📖 原文
(1) Botany, the study of plants, occupies a peculiar position in the history of human (2) knowledge. For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness about which (3) humans had anything more than the vaguest of insights. It is impossible to know today (4) just what our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but from what we can observe of (5) preindustrial societies that still exist, a detailed learning of plants and their properties (6) must be extremely ancient. This is logical. Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for (7) all living things, even for other plants. They have always been enormously important to (8) the welfare of people, not only for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, dyes, (9) medicines, shelter, and a great many other purposes. Tribes living today in the jungles of (10) the Amazon recognize literally hundreds of plants and know many properties of each. (11) To them botany, as such, has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special (12) branch of "knowledge" at all. (13) Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become the farther away we move from (14) direct contact with plants, and the less distinct our knowledge of botany grows. Yet (15) everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge, and few (16) people will fail to recognize a rose, an apple, or an orchid. When our Neolithic ancestors, (17) living in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could (18) be harvested and their seeds planted for richer yields the next season, the first great step (19) in a new association of plants and humans was taken. Grains were discovered and from (20) them flowed the marvel of agriculture: cultivated crops. From then on, humans would (21) increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than (22) getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild — and the (23) accumulated knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and intimacy with (24) plants in the wild would begin to fade away.
❓ 试题解析
问题 41： Which of the following assumptions about early humans is expressed in the passage?
A. They probably had extensive knowledge of plants.
B. They divided knowledge into well-defined fields.
C. They did not enjoy the study of botany.
D. They placed great importance on ownership of property.
✅ 正确答案： A）They probably had extensive knowledge of plants.
📝 解析： 文中说"a detailed learning of plants and their properties must be extremely ancient"，并举例亚马逊部落能识别数百种植物。
💡 解题技巧： 细节题定位"detailed learning"和部落例子。
问题 42： The word "peculiar" in line 1 is closest in meaning to
A. clear
B. large
C. unusual
D. important
✅ 正确答案： C）unusual
📝 解析： "occupies a peculiar position" — peculiar = 独特的/不寻常的。
💡 解题技巧： 词汇题：peculiar = unusual = distinctive。
问题 43： What does the comment "This is logical" in lines 6 mean?
A. There is no clear way to determine the extent of our ancestors' knowledge of plants.
B. It is not surprising that early humans had a detailed knowledge of plants.
C. It is reasonable to assume that our ancestors behaved very much like people in preindustrial societies.
D. Human knowledge of plants is well organized and very detailed.
✅ 正确答案： B）It is not surprising that early humans had a detailed knowledge of plants.
📝 解析： 前面说植物知识非常古老，后面解释植物对生存至关重要，所以"这是合乎逻辑的"= 不令人惊讶。
💡 解题技巧： 短语题找逻辑连接（plants are the basis of food pyramid）。
问题 44： The phrase "properties of each" in line 10 refers to each
A. tribe
B. hundred
C. plant
D. purpose
✅ 正确答案： C）plant
📝 解析： "recognize literally hundreds of plants and know many properties of each" — each 指 each plant。
💡 解题技巧： 代词题找前一个名词（plants）。
问题 45： According to the passage, why has general knowledge of botany declined?
A. People no longer value plants as a useful resource.
B. Botany is not recognized as a special branch of science.
C. Research is unable to keep up with the discovery of new plants.
D. Direct contact with a variety of plants has decreased.
✅ 正确答案： D）Direct contact with a variety of plants has decreased.
📝 解析： "the more industrialized we become the farther away we move from direct contact with plants, and the less distinct our knowledge of botany grows"。
💡 解题技巧： 因果细节题定位"farther away from direct contact"。
问题 46： What does the author imply about the Neolithic ancestors mentioned in lines 16-18?
A. They discovered the origin of agriculture.
B. They needed to depend on a greater variety of wild plants.
C. They discovered the importance of grains.
D. They developed writing to record their botanical knowledge.
✅ 正确答案： A）They discovered the origin of agriculture.
📝 解析： 新石器时代祖先发现某些草类可以收割并种植种子以获得更丰产的下一季作物，这就是农业的开端。
💡 解题技巧： 推理题定位"the first great step"和"marvel of agriculture"。
问题 47： The word "controlled" in line 21 is closest in meaning to
A. abundant
B. managed
C. required
D. advanced
✅ 正确答案： B）managed
📝 解析： "controlled production of a few plants" — controlled = 受控制的/管理的。
💡 解题技巧： 词汇题：controlled = managed = regulated。
问题 48： The phrase "getting a little here and a little there" in lines 22 refers to
A. harvesting wild plants selectively
B. collecting a variety of wild plants
C. working hard to raise crops
D. developing new strains of crops
✅ 正确答案： B）collecting a variety of wild plants
📝 解析： 与"controlled production of a few plants"对比的是"getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild" — 从多种野生植物中少量采集。
💡 解题技巧： 短语题定位对比结构（rather than）。
问题 49： The word "accumulated" in line 23 is closest in meaning to
A. widely distributed
B. carefully preserved
C. gradually gathered
D. rapidly understood
✅ 正确答案： C）gradually gathered
📝 解析： "the accumulated knowledge of tens of thousands of years" — accumulated = 积累的。
💡 解题技巧： 词汇量：accumulated = gathered over time = built up。
问题 50： Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?
A. Botany is a unique branch of science that has been unfairly neglected.
B. Modern industrial society has decreased our general knowledge of botany.
C. Advances in agriculture have led to the development of new types of plants.
D. A detailed knowledge of plants has been essential to human survival throughout history.
✅ 正确答案： B）Modern industrial society has decreased our general knowledge of botany.
📝 解析： 文章主旨：工业化使人类与植物直接接触减少，植物学知识衰退（虽然历史上非常重要）。
💡 解题技巧： 主旨题看转折词"Unfortunately"后的核心观点。
🌐 中文翻译
植物学——对植物的研究——在人类知识史上占据着一个独特的位置。成千上万年以来，这是人类唯一不仅仅是只有最模糊洞见的认知领域。今天我们无法知晓石器时代的祖先对植物了解多少，但从我们能够观察到的仍然存在的前工业社会来看，对植物及其特性的详细认识一定极为古老。这是合乎逻辑的。植物是所有生物——甚至包括其他植物——的食物金字塔的基础。它们对人类的福祉一直极为重要，不仅仅是作为食物，还有衣物、武器、工具、染料、药物、住所以及许多其他用途。今天生活在亚马逊丛林中的部落能识别数百种植物，并了解每一种的许多特性。对他们来说，植物学本身并没有名称，甚至可能根本不被认为是"知识"的一个特殊分支。 不幸的是，我们变得越工业化，就越远离与植物的直接接触，我们的植物学知识就变得越模糊。然而，每个人都会无意识地接触到大量的植物学知识，很少有人会认不出玫瑰、苹果或兰花。大约一万年前生活在中东的新石器时代的祖先发现，某些草类可以收割并且它们的种子可以种植以获得下一季更丰产的收成，这是植物与人类新关联中的第一步伟大步伐。谷物被发现了，农业的奇迹随之而来：栽培作物。从那时起，人类越来越依赖于对少数几种植物的控制生产来谋生，而不是从许多野生的品种中这里采集一点、那里采集一点——而数万年来与野生植物亲密接触所积累的知识开始逐渐消失。
🏷️ 标签：#托福阅读 #真题解析 #备考资料
