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TOEFL Directory > TOEFL writing > TOEFL Reading Class Unit 1_Passage 18_Question 188-198
TOEFL Reading Class Unit 1_Passage 18_Question 188-198
You have about 15 minutes to finish this passage.
First,use about 3-4 minutes to read the passage, try to understand the main idea of this passage.
Don't read it so slowly or try to remember all details.You need to do "fast reading",and "scan" the passage.
Second, read questions 1-11, and with questions you go back the passage again and look for correct answers.
Questions 188-198
Passage 18
Over many centuries Native American builders developed ways to keep the cold, rain, wind, and heat at bay. Traditional techniques for warming or cooling were sometimes part of the hidden engineering of a dwelling and often had little effect on its outward appearance.
Dwellings were generally heated from centrally located hearths, or separate family fires in large structures. The smaller and more subterranean the building, the easier it was to heat. Nevertheless, in chilly climates, dwellings often were built at ground level. Partitions of hanging mats broke up drafts in large structures, and split-plank, earthen, adobe, or snow-block windbreaks frequently were built against doorways.
A wide range of insulating methods was devised. The earth surrounding houses below ground level retained heat and was an effective barrier against the chill of the wind. Southwestern dwellings, called pueblos, built above ground level, used the same heat-retention principle. Their thick adobe walls soaked up heat from the sun during the day, and at night radiated warmth into the rooms. Many groups employed double-shelled walls for insulation. In the northern Plains, tents made of animal skins had an inner liner that created an insulating air pocket. When temperatures dropped, this space could be filled with dry grass, and snow could be piled around the outside. In the Aleutian Islands, the native people built double walls of planks, stuffing moss or grass in between for insulation and stacking sod against the outside walls and roof.
Relief from the heat was also important. Nearly every where, Native American encampments included arbors. For example, in the Southwest they were simple post-and-beam structures, shaded with leafy boughs, split cactus trunks, or cornstalks. In the southern Plains, the Kiowa and Wichita devised large bowed frames that they thatched with willow boughs to within a few feet of the ground. In scorching weather they frequently splashed the cover with water; evaporation lowered the shaded area's temperature by ten degrees or more.
In the Southeast, where humidity as well as heat was a problem, houses needed as much airflow as possible. The Seminole of the Florida swamps achieved this by constructing thatch-roofed, open-sided buildings with deep eaves and raised floors so that air circulated above and below. The raised floor also protected the occupants from the fluctuating groundwater, from insects, and from snakes.
188. The passage focuses on which of the following aspects of Native American building?
a) Materials used for construction
b)Heating and cooling techniques
c) The effect of engineering techniques on the appearance of a building
d) Protection from groundwater, insects, and snakes
189. The phrase at bay in the passage is closest in meaning to
a) in balance
b) on purpose
c) under control
d) by coincidence
190. Which of the following is mentioned as an advantage of a dwelling built below ground level?
a) It stayed dry.
b) It looked attractive.
c) It could be heated easily.
d) It was inexpensive to build.
191. The phrase soaked up in the passage is closest in meaning to
a) equaled
b) absorbed
c) renewed
d) resembled
192. It can be inferred that which of the following was done to tents in the northern Plains during warm weather?
a) The grass was removed from the space between the animal skins and the liner.
b) The animal skins were replaced with new ones.
c) The earthen floors were renewed.
d) The airflow through the roof was reduced.
193. The purpose of an arbor was to
a) provide shade
b) grow food
c) resist wind
d) support beams
194. The word split in the passage is closest in meaning to
a) divided
b) beneficial
c) plentiful
d) wet
195. The word scorching in the passage is closest in meaning to
a) typical
b) variable
c) relatively humid
d) exceedingly hot
196. Which of the following is mentioned as a building technique used by groups that lived in humid areas?
a) Subterranean construction
b) Earthen floors
c) Thick walls
d) Deep eaves
197. In which of the following areas did Native Americans fill double walls with insulating material?
a) The Southwest
b) The Aleutian Islands
c) The southern Plains
d) Florida
198. The author organizes the discussion of Native American building techniques in terms of
a) the order of their development from ancient to modern times
b) a comparison of their effectiveness in large and small buildings
c) a comparison of traditional and modern techniques
d) the differences caused by regional climate conditions
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