Passage Three
[32]In the past industries had more freedom than they have now, and they did not need to be as careful as they must today. They did not need to worry a lot about the safety of the new products that they developed. They did not have to pay much attention to the health and safety of the people who worked for them. Often new products were dangerous for the people who used them; often conditions in the work place had very bad effects on the health of the workers.
Of course sometimes there were real disasters which attracted the attention of government and which showed need for changes. Also scientists who were doing research into the health of the workers sometimes produced information which governments could not ignore. At such times, there were inquiries into the causes of the disaster or the problems. New safety rules were often introduced as a result of these inquiries; [33]however, the new rules came too late to protect the people who had died or become seriously ill.
Today many governments have special departments which protect customers and workers. In the U.S., for example, there is a department which tests new airplanes and gives warnings about possible problems. It also makes the rules that aircraft producers must follow. Another department controls the foods and drugs that companies sell. [34]A third department looks at the places where people work, and then reports any companies that are breaking laws which protect the health and safety of workers.

Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
32.Compared with today's industries, what were the industries in the past like?
正确答案：A
解析：细节题。短文首句就提到，在过去，工业生产的自由度比现在大，不必像现在这样小心行事，A为正确答案。A只是对原文换了一种说法而已，符合“同义替换”的解题原则。本题反映了比较级常为考点这个命题规律。B、C与原文相悖。
33. What did the government do years ago?
正确答案：B
解析：推断题。短文提到，然而这些新的制度来得太迟了，无法保护那些已经死亡或病重的人了。由此可推断，rules多在事发后才出台，故B正确。
34. What does the passage say about industries in the U.S. today?
正确答案：B
解析：推断题。短文末尾提到，另一个部门着眼于人们工作的地方，并会将那些违反工人健康安全法规的公司上报。由此可推断，B为正确答案。文章结尾处往往是考点所在。文中举了3个例子，但这并不表明只有3个部门保护消费者及劳动者，故A错误；C与原文不符；D与原文相悖。
35. What is the speaker mainly talking about?
正确答案：C
解析：主旨题。短文通过对工业生产的过去和现状的比较，着重论述了关于保护消费者和工人的不同状况：过去很糟糕，现在改善了很多，故C正确。解答主旨题要从宏观角度去理解，抓住主题句和文章脉络。通过文中反复出现的safety, health, rules, work place, protect, customers, workers等关键词，不难推断出C正确。A、B、D在文中都有提及，但它们只是文章里的某些细节而已，并不是本文的主要话题。