2017年2月25日托福听力真题

　　Lecture 1

　　话题分类：天文学

　　内容回忆：讨论火星上有没有液态水。某个假说提过水的存在要求大气中应当有二氧化碳然而没有在火星上有这样的发现。但另一个最近的假说认为其实是存在的并且找到相关证据，火星应该是存在液态水的。最后教授的看法是还是觉得最近的假说可能不成立，因为他们的证据不具备代表性

　　参考听力：

　　OG test 2 Mars

　　(注意这个话题在阅读中也是考过的，考生可以一并了解相关学科内容)

　　相关阅读补充

　　Photographic evidence suggests that liquid water once existed in great quantity on the surface of Mars. Two types of flow features are seen: runoff channels and outflow channels. Runoff channels are found in the southern highlands. These flow features are extensive systems―sometimes hundreds of kilometers in total length―of interconnecting, twisting channels that seem to merge into larger, wider channels. They bear a strong resemblance to river systems on Earth, and geologists think that they are dried-up beds of long-gone rivers that once carried rainfall on Mars from the mountains down into the valleys. Runoff channels on Mars speak of a time 4 billion years ago (the age of the Martian highlands), when the atmosphere was thicker, the surface warmer, and liquid water widespread.

　　Outflow channels are probably relics of catastrophic flooding on Mars long ago. They appear only in equatorial regions and generally do not form extensive interconnected networks. Instead, they are probably the paths taken by huge volumes of water draining from the southern highlands into the northern plains. The onrushing water arising from these flash floods likely also formed the odd teardrop-shaped “islands” (resembling the miniature versions seen in the wet sand of our beaches at low tide) that have been found on the plains close to the ends of the outflow channels. Judging from the width and depth of the channels, the flow rates must have been truly enormous―perhaps as much as a hundred times greater than the 105 tons per second carried by the great Amazon river. Flooding shaped the outflow channels approximately 3 billion years ago, about the same times as the northern volcanic plains formed.

　　Some scientists speculate that Mars may have enjoyed an extended early Period during which rivers, lakes, and perhaps even oceans adorned its surface. A 2003 Mars Global Surveyor image shows what mission specialists think may be a delta―a fan-shaped network of channels and sediments where a river once flowed into a larger body of water, in this case a lake filling a crater in the southern highlands. Other researchers go even further, suggesting that the data provide evidence for large open expenses of water on the early Martian surface. A computer-generated view of the Martian north polar region shows the extent of what may have been an ancient ocean covering much of the northern lowlands. The Hellas Basin, which measures some 3,000 kilometers across and has a floor that lies nearly 9 kilometers below the basin’s rim, is another candidate for an ancient Martian sea.

　　These ideas remain controversial. Proponents point to features such as the terraced “beaches” shown in one image, which could conceivably have been left behind as a lake or ocean evaporated and the shoreline receded. But detractors maintain that the terraces could also have been created by geological activity, perhaps related to the geologic forces that depressed the Northern Hemisphere far below the level of the south, in which case they have nothing whatever to do with Martian water. Furthermore, Mars Global Surveyor data released in 2003 seem to indicate that the Martian surface contains too few carbonate rock layers―layers containing compounds of carbon and oxygen―that should have been formed in abundance in an ancient ocean. Their absence supports the picture of a cold, dry Mars that never experienced the extended mild period required to form lakes and oceans. However, more recent data imply that at least some parts of the planet did in fact experience long periods in the past during which liquid water existed on the surface.

　　Aside from some small-scale gullies (channels) found since 2000, which are inconclusive, astronomers have no direct evidence for liquid water anywhere on the surface of Mars today, and the amount of water vapor in the Martian atmosphere is tiny. Yet even setting aside the unproven hints of ancient oceans, the extent of the outflow channels suggests that a huge total volume of water existed on Mars in the past. Where did all the water go? The answer may be that virtually all the water on Mars is now locked in the permafrost layer under the surface, with more contained in the planet’s polar caps.

　　Lecture 2

　　话题分类：艺术

　　内容回忆：贝多芬早期的音乐都是给上层人士表演的，但是后期贝多芬又对于自己有更进一步追求，想要为自己而做音乐其中有提到贝多芬对音乐的创作有受到启蒙运动的影响。

　　参考听力：

　　TPO 25 Music History (Béla Bartók)

　　TPO 22 Musicians & Film Industry

　　Lecture 3

　　话题分类：生物科学

　　内容回忆：教授说能从藻类植物中提取某种物质加上一定的催化作用引入酶，女生问这是不是可以和人体内的消化系统上的酶相提并论。之后教授引入溶酶体的相关概念，学生又问两种教授提及的提取物质方式有什么不同。教授提到了后一种的成本比较高。

　　参考听力：TPO26 American Crops

　　Lecture 4

　　话题分类：经济

　　内容回忆：教授讲了公司的管理结构问题。提及公司要制定正确管理策略，比方说制定合适的目标，对员工的奖金鼓励政策，以及提到了销售服务当中的沟通方式的问题。

　　参考听力：TPO 26 Green Marketing