Successivegenerations of North Americans have viewed theircontinent’s natural environment in different ways. From the vantage point of the present, it isclearthat perceptions of the land have changeddramaticallyfrom the first years ofsettlementto theCivilWar. Not only have such visions often shifted, but also different peoples have used theirparticularperspectiveto reshape the land itself and make it fit their ownsenseof what nature should be. If the consequences of some changes, such as cutting forests and filling in lowlands, have beendeliberateand purposeful—to open thelandscapeand createsweepingvistas, for example—other human undertakings, such asmininganddambuilding, have brought results neither anticipated nor intended. Native peoples, no less than the first colonists andsubsequentimmigrants to North America, have reshaped the natural environment to meet theirphysicalwants and spiritual needs. Indeed, much of thelandscapewe know today reflects patterns of use andabusethat began several centuries ago.

Long before the first European settlers reached thecontinent’s eastern shores, native peoples had developed agricultural practices that had changed the face of the land. By cutting away thebarkto kill trees selectively, Indians in the Virginia tidewater (low, coastal land) and much of the Northeast had clearedspaceto plant small gardens of corn,squash, beans, and melons. Although the first English immigrants described the countryside as almostentirelywooded, the forests provided canopies of large, well-spaced trees under which a horse and rider could pass unhindered. By frequently moving their garden plots to find more-fertile soil and byperiodicallyburning theundergrowth, Indians had further opened the land, in this way facilitating their hunting of deer and other game. Native American visions of thelandscapenot surprisingly featured people living inharmonywith nature, whose riches theycelebratedinseasonalrituals andthroughtime-honored practices.

Incontrast, the European colonists who intruded on thisharmoniousworld often viewed it asalienand menacing; some called it, in the language of the Bible, a “howling wilderness.” The newcomers to America brought with them agricultural practices and preconceptions about nature based on their experiences in England. They saw uncultivated lands as “wastes” that needed to be “broken,” “dressed,” and “improved.” In New England, transplanted English settlers attempted tosubduewhat they considered a fearsome wilderness by mapping the countryside, draining marshlands, clearing pastures, fencingparticularparcels, and planting wheat and otherfamiliarcrops. Withintwenty years of theinitialPuritansettlement, Edward Johnson boasted of the newcomers’ achievements: “Thisremote,rocky,barren, bushy, wild-woody wilderness, areceptaclefor lions, wolves, bears, foxes, racoons, beavers, otters, and all kind of wild creatures, a place that never afforded the Natives better than the flesh of a few wild creatures and parched Indian corn inched out with chestnuts and bitter acorns, nowthroughthemercyof Christ [has] become asecondEngland forfertilityin so short aspace, that it is indeed thewonderof the world.”

So, rather than adapting to their new land, the English either changed it by cutting trees, building farms, andplowingor searched for soil andlandscapefeatures that reminded them of the English countryside. Seeking to tame the land and toconquertheir fear of it, generations of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century settlersneverthelessfailed to gain the mastery they desired. In part, this failure resulted from theircustomof settlingalongwaterways. To expedite travel andfacilitatethe shipment of agricultural produce, newcomersinvariablybuilt their homesalongrivers. Despite the colonists’ attempts to control waterwaysthroughdams, rivers never failed toremindthem of nature’s unpredictability and power. Rivers could, and often did, changecourseabruptlyor flood during sudden rainstorms. Not until the middle of the eighteenthcenturydid the colonists begin todiscardtheirnegativeview of thelandscapeas a wilderness to be feared and controlled, and tosubstitutethe idea that nature could be as much useful as fearsome.

Questions:
question_stem: 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.
choices: tag: A
text: Some changes to the land have been made to improve the landscape, and others have been made for economic reasons.

tag: B
text: While human beings intend to improve land when making changes to it, some of their undertakings have brought disagreeable results.

tag: C
text: Of all the changes made by human beings, those made to forests and lowlands have been the most deliberate and purposeful.

tag: D
text: While the consequences of some changes to the land have been intentional, others have been unexpected.
answer_key: D
explanation: 原句主干“other human undertakings have brought results neither anticipated nor intended”意思为其他人类活动带来意外结果。只有 D 主干符合原句。A 主干信息经济目的，错； B：disagreeable results，意见不统一的结果，不符合原句，错； C 主干是原句的次要信息，主次颠倒，错误。

question_stem: The word “subsequent” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: later

tag: B
text: original

tag: C
text: numerous

tag: D
text: occasional
answer_key: A
explanation: subsequent adj.随后的;后来的;只有 A：later 符合；B. original  原始的     C. numerous  无数的  D. occasional 偶然的；都不符合意思，故不选。

question_stem: In paragraph 2, why does the author mention that Native Americans frequently moved their garden plots to more fertile soil and periodically burned the undergrowth?
choices: tag: A
text: To identify some of the seasonal rituals practiced by Native Americans

tag: B
text: To contrast Native American with European agricultural practices

tag: C
text: To explain some of the techniques Native Americans used to change the landscape even before the arrival of Europeans

tag: D
text: To demonstrate that the hunting of deer and other game played a central role in Native American culture
answer_key: C
explanation: 题干问“作者为什么说 Native Americans moved their garden  to  fertile soil and burned the undergrowth”整段落的重点都在表达“native peoples had developed agricultural practices that had changed the face of the land”这个主旨句的意思。故选 C。D 选项说 the hunting of deer and other game played a central role，核心作用原文没提，原文中只是说便利了打猎，所以不选。

question_stem: Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 2 about tree density in American forests?
choices: tag: A
text: The forests became less dense over time because Europeans cleared paths for riding horses.

tag: B
text: Planting gardens was the primary way Native Americans kept forests from becoming too dense to travel through.

tag: C
text: The Native American practice of clearing trees by cutting away the bark caused them to grow back more densely than before.

tag: D
text: The forests were less dense than they appeared because Native Americans had cleared away selected trees.
answer_key: D
explanation: 题干提问“关于树的密度可以推理出什么？没有清晰定位词，需要一一核对选项，A 说为了骑马清理道路，定位原文第三句话，“ the forests provided trees under which a horse and rider could pass unhindered.”没有人主动清理的意思，故不选；B 选项，定位原文第二句，garden 的目的是种庄家，而不是为了防止森林太密集，故不选；C 选项原文没有说到变更密集，错； D 选项符合段落大意，表达人为的清理。故为正确答案。

question_stem: According to paragraph 2, all of the following are ways that Native Americans altered the land EXCEPT
choices: tag: A
text: holding seasonal rituals

tag: B
text: removing trees

tag: C
text: burning undergrowth

tag: D
text: planting gardens
answer_key: A
explanation: 题干问“改变地貌的方式”第二句话 garden 对应 D，第二句话的 cutting away the bark 对应 B,第四句话对应 C，A 定位本段最后一句话，表达土著人用宗教仪式庆祝自然的美好，不能回答题目问题，故为正确答案。

question_stem: According to paragraph 3, what was a preconception colonists held about nature based on their experiences in England?
choices: tag: A
text: Wild animals needed to be removed from the land before it could be cultivated.

tag: B
text: Native crops produced lower yields than did transplanted crops.

tag: C
text: Land that had not been cultivated was wasted space.

tag: D
text: Uncultivated land could be subdued in approximately 20 years.
answer_key: C
explanation: 题干提问“殖民者根据他们本国经验如何看待大自然”，题干定位到第二句，答案句定位到第三句“They saw uncultivated lands as “wastes” that needed to be “broken,” “dressed,” and “improved.”同义替换 C 选项 wasted space，故 c 为正确答案。A 选项，出处为原文第五句话说到动物，但没有说 need，故不选；B 选项原文没提产量方面 比较，故不选；D 整段没有涉及到时间问题，故不选。

question_stem: The word “mastery” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: status

tag: B
text: control

tag: C
text: advantage

tag: D
text: result
answer_key: B
explanation: mastery ：n. 掌握；精通；优势；征服，选项 B control 控制符合，故为正确答案；      A. status 社会地位，错,不选，            C. advantage 优点 ，和 mastery 有相近意思，但不符合原句意思，故不选           D. result 结果，不选。

question_stem: According to paragraph 4, why did the English settle along waterways?
choices: tag: A
text: It made agriculture possible without irrigation.

tag: B
text: The soil near waterways was usually more fertile.

tag: C
text: Shipping and travel were easier over water.

tag: D
text: North America had many more waterways than England did.
answer_key: C
explanation: 题干提问“为什么英国人沿水路定居”题干定位原文第三句话，答案句在第四句“To expedite travel and facilitate the shipment of agricultural produce, newcomers invariably built their homes along rivers.”符合 C 选项，为了便于运输；AB 选项对于农业的便利，本段没提及，故不选，D 选项原文没有比较北美和英国的水路数量。