阅读理解 In the 1920s demand for American farm products fell, as European countries began to recover from World War I and instituted austerity (紧缩) programs to reduce their imports. The result was a sharp drop in farm prices. This period was more disastrous for farmers than earlier times had been, because farmers were no longer self-sufficient. They were paying for machinery, seed, and fertilizer, and they were also buying consumer goods. The prices of the items farmers bought remained constant, while prices they received for their products fell. These developments were made worse by the Great Depression, which began in 1929 and extended throughout the 1939s. In 1929, under President Herbert Hoover, the Federal Farm Board was organized. It established the principle of direct interference with supply and demand, and it represented the first national commitment to provide greater economic stability for farmers. President Hoover''s successor attached even more importance to this problem. One of the first measures proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt when he took office in 1933 was the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which was subsequently passed by Congress. This law gave the-Secretary Of Agriculture the power to reduce production through voluntary agreements with farmers who were paid to take their :land out of use. A deliberate scarcity of farm products was planned in an effort to raise prices.. This law was declared :.unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on the grounds that general taxes were being collected to pay one special group of people. How ever, new laws were passed immediately that achieved the same result of resting soil and providing flood-control measures, but which were based on the principle of soil conservation. The Roosevelt Administration believed that rebuilding the nation''s soil was in the national interest and was not simply a plan to help farmers at the expense of other citizens. Later the government guaranteed loans to farmers so that they could buy farm machinery, hybrid (杂交) grain, and fertilizers.

单选题 What brought about the decline in the demand for American farm products?

A、 The impact of the Great Depression.
B、 The shrinking of overseas markets.
C、 The destruction caused by the First World War.
D、 The increased exports of European countries.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】要点归纳题。引起美国农产品需求量走下坡路的原因应当在第一段第一句中找，“as”即是这因果关系的关键词。A项只是使这一现象加重的原因。C、D则明显与短文内容相悖。

单选题 The chief concern of the American government in the area of agriculture in the 1920s was ______.

A、 to increase farm production
B、 to establish agricultural laws
C、 to prevent farmers from going bankrupt
D、 to promote the mechanization of agriculture

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】要点定位理解题。根据题意，本题答案必须从第二段确定。政府采取直接干预农业供求矛盾，原则上为农民提供更大的经济稳定性，也即预防农民破产。选项B属第三段内容．A和D明显有悖文章内容。

单选题 The Agricultural Adjustment Act encouraged American farmers to ______.

A、 reduce their scale of production
B、 make full use of their land
C、 adjust the prices of their farm products
D、 be self-sufficient in agricultural production

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】要点归纳题。答案在短文第三段第三、四句，选项B、C均属政府行为，而非鼓励农民自己做的事。D与短文要点相距甚远，self-sufficient只在第一段提到。

单选题 The Supreme Court rejected the Agricultural Adjustment Act because it believed that the Act ______.

A、 might cause greater scarcity of farm products
B、 didn''t give the Secretary of Agriculture enough power
C、 would benefit neither the government nor the farmers
D、 benefited one group of citizens at the expense of others

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】要点归纳题。根据题意，确定答案在第三段第五句(on the grounds that...)部分。再可结合该段倒数第二句，从另一角度论证答案D的合理性。A中scarcity of farm products在上一句，不属本题要点范围，B、C明显不合理。

单选题 It was claimed that the new laws passed during the Roosevelt Administration were aimed at ______.

A、 reducing the cost of farming
B、 conserving soil in the long-term interest of the nation
C、 lowering the burden of farmers
D、 helping farmers without shifting the burden onto other taxpayers

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】要点归纳定位题。根据new laws，可确定本题问题指向第三段第二个层次。归纳该层次要点即可明确答案为D。选项B虽也似乎正确，但与本文主题关系较疏远，所以不选。