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  3. The technology of the North American colonies did not differ strikingly from that of Europe, but in one respect, the colonists e

The technology of the North American colonies did not differ strikingly from that of Europe, but in one respect, the colonists e

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问题     The technology of the North American colonies did not differ strikingly from that of Europe, but in one respect, the colonists enjoyed a great advantage．Especially by comparison with Britain，Americans had a wonderfully plentiful supply of wood．
    The first colonists did not, as many people imagine, find an entire continent covered by a continuous forest．Even along the Atlantic seaboard, the forest was broken at many points．Nevertheless, all sorts of fine trees abounded, and through the early colonial period, those who pushed westward encountered new forests．By the end of the colonial era, the price of wood had risen slightly in eastern cities, but wood was still extremely abundant．
    The availability of wood brought advantages that have seldom been appreciated． Wood was a foundation of the economy．Houses and all manner of buildings were made of wood to a degree unknown in Britain．Secondly, wood was used as a fuel for heating and cooking．Thirdly, it was used as the source of important industrial compounds, such as potash, an industrial alkali; charcoal, a component of gunpowder, and tannic acid, used for tanning leather．
    The supply of wood conferred advantages but had some negative aspects as well． Iron at that time was produced by heating iron ore with charcoal．Because Britain was so stripped of trees，she was unable to exploit her rich iron mines．But the American colonies had both iron ore and wood；iron production was encouraged and becamesuccessful. However, when Britain developed coke smelting, the colonies did not follow suit because they had plenty of wood and besides, charcoal iron was stronger than coke iron．Coke smelting led to technological innovations and was linked to the emergence of the Industrial Revolution．In the early nineteenth century, the former colonies lagged behind Britain in industrial development because their supply of wood led them to cling to charcoal iron．
Why does the author mention gunpowder in Paragraph 3?
选项 A、To remind readers that the colonial era ended in warfare．
B、To give an example of a product made from wood consumption．
C、To illustrate some negative aspects of some industrial processes．
D、To suggest that wood was not the only important product of the colonies．
答案B
解析 推理题。文章第三段提到木材的优势，其中第三点是木材被用作重要 工业化合物的原料，随后给出儿个例子，如碳酸钾、木炭和单宁酸，其中 木炭是火药的组成成分，由此可知，作者提到火药，目的是作为木材产品 的例证，因此应选择[B] 。
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