In the 1920s America enjoyed what was to become known as "an Age of Excess". From 1921-1929 manufacturing output increased with only a small check—the mild recession of 1924, and real GNP(1929 prices)rose 45.6 percent. In real terms it was a vigorous expansion with the added attractions of stable prices, rising real wages, and mainly "full" employment. So the 1920s' boom remains a legend in the American economic history.
The boom was created by several factors that worked together. The three presidents of the twenties, Harding, Coolidge and Hoover were all Republicans who supported business and the stock market. The Republicans were against any kind of welfare state or the government regulating business. They introduced lower tax rates and raised tariffs on foreign goods so they could not compete with American business. This was known as "protectionism". America's economy had not suffered from World War I. In fact it had been strengthened by trading arms to the allies. In the twenties, there was a substantial growth in production, jobs, profits, wages and the standard of living. The growth in production created more jobs, and because more people had more money they could buy the newly produced goods. More goods needed to be produced so more jobs and profits were created. This led to the twenties seeing the start of mass production and consumerism. For the first time items like cars and refrigerators were available and affordable to the middle classes, and secondary industries such as advertising became very profitable. There was an inevitable change in the ideas and actions of society. People could afford to enjoy their leisure time and the leisure industries also boomed.
Much of American Society was changed by the Boom. More people could go out and enjoy themselves because of the increased leisure time and affluence of society. Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald called it "the Age of Excess". Jazz music had a massive effect on the youth of America, as they became more outgoing. More started smoking and going out, and women started to wear shorter skirts and other more outrageous fashions. Older generations hated the new music and showed apparent disrespect of younger people. A new kind of woman was created, called a "flapper". Hollywood promoted these women and their fashions as the rogue actresses became icons for other young ladies. To most, these women were nothing but a sign of the times, a decline in traditional standards.
单选题 From the passage, we learn that "the Age of Excess" ____.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】末段第3句虽然没有直接说明Fitzgerald是首位使用“纵乐的年代”的人，但从句中的called it可以推断“纵乐的年代”这个叫法是由Fitzgerald创造的，因此C正确。第2段倒数第4句表明“消费主义”是由20年代(“纵乐的年代”)引发的，A把顺序调转了；虽然首段末句指出20年代的经济仍然是legend，但不能就此判断当时的经济“最”繁荣，B错；D的说法过于绝对了。
单选题 The three republican presidents contributed to the boom of U.S. economy in the 1920's because they advocated______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】C中的duties和imported goods分别为第2段第4句中的tariff和foreign goods的近义替换词，C为本题答案。A和B都是三位总统反对的做法；第2段第4句表明美国提高外国货品的关税，使外国货品不能与本国货品竞争，由此可见，三位总统并不支持国家之间的商业竞争，D不正确。
单选题 It can be inferred that mass production started when ______
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】第2段倒数第4句中的this led to表明大规模生产的原因可在前面几句话中找到。根据该段倒数第5句和第6句可以推断，由于消费者有能力购买更多的商品，使大规模生产成为必要，A正确。其他选项都不是导致大规模生产的原因。
单选题 The word "affluence"(Line 2, Para. 3)is closest in, meaning to " ___".
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】末段首句和第2句说的都是美国社会在20年代的变化，由此可知，社会的affluence与the Boom相关，而且是让人们能enjoy themselves的条件，再联系与之并列的increased leisure time，可知affluence应该是一个褒义词，A是对affluence最恰当的理解。
单选题 What was most people's attitude toward "flappers"?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】末段末句中的to most表明这一句就是大多数人对flappers的看法，而句中的nothing but…a decline表明D是本题答案。由末段倒数第2句可知A并不是大多数人的看法：末句表明大多数人认为flapper是时代的象征，并不表示他们认同flapper是“时髦的”，B不能由此句推断；人们对flappers的看法更多的是批判，而不是憎恨，C也不正确。