托福阅读模拟试题：统计学

 　　Question 21-30

　　There were two widely divergent influences on the early development of statistical¹ methods. Statistics had a mother who was dedicated³ to keeping orderly records of governmental units (state and statistics come from the same Latin root, status) and a gentlemanly gambling⁴ father who relied on mathematics to increase his skill at playing the odds⁵ in games of chance. The influence of the mother on the offspring, statistics, is represented by counting, measuring, describing, tabulating⁶, ordering. and the taking of censuses⁷ —— all of which led to modern descriptive statistics. From the influence of the father came modern inferential statistics, which is based squarely on theories of probability.

　　Descriptive statistics involves tabulating, depicting⁸, and describing collections of data. These data may be quantitative⁹, such as measures of height, intelligence, or grade level - variables that are characterized by an underlying¹⁰ continuum - orthe data may represent qualitative¹¹ variables, such as sex, college major, or personality type. Large masses of data must generally undergo a process of summarization or reduction before they are comprehensible. Descriptive statistics is a tool for describing or summarizing or reducing to comprehensible form the properties of an otherwise unwieldy mass or data. Inferential statistics is a formalized body of methods for solving another class of　problems that present great difficulties for the unaided human mind. This general class of problems characteristically involves attempts to make predictions using a sample of observations. For example, a school superintendent¹² wishes to determine the proportion of children in a large school system who come to school without breakfast, have been vaccinated¹³ for flu, or whatever. Having a little knowledge of statistics, the superintendent would know that it is unnecessary and inefficient¹⁴ to question each child; the proportion for the entire district could be estimated fairly accurately¹⁵ from a sample of as few as l00 children. Thus, the purpose of inferential statistics is to predict or estimate characteristics of a population from a knowledge of the characteristics of only a sample of the population.

　　21. With what is the passage mainly concerned ?

　　(A) The drawbacks of descriptive and inferential statistics(B) Applications of inferential statistics(C) The development and use of statistics(D) How to use descriptive statistics

　　22. The word "divergent" in line 1 is closest in meaning to(A) different

　　(B) distributed

　　(C) recorded

　　(D) prominent

　　23. According to the first paragraph, counting and census-taking arc associated with(A) inferential statistics

　　(B) descriptive statistics

　　(C) unknown variables

　　(D) qualitative changes

　　24. Why does the author mention the "mother" and "father" in the first paragraph?

　　(A) To point out that parents can teach their children statistics(B) To introduce inferential statistic²

　　(C) To explain that there are different kinds of variables(D) To present the background of statistics in a humorous and understandable way25. The word "squarely" in line 8 could best be replaced by(A) solidly

　　(B) geometrically

　　(C) rectangularly

　　(D) haphazrardly

　　26. Which of the following is NOT given an example of a qualitative variable?

　　(A) Gender¹⁶

　　(B) Height

　　(C) College major

　　(D) Type of personality

　　27. The word "they" in line 13 refers to

　　(A) variables

　　(B) masses

　　(C) descriptive statistics

　　(D) properties

　　28. Which of the following statements about descriptive statistics is best supported by thepassage?

　　(A) It reduces large amounts of data to a more comprehensible form.

　　(B) It is based on probability.

　　(C) It can be used by people with little knowledge of mathematics.

　　(D) It measures only qualitative differences.

　　29. The word "unwieldy" in line 15 is closest in meaning to(A) unmanageable

　　(B) unpredictable

　　(C) understandable

　　(D) unreliable

　　30. According to the passage, what is the purpose of examining a sample of a population?

　　(A) To compare different groups

　　(B) To predict characteristics of the entire population(C) To detect differences not observable in the whole population(D) To compile more accurate data

 

1 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

2 statistic   

n.统计量；adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• Official statistics show real wages declining by 24%.官方统计数字表明实际工资下降了24%。
• There are no reliable statistics for the number of deaths in the battle.关于阵亡人数没有可靠的统计数字。

3 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

4 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

5 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

6 tabulating   

把（数字、事实）列成表( tabulate的现在分词 )； 制表

参考例句：

• The Census Office did not finish tabulating the results until 1888. 直到1888年，人口普查办公室才完成统计数字表格。
• By 1890 a revolutionary electrical tabulating system was available. 到了1890年，一种具有革命意义的电动制表装置投入使用。

7 censuses   

人口普查，统计( census的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Data derived from population censuses is useful for social researchers. 从人口普查中得到的数据对社会研究者们很有用处。
• UNFPA also helps countries compile reliable demographic data and carry out censuses. 人口基金还帮助各国汇编可靠的人口数据及开展人口普查。

8 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

9 quantitative   

adj.数量的，定量的

参考例句：

• He said it was only a quantitative difference.他说这仅仅是数量上的差别。
• We need to do some quantitative analysis of the drugs.我们对药物要进行定量分析。

10 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

11 qualitative   

adj.性质上的，质的，定性的

参考例句：

• There are qualitative differences in the way children and adults think.孩子和成年人的思维方式有质的不同。
• Arms races have a quantitative and a qualitative aspects.军备竞赛具有数量和质量两个方面。

12 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

13 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

14 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。

15 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

16 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。