Question

Many Chinese people who have been to the United States think that Americans pay a little part of their money for food each day. Yet, in the latest 13 years, food prices have gone up 30% for most American families. Everyone agrees that the cost of feeding a family has risen sharply. But who is really responsible（有责任的）?

Many people say the farmers who produce the vegetables, fruit, meat, and eggs are responsible. But farmers say that the rise in food prices is very small compared to (和…相比) the rise in their cost of living. Farmers think middlemen（中间人）have got much more money than they do. Middlemen are those people who stand between the farmers and the people who buy and eat the food. For example, truck drivers, owners of food stores and so on. Are middlemen really responsible for higher food prices?

Economists（经济学家）don’t think so. They have found that the money that meat packers（包装商）and food stores get is less than 1% in all. They say that food costs more now because modern housewives have jobs outside the home. They have less time for cooking after a day’s work. They like to buy food which has already been prepared before it reaches the market. They want to buy many kinds of food that can be put on their dining tables easily and quickly. But of course they must be prepared to pay for the services of those who make their work easier.

It seems that the answer to the question of rising prices is not an easy one. Quite a number of people share the responsibility for the sharp rise in food costs.

1.Farmers speak for themselves because _____.

A. the middlemen have had the biggest share of profit（利润）

B. the cost of their products have risen sharply too

C. their cost of living has gone up a lot, too

D. they’ve got very little in the rise of food prices

2.What’s the writer’s opinion (观点)?

A. He agrees with the economists.

B. He doesn’t think farmers are responsible.

C. He thinks the middlemen might get a lot of profit.

D. He thinks all those people should be responsible.

3.The underlined sentence means the food prices have gone up _____.

A. quickly and carefully

B. suddenly and greatly

C. clearly and naturally

D. angrily and seriously

4.Which of the following is a middleman?

A. A farmer B. A shopkeeper

C. A housewife D. An economist

Answer 1