题目内容
In the 1920s demand for American farm products fell, as European countries began to recover from World War I and started 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 (干预) 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 FranklinD.Roosevelt when he took office in 1933 was the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which was later 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 shortage of farm products was planned in an effort to raise prices.This law was declared unconstitutional (违背宪法的) by the Supreme Court on the grounds that general taxes were being collected to pay one special group of people.However, 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.
1.What caused the problem in the demand for American farm products?
A.The effect 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.
2.The word “successor” refers to ______.
A.President Hoover B.US Secretary of State
C.President Franklin D.US Secretary of Agriculture
3.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
4.The Supreme Court rejected the Agricultural Adjustment Act because it believed that the Act ______.
A.might cause greater shortage 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
1.B
2.C
3.A
4.D
Less TV Reduce Kids Weight
PALO AITO, California—“Switching off the television may help prevent children from getting fatter—even if they do not change their diet or increase the amount they exercise,” US researchers said last week.
A study of 192 third and fourth grades, generally aged eight and nine, found that children who cut the number of hours spent watching television gained nearly two pounds (0.91 kg) less over a one-year period than those who did not change their television diet.
“The findings are important because they show that weight loss can only be the result of a reduction in television viewing and not any other activity,” said Thomas Robinson, a pediatrician (儿科专家)at Stanford University.
“ American children spend an average of more than four hours per day watching television and videos or playing games, and rates of childhood being very fat have doubled over the past 20 years,” Robinson said.
In the study, presented this week to the Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual meeting in San Francisco, the researchers persuaded about 100 of the students to reduce their television viewing by one-quarter to one-third.
Children watching fewer hours of television showed a significantly smaller increase in waist size and had less body fat than other students who continue their normal television viewing, even though neither group ate a special diet nor took part in any extra exercise.
“One explanation for the weight loss could be the children unstuck to the television may simply have been moving around and burning off calories,” Robinson said.
“Another reason might be due to eating fewer meals in front of the television. Some studies have suggested that eating in front of the TV encourages people to eat more,” Robinson added.
【小题1】 The author tries to tell us in the first two paragraphs that ____.
A.children will get fatter if they eat too much. |
B.children will get thinner if they eat less. |
C.children will get fatter if they spend less time watching TV. |
D.children will get fatter if they spend more time watching TV. |
A.is more than four hours a day. | B.is less than four hours a day. |
C.doubled in the last twenty years. | D.is more than on any other activities. |
A.Children usually eat fewer while watching TV. |
B.Children usually eat more while watching TV. |
C.Children eat the same amount of meals while watching TV. |
D.Children usually eat nothing while watching TV. |
A.They usually eat more while watching TV. |
B.They burn off fewer calories. |
C.They change their diet while watching TV. |
D.Both A and B |