大家好，我是J2.
依照2018年第一场考试(1/6)来看，跟17年并没有太大改变，阅读听力一样
多套题（三至四套）, 口说写作一套。阅读听力虽然出题数量多，但常考主
题还是固定那几个，例如之前分享过的
Vocalization in Frogs https://goo.gl/pbpXrM
还有Post-Pleistocene Extinctions in the New World https://goo.gl/PG6WKQ
都是不断考出的题目。
以目前趋势来看，17年考过的旧题依旧会是ETS在接下来18年回收再利用的
考题，今天来分享另外一个17年阅读常见主题：农业。
农业常考的重点不外乎各地农业的发展特色，全世界的农业托福几乎都考
过，例如Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley, Mesoamerica都出现过。或
是考各世纪农业使用的工具的不同，包含何时开始使用动物拉犁，以及其他
更进一步的改变等等。今天要让大家看的是2017年4月15日考的New Farm
Technology and the Horse, 主要讲中世纪欧洲当时农业的进步。
欢迎同学留言作答，超过10推公布答案喔！
New Farm Technology and the Horse
第一段：主题句During the medieval period in Europe (the fifth to
the fifteenth centuries), the horse became important in farming.
早期农夫用两头牛来拉犁并created a yoke so that animals could pull
either a plow or a cart. 牛是最早拿来当power source的动物，马大概
比牛晚2000年才开始使用。利用牛来拉犁的工具很简单：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. 但是马比起来更有耐性，一天平均可以多工作两小时。
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. 马背比较平，而且直立的脖子比较适合用collar不适合用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的缺点是马在移动的时候带子(strap)会移位, and could
potentially choke the animal. 后来就发明rigid collar 就可以解决此
问题。Rigid collar放在马的头上以及肩膀上，这样就可以自然呼吸，载重
也能更重。New collar最早在八世纪从欧洲引进，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.