单选题 In the 1920s demand for American farm products fell, as European countries began to recover from World War I and instituted austerity (紧缩) programs to reduce their imports. The result was a sharp drop in farm prices. This period was more disastrous for farmers than earlier times had been, because farmers were no longer self-sufficient. They were paying for machinery, seed, and fertilizer, and they were also buying consumer goods. The prices of the items farmers bought remained constant, while prices they received for their products fell. These developments were made worse by the Great Depression, which began in 1929 and extended throughout the 1939s.
In 1929, under President Herbert Hoover, the Federal Farm Board was organized. It established the principle of direct interference with supply and demand, and it represented the first national commitment to provide greater economic stability for farmers. President Hoover's successor attached even more importance to this problem. One of the first measures proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt when he took office in 1933 was the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which was subsequently passed by Congress. This law gave the Secretary of Agriculture the power to reduce production through voluntary agreements with farmers who were paid to take their land out of use. A deliberate scarcity of farm products was planned in an effort to raise prices. This law was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on the grounds that general taxes were being collected to pay one special group of people. However, new laws were passed immediately that achieved the same result of resting soil and providing flood-control measures, but which were based on the principle of soil conservation. The Roosevelt Administration believed that rebuilding the nation's soil was in the national interest and was not simply a plan to help farmers at the expense of other citizens. Later the government guaranteed loans to farmers so that they could buy farm machinery, hybrid (杂交) grain, and fertilizers.

单选题 What brought about the decline in the demand for American farm products?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[命题目的] 本题考查对文章细节的推断。
[解题要点] 问及“引起美国农产品需求量走下坡路的原因”，答案在第一段第一句。句中as即是这因果关系的关键词。A项只是使这一现象加重的原因，C项、D项则明显与短文内容相悖。
单选题 The chief concern of the American government in the area of agriculture in the 1920s was
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[命题目的] 本题考查考生推理能力。
[解题要点] 在第二段中，提到了政府直接干预农业供求矛盾，为农民提供更大的经济稳定性，即预防农民破产。选项B属第三段内容，A项和D项明显有悖文章内容。
单选题 The Agricultural Adjustment Act encouraged American farmers to
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[命题目的] 本题考在对文章要点的归纳。
[解题要点] 答案在短文第二段第四、五句，“法案使农业部长有权给闲置耕地经济补偿，以此来鼓励农民自愿减产”，A项“鼓励农民减产”恰与此意符合。B项与题意无关，是干扰项，C项是“减产”想要达到的目的，而非“鼓励农民自己做的事”。D项与短文要点相距甚远，“自给自足”只在第一段形容农民的窘境时提到，并非“法案鼓励农民做的事”。
单选题 The Supreme Court rejected the Agricultural Adjustment Act because it believed that the Act
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[命题目的] 本题考查对文章细节的理解和归纳。
[解题要点] 第二段第七句“最高法院以普遍征收的税款只服务于一个特定人群为由宣布此法令不合法”，这与D项“牺牲其他公民的利益来满足一部分公民的利益”相符。再可结合第二段倒数第二句，从另一角度论证答案D项的合理性。A项中scarcity of farm products在上一句，不属本题要点范围，B项、C项明显不合理。
单选题 It was claimed that the new laws passed during the Roosevelt Administration were aimed at
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[命题目的] 本题考查对文章要点的归纳。
[解题要点] 第二段倒数第二句“罗斯福政府相信重建国家土地既符合国家利益，又不会在帮助农民的同时损害其他人的利益”，这正吻合 D项的表述“帮助农民的同时也不会将负担转移到其他纳税人身上”。选项B虽也似乎正确，但只是新法所能达到的客观结果，没和其产生的具体背景结合起来，与本文主题关系较疏远，所以不选。同时也可参看44题的答案解析，可以帮助理解为什么这里罗斯福政府重点强调“不会转移负担”。