单选题
In the United States, the biggest change in spending has been in the amount spent on food, which has decreased from 46% of the total family budget in 1901 to 19% of present day totals. This is due to the fact that people are now able to buy more and better foods at lower prices. As a result of the growth in fast food restaurants (for example, McDonald's or KFC), more people are also eating out. Thus about 30% of today's food budget goes on meals eaten outside the home while a hundred years ago it was only 3%. At the beginning of the 20th century, few people owned their homes (only around 19% of working families) or cars (at about ＄ 1,000 per ear this was well above the average family income of ＄ 650 per year), as most people were unable to borrow money. But there was a rapid rise in both home and car ownership during the mid-1900s. Free time increased considerably following the shortening of the working week, i.e. from six days to five, and from 10 hours to eight hours a day. In fact, the working clay couldn't be too long, otherwise people wouldn't have the time to spend their money. The amount of a family's budget spent on outside entertainment, such as parties, films and concerts has increased from just under 6% in Ford's day to about 9% today. On the other hand, we spend only a quarter of what our great-grand-parents paid for reading materials. It is difficult to see how our spending patterns may change in the future. We already know that our population is aging and this will have an effect on the amount of money we spend on medicalcare.
单选题
Why do people spend less on thud today than one hundred years ago?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[精解] 细节题。题干意为“为什么现在人们在饮食方面的花销比100年前少了?”从文章第一段第二句话This is due to the fact that people are now able to buy more and better foods at lower prices．可知，人们可以用更少的钱买到更多更好的食物，说明食物的价格降低了。所以本题的正确答案为D。
单选题
What is the immediate cause for people to have more time to enjoy life?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[精解] 细节题。题干意为“人们有更多时间享受生活的直接原因是什么?”从文章的第三段第一句活Free time increased considerably following the shortening of the working week... eight hours a day. 可知，缩短工作时间是人们有更多的时间享受生活的直接原因。所以本题的正确答案为A。
单选题
On which of the following do people spend less time and money than before?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[精解] 细节题。题干意为“下列哪一项，人们在上面花费的时间和金钱比以前更少?”从文章第三段最后一句话On the other hand，we spend only a quarter of what our great-grandparents paid for reading materials. 可知，在阅读方面，我们投入的资金或时间比以前更少。所以本题答案选D。
单选题
One possible change in the future is that people will ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[精解] 细节题。题干意为“将来可能发生的一种改变是什么?”从文章的最后一句话We already know that our population is aging and this will have an effect on the amount of money we spend on medical care. 可知受未来老龄化社会的影响，在医疗保健方面的花销会增大，所以本题的正确答案为D。