📖 原文
(1) The economic expansion prompted by the Second World War triggered a spectacular population boom in the West. Of course, the region was no stranger to population (2) booms. Throughout much of its history, western settlement had been characterized by (3) spurts, rather than by a pattern of gradual and steady population growth, beginning with (4) the gold and silver rushes of the 1850's and 1860's. The decade after the First World (5) War - the 1920's - witnessed another major surge of people pouring into the West, (6) particularly into urban areas. But the economic depression of the 1930's brought this (7) expansion to a halt; some of the more sparsely settled parts of the region actually lost (8) population as migrants sought work in more heavily industrialized areas. By 1941, (9) when the United States entered the Second World War and began to mobilize, new job (10) opportunities were created in the western part of the nation. (11) If the expansion of industries, such as shipbuilding and aircraft manufacturing, was (12) most striking on the Pacific coast, it also affected interior cities like Denver, Phoenix, (13) and Salt Lake City. Equally dramatic were the effects of the establishment of aluminum (14) plants in Oregon and Washington and the burgeoning steel industry in Utah and (15) California. The flow of people into these areas provided an enormous impetus to the (16) expansion of the service industries — banks, health care services, and schools. (17) Although strained to the limit by the influx of newcomers, western communities (18) welcomed the vast reservoir of new job opportunities. At the same time, the (19) unprecedented expansion of government installations in the West, such as military bases, (20) created thousands of new civilian openings. As land had served as a magnet for (21) western migrants in the late nineteenth century, so wartime mobilization set in motion (22) another major expansion of population. Indeed, it could be said that the entire western (23) United States became a giant boomtown during the Second World War. This was (24) especially true of California. Of the more than eight million people who moved into the (25) West in the decade after 1940, almost one-half went to the Pacific coast. In fact, (26) between 1940 and 1950, California's population surged by more than three million (27) people.
❓ 试题解析
问题 18： What is the main point of the passage?
A. California dominated the economic growth of the West during the Second World War.
B. Industrial growth during the 1940's attracted large numbers of people to the West.
C. The military drew people away from civilian jobs during the 1940's.
D. The West experienced gradual and steady economic growth from 1900 to 1940.
✅ 正确答案： B）Industrial growth during the 1940's attracted large numbers of people to the West.
📝 解析： 全文讨论二战期间经济扩张引发西部人口激增。
💡 解题技巧： 主旨题看首段主题句（economic expansion triggered a spectacular population boom）。
问题 19： The word “triggered” in line 1 is closest in meaning to
A. was connected to
B. generated
C. interfered with
D. illuminated
✅ 正确答案： B）generated
📝 解析： “The economic expansion ... triggered a spectacular population boom” — triggered = 引发/导致。
💡 解题技巧： 词汇题：trigger = generate = cause。
问题 20： Why does the author mention “the gold and silver rushes of the 1850's and 1860's” in the first paragraph?
A. As causes of gradual population growth
B. As contrasts to later patterns of population growth
C. As illustrations of a market economy
D. As examples of western population booms
✅ 正确答案： D）As examples of western population booms
📝 解析： 西部人口增长以 spurts 为特征，淘金热是早期人口激增的例子。
💡 解题技巧： 例证题看例子要说明的观点（spurts）。
问题 21： Which of the following occurred in the West during the 1920's?
A. Gold and silver deposits were discovered.
B. The population density gradually increased.
C. The population of the cities increased significantly.
D. Many military bases were established.
✅ 正确答案： C）The population of the cities increased significantly.
📝 解析： “The decade after the First World War - the 1920's - witnessed another major surge of people pouring into the West, particularly into urban areas” — 城市人口显著增加。
💡 解题技巧： 细节题定位“particularly into urban areas”。
问题 22：According to the passage, the depression of the 1930's caused which of the following?
A. A lack of population growth in the West
B. The building of new suburbs
C. A creation of more job opportunities
D. A growth in immigration from abroad
✅ 正确答案： A）A lack of population growth in the West
📝 解析： “the economic depression of the 1930's brought this expansion to a halt; some ... actually lost population” — 人口增长停滞甚至下降。
💡 解题技巧： 因果细节题定位“brought this expansion to a halt”。
问题 23： Which of the following statements about the shipbuilding industry is suggested by the passage?
A. It came into being during the First World War.
B. Many new shipbuilding yards were established on the Pacific coast during the 1940's.
C. Denver was considered to be a poor location for shipbuilding factories.
D. Shipbuilding was the dominant industry in Oregon and Washington.
✅ 正确答案： B）Many new shipbuilding yards were established on the Pacific coast during the 1940's.
📝 解析： 文中提到 shipbuilding industry expansion was most striking on the Pacific coast。
💡 解题技巧： 推理题结合上下文（expansion of industries on Pacific coast）。
问题 24： The word “it” in line 13 refers to
A. expansion
B. Denver
C. manufacturing
D. the Pacific coast
✅ 正确答案： A）expansion
📝 解析： “If the expansion of industries ... was most striking on the Pacific coast, it also affected interior cities” — it 指 expansion。
💡 解题技巧： 代词题找前一个名词（expansion）。
问题 25： The word “enormous” in line 16 is closest in meaning to
A. unexpected
B. immense
C. adequate
D. important
✅ 正确答案： B）immense
📝 解析： “an enormous impetus” — enormous = 巨大的。
💡 解题技巧： 词汇题：enormous = immense = huge。
问题 26： The passage suggests that industrialization in the West led to all of the following EXCEPT
A. A reduction in the price of land
B. An increase in school construction
C. Improved access to doctors
D. An increase in the number of banks
✅ 正确答案： A）A reduction in the price of land
📝 解析： 文中提到 banks, health care services, schools 的扩张，未提到土地价格下降。
💡 解题技巧： “EXCEPT”题定位服务行业扩张的内容。
问题 27： According to the passage, what was one result of the building of new military bases in the West in the 1940's?
A. Military bases in other parts of the United States were closed.
B. Many settlers were forced off their land.
C. Many civilian jobs were created.
D. The cost of living rose sharply in California and other western states.
✅ 正确答案： C）Many civilian jobs were created.
📝 解析： “unprecedented expansion of government installations ... created thousands of new civilian openings”。
💡 解题技巧： 细节题定位“created thousands of new civilian openings”。
问题 28： It can be inferred from the passage that the principal cause of California's population surge between 1940 and 1950 was
A. the increased availability of land
B. people's desire to live in a warm, coastal climate
C. the industrial mobilization necessitated by the Second World War
D. overcrowding in urban areas in other regions of the United States
✅ 正确答案： C）the industrial mobilization necessitated by the Second World War
📝 解析： 二战经济扩张和工业 mobilisation 吸引了大量人口进入西部，特别是加州。
💡 解题技巧： 推理题结合全文因果链：二战经济扩张→工业增长→人口激增。
🌐 中文翻译
第二次世界大战推动的经济扩张引发了西部 spectacular 的人口 boom。当然，该地区对人口 boom 并不陌生。在其历史的大部分时间里，西部 settlement 的特点一直是 spurts，而非逐渐steady的人口增长模式，从19世纪50年代和60年代的淘金热和淘银热开始。第一次世界大战后的十年——20世纪20年代——见证了另一次人口涌入西部的大 surge，特别是进入 urban 地区。但20世纪30年代的经济 depression 使这一 expansion 停止；随着移民到更工业化的地区寻找工作，该地区一些人口更稀少的地区实际上失去了人口。到1941年，当美国加入第二次世界大战并开始动员时，西部新的就业机会被创造出来。 如果说工业（如造船和飞机制造）的 expansion 在太平洋海岸最为显著，它 also affected 像丹佛、凤凰城和盐湖城这样的内陆城市。同样 dramatic 的是俄勒冈州和华盛顿州建立铝厂以及犹他州和加利福尼亚州 burgeoning 钢铁工业的影响。人口流入这些地区为服务业——银行、医疗保健服务和学校——的 expansion 提供了巨大的 impetus。尽管因为新来者的涌入而 strained to the limit，西部 communities 欢迎 vast reservoir 的新就业机会。与此同时，西部前所未有的政府设施 expansion，如 military bases，创造了数千个新的 civilian openings。正如土地在19世纪末成为西部移民的 magnet 一样，战时动员也 set in motion 了另一次人口大 expansion。确实，可以说整个美国西部在第二次世界大战期间变成了一个巨大的 boomtown。加利福尼亚州尤其如此。在1940年之后的十年中迁入西部的八百多万人中，几乎一半去了太平洋海岸。事实上，在1940年至1950年间，加州的人口激增了超过三百万人。
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