暑假即将结束，也就意味着申学季又要开始了，所以给大家整了个应景的。今天的内容都是出自各个考试官方2018-2020年手册/测试卷的题目，希望大家好好利用！
SAT (History/Social Studies Passage, Lower Text Complexity)
In today's idea-driven economy, the cost of time is what really matters. With the constant pressure to innovate, it makes little sense to waste countless collective hours commuting. So, the most efficient and productive regions are those in which people are thinking and working - not sitting in traffic.
在今天的创意驱动型经济中，真正重要的是时间成本。创新的压力随时都在，让人浪费无数通勤时间根本就说不通。因此，人们思考与工作的地方才是效率最高、成绩最大的地方，而非处于交通之中。
-driven=kept going by sth. 驱动，推动。最一开始是对很实际的动力的描述，比如说a steam-driven engine 蒸汽机，但现在往往是比较无形的、比喻的情况，比如原文中的idea-driven economy 创意驱动型经济。
collective=relating to a group or society as a whole; joint; shared 集体的，整个社会的，共同的。这个词汇用来讲我们的社会或者集体非常好用，比如说： collective action, effort, responsibility, wisdom 集体的行动﹑努力﹑责任﹑智慧等等。
The auto-dependent transportation system has reached its limit in most major cities and megaregions. Commuting by car is among the least efficient of all our activities - not to mention among the least enjoyable, according to detailed research by the Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman and his colleagues. Though one might think that the economic crisis beginning in 2007 would have reduced traffic (high unemployment means fewer workers traveling to andfrom work), the opposite has been true. Average commutes have lengthened, and congestion has gotten worse, if anything.
在绝大多数一线城市和地区，依赖于机动车的交通系统已经极限。诺贝尔经济学奖得主丹尼尔·卡尼曼及其同事的详细研究表明，开车上下班是我们所有活动中效率最低的，更别说毫无愉悦可言。虽然人们可能会认为2007年开始的经济危机会减少交通流量（高失业率意味着上下班的员工越来越少），但事实却恰恰相反。结果平均通勤时间变长，拥堵情况变得更糟。
reach the limit=get to the GREatest possible amount of something that can exist or be obtained 到达极限。注意这个搭配；另外也很常见的且类似的还有cross the limit跨过某种极限。举个He'd reached the limit of his patience. 到了他忍无可忍的地步。
congestion=state of being overcrowded, esp. with traffic or people拥堵。构词法上相关又常用的是形容词congested堵塞的。和congestion一样，congested不止常常说交通拥堵，还可以用来描述鼻子堵了的情况。另外由于jam作为动词也有堵塞的意思，所以traffic jam也是常见的交通堵塞表达。
The coming decades will likely see more intense clustering of jobs, innovation, and productivity in a smaller number of bigger cities and city-regions.
工作、创新和生产力更加紧密地集中在数量越来越少但面积越来越大的大城市中可能是接下来十几年的情况。
cluster=gather 聚集。Cluster本身表示丛生的一丛、一束事物，比如花啊或者浆果。作为动词就形象的表达了这种簇生的涵义。
样题：
As used in the above sentence, “intense” most nearly means
A. emotional.
B. concentrated.
C. brilliant.
D. determined
总结：SAT一直是美国大学入学考试的必要环节，现在与ACT处于齐头并进之趋势。今天给大家的是推理考试(Reasoning Test) 批判性阅读试题(Critical Reading), 在阅读共三道题中，难度属于中低等。可以看出来还是不太会有生词、概念困扰的。
TOEFL
There is little doubt, however, that desertification in most areas results primarily from human activities rather than natural processes. The semiarid lands bordering the deserts exist in a delicate ecological balance and are limited in their potential to adjust to increased environmental pressures.
毫无疑问，大多数地区的荒漠化主要是人类活动造成的而非自然过程。与沙漠接壤的半干旱土地有着微妙的生态平衡，且该区域适应更大环境压力的能力比较有限。
=a process by which fertile land turns into desert荒漠化。学术用语，很明显词根是desert.
arid, semiarid=having little or no rainfall, dry干旱的，干燥的。semi-这个前缀是half, partially 半, 部分的意思。这个prefix很常见、构词能力也很强，比如说半导体semiconductor, 半决赛semifinal, 半清醒的semiconscious.
Expanding populations are subjecting the land to increasing pressures to provide them with food and fuel. In wet periods, the land may be able to respond to these stresses. During the dry periods that are common phenomena along the desert margins, though, the pressure on the land is often far in excess of its diminished capacity, and desertification results.
人口膨胀使土地面临越来越大的压力，以应对人们对食物和燃料的需求。雨季时，土地可能能够应对这些压力。然而，对于沙漠边缘的地区来说，干旱时节是常见情况；旱季中土地的压力往往远远超过其已经缩水的应对能力，荒漠化便随即产生。
in excess of=more than a particular amount 超过。比较正式的说法，就相当于more than. 开支多于收入to spend in excess of one's income. 再或者：The vehicle had been travelling at speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour. 该车辆的行驶速度超过每小时90英里。
Four specific activities have been identified as major contributors to the desertification process: overcultivation, overgrazing, firewood gathering, and overirrigation. The cultivation of crops has expanded into progressively drier regions as population densities have grown.
已明确的荒漠化进程主要成因有以下四项具体活动：过度耕作，过度放牧，采伐木柴和过度灌溉。随着人口密度的增加，作物的种植已经逐渐扩展至更为干旱的地区。
overgrazing=eating growing grass in excess 过度放牧。荒漠化进程四大要素出现的全是合成词，很多时候其实我们都认识，只是分析得不够，所以上来可能看着觉得眼生。比如说我们很多都知道牛羊吃草是graze, 但因为看不透over- graze -ing而以为overgrazing是生词就亏大发了。
样题:
The word 'delicate' is closest in meaning to
A. fragile
B. predictable
C. complex
D. valuable
总结：
托福考试因为是外国留学生来美读书的语言测试，所以考得基本都是学术词汇。应该注意的是学术英语的其他方面，比如说词汇构成(e.g. semiarid, overgrazing) 也是托福考试的特点。
IELTS
Oxytocin is a chemical, a hormone produced in the pituitary gland in the brain. It was through various studies focusing on animals that scientists first became aware of the influence of oxytocin. They discovered that it helps reinforce the bounds between prairie voles, which mate for life, and triggers the motherly behavior that sheep show towards their newborn lambs. It is also released by women in childbirth, strengthening the attachment between mother and baby.
催产素是一种化学物质，是大脑垂体中产生的一种激素。通过各种动物研究，科学家们首先意识到了催产素的作用。科学家们发现催产素有助于加强草原田鼠，这种终身伴侣制动物之间的纽带，也会促使绵羊对新生羊羔表现出母性行为。女性分娩时也会释放催产素，强化母婴感情。
oxytocin=a polypeptide hormone secreted by the pituitary gland 催产素。原文有详细介绍。
pituitary gland=small gland at the base of the brain which secretes hormones that influence growth and development 垂体。也可以就直接叫pituitary.
prairie vole=a small rodent found in central North America 草原田鼠。这种啮齿动物因为展现出单一配偶制的特性而常常成为研究对象。
motherly=feelings or actions are like those of a kind mother 母亲般的，慈爱的。有趣的是fatherly也可以作为“慈祥的”来讲。
Few chemicals have as positive a reputation as oxytocin, which is sometimes referred to as the 'love hormone'. One sniff of it can, it is claimed, make a person more trusting, empathetic, generous and cooperative. It is time, however, to revise this wholly optimistic view. A new wave of studies has shown that its effects vary greatly depending on the person and the circumstances, and it can impact on our social interactions for worse as well as for better.
很少有其他化学物质具有像催产素一般的美誉，催产素有时被称为“爱的激素”。据称，闻一下催产素便可使吸入者更信任他人，更为善解人意、慷慨、合作。然而，现在是修正这种全然积极观点的时候了。新一轮研究表明，催产素的影响因人和环境的不同会有很大差异，而且该物质对我们的交际活动的影响可好可坏。
sniff=draw air in through the nose 吸。名动同型，名词就表示“吸一下”这个动作。
empathetic=able to understand other's feelings and problems 移情作用的。Empathy和sympathy构词类似，意思也类似，empathy = em (in) pathos (feeling) = a feeling in 感情移入; sympathy = sym (shared) pathos = shared feelings 同情，意气相投。
revise=re-examine something to correct it 修正。这个词在英式英语里还可以当复习讲，不过在美式英语中大家会用review来表达此意。
样题：
Complete the summary.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
The earliest findings about oxytocin and bonding came from research involving _____. It was also discovered that humans produce oxytocin during _____.
总结：雅思和托福目的类似因此测试的方向、重点也相似，有考试需要的应在平时加强学术英语的侵入式学习。这也就是为何我们公号努力让内容、形式多样化，毕竟只读报刊对于英语学习来说太过狭窄。
GRE
The features that ultimately came to characterize Hawaiian-style building—which also included breezy lanais, generous overhanging eaves, and textured exterior surfaces—came about as the hold of the Big Five weakened.
通透的门廊，宽广的飞檐，纹理外墙，以及其他夏威夷建筑风格的特点，在五大建筑师的影响减弱以后显现了出来。
lanai=roofed, open-sided patio or porch 门廊。Lanai是夏威夷语，指得就是当地很常见的建筑构造。很大的屋檐在房子左右构造出来新的室外空间，和我们所熟悉的日式建筑的“縁”很类似。
eaves=overhanging lower edges of a roof 屋檐。其实比起lanai来说，屋檐就是小一点，可能是倾斜的，也不带支柱的结构。
textured=having a distinct or specified texture 有独特或所示的外观或质地。比如说有纹路的壁纸 textured wallpaper.
come about=to takeplace, happen 发生。这个句子的重点是要简化结构，把从句摘除，找到the features ... came about 这个主干，就会好理解很多。Come about作为take place讲，带有一种不确定性，所以在这里想成“显现”比较好。
再一个：The opportunity to get into computing came about quite by accident. 进入计算机行业的机会来得非常偶然。
The Pan-Pacific movement was gaining sway, and the polyglot population began finding its many voices and architectural idioms. Churches responded to the "one Blood" sentiment of many of their parishioners by constructing verandah-like lanais on either side ofthe naves that symbolically welcomed all believers.
泛太平洋运动势头渐强，多语种的民众也开始自我表达，并在建筑上有了自己的本土语言。作为对教区居民“一种血脉”情节的回应，教堂通过在中殿两侧建造檐廊，向所有信徒表示欢迎。
gaining sway=increasing control 影响增加。名动同型的sway原意是摇摆，进而产生了“影响”“改变”（人们观点）的意思。这个意思下最常见的搭配是hold sway, 而gain sway也是类似并且很好理解的。
polyglot=knowing many languages 多语种的。这个意思还常常用multilingual来表达，构词上都是很类似的poly/multi (many) glot/lingual (tongue). 以此类推说一种语言的monolingual，双语的bilingual等等。
parishioner=a member of a parish, churchgoer教区居民。Parish是宗教生活中一个教堂/牧师所控制的区域，因此parishioner就是教民。
verandah=roofed open-fronted terrace 半敞的走廊。也可以写作veranda, 和之前说过的lanai基本上是一样的。
nave=long central part of a church中堂（教堂正厅）。基本上只用于教堂建筑上。
Architects of the time in general often blended Eastern and Western styles, ushering in a pagoda, for example, to sit in for a bell tower in the task of calling the congregation to service. For a long time, Hawaiian-style building seemed to have little to do with the architectural tastes the Islands' original settlers brought with them from the Marquesas Islands more than 800 years ago.
当时的建筑师通常将东西方风格融为一体，比如神来一笔用一座宝塔替代钟楼来召集会众。很长一段时间中，夏威夷风格的建筑似乎与群岛原始定居者800多年前从马克萨斯群岛带来的建筑品味没有什么关系。
=to do a job instead of the usual one, deputize 替代。比如说“带班”这个概念就可以用sit in for表达：This is Alan James sitting in for Suzy Williams on the mid-morning show. 这里是Alan James 带班Suzy Williams 主持今天的早间节目
congregation=group of people gathered together for religious worship 会众。和上面的parishioner比起来，congregation更是特指参加教堂活动的人，而非仅仅是在教区生活的人。
Marquesas Islands=A volcanic archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean马克萨斯群岛。波利尼西亚三角区中的一片群岛。
样题：
In the context of the passage, "idioms" most nearly means
A. voices
B. believers
C. styles
D. constructions
E. edifices
总结：
GRE（普通）作为美国研究生入学的准入考试难度是显而易见的。阅读理解里常常会出现偏、难、怪的小词，比如说像是今天这篇中的lanai恐怕真不是所有人都具备的词汇。但由于阅读理解的考点并不在词汇之上，所以也不用太过自责。只要能通过上下文大概知道全文说的是什么，生词是什么类别的（词性，类别etc.）就不太影响做题。
但是，同属语文部分的填空题 (Text completion Sentence equivalence) 对词汇的要求就要细致很多。
,
