单选题 Improvements in labor productivity 56 increase wages and salaries. Wages and salaries 57 about 75 percent of all income in the United States. 58 , labor productivity is the major 59 of this (and all other) nations' living standards. If labor productivity improves because of an advance in technology, the 60 of output increases 61 the need for additional labor. The dollar value of all goods increases 62 , which implies that consumers ultimately receive more income.
Entrepreneurs have a profit 63 to increase labor productivity. They do so by providing their workers with better equipment and creating more efficient ways for their workers to use that equipment. Entrepreneurs also have an incentive to discover new products that are more highly valued 64 to their cost of production.
Some of the largest increases in productivity occur 65 major technological advancements. The steam engine and the internal combustion engine are two examples. The advances in the computer industry have been 66 phenomenal. Advances in technology depend 67 on businesses making 68 investment in new technology and new products. A major issue in today's economy is 69 businesses are doing this and what incentives are being provided by the government to companies to encourage investment. Another issue is whether labor productivity in the United States has 70 other countries.
There have also been 71 increases in productivity in our agricultural 72 . Because of the increased use of chemicals, the 73 per acre are many times greater than they were 100 years ago, and consequently, 74 Americans now 75 farming, yet agricultural output is the highest it has, ever been.

单选题 A. unavoidably B. highly C. ultimately D. actually
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】unavoidably不得已地,无可奈何地;highly高度,非常;ultimately最终;actually实际上。从本段最后两句话推知此处选C。
单选题 A. constitute B. consist C. account D. compile
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】constitute组成;consist由……组成;account认为,说明;compile编辑。其中consist表示“组成”时与of连用,所以选A。
单选题 A. Consequently B. Nevertheless C. Furthermore D. Besides
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】前后是承接关系,而不是转折或递进关系,所以选A。
单选题 A. factor B. determinant C. measurement D. standard
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】由前面知,劳动生产力的提高会导致工资的提高,而工资占了所有收入的大约百分之七十五,从而可知劳动生产力是这个国家的生活水平的决定因素。
单选题 A. rate B. ratio C. velocity D. ration
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】rate(运动,变化等的)速度,进度;ratio比率;velocity速度,主要用于物理学中,指运动速度;ration定量,配给量。
单选题 A. in addition to B. without C. as regards D. except for
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】由这句话的意思推知,在不需额外的劳动力时增加了产出速度,所以选B。
单选题 A. as well B. as a result C. as a matter of fact D. as usual
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】前一句说产量增加,这句接着说结果商品价值随之增加,所以应该选B。
单选题 A. intention B. motive C. incentive D. advance
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】intention目的;motive动机;incentive刺激,诱因,动机;advance前进,提升。是追求利润所诱发的动机使得企业家提高生产力,所以用incentive更合适。
单选题 A. related B. relation C. relate D. relative
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】related叙述的,有关系的;relation关系,联系,是名词;relate叙述,使联系,是动词; relative相对的,比较而言的。这里应该选一个形容词,并且有比较的意思,所以选D。
单选题 A. according to B. in view of C. in terms of D. because of
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】表原因只能选D。前三个选项都有“依据,按照”之意。
单选题 A. nothing short of B. nothing but C. anything but D. no more than
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】nothing short of=almost the same as简直可以说是;nothing but就是,恰恰是;anything but不是;no more than仅仅,所以选A。
单选题 A. wholly B. in part C. in fact D. hardly
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】从后文可知,科技进步部分依赖于商业上对科技与新产品所作的投资,所以选B。
单选题 A. supported B. persisted C. sustained D. retained
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】supported支持的;persisted坚持的;sustained持续的,维持的;retained保持的,保留的。这里表示持续性的投资,所以选C。
单选题 A. whether B. how C. that D. what
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】从后面的Another issue is whether…可知此处选A。
单选题 A. fallen behind B. fallen back C. gone ahead D. gone before
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】表“落后”用fall behind,而不是fall back;go ahead的意思是“开始做某事,同意某人开始做某事”,所以本题选A。
单选题 A. frequent B. dramatic C. relative D. drastic
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】frequent时常的,频繁的;dramatic显著的;relative相对的,有关系的;drastic激烈的。
单选题 A. department B. fraction C. sector D. portion
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】department部,局,处;fraction小部分,片断;sector部门,部分;portion一部分。生产力中的农业部门应该用sector。
单选题 A. production B. produce C. yields D. efficiency
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】production生产,产品;produce产物,农产品;yield产量,收益;efficiency效率,功率。农作物产量应该用yield。
单选题 A. much more B. quite a few C. many fewer D. many more
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】much more更多的;quite a few相当多的;many fewer更少的;many more更多的。
单选题 A. depart from B. engage in C. return to D. depend on
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】depart from离开;engage in从事;return to返回;depend on依靠。由上下文的意思可知,现在越来越少的美国人从事农业生产,所以选A。(此题答案与上一题紧密相关,请一并检查)