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Nineteenth – Century Politics In The United States - TOEFL 托福閱讀考古題 Questions (二) 

托福考試的複選題會"倒扣"，所以想要隨便瞎矇真的非常不建議，因為你根本不知道自己到底是猜對還是猜錯，所以一定要時常練習托福的題目，才會習慣它們的考試及命題走向，這樣才不會因為誤解考試方式或問題內容而選錯答案。

  Paragraph 4:  Whigs and Democrats differed not only in their attitudes toward the market but also about how active the central government should be in people’s lives. Despite Andrew Jackson’s inclination to be a strong President Democrats as a rule believed in limited government. Government’s role in the economy was to promote competition by destroying monopolies’ and special privileges. In keeping with this philosophy of limited government, Democrats also rejected the idea that moral beliefs were the proper sphere of government action. Religion and politics, they believed, should be kept clearly separate, and they generally opposed humanitarian legislation.

6. The word inclination in the passage is closest in meaning to

○ Argument

○ Tendency

○ Example

○ Warning

7. According to paragraph4, a Democrat would be most likely to support government action in which of the following areas?

○ Creating a state religion

○ Supporting humanitarian legislation

○ Destroying monopolies

○ Recommending particular moral beliefs

  Paragraph 5: The Whigs, in contrast, viewed government power positively. They believed that it should be used to protect individual and public liberty, and that it had special role where individual effort was ineffective. By regulating the economy and competition, the government could ensure equal opportunity. Indeed, Whigs the concept of government promoting the general welfare went beyond the economy. In particular, Whigs in the northern sections of the United States also believed that government power should be used to foster the moral welfare of the country. They were much likely to favor social-reform legislation and aid to education.

8. The word concept in the passage is closest in meaning to

○ Power

○ Reality

○ Difficulty

○ Idea

9. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 5 about variations in political within the Whig Party?

○ They were focused on issues of public liberty

○ They caused some members to leave the Whig party

○ They were unimportant to most Whigs

○ They reflected regional interests.

Paragraph 6:  In some ways the social makeup of the two parties was similar. To be competitive in winning votes, Whigs and Democrats both had to have significant support among farmers, the largest group in society, and workers. Neither partly could win an election by appealing exclusively to the rich or the poor. he Whigs, however, enjoyed disproportionate strength among the business and commercial classes. Whigs appealed to planters who needed credit to finance their cotton and rice trade in the world market, to farmer who were eager to sell their surpluses, and to workers who wished to improve themselves. Democrats attracted farmers isolated from the market or uncomfortable with it, worker alienated from the emerging industrial system, and rising entrepreneurs who wanted to break monopolies and open the economy to newcomers like themselves. The Whigs were strongest in the towns, cities, and those rural areas that were fully integrated into the market economy, whereas Democrats dominated areas of semisubsistence farming that were more isolated and languishing economically.

10. According to paragraph 6, the Democrats were supported by all of the following groups EXPECT

○ workers unhappy with by new industrial system

○ planters involved in international trade

○ rising entrepreneurs

○ individuals seeking to open the economy to newcomers

11. 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.

○ Whigs were able to attract support only in the wealthiest parts of the economy because Democrats dominated in other areas.

○ Whig and Democratic areas of influence were naturally split between urban and rural areas, respectively.

○ The semisubsistence farming areas dominated by Democrats because increasingly isolated by the Whigs’ control of the market economy.

○ The Democrats’ power was greatest in poorer areas while the Whigs were strongest in those areas where the market was already fully operating.

  Paragraph 2: During Jackson’s second term, his opponents had gradually come together to form the Whig party. ■Whigs and Democrats held different attitudes toward the changes brought about by the market, banks, and commerce. ■The Democrats held tended to view society as a continuing conflict between “the people”-farmers, planters, and workers-and a set of greedy aristocrats. ■This “paper money aristocracy” of bankers and investors manipulated the banking system for their own profit, Democrats claimed, and sapped the nation’s virtue by encouraging speculation and the desire for sudden, unearned wealth. ■The Democrats wants the rewards of the market without sacrificing the features of a simple agrarian republic. They wanted the wealth that the market offered without the competitive, changing society; the complex dealing; the dominance of urban centers; and the loss of independence that came with it.

12. Look at the four squares Ⅱ that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage.

This new party argued against the policies of Jackson and his party in a number of important areas, beginning with the economy.

Where would the sentence best fit?

13. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some answer choices do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

  The political system of the United States in the mid-nineteenth century was strongly influenced by the social and economic circumstances of the time.

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●

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Answer Choices

○ The Democratic and Whig Parties developed in response to the needs of competing economic and political constituencies.

○ During Andrew Jackson’s two terms as President, he served as leader of both the Democratic and Whig Parties.

○ The Democratic Party primarily represented the interests of the market, banks, and commerce.

○ In contrast to the Democrats, the Whigs favored government aid for education.

○ A fundamental difference between Whigs and Democrats involved the importance of the market in society.

The role of government in the lives of the people was an important political distinction between the two parties.