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 imagined, 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 unknown 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; charcoal, 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】细节题。短文第二段第一句指出：The first colonists did not，as many people imagined，find an entire continent covered by a continuous forest(最初的殖民者并未像许多人所想像的那样，找到一处被连绵不断的森林全部覆盖的大陆)。由此即可推知，殖民时期的许多人都主观认为整个北美大陆应当覆满森林，故本题答案是[C]。

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】分析推理题。答题的关键在第三段第三句：Houses and all manner of buildings were made of wood to a degree unknown in Britain(房屋和所有建筑在某种程度上来说都由木材建成，这在英国却不为人知)，据此即可推知英国树木较少，房子都少用木材，而用其他材料建成，故选[C]。

单选题 Why does the author mention gunpowder in Paragraph 3?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】分析推理题。短文第三段提到gunpowder(火药)的地方是在其最后一句：it was used as the source of important industrial compounds，such as...a component of gunpowder…(它被用作一些重要的工业化合物的原料，比如……火药的一种成分……)，由其逻辑关系可知，提到火药的目的就是为了说明木材的用途，因此[B]项“举例说明用木材制成的产品”就是正确答案。

单选题 Why was the use of coke smelting advantageous according to the text?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】细节题。短文最后一段提到了两种炼铁方法：coke smelting(焦炭冶炼)和charcoal smelting(木炭冶炼)，并且对比了两种方法的优劣，其中倒数第二句指出：Coke smelting led to technological innovations…(焦炭冶炼导致了技术创新……)，这与[A]项一致。其余三项都与该段原文不符。