单选题 The technology of the North American colonies did not differ strikingly from that of Europe, but in one respect, the colonists enjoyed a great advantage. Especially by comparison with Britain, Americans had a wonderfully plentiful supply of wood.
The first colonists did not, as many people imagine, find an entire continent covered by a continuous forest. Even along the Atlantic seaboard, the forest was broken at many points. Nevertheless, all sorts of fine trees abounded, and through the early colonial period, those who pushed westward encountered new forests. By the end of the colonial era, the price of wood had risen slightly in eastern cities, but wood was still extremely abundant.
The availability of wood brought advantages that have seldom been appreciated. Wood was a foundation of the economy. Houses and all manner of buildings were made of wood to a degree un known in Britain. Secondly, wood was used as a fuel for heating and cooking. Thirdly, it was used as the source of important industrial compounds, such as potash, an industrial alkali; char coal, a component of gunpowder, and tannic acid, used for tanning leather.
The supply of wood conferred advantages but had some negative aspects as well. Iron at that time was produced by heating iron ore With charcoal. Because Britain was so stripped of trees, she was unable to exploit her rich iron mines. But the American colonies had both iron ore and wood; iron production was encouraged and became successful. However, when Britain developed coke smelting, the colonies did not follow suit because they had plenty of wood and besides, charcoal iron was stronger than coke iron. Coke smelting led to technological innovations and was linked to the emergence of the Industrial Revolution. In the early nineteenth century, the former colonies lagged behind Britain in industrial development because their supply of wood led them to cling to charcoal iron.

单选题 Which of the following is a common assumption about the forests in North America during the colonial period?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[精析] 细节题。题干意为“下面哪一个是人们对北美森林的普遍臆想?”问句中的关键词assumption是“假设、臆想”的意思，根据文章第二段第一句“...as many people imagine．find an entire continent covered by a continuous forest．”可知他们认为北美被森林覆盖着，故C选项为正确答案。
单选题 What can be inferred about houses in Britain during the period mentioned in the text?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[精析] 推理题。题干意为“可以推断出英国的房子在文章中提到的年代是怎样的吗?”根据文章第三段和英国少树的事实可以推断，英同的房子是用除木材以外的其他材料建成的。故C正确。
单选题 Why does the author mention gunpowder in Paragraph 3 ?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[精析] 推理题。题干意为“为什么在第三段中作者提到了火药?”根据“…it was used as the source of important industrial compounds…”可知，作者想要说明木材可以获得的产品和一些重要工业原料，故B正确。
单选题 Why was the use of coke smelting advantageous according to the text?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[精析] 细节题。题干意为“根据文章，为什么焦炭冶炼是优越的?”根据“Coke smelting led to technological innovations...”可以知道，焦炭冶炼推进了科技发展，而其他选项都是不正确的，故A正确。
单选题 What does the text mainly discuss?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[精析] 主旨题。题干意为“本篇文章主要说了什么?”综合全文来看，是既讲了木材充足带来的优势也讲了其负面影响，故D正确。