Vocalization in Frogs https://goo.gl/pbpXrM 還有Post-Pleistocene Extinctions in the New World https://goo.gl/PG6WKQ 都是不斷考出的題目。
以目前趨勢來看，17年考過的舊題依舊會是ETS在接下來18年回收再利用的 考題，今天來分享另外一個17年閱讀常見主題：農業。 農業常考的重點不外乎各地農業的發展特色，全世界的農業托福幾乎都考 過，例如Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley, Mesoamerica都出現過。或 是考各世紀農業使用的工具的不同，包含何時開始使用動物拉犁，以及其他 更進一步的改變等等。今天要讓大家看的是2017年4月15日考的New Farm Technology and the Horse, 主要講中世紀歐洲當時農業的進步。
歡迎同學留言作答，超過10推公布答案喔！
New Farm Technology and the Horse 第一段：主題句During the medieval period in Europe (the fifth to the fifteenth centuries), the horse became important in farming. 早期農夫用兩頭牛來拉犁並created a yoke so that animals could pull either a plow or a cart. 牛是最早拿來當power source的動物，馬大概 比牛晚2000年才開始使用。利用牛來拉犁的工具很簡單：a wooden yoke was placed around the animal’s neck. Here anatomy plays a role in technological development. The spine of an ox is quite bony and the area between the protrusions was a natural location for a yoke. 但是馬比起來更有耐性，一天平均可以多工作兩小時。
1. According to paragraph 1, what was one way in which oxen were less desirable as a source of power than horses were? A) Oxen more quickly been too tired to work. B) Oxen had to be used as side-by-side pairs. C) Oxen have a relatively bony spine. D) Oxen had to be harnessed using a wooden yoke.
第二段：Horses are obviously not oxen, and a rigid yoke that worked on an ox would not work with the same effectiveness on a horse; indeed, the ox yoke would constrict the longer neck of a horse. 馬背比較平，而且直立的脖子比較適合用collar不適合用throat- and-girth harness (a harness held in place by one strap circling the neck and another circling the middle of the body). throat-and- girth harness的缺點是馬在移動的時候帶子(strap)會移位, and could potentially choke the animal. 後來就發明rigid collar 就可以解決此 問題。Rigid collar放在馬的頭上以及肩膀上，這樣就可以自然呼吸，載重 也能更重。New collar最早在八世紀從歐洲引進，but the earliest depiction of this innovation is seen in the famed Bayeux Tapestry, created in the eleventh century.
2. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A) An important respect in which horses differ from oxen is that horses have a much longer, more easily constricted neck.
B) The fact that a rigid yoke does not work the same way on horses as on oxen makes it obvious that the two animals are very different.
C) The rigid ox yoke worked effectively only on those oxen that had shorter necks than horses.
D) The rigid ox yoke would not work effectively on horses because of the physical differences in the necks of the two animals.
3. The word “potentially” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A) quickly
B) accidentally
C) possibly
D) essentially
4. The word “depiction” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A) recognition
B) illustration
C) benefit
D) product
5. According to paragraph 2, what was a major advantage of the new horse collar?
A) It allowed the collar straps to shift position as the horse moved.
B) It enabled horses to breathe freely while pulling a heavy object.
C) It could be used effectively both for oxen and for horses.
D) It rested on the horse’s neck rather than on its shoulders.
