题文
The United States became a rich industrial nation toward the end of 1800s. There were more goods, more services, more jobs, and a higher standard of living. There was more of everything, including problems. One problem was monopoly, that is, to be the only seller of a certain line of products or a service. In some cases, several companies that manufactured the same product would agree not to compete with one another. They would all agree to charge the same price. These arrangements made it impossible for customers to shop around for lower prices for certain products.Some people decided that huge corporations had too much power and controlled too many markets. Because of their wealth and power, they could see to it that governments passed laws favorable to them. Many people believed that monopoly and price fixing were bad for customers and bad for the country so that they should be broken up.
Finally the national government and some states passed laws that placed limits on corporations and big companies. These laws made it illegal for companies to make agreements to charge only a certain price. Later on the national government forced monopoly to be broken up.
Such laws and government action didn’t entirely do away with monopolies. Nor did they stop the growth of huge corporations. But they did show that American people had decided that some of the changes that had occurred were harmful. (from www.nmet168.com)
1. The underlined word “monopoly” in the first paragraph most probably means ________.
A. the production of certain kinds of goods B. complete control and possession of trade
C. a big corporation of company D. an agreement on prices
2. Because of the agreements between big companies ________.
A. people had to buy things at certain shops B. the prices of their goods were much lower
C. customers had no choice but to buy D. there were fewer markets in some states
3. According to the laws, companies ________.
A. were not allowed to control the markets
B. could not force the customers to buy their products
C. should have fixed prices for their products
D. must produce the same kind of goods for the same markets
4. Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
A. Big companies could not influence the government.
B. A large number of markets were controlled by big companies.
C. Many Americans were worried about the changes in their country.
D. Some of the laws were in favor of customers. 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
1-4 BCAA解析
1. 词义猜测题。根据该词之后的解析句“to be the only seller of a certain line of products or a service”可猜测出其意义。2. 细节理解题。根据第一段最后一句“These arrangements made it impossible for customers to shop around for lower prices for certain products”分析可知。
3. 细节理解题。根据第三段中的“These laws made it illegal for companies to make agreements to charge only a certain price”一句可知。
4. 事实确认题。第二段“Because of their wealth and power, they could see to it that governments passed laws favorable to them”一句的意义是：因为拥有财富和势力，他们能确保政府通过有利于他们的法律。由此可确认“大公司对政府是有影响力的”。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“The United States be.....”主要考查你对 [政治经济类阅读 ]考点的理解。政治经济类阅读
政治经济类文章的概念：
要做好这类阅读，平时就要注意了解国内外发生的政治经济大事，掌握一定背景知识，对这类文章的叙述特点及内容安排有一定了解，还要扩展这方面的词汇。阅读这类文章，要抓住文章的核心，即文章整体和各段主要在说什么，也要注意段落之间的逻辑关系。
如何备考政治经济类阅读理解题：
【题型说明】政治经济类阅读文章是高考常选材料之一。该类文章时代气息浓郁，语言鲜活，但熟字新义词、超纲词及专业词语多，长句、难句多。政治类文章大多数是同学们感性趣的内容，读起来倒有似曾相识的感觉，经济类文章读起来就像是雾里看花，文章看完，一头雾水。再加之这类文章的命题侧重于词义猜测、推理判断和文章主旨，同学们对这类题材是望而生畏。
【备考策略】建立心理优势。针对不同体裁的文章，我们要采取相应的阅读方法和技巧。政治类文章多采用记叙文形式，我们可采取“顺读法”，以便抓关键语句，领会文章主旨；而经济类文章则多采用说明文形式，我们则可以采取“逆读法”，先读试题，再从文章中查找有用信息。若遇到的确难读的材料。千万不用着急，因为你觉得难，其他人也一定是同感。在高考前，我们就要有这种心理准备，高考试卷肯定有一、两篇难以阅读的材料。不过，我们平时可以有意识地从报刊杂志上找一些较难的阅读材料来阅读，以培养自己迎难而上的心理素质。
【答题方法】
1、寻找主干：
根据英语中五种基本句型结构，把句子中的主语、谓语、宾语、表语等主要成分找出来，其他成分如定语、状语、补语等则易于理解。找到了句子主干，句子的意思至少明白了一半。
2、剔除从句：
在一个长句中可能会出现若干个从句，在理解时，如果把各个从句剔除出来单独理解，然后把大意拼凑起来，整个长句的意思就会明白六、七分。
3、辨别分句：
一个长句如果是由几个并列、转折、递进、对比关系的分句组成，句中往往有表示这些分句关系的连接词，只要能弄清楚分句和分句之间的逻辑关系，再把各层分句的意思加以连贯，整个长句的句意基本上能跃然脑中。
4、寻找关键词：
如果一个句子看完，一点句意的感觉也没有，下下策就是抓住句中的关键词，通过关键词大体弄懂这个长句的意思。
