[雅思机经]2017年11月11日雅思阅读真题回顾

考试日期

2017年11月11日

Reading Passage 1

Title

William Gilbert and Magnetism

Question types

Matching Headings 7题

YES/NO/NOT GIVEN 3 题

Multiple Choice (多选) 3 题

文章内容回顾

A 16th and 17th centuries saw two great pioneers of modern science: Galileo and Gilbert. The impact of their findings is eminent. Gilbert was the first modern scientist, also the accredited father of the science of electricity and magnetism, an Englishman of learning and a physician at the court of Elizabeth. Prior to him, all that was known of electricity and magnetism was what the ancients knew, nothing more than that the lodestone possessed magnetic properties and that amber and jet, when rubbed, would attract bits of paper or other substances of small specific gravity. However, he is less well-known than he deserves.

B Gilbert’s birth predated Galileo. Born in an eminent local family in Colchester county in the UK, on May 24, 1544, he went to grammar school, and then studied medicine at St. John’s College, Cambridge, graduating in 1573. Later he traveled in the continent and eventually settled down in London.

C He was a very successful and eminent doctor. All this culminated in his election to the president of the Royal Science Society. He was also appointed the personal physician to the Queen (Elizabeth I), and later knighted by the Queen. He faithfully served her until her death. However, he didn’t outlive the Queen for long and died on December 10, 1603, only a few months after his appointment as personal physician to King James.

D Gilbert was first interested in chemistry but later changed his focus due to the large portion of mysticism of alchemy involved (such as the transmutation of metal). He gradually developed his interest in physics after the great minds of the ancient, particularly about the knowledge the ancient Greeks had about lodestones, strange minerals with the power to attract iron. In the meantime, Britain became a major seafaring nation in 1588 when the Spanish Armada was defeated, opening the way to British settlement of America. British ships depended on the magnetic compass, yet no one understood why it worked. Did the pole star attract it, as Columbus once speculated; or was there a magnetic mountain at the pole, as described in Odyssey, which ships would never approach, because the sailors thought its pull would yank out all their iron nails and fittings? For nearly 20 years William Gilbert conducted ingenious experiments to understand magnetism. His works include On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, Great Magnet of the Earth.

E Gilbert’s discovery was so important to modern physics. He investigated the nature of magnetism and electricity. He even coined the word electric. Though the early beliefs of magnetism were also largely entangled with superstitions such as that rubbing garlic on lodestone can neutralize its magnetism, one example being that sailors even believed the smell of garlic would even interfere with the action of compass, which is why helmsmen were forbidden to eat it near a ship’s compass. Gilbert also found that metals can be magnetized by rubbing materials such as fur, plastic or the like on them. He named the ends of a magnet north pole and south pole. The magnetic poles can attract or repel, depending on polarity. In addition, however, ordinary iron is always attracted to a magnet. Though he started to study the relationship between magnetism and electricity, sadly he didn’t complete it. His research of static electricity using amber and jet only demonstrated that objects with electrical charges can work like magnets attracting small pieces of paper and stuff. It is a French guy named du Fay that discovered that there are actually two electrical charges, positive and negative.

F He also questioned the traditional astronomical beliefs. Though a Copernican, he didn’t express in his quintessential beliefs whether the earth is at the center of the universe or in orbit around the sun. However he believed that stars are not equidistant from the earth, but have their own earth-like planets orbiting around them. The earth is itself like a giant magnet, which is also why compasses always point north. They spin on an axis that is aligned with the earth’s polarity. He even likened the polarity of the magnet to the polarity of the earth and built an entire magnetic philosophy on this analogy. In his explanation, magnetism was the soul of the earth. Thus a perfectly spherical lodestone, when aligned with the earth’s poles, would wobble all by itself in 24 hours. Further, he also believed that suns and other stars wobble just like the earth does around a crystal core, and speculated that the moon might also be a magnet caused to orbit by its magnetic attraction to the earth. This was perhaps the first proposal that a force might cause a heavenly orbit.

G His research method was revolutionary in that he used experiments rather than pure logic and reasoning like the ancient Greek philosophers did. It was a new attitude toward scientific investigation. Until then, scientific experiments were not in fashion. It was because of this scientific attitude, together with his contribution to our knowledge of magnetism, that a unit of magneto motive force, also known as magnetic potential, was named Gilbert in his honor. His approach of careful observation and experimentation rather than the authoritative opinion or deductive philosophy of others had laid the very foundation for modern science.

1-7 Matching Headings

1. vi  two scientific giants

2. x  early life of Gilbert

3. v  he gained professional and social recognition

4. i  change of research focus

5. ix 无

6.viii  he challenged the astronomical study at the time

7. xi  his new analytical method

8-10 YES/NO/NOT GIVEN

8. He was less famous than he should be. YES

9. He was a famous doctor before being employed by Queen Elizabeth. YES

10. He lost faith in medical method. NO

11-13 Multiple Choice (多选)

Conclusion of his study

C pieces of metal can be magnetized

D earth wobbles around its axis

E stars have different distances to the earth

题型难度分析

本场考试*篇就出现了Matching Headings，对于考生的心理是一个较大的考验。但就其文章的话题（人物传记类）和文章结构（基本的时间顺序）来看，其实并不难。

Reading Passage 2

Title

The Power of Music

Question types

Matching Information 5题

Summary 4题

Matching Features 4题

文章内容回顾

14-18 Matching Information

14. a reference with a study of children I

15. discovery of artifacts B

16. reason why a particular area hasn’t been studied C

17. brain activity in two parts of the brain G

18. tone variations’ response from humans and animals E

19-22 Summary Completion

19. physical health

20. brain scans

21. brain

22. disabled

23-26 Matching Features

23. listening music is beneficial in solving speech defects C

24. can enhance the ability of recognizing music characteristics B

25. people listening to music in a similar way to noise A

26. people feel positive from music just like animals feel positive to peasant result B

题型难度分析

Music 这一话题在近期的考题中出现的频率较高，希望考生引起重视，考前注意相关背景知识的积累。总体来讲本场考试中第二篇的题目并不是很难，再次出现好定位的人名观点配对。

Reading Passage 3

Title

The Industrial Use of Talc

Question types

Matching 6题

Summary 6题

Short-answer Questions 2题

文章内容回顾

本篇文章介绍了滑石粉的工业用途。

27-32 Matching

A  chewing gum manufacture

B  olive oil extraction

C  fruit crop processing

27. reduce damage to environment  B

28. barrier against harmful light  C

29. increase production amount  B

30. change its usual way of use  C

31. handle the produce easier  A

32. merges with a set of addictives  A

33-38 Summary Completion

33. 20

34. foam

35. water

36. oil droplets

37. biodegrade

38. harmful

39-40 Short-answer Questions

39. lamination and packing

40. grape growers

题型难度分析

本篇话题内容并不难。

考试趋势分析和备考指导：

本场雅思阅读考试*篇是人物传记类，介绍科学家William Gilbert关于磁力的发现；就话题和文章结构而言比较简单，但由于*组出现Matching Heading，会在心理上给考生造成很大的压力。第二篇话题为音乐，这类相关话题在近期的考试中出现比较频繁，所以建议考生多积累相关背景知识，关注其他场次考试中出现过的类似文章。第三篇关于滑石粉的说明文，考生可以参考剑桥雅思中的说明文，题型而言，难度不算太大。