Urbanization
Until relatively recently, the vast majority of human beings lived and died without ever seeing a city. The first city was probably founded no more than 5,500 years ago. 【小题1】_ . In fact, nearly everyone lived on farms or in tiny rural (乡村的) villages. It was not until the 20th century that Great Britain became the first urban society in history--- a society in which the majority of people live in cities and do not farm for a living.
Britain was only the beginning. 【小题2】_ .The process of urbanization--- the migration (迁移) of people from the countryside to the city--- was the result of modernization, which has rapidly transformed how people live and where they live.
In 1990, fewer than 40% of Americans lived in urban areas. Today, over 82% of Americans live in cities. Only about 2% live on farms. 【小题3】 .
Large cities were impossible until agriculture became industrialized. Even in advanced agricultural societies. It took about ninety-five people on farms to feed five people in cities. 【小题4】 . Until modern times, those living in cities were mainly the ruling elite(精英) and the servants, laborers and professionals who served them. Cities survived by taxing farmers and were limited in size by the amount of surplus food that the rural population produced and by the ability to move this surplus from farm to city.
Over the past two centuries, the Industrial Revolution has broken this balance between the city and the country. 【小题5】 . Today, instead of needing ninety-five farmers to feed five city people, one American farmer is able to feed more than a hundred non-farmers.A．That kept cities very small. B．The rest live in small towns.C．The effects of urban living on people should be considered. D．Soon many other industrial nations bee urban societies.E. But even 200 years ago, only a few people could live in cities.
F. Modernization drew people to the cities and made farmers more productive.
G. Modern cities have destroyed social relations and the health of human beings.E
网友回答
(答案→)E
解析：
文章大意：文章的主题是城市化，讲述了城市化由过去城市规模小，农民人口多，到后来现代化之后，城市规模大，农民人口少的现象，体现了产量的增加，社会的变迁。
【小题1】根据前一句“The first city was probably founded no more than 5,500 years ago”可知，此处讲的是以前城市的情况，即第一座城市仅仅是5500年才出现的，甚至200年前，也只有很少一部分人生活在城市中。其他几个选项没有关于以前城市的描述。故选择E
【小题2】根据前一句的“ Britain was only the beginning”可知，英国只是个开始，关键词beginning, 因此后面出现的是soon, 句意为，英国只是个开始，很快，其他工业国家也变成了城市化社会。
【小题3】根据前一句的“Today, over 82% of Americans live in cities. Only about 2% live on farms”目前，超过82%的美国人住在城市，只有2%的人住在农场，在讲完了82%和2%之后，还有剩下的人呢，住在哪里呢？因此可以推断出，下一句讲述的是the rest即，其余的人住在什么地方。因此，选择B，意为，其余的人住在城镇里。
【小题4】推理判断，根据前一句的”It took about ninety-five people on farms to feed five people in cities”可知，要有95个人在农场里工作，才能养活5个城市里的人，因此城市里居住的人肯定要少，规模肯定很小，因此选择A项，意为这种原因导致了城市规模很小。
【小题5】根据后面的“ Today, instead of needing ninety-five farmers to feed five city people, one American farmer is able to feed more than a hundred non-farmers”可知，现在一个美国人在农场里工作，可以养活100多个非农美国人，因此现代化让农民更加多产，让更多的人可以居住在城市里。