C
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．
53．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．
54．The word “successor” refers to ______．
A．President Hoover           B．US Secretary of State
C．President Franklin          D．US Secretary of Agriculture
55．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
56．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

( C )
In Denmark, parents are allowed to set up a new school if they are dissatisfied with the school in the area where they are living. Although these schools have to follow the national courses, they are allowed a lot of choice in deciding what to teach. Some of these new schools are called “small schools” because usually the number of pupils in them is only sixty, but a school has to have at least twenty-seven pupils.
　Cooleenbridge School in Ireland, is a small school similar to the ones in Denmark, it was set up by parents who came from Holland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, England and other parts of Ireland. They came because they wanted to live in the countryside and to grow their own food. In June 1986, they decided to start a school. They managed to get an old, disused primary-school (小学) building and started with twenty-four children aged from four to twelve.
　The teachers say, “The important thing in school is doing, not sitting.” And so the courses includes yoga(瑜伽), cooking, knitting, kite-making, music, fishing, drama (戏剧) and environmental(环境的) river studies, as well as reading, writing, maths and science.
【小题1】What are the rules for setting up a new school in Denmark?

( C )

In Denmark, parents are allowed to set up a new school if they are dissatisfied with the school in the area where they are living. Although these schools have to follow the national courses, they are allowed a lot of choice in deciding what to teach. Some of these new schools are called “small schools” because usually the number of pupils in them is only sixty, but a school has to have at least twenty-seven pupils.

　Cooleenbridge School in Ireland, is a small school similar to the ones in Denmark, it was set up by parents who came from Holland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, England and other parts of Ireland. They came because they wanted to live in the countryside and to grow their own food. In June 1986, they decided to start a school. They managed to get an old, disused primary-school (小学) building and started with twenty-four children aged from four to twelve.

　The teachers say, “The important thing in school is doing, not sitting.” And so the courses includes yoga(瑜伽), cooking, knitting, kite-making, music, fishing, drama (戏剧) and environmental(环境的) river studies, as well as reading, writing, maths and science.

1.What are the rules for setting up a new school in Denmark?

A．Parents are allowed to set up their own school.

B．The school has to follow the national courses.

C．The school has to have at least 27 pupils.

D．All of the above.

2. The writer tells about the Cooleenbridge School in Ireland because ____ .

A．it was set up by parents who are not people of Denmark

B．it was taken as an example of this kind of “small school”

C．there were only twenty-four children

D．the pupils there were aged from 4 to 12

3.What makes this kind of school special?

A．It is set up by parents not by government.

B．It is free to decide what to teach.

C．The number of pupils in it is only sixty.

D．It has to have at least 27 pupils.

4. “The important thing in school is doing not sitting.” What the teachers say actually means ____ .

A．What we should do is teaching in the classroom, not sitting in the office.

B．Children should do more homework at home, not just sit in class to listen to the teachers.

C．Children should learn by themselves not rely on teachers.

D．Children should learn through practice not just from books.

5.The courses includes ____ .

A．yoga, cooking, knitting, kite-making, music, fishing, drama and environmental river studies, except reading, writing, maths and science

B．either yoga, cooking, knitting, kite-making, music, fishing, drama and environmental river studies, or reading, writing, maths and science

C．not only reading, writing, maths and science, but also yoga, cooking knitting, kitemaking, music, fishing, drama and environmental river studies

D．mainly yoga, cooking, knitting, kite-making, music, fishing, drama and environmental river studies, and supplemental (补充的) reading writing, maths and science

C

In some parts of the United States, farming is easy. But farming has always been difficult in the northeastern corner of the country, which is called New England.

New England has many trees and thin, rocky soil. Anyone who has wanted to start a new farm there has had to work very hard. The first job has been cutting down trees. The next job has been digging stumps (树桩) of the trees out of the soil. Then the farmer has had the difficult job of removing stones from his land.

The work of removing stones never really ends, because every winter more stones appear. They come up through the thin soil from the rocks below. Farmers have to keep removing stones from the fields. Even today, farms which have been worked on for 200 years keep producing more stones.

That is why stone walls are used instead of fences around New England fields. The stone walls are not high: A man can easily climb over them. But they keep the farmer’s cows from joining his neighbour’s cows.

64.   New England is an area ______.

in the northeastern part of Britain        

which has been newly discovered by the Englishmen

which lies between Australia and New Zealand

which lies in the northeastern part of the USA

65.   According to the passage, farming is difficult in New England because ______.

A. the winter is very long there           B. the farms are very old

C. the soil is rocky and thin                D. there are not enough machines for farming

66.   From this passage, we know the removing of stones ______.

must be done again and again             

is usually done during the winter

is an interesting job children enjoy doing

was more difficult before machines were used

67.   In New England, stone walls are used to ______.

keep dangerous beasts out

keep the farmer’s cows from wandering away

protect the farmers fields from thieves

provide comfortable living conditions for the farmer’s family

C

In some parts of the United States, farming is easy. But farming has always been difficult in the northeastern corner of the country, which is called New England.

New England has many trees and thin, rocky soil. Anyone who has wanted to start a new farm there has had to work very hard. The first job has been cutting down trees. The next job has been digging stumps (树桩) of the trees out of the soil. Then the farmer has had the difficult job of removing stones from his land.

The work of removing stones never really ends, because every winter more stones appear. They come up through the thin soil from the rocks below. Farmers have to keep removing stones from the fields. Even today, farms which have been worked on for 200 years keep producing more stones.

That is why stone walls are used instead of fences around New England fields. The stone walls are not high: A man can easily climb over them. But they keep the farmer’s cows from joining his neighbour’s cows.

64.   New England is an area ______.

in the northeastern part of Britain        

which has been newly discovered by the Englishmen

which lies between Australia and New Zealand

which lies in the northeastern part of the USA

65.   According to the passage, farming is difficult in New England because ______.

A. the winter is very long there           B. the farms are very old

C. the soil is rocky and thin                D. there are not enough machines for farming

66.   From this passage, we know the removing of stones ______.

must be done again and again             

is usually done during the winter

is an interesting job children enjoy doing

was more difficult before machines were used

67.   In New England, stone walls are used to ______.

keep dangerous beasts out

keep the farmer’s cows from wandering away

protect the farmers fields from thieves

provide comfortable living conditions for the farmer’s family