试题来源：职称英语模拟题-卫生类-概括大意
Why Does Food Cost So Much
In 1959 the average American family paid $989for 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 hadthis sort of experience. Everyone agrees that the cost of feeding a family hasrisen sharply. But there is less agreement when reasons for the rise are beingdiscussed. Who is really responsible?
Many blame the farmers who produce thevegetables, fruit, meat, eggs, and cheese that stores offer for sale. Accordingto the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the farmer’sshare of the $1,311 spent by the family in 1972 was $521. This was 31 per centmore than the farmer had received in 1959.
But farmers claim that this increase was verysmall compared to the increase in their cost of living. Farmers tend to blameothers for the sharp rise in food prices. They particularly blame those whoprocess the farm products after the products leave the farm. These includetruck drivers, meat packers, manufacturers of packages and other foodcontainers, and the owners of stores where food is sold. They are among the “middlemen” who stand between the farmer andthe people who buy and eat the food. Are middlemen the ones to blame for risingfood prices?
Of the $1,311 family food bill in 1972,middlemen received $790, which was 33 per cent more than they had received in1959. It appears that the middlemen’s profit hasincreased more than farmer’s. But some economists claimthat the middleman’s actual profit was very low.According to economists at the First National City Bank, the profit for meatpackers and food stores amounted to less than one per cent. During the sameperiod all others manufacturers were making a profit of more than 5 per cent.By comparison with other members of the economic system both farmers andmiddlemen have profited surprisingly little from the rise in food prices.
Who then is actually responsible for the sizeof the bill a housewife must pay before she carries the food home from thestore? The economists at First National City Bank have an answer to givehousewives, but many people will not like it. These economists blame thehousewife herself for the jump in food prices. They say that food costs morenow because women don’t want to spend much time in thekitchen. Women prefer to buy food which has already been prepared before itreaches the market.
Vegetables and chicken cost more when they havebeen cut into pieces by someone other than the one who buys it. A family shouldexpect to pay more when several “TV dinners” are taken home from the store. These are fully cooked meals,consisting of meat, vegetables, and sometimes desert, all arranged on a metaldish. The dish is put into the oven and heated while the housewife is doingsomething else. Such a convenience costs money. Thus, as economists point out: “Some of the basic reasons for widening food price spreads are easilytraceable to the increasing use of convenience foods, which transfer much ofthe time and work of meal preparation from the kitchen to the food processor’s plant.”
Economists remind us that many modernhousewives have jobs outside the home. They earn money that helps to pay thefamily food bills. The housewife naturally has less time and energy for cookingafter a day’s work. She wants to buy many kinds of foodthat can be put on her family’s table easily andquickly. “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 workeasier.”
It appears that the answer to the question ofrising prices is not a simple one. Producers, consumers, and middlemen allshare the responsibility for the sharp rise in food costs.
练习：
1. Paragraph 3_________________
2. Paragraph 4_________________
3. Paragraph 5_________________
4. Paragraph 6_________________
A The Cost of Convenience
B A Surprising Answer Given by the Economists
C The Effect of Inflation D Middlemen’s Limited Share in the Additional Profit
E Farmers’ Denial ofIncreased Profit
F Housewives’ Need toFind Jobs
5.Many people agree that food prices haveincreased sharply but they have failed _____
6.The farmers have not been benefited verymuch__________.
7.Housewives have to pay for the time theysave_____________.
8.The economists have come to the conclusionthat the cause of increased food prices lies in ____________.
A Nor have the middlemen
B to increase the prices for food
C that they cannot agree on the causes of theincrease in prices to agree on the reasons for the increase
E by buying prepared food
F the popularization of convenience food
网考网参考答案：E、D、B、A、D、A、E、F
网考网解析：进入考试题库查看解析
大数据分析：根据网考网与考试题库的统计，该试题：
51%的考友选择了A选项
32%的考友选择了B选项
15%的考友选择了C选项
1%的考友选择了D选项
0%的考友选择了E选项
1%的考友选择了F选项
考友解析与评论：
· 这个题，确定是E、D、B、A、D、A、E、F了？
· 这题不解，原来选E、D、B、A、D、A、E、F，感觉挺好的
· 我就纳闷了，为什么要选E、D、B、A、D、A、E、F
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