2019托福阅读考试真题.docxVIP

2019 年托福阅读模拟试题及答案解析（2 ） 托福阅读原文 The Development of Steam Power 【 1 】 By the eighteenth century, Britain wasexperiencing a severe shortage of energy. Because ofthe growth of population, most of the great forests of medieval Britain had long ago beenreplaced by fields of grain and hay. Wood was in ever-shorter supply, yet it remainedtremendously important. It served as the primary source of heat for all homes and industriesand as a basic raw material. Processed wood (charcoal) was the fuel that was mixed with ironore in the blast furnace to produce pig iron (raw iron). The iron in’sd ustry appetite for woodwas enormous, and by 1740 the British iron industry was stagnating. Vast forests enabledRussia to become the world’s leading producer of iron, much of which was exported to Britain. But Russia ’s potential for growth was limited too, and in a few decades Russia would reach thebarrier of inadequate energy that was already holding England back. 【 2 】 As this early energy crisis grew worse, Britain looked toward its abundant and widelyscattered reserves of coal as an alternative to its vanishing wood. Coal was first used in Britainin the late Middle Ages as a source of heat. By 1640 most homes in London were heated withit, and it also provided heat for making beer, glass, soap, and other products. Coal was notused, however, to produce mechanical energy or to power machinery. It was there thatcoa’sl potential wad enormous. 【3】As more coal was produced, mines were dug deeper and deeper and were constantlyfilling with water. Mechanical pumps, usually powered by hundreds of horses waling in circles atthe surface, had to be installed Such power was expensive and bothersome. In an attempt toovercome these disadvantages, Thomas Savery in 1698 and Thomas Newcomen in 1705 invented the first primitive steam engines. Both engines were extremely inefficient. Bothburned coal to produce steam, which was then used to operate a pump. However, by theearly 1770s, many of the Sav