托福阅读常见考题：城市化话题如何作答?

　　托福阅读真题再现：

　　版本一：

　　19世纪美国城市发展。全文讲了几个原因及其影响!主要有交通运输发展，经济发展，domes¹什么影响版本二：

　　美国的城市规划。第二段有讲到Washington DC版本三：

　　关于美国的“urban planning”的政策，对人们生活的影响的好与坏新东方谢真真老师解析：

　　重复2011年11月26日题，涉及到美国19世纪美国城镇发展的三个因素，economic, demographic和transportation，还涉及到人们进城打工等因素，后文分别讨论三种因素发挥的作用以及城市化带来的影响，本文是原因和影响混合型文章。因果型文章结构在托福中非常常见，学生在阅读的时候重点要关注原因或影响是什么，以及原因是如何发挥作用，影响体现在什么方面等，最后一题一般都直接对应原因或影响。

　　近几年的托福考试中，城市化话题涉及到建设、发展和特点，考到伦敦、芝加哥、日本、法国和中国等，但是，话题重复意味着词汇的重复，建议学生在备考中积累学科词汇，提升英语实力，以不变应万变。

　　托福阅读城市化话题背景知识阅读：

　　Urbanization occurs as individual, commercial, social and governmental efforts reduce time and expense in commuting² and transportation and improve opportunities for jobs, education, housing, and transportation. Living in cities permits the advantages of the opportunities of proximity³, diversity, and marketplace competition. However, the advantages of urbanization are weighed against alienation⁴ issues, stress, increased daily life costs, and negative social aspects that result from mass marginalization.

　　Cities are known to be places where money, services, wealth and opportunities are centralized. Many rural inhabitants come to the city for reasons of seeking fortunes and social mobility⁵. Businesses, which provide jobs and exchange capital are more concentrated in urban areas. Whether the source is trade or tourism, it is also through the ports or banking⁶ systems that foreign money flows into a country, commonly located in cities.

　　Economic opportunities are just one reason people move into cities, though they do not go to fully⁷ explain why urbanization rates have exploded only recently in places like China and India. Rural flight is a contributing factor to urbanization. In rural areas, often on small family farms or collective farms in villages, it has traditionally been difficult to access manufactured goods, though overall quality of life is very subjective⁸, and may certainly surpass that of the city. Farm living has always been susceptible⁹ to unpredictable environmental conditions, and in times of drought, flood or pestilence¹⁰, survival may become extremely problematic.

　　Cities offer a larger variety of services, such as specialist services that aren't found in rural areas. Supporting the provision of these services requires workers, resulting in more numerous and varied¹¹ job opportunities. Elderly individuals may be forced to move to cities where there are doctors and hospitals that can cater¹² for their health needs. Varied and high quality educational opportunities are another factor in urban migration¹³, as well as the opportunity to join, develop, and seek out social communities.

　　Urbanization can be planned urbanization or organic. Planned urbanization, i.e.: planned community or the garden city movement, is based on an advance plan, which can be prepared for military, aesthetic¹⁴, economic or urban design reasons. Examples can be seen in many ancient cities; although with exploration came the collision of nations, which meant that many invaded cities took on the desired planned characteristics of their occupiers. Many ancient organic cities experienced redevelopment for military and economic purposes, new roads carved through the cities, and new parcels of land were cordoned¹⁵ off serving various planned purposes giving cities distinctive¹⁶ geometric designs. UN agencies prefer to see urban infrastructure¹⁷ installed before urbanization occurs. Landscape planners are responsible for landscape infrastructure (public parks, sustainable urban drainage systems, greenways etc.)which can be planned before urbanization takes place, or afterward¹⁸ to revitalize an area and create greater livability within a region. Concepts of control of the urban expansion are considered in the American Institute of Planners.

 

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