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1997年5月托福阅读全真试题(6) |
| 来源:www.stu88.com 时间:2006-04-27 |
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Question 39-50
The changing profile of a city in the United States is apparent
in the shifting definitions used by the United States Bureau
of the Census. In 1870 the census officially distinguished
the nation’s "urban" from its "rural" population for the first
time. "Urban population" was defined as persons living in
towns of 8,000 inhabitants or more. But after 1900 it meant
persons living in incorporated places having 2,500 or more
inhabitants.
Then, in 1950 the Census Bureau radically changed its
definition of "urban" to take account of the new vagueness of
city boundaries. In addition to persons living in incorporated
units of 2,500 or more, the census now included those who
lived in unincorporated units of that size, and also all persons
living in the densely settled urban fringe, including both incor-
porated and unincorporated areas located around cities of
50,000 inhabitants or more. Each such unit, conceived as an
integrated economic and social unit with a large population
nucleus, was named a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area
(SMSA).
Each SMSA would contain at least (a) one central city
with 50,000 inhabitants or more or (b) two cities having
shared boundaries and constituting, for general economic and
social purposes, a single community with a combined population
of at least 50,000, the smaller of which must have a population
of at least 15,000. Such an area included the county in
which the central city is located, and adjacent counties that are
found to be metropolitan in character and economically and
socially integrated with the country of the central city. By 1970,
about two-thirds of the population of the United States was
living in these urbanized areas, and of that figure more than
half were living outside the central cities.
While the Census Bureau and the United States government
used the term SMSA (by 1969 there were 233 of them),
social scientists were also using new terms to describe
the elusive, vaguely defined areas reaching out from what used
to be simple "town" and "cities". A host of terms came into
use: "metropolitan regions", "polynucleated population
groups", "conurbations", "metropolitan clusters",
"megalopolises", and so on.
39.What does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) How cities in the United States began and developed
(B) Solutions to overcrowding in cities
(C) The changing definition of an urban area
(D) How the United States Census Bureau conducts a census
40.According to the passage, the population of the United States was first classified as rural or urban in
(A) 1870
(B) 1900
(C) 1950
(D) 1970
41.The word "distinguished" in line 3 is closest in meaning to
(A) differentiated
(B) removed
(C) honored
(D) protected
42.Prior to 1900, how many inhabitants would a town have to have before being defines as urban?
(A) 2,500
(B) 8,000
(C) 15,000
(D) 50,000
43.According to the passage, why did the Census Bureau revise the definition of urban in 1950?
(A) City borders had become less distinct.
(B) Cities had undergone radical social change
(C) Elected officials could not agree on an acceptable definition.
(D) New businesses had relocated to larger cities. 共7页:  [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] 6 [7] 
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