According to the census(统计) of 1800, the United States of America contained 5, 308, 483 persons. In the same year the British Islands contained upwards of fifteen million; the French Republic, more than twenty-seven million. Nearly one-fifth of the American people were Negro slaves; the true political population made up of four and a half million free whites, or less than one million able-bodied males (men), on whose shoulders fell the burden (heavy load) of a continent. Even after two centuries of struggle the land was still untamed; forest covered every area, except here and there a small piece of cultivated soil — where crops were grown; the minerals lay undisturbed in their rocky beds, and more than two-thirds of the people stayed close to the seaboard within fifty miles of tidewater, where alone the wants of civilized life could be supplied.
1. The underlined word untamed in the passage means _______.
A. not polluted B. natural or wild C. looked after by people D. not destroyed
2. In 1800, the population of the United States was about _______.
A. one-fifth the size of the population of the French Republic
B. one-seventh the size of the population of the French Republic
C. thirty-three percent of the size of the population of the French Republic
D. twenty-five percent of the size of the population of the French Republic
【答案与解析】本文讲述了19世纪初期美国历史地理概况。
1. B。词义猜测题。根据文章中的 …except here and there a small piece of cultivated soil — where… 可知这里讲的土地是开垦了的，而except 后的内容与前面的内容是相对的，因此呆以推出 untamed 的意思是“未开发的”、“荒芜的”。
根据构词法知识un-前缀构成一个否定意义，tamed 在这里是“开垦的，开发的”等意思，故可推出untamed是“未开发的，荒芜的”意思。
2. A。推断题。根据the United States of America contained 5, 308, 483 persons. …the French Republic, more than twenty-seven million.可以推出美国当时的人口约为法国人口的五分之一。
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