托福阅读真题(10)

　Questions 41-50

　　The Homestead Act of 1862 gave beads of families or individuals aged twenty-one or

　　older the right to own 160 acres of public land in the western United States after five years of residence and improvement. This law was intended to provide land for small farmers Line and to prevent land from being bought for resale at a profit or being owned by large

　　(5) landholders. An early amendment to the act even prevented husbands and wives from filing separate claims. The West, land reformers had assumed, would soon contain many 160-acre family farms.

　　They were doomed to disappointment. Most landless Americans were too poor to

　　become farmers even when they could obtain land without cost. The expense of moving a

　　(10) family to the ever-receding frontier exceeded the means of many, and the cost of tools, draft animals, a wagon, a well, fencing, and of building the simplest house, might come to $1,000---a formidable barrier. As for the industrial workers for whom the free land was supposed to provide a "safety valve," they had neither the skills nor the inclination to become farmers. Homesteaders usually came from districts not far removed from frontier

　　(15) conditions. And despite the intent of the law, speculators often managed to obtain large tracts. They hired people to stake out claims, falsely swear that they had fulfilled the

　　conditions laid down in the law for obtaining legal title, and then deed the land over to

　　their employers.

　　Furthermore, 160 acres were not enough for raising livestock or for the kind of

　　(20) commercial agriculture that was developing west of the Mississippi. The national

　　government made a feeble attempt to make larger holdings available to homesteaders

　　by passing the Timber Culture Act of 1873, which permitted individuals to claim an

　　additional 160 acres if they would agree to plant a quarter of it in trees within ten years.

　　This law proved helpful to some farmers in the largely treeless states of Kansas,

　　(25) Nebraska, and the Dakotas. Nevertheless, fewer than 25 percent of the 245,000 who

　　took up land under the Act obtained final title to the property.

　　41. Which aspect of the Homestead Act of

　　1862 does the passage mainly discuss?

　　(A) How it transformed the western United States into a place of small farms

　　(B) Why it was an improvement over previous attempts at land reform

　　(C) Why it did not achieve its aim to provide land for small farmers

　　(D) How it failed in the largely treeless states of Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas

　　42. An amendment added to the Homestead Act of 1862 specified that

　　(A) five years of residence was required for landownership

　　(B) husbands and wives could not file separate claims

　　(C) the price of 160 acres of land was $1,000

　　(D) land could not be resold for a profit

　　43. The word "formidable" in line 12 is closest in meaning to

　　(A) obvious

　　(B) predictable

　　(C) difficult

　　(D) manageable

　　44. It can be inferred that the "safety valve" in line 13 refers to

　　(A) a new kind of machinery

　　(B) an alternative for urban workers

　　(C) an area in a factory

　　(D) a procedure designed to protect workers