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Passage One
One of the most popular myths about the United States (9) in the nineteenth century was that of the free and simple life of the farmer. It was said that farmers worked hard on their own land to produce whatever their families needed. They might sometimes trade with neighbors; but in general they could get along just fine by relying on themselves, not on commercial ties with others.
This is how Thomas Jefferson idealized the farmer at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and, at that time, this may have been close to the truth—especially on the frontier.
(10) But by mid-century, sweeping changes in agriculture were well under way—as farmers began to specialize in the raising of crops such as cotton or corn or wheat. By late in the century, revolutionary advances in farm machinery had vastly increased production of specialized crops. And the extensive network of railroads had linked farmers throughout the country to markets in the East and even overseas. By raising and selling specialized crops, farmers could afford more and finer goods and achieve a much higher standard of living ——but at a price.
(11) Now, farmers were no longer dependent just on the weather and their own efforts. Their lives were increasingly controlled by banks, which had power to grant or deny loans for new machinery, and by the railroads, which set the rates for shipping their crops to market. As businessmen, farmers now had to worry about national economic depressions and the influence of world supply and demand on, for example, the price of wheat in Kansas. (12) And so, by the end of the nineteenth century, the era of Jefferson's independent farmer had come to a close.
9.What's the main feature of American farmers' life in the 19th century?
10.What changes had taken place in the 19th century?
11.What is the American farmers' life like in the modern time?
12.Which of the following statements is incorrect?
文章一
19世纪的美国最流行的故事之一就是关于农民自由简单生活的故事。据说，农民在他们自己的土地上辛勤工作，种植家庭所需的作物。他们有时还会与邻居进行交易，但通常他们都能靠自己过活，不用与他人交易。
这就是19世纪初托马斯·杰斐逊所认为的理想的农民生活，在那个时候，这一设想与事实相差不远，尤其是边境地区的农民。
但是到了19世纪中期，农业领域掀起了巨大变革，农民开始专注于种植棉花、玉米或小麦这样的作物。到了19世纪晚期，农业机械的革命性进步则大大提高了专一农作物的产量。而且呈网状分布的铁路将全国的农民连接起来，他们能够到达东部甚至是沿海地区的市场。通过种植和销售专一作物，农民能够消费起更多更精细的商品，生活水平也逐渐提高——但这需要付出一定的代价。
现在美国农民不再依赖于天气和自身劳作，他们的生活越来越受到银行的制约，因为银行有权利批准或拒绝贷款给农民购买机器，同时，他们也受铁路制约，因为铁路规定了运输作物的费用。作为商人，农民们开始担心全国的经济萧条及世界供需对农作物价格的影响，例如，堪萨斯州小麦的价格。因此，19世纪末，关于杰斐逊总统独立农民理念的时代已经结束了。
问题9 19世纪美国农民生活的主要特征是什么?
问题10 19世纪发生了哪些重大的变革？
问题11 当今社会美国农民的生活方式如何？
问题12 下列哪一句的描述是错误的？
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