单选题 The agriculture revolution in the nineteenth century involved two things: the invention of labor-saving machinery and the development of scientific agriculture. Labor-saving machinery naturally appeared first where labor was scarce. "In Europe," said Thomas Jefferson, "the object is to make the most of their land, labor being sufficient; here it is to make the most of our labor, land being abundant." It was in America, therefore, that the great advances in the nineteenth century agricultural machinery first came. At the opening of the century, with the exception of a crude(粗糙的) plow, farmers could have carried practically all of the existing agricultural tools on their backs. By 1860, most of the machinery in use today had been designed in an early form. The most important of the early inventions was the iron plow. As early as 1890 Charles Newbolt of New Jersey had been working on the idea of a cast-iron plow and spent his entire fortune in introducing his invention. The farmers, however, would home none of it, claiming that the iron poisoned the soil and made the weeds grow. Nevertheless, many people devoted their attention to the plow, until in 1869, James Oliver of South Bend, Indiana, turned out the first chilled-steel plow.
单选题 The word "here" in Line 4 refers to ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 根据上下文,这里的“here”指的是美国。
单选题 Which of the following statements is NOT true?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 文章第三句说到:“In Europe, the object is to make the most of their land, labor being sufficient; here it is to make the most of our labor, land being abundant.”(在欧洲,由于劳动力充足,所以要充分利用土地;而在美国,由于土地充足,所以要充分使用劳动力。)因此说欧洲和美国都急需农业机械化是错误的。C为正确答案。
单选题 The passage is mainly about ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 文章的主旨应当是“节省劳动力的机器的发明”。
单选题 At the opening of the nineteenth century, farmers in America ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 文章第五句说到:“At the opening of the century, with the exception of a crude plow, farmers could have carried practically all of the existing agricultural tools on their backs.”(在本世纪(19世纪)初,除了一把粗糙的耕犁之外,农民可以把其余所有的农具放在背上。)说明当时的农具很少。D为正确答案。
单选题 It is implied but not stated in the passage that ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 文章暗含的内容是“美国缺乏劳动力”。