『新东方在线托福阅读』为托福考生准备了ETS托福TPO/Official 35 Passage 1阅读练习：Why is “gravitational contraction” mentioned in the passage?真题题目及答案解析，TPO/Official 35 Passage 1阅读原文范文音频翻译

托福TPO/Official 35 Passage 1阅读原文Why is “gravitational contraction” mentioned in the passage?题目答案及解析-新东方托福官方网校手机版

希腊历史学家希罗多德是最早有记录的推测地球年龄的观察家之一，他生活在大约公元前480年到公元前425年。

One of the first recorded observers to surmise a long age for Earth was the Greek historian Herodotus, who lived from approximately 480 B.C.to 425 B.C.

他观察到，尼罗河三角洲实际上是在连续的洪水中堆积起来的一系列沉积物。

He observed that the Nile River Delta was in fact a series of sediment deposits built up in successive floods.

通过注意到个别洪水只沉积了薄层的沉积物，他能够因此得出结论：尼罗河三角洲的形成花了数千年的时间。

By noting that individual floods deposit only thin layers of sediment, he was able to conclude that the Nile Delta had taken many thousands of years to build up.

比希罗多德计算出的时间量（与地球年龄相比，这是微不足道的）更重要的是这样一个概念，即人们可以通过确定造成这些特征的过程的速率，然后假设这些速率随着时间的推移大致不变，来估计地质特征的年龄。

More important than the amount of time Herodotus computed, which turns out to be trivial compared with the age of Earth, was the notion that one could estimate ages of geologic features by determining rates of the processes responsible for such features, and then assuming the rates to be roughly constant over time.

在后来的几个世纪里，这个概念的类似应用一次又一次地被用来估计岩层的年龄，特别是压实和胶结形成沉积岩的沉积层的年龄。

Similar applications of this concept were to be used again and again in later centuries to estimate the ages of rock formations and, in particular, of layers of sediment that had compacted and cemented to form sedimentary rocks.

直到17世纪，人们才再次尝试通过岩石记录来了解地球历史的线索。

It was not until the seventeenth century that attempts were made again to understand clues to Earth’s history through the rock record.

尼古拉斯·斯泰诺(1638-1686)是第一个研究托斯卡纳泥沙递进沉积原理的人。

Nicolaus Steno (1638–1686) was the first to work out principles of the progressive depositing of sediment in Tuscany.

然而，被称为现代地质学奠基人的詹姆斯·赫顿(1726-1797)是第一个有重要见解的人，他认为地质过程在本质上是周期性的。

However, James Hutton (1726–1797), known as the founder of modern geology, was the first to have the important insight that geologic processes are cyclic in nature.

与地热相关的力量会导致陆地隆起，形成高原和山脉。

Forces associated with subterranean heat cause land to be uplifted into plateaus and mountain ranges.

然后，风和水的作用破坏了大量隆起的岩石，产生的沉积物被水向下输送，最终在湖泊、海岸甚至海洋中形成了层。

The effects of wind and water then break down the masses of uplifted rock, producing sediment that is transported by water downward to ultimately form layers in lakes, seashores, or even oceans.

随着时间的推移，这些层变成了沉积岩。

Over time, the layers become sedimentary rock.

这些岩石在未来的某个时候被抬升，形成新的山脉，这些山脉展示了早期侵蚀和沉积事件的沉积层(以及这些层内的生命遗迹)。

These rocks are then uplifted sometime in the future to form new mountain ranges, which exhibit the sedimentary layers (and the remains of life within those layers) of the earlier episodes of erosion and deposition.

赫顿的概念代表了一种非凡的洞察力，因为它将许多单独的现象和观察统一到一幅地球历史的概念性图景中。

Hutton’s concept represented a remarkable insight because it unified many individual phenomena and observations into a conceptual picture of Earth’s history.

有了进一步的假设，即这些地质过程通常不比今天更猛烈，赫顿对沉积层的研究使他认识到，地球的历史肯定是浩瀚的，地质时代是深渊，相比之下，人类的历史只是很小的一个点。

With the further assumption that these geologic processes were generally no more or less vigorous than they are today, Hutton’s examination of sedimentary layers led him to realize that Earth’s history must be enormous, that geologic time is an abyss and human history a speck by comparison.

在赫顿之后，地质学家试图确定沉积速率，以便根据沉积或地层记录的总长度来估计地球的年龄。

After Hutton, geologists tried to determine rates of sedimentation so as to estimate the age of Earth from the total length of the sedimentary, or stratigraphic, record.

二十世纪之交产生的典型数字是1亿到4亿年。

Typical numbers produced at the turn of the twentieth century were 100 million to 400 million years.

这些数据将实际年龄低估了10到50倍，因为许多沉积记录在不同的地方丢失了，而且有一个超过5亿年的长岩层序列，从化石的角度来看，它的定义远远不够清楚，保存得也不太好。

These underestimated the actual age by factors of 10 to 50 because much of the sedimentary record is missing in various locations and because there is a long rock sequence that is older than half a billion years that is far less well defined in terms of fossils and less well preserved.

其他各种估算地球年龄的技术都达不到要求，在这方面尤其值得注意的是对太阳年龄的测定存在缺陷。

Various other techniques to estimate Earth’s age fell short, and particularly noteworthy in this regard were flawed determinations of the Sun’s age.

德国哲学家伊曼纽尔·康德(1724-1804)已经认识到，在超过一千年的时间里，化学反应不能提供从太阳流出的巨大能量。

It had been recognized by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) that chemical reactions could not supply the tremendous amount of energy flowing from the Sun for more than about a millennium.

十九世纪的两位物理学家都根据太阳重力收缩的能量得出了太阳的年龄。

Two physicists during the nineteenth century both came up with ages for the Sun based on the Sun’s energy coming from gravitational contraction.

在重力作用下，物体坍塌产生的压缩必须释放能量。

Under the force of gravity, the compression resulting from a collapse of the object must release energy.

地球的年龄是在数千万年内得出的，比当时的地质估计要少得多。

Ages for Earth were derived that were in the tens of millions of years, much less than the geologic estimates of the time.

正是19世纪末放射性的发现为确定太阳的能源和地球的年龄打开了大门。

It was the discovery of radioactivity at the end of the nineteenth century that opened the door to determining both the Sun’s energy source and the age of Earth.

从最初的工作中产生了一系列导致放射性同位素测年的发现，这很快导致人们意识到地球肯定有数十亿年的历史，并发现了核聚变作为一种能源，能够在这段时间内维持太阳的光度。

From the initial work came a suite of discoveries leading to radioisotopic dating, which quickly led to the realization that Earth must be billions of years old, and to the discovery of nuclear fusion as an energy source capable of sustaining the Sun’s luminosity for that amount of time.

到了20世纪60年代，对陨石的分析和对太阳演化模型的改进都得出了一个太阳系的年龄，因此也得出了地球的年龄，即45亿年。

By the 1960s, both analysis of meteorites and refinements of solar evolution models converged on an age for the solar system, and hence for Earth, of 4.5 billion years.

The word “trivial” in the passage is closest in meaning to

According to paragraph 1, Herodotus' observations of the Nile River Delta were significant because they allowed him to

According to paragraph 2, James Hutton was the first person to

The word “exhibit” in the passage is closest in meaning to

The word “episodes” in the passage is closest in meaning to

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.

According to paragraph 4, what happened when geologists at the turn of the twentieth century tried to estimate Earth’s age?

The word “flawed” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Why is “gravitational contraction” mentioned in the passage?

According to paragraph 5, Immanuel Kant recognized that the Sun’s energy

According to paragraph 6, which of the following is NOT true about scientists’ most recent estimate of Earth’s age?

Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 6 about the formation of the solar system?

Look at the four squares  that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. This idea came to be known as the principle of uniformitarianism, and Herodotus was only the first to apply it.  Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square  to add the sentence to the passage.

Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

Earth's Age One of the first recorded observers to surmise a long age for Earth was the Greek historian Herodotus, who lived from approximately 480 B.C. to 425 B.C.  He observed that the Nile River Delta was in fact a series of sediment deposits built up in successive floods.  By noting that individual floods deposit only thin layers of sediment, he was able to conclude that the Nile Delta had taken many thousands of years to build up.  More important than the amount of time Herodotus computed, which turns out to be trivial compared with the age of Earth, was the notion that one could estimate ages of geologic features by determining rates of the processes responsible for such features, and then assuming the rates to be roughly constant over time.  Similar applications of this concept were to be used again and again in later centuries to estimate the ages of rock formations and, in particular, of layers of sediment that had compacted and cemented to form sedimentary rocks. It was not until the seventeenth century that attempts were made again to understand clues to Earth’s history through the rock record. Nicolaus Steno (1638–1686) was the first to work out principles of the progressive depositing of sediment in Tuscany. However, James Hutton (1726–1797), known as the founder of modern geology, was the first to have the important insight that geologic processes are cyclic in nature. Forces associated with subterranean heat cause land to be uplifted into plateaus and mountain ranges. The effects of wind and water then break down the masses of uplifted rock, producing sediment that is transported by water downward to ultimately form layers in lakes, seashores, or even oceans. Over time, the layers become sedimentary rock. These rocks are then uplifted sometime in the future to form new mountain ranges, which exhibit the sedimentary layers (and the remains of life within those layers) of the earlier episodes of erosion and deposition. Hutton’s concept represented a remarkable insight because it unified many individual phenomena and observations into a conceptual picture of Earth’s history. With the further assumption that these geologic processes were generally no more or less vigorous than they are today, Hutton’s examination of sedimentary layers led him to realize that Earth’s history must be enormous, that geologic time is an abyss and human history a speck by comparison. After Hutton, geologists tried to determine rates of sedimentation so as to estimate the age of Earth from the total length of the sedimentary, or stratigraphic, record. Typical numbers produced at the turn of the twentieth century were 100 million to 400 million years. These underestimated the actual age by factors of 10 to 50 because much of the sedimentary record is missing in various locations and because there is a long rock sequence that is older than half a billion years that is far less well defined in terms of fossils and less well preserved. Various other techniques to estimate Earth’s age fell short, and particularly noteworthy in this regard were flawed determinations of the Sun’s age. It had been recognized by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) that chemical reactions could not supply the tremendous amount of energy flowing from the Sun for more than about a millennium. Two physicists during the nineteenth century both came up with ages for the Sun based on the Sun’s energy coming from gravitational contraction. Under the force of gravity, the compression resulting from a collapse of the object must release energy. Ages for Earth were derived that were in the tens of millions of years, much less than the geologic estimates of the time. It was the discovery of radioactivity at the end of the nineteenth century that opened the door to determining both the Sun’s energy source and the age of Earth. From the initial work came a suite of discoveries leading to radioisotopic dating, which quickly led to the realization that Earth must be billions of years old, and to the discovery of nuclear fusion as an energy source capable of sustaining the Sun’s luminosity for that amount of time. By the 1960s, both analysis of meteorites and refinements of solar evolution models converged on an age for the solar system, and hence for Earth, of 4.5 billion years.