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  3. In 1959 the average American family paid $989 for a year’s supply of food. In 1972 the family paid $1,311. That was a price incr

In 1959 the average American family paid $989 for a year’s supply of food. In 1972 the family paid $1,311. That was a price incr

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问题     In 1959 the average American family paid $989 for a year’s supply of food. In 1972 the family paid $1,311. That was a price increase of nearly one-third. Every family has had this sort of experience. Everyone agrees that the cost of feeding a family has risen sharply. But there is less agreement when reasons for the rise are being discussed. Who is really responsible?
    Many blame the farmers who produce the vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs, and cheese that stores offer for sale. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the farmer’s share of the $1,311 spent by the family in 1972 was $521. This was 31 per cent more than the farmer had received in 1959.
    But farmers claim that this increase was very small compared to the increase in their cost of living. Farmers tend to blame others for the sharp rise in food prices. They particularly blame those who process the farm products after the products leave the farm. These include truck drivers, meat packers, manufacturers of packages and other food containers, and the owners of stores where food is sold.【B11】_______________
    Of the $1,311 family food bill in 1972, middlemen received $790, which was 33 per cent more than they had received in 1959. It appears that the middlemen’s profit has increased more than farmer’s. But some economists claim that the middleman’s actual profit was very low. According to economists at the First National City Bank, the profit for meat packers and food stores amounted to less than one per cent. During the same period all other manufacturers were making a profit of more than 5 per cent.【B12】_______________
    【B13】________________
    Vegetables and chicken cost more when they have been cut into pieces by someone other than the one who buys it. A family should expect to pay more when several "TV dinners" are taken home from the store. These are fully cooked meals, consisting of meat, vegetables, and sometimes dessert, all arranged on a metal dish. The dish is put into the oven and heated while the housewife is doing something else. Such a convenience costs money.【B14】_______________
    Economists remind us that many modern housewives have jobs outside the home. They earn money that helps to pay the family food bills. The housewife naturally has less time and energy for cooking after a day’s work. She wants to buy many kinds of food that can be put on her family’s table easily and quickly.【B15】_______________
    It appears that the answer to the question of rising prices is not a simple one. Producers, consumers, and middlemen all share the responsibility for the sharp rise in food costs.
    A) Thus, as economists point out, "Some of the basic reasons for widening food price spreads are easily traceable to the increasing use of convenience foods, which transfer much of the time and work of meal preparation from the kitchen to the food processor’s plant."
    B ) They are among the "middlemen" who stand between the farmer and the people who buy and eat the food. Are middlemen the ones to blame for rising food prices?
    C ) "If the housewife wants all of these, " the economists say, "that is her privilege, but she must be prepared to pay for the services of those who make her work easier."
    D ) Who then is actually responsible for the size of the bill a housewife must pay before she carries the food home from the store? The economists at First National City Bank have an answer to give housewives, but many people will not like it. These economists blame the housewife herself for the jump in food prices. They say that food costs more now because women don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen. Women prefer to buy food which has already been prepared before it reaches the market.
    E ) However, some economists believe that controls can have negative effects over a long period of time. In cities with rent control, the city government sets the maximum rent that a landlord can charge for an apartment.
    F ) Economists do not agree on some of the predictions. They also do not agree on the value of different decisions. Some economists support a particular decision while others criticize it.
    G ) By comparison with other members of the economic system both farmers and middlemen have profited surprisingly little from the rise in food prices.
【B13】
选项
答案D
解析 本题从整篇文章的结构和布局上就可以找到解题线索。第3题出现在第二个but之后，而这个but已经把中间商对食品价格上涨的责任给开脱掉了，此时的文章肯定还要向下发展去找另一类人来为此负责，此处出现的第3题就应该承上启下；而且第3题下面的段落中出现了新一类人：housewives(家庭主妇)，这样就可判定在第3题中应该提出housewives这个概念，同时将“谁为食品价格上涨负责”的问题引到housewives身上，使文章得以连贯地向下发展。在7个选项中明显只有选项D)是正确答案。
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