托福听力荟萃 06

Look at our______map and you'll see that the middle third ofthe North American continent from the Rocky Mountains almost to the Mississippi River is pretty flat. This is the Great Plains.This kind of area is sometimes called a______, sometimes a______. That's s-t-e-p-p-e. The______features are______,______,dry climate, and an absence of trees. The Great Plains are actually the former bed of a shallow inland sea. Over millions of years,______left by______, water, and wind______out the dry sea bed. As I said, the Great Plaints are bordered on the west by the Rocky Mountains. And it's really the Rockies that are responsible for the formation of the grasslands¹. The mountains are so high that they block the heavy______air traveling eastward² form the Pacific Ocean. Lighter³, drier air passes overthe mountains. Until people______with irrigation and farms, only grass could grow on the dry,______plain. In fact, we can divide the Great Plains into three zones. In the west, where it's driest and windiest,the grass is very short. In the eastern zone, there's mor

 

 

【填空答案】

topographical: adj. concerned with topography地形学的

prairie: n.a treeless grassy⁴ plain［C］大草原，牧场

steppe: n.extensive plain without trees (associated with eastern Russia and Siberia)［C］大草原，干草原

defining adj.any process serving to define the shape of something 典型的

level: adj. having a surface without slope, tilt⁵ in which no part is higher or lower than another平坦的

terrain⁶: n.a piece of ground having specific characteristics or military potential 地形

sediment⁷: n.matter that has been deposited by some natural process［C］沉淀物

glacier⁸: n. a slowly moving mass of ice［C］冰川

smooth out: v. free from obstructions⁹消除，使平滑

moist: n. slightly wet［C］潮湿

intervene: v. get involved, so as to alter or hinder an action, or through force or threat offorce介入，干预

windy: adj.abounding¹⁰ in or exposed to the wind or breezes 多风的

intermediate: adj. around the middle of a scale of evaluation¹¹ of physical measures中间的

【听力原文】

Look at our topographical map andyou'll see that the middle third of the North American continent --- from the Rocky Mountains almost to the Mississippi River --- is pretty flat. This is the Great Plains. This kind of area is some times called a prairie, sometimes asteppe. That's [ess-tee-ee-pee-pee-ee]. The defining features are level terrain, dry climate, and an absence of trees.The Great Plains are actually the former bed of shallow inland sea. Over millions of years, sediment left by glaciers¹², water, and wind smoothed out the dry sea bed.As I said, the Great Plaints are bordered on the west by the Rocky Mountains. And it's really the Rockies that are responsible for the formation of the grasslands. The mountains are so high that they block the heavy moist air traveling eastward form the Pacific Ocean. Lighter, drier air passes over the mountains. Until people intervened with irrigation and farms, only grass could grow on the dry, windyplain. In fact, we can divide the Great Plains into three zones. In the west,where it's driest and windiest, the grass is very short. In the eastern zone,there's more rain and grass grows as high as 360 centimeters. In the middle third, there's a mix of grass species that grow to an intermediate height.e rain and grass grows as high as 360 centimeters. In the middle third, there's a mix of grass species that grow to an______height.

1 grasslands   

n.草原，牧场( grassland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Songs were heard ringing loud and clear over the grasslands. 草原上扬起清亮激越的歌声。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Grasslands have been broken and planted to wheat. 草原已经开垦出来，种上了小麦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 eastward   

adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部

参考例句：

• The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
• The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去，他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。

3 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

4 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

5 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

6 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

7 sediment   

n.沉淀，沉渣，沉积(物)

参考例句：

• The sediment settled and the water was clear.杂质沉淀后，水变清了。
• Sediment begins to choke the channel's opening.沉积物开始淤塞河道口。

8 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

9 obstructions   

n.障碍物( obstruction的名词复数 )；阻碍物；阻碍；阻挠

参考例句：

• The absence of obstructions is of course an idealization. 没有障碍物的情况当然是一种理想化的情况。 来自辞典例句
• These obstructions could take some weeks to clear from these canals. 这些障碍物可能要花几周时间才能从运河中清除掉。 来自辞典例句

10 abounding   

adj.丰富的，大量的v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Ahead lay the scalloped ocean and the abounding blessed isles. 再往前是水波荡漾的海洋和星罗棋布的宝岛。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比
• The metallic curve of his sheep-crook shone silver-bright in the same abounding rays. 他那弯柄牧羊杖上的金属曲线也在这一片炽盛的火光下闪着银亮的光。 来自辞典例句

11 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

12 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）