这题我选的是C依据是into a new habitat outside of its natural range, it may adapt to the new environment and leave its enemies behind.C为啥错了呢?鑫哥
    • wx_8861
      F选项的weather-related destruction在哪里体现了呢?原文最后一段的开头Among the costs里的costs是不是打错了?应该是coast?
    • wx_6697
      求问这道题B为啥不选,原文依据:viable seeds of pioneer species can be found in large numbers on some forest floors.
    • 与托福的斗争史
      与托福的斗争史 去解答 去解答
      这题为什么选C?
    • 小雨淅沥哗啦的下
      小雨淅沥哗啦的下 去解答 去解答
      B哪里错了
    • 小雨淅沥哗啦的下
      小雨淅沥哗啦的下 去解答 去解答
      B为啥不对
    • 李浩然
      B选项错误,是因为残缺么?
    • wx_100
      请问在做题的时候如何排除c呢。看了答案,感觉是该选a的,但是当时做题脑子一热,就特别钟爱c,也没看其他选项。。求敲醒。。
    • wx xxxxx
      请问鑫哥,这段开头有写As one pesticide replaces another为什么不是对应a new pesticide is developed?
    • wx_7695
      鑫哥,从哪里看出来这个masks 不是use呀,原文说了wear呀
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      @鑫哥,这题the damage will continue 不应该对应前面的 the target species evolves resistance to it,然后As one pesticide replaces another,不应该是结束了time cycle 吗
    • wx_2065
      鑫哥,想知道E错在哪里?
    • wx_7695
      鑫哥,B选项 cannot extended to earlier geological periods. 原文说的意思是后来的进化无法估计吧
    • wx_2163
      B为什么不选
    • wx_7780
      鑫哥,这个哪里看不use了。BD是修饰错,C是无中生有,怎么能直接选出A?
    • 100
      看到第一句话,以为是中心句就选了A... 为什么不能选A呢
    • 100
      为什么选b?
    • gu33
      请问下 这里选D的原因是 因为 evolutionary approach 对应着 原文的 Rates of evolution 嘛? 这里我选了C。。不是很懂 插入句和 D的关系 求解答
    • 我是啦啦啦
      我是啦啦啦 去解答 去解答
      这个题A哪里错了?是因为主语不对吗?这个C比A多一步推理啊
    • haiyuqiao
      鑫哥,D选项里的19世纪出现了很多假设,原文中并没有提到啊
    • wx_7060
      为什么选a 呢。我觉得a是细节。F哪错了?
    • wx_1105
      我想问一下,这道题为什么不能选A呢?
    • wx_8122
      D为什么不选
    • wx_1655
      f选项哪里说了
    • chaulaw
      鑫哥,原文是below经济损害水平,D是一触发经济损害就用,这也对吗?
    • chaulaw
      interclan婚姻是对的吗?不是只在自己的family结婚扩大家族吗?
    • wx_6697
      鑫哥,这道题答案是不是错了,好多人选D 我也选的D求解答
    • wx_6697
      这道题应该是一道易错题,每个选项的都有,然而我选的A错了,求解
    • wx_6697
      鑫哥,这题的C是怎么得到的?B也没有找到啊?难道不是应该选B
    • wx_6697
      鑫哥,还有这个,好多人选A答案是不是错了
    • wx_6697
      求问D是从哪里得出来的,我选的B呀哎呀
    • wx_4185
      it is difficult to say how far they were intended to be portraits rather than generalized images 这句话怎么理解呢
    • 此楠楠
      请问下这个插入题怎么选的呢?
    • 此楠楠
      求鑫哥讲解下A选项。。。 Even though in error, Joly’s calculations clearly supported those geologists who insisted on an age for Earth far in excess of a few million years.