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Political controversy about the public-land policy of the United States began with the American Revolution. In fact, even before independence from Britain was won, it became clear that resolving the dilemmas surrounding the public domain might prove necessary to preserve the Union itself.

At the peace negotiations with Britain, American demanded, and got, a western boundary at the Mississippi River. Thus the new nation secured for its birthright a vast internal empire rich in agricultural and mineral resources. But under their colonial charters, seven states—Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia—claimed portions of the western wilderness. Virginia's claim was the largest, stretching north and to encompass the later states of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The language of the charters was vague sponsoring Colonel George Roger Clark's 1778 Expedition to Vincennes and Kalkaska, which strengthened America's trans-Appalachian pretensions at the peace table.

The six states holding no claim to the trans-mountain region doubted whether a confederacy in which territory was so unevenly apportioned would truly prove what it claimed to be, a union of equals. Already New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Maryland were among the smallest and least populous of the states. While they levied heavy taxes to repay states war debts, their larger neighbors might retire debts out of land sale proceeds. Drawn by fresh lands and low taxes, people would desert the small states for the large, leaving the former to fall into bankruptcy and eventually into political subjugation. All the states shared in the war effort, said the New Jersey legislature, how then could half of them “be left to sink under an enormous debt, while others are enabled, in a short period, to replace all their expenditure from the hard earnings of the whole confederacy?” As the revolution was a common endeavor, so ought its fruits, including the western lands, to be a common property.

1．With which of the following topics is the passage primarily concerned?

A．A controversial public-land policy.

B．How independence from Britain was won.

C．The land holdings of Massachusetts.

D．How New Jersey developed its western land.

2．According to the passage, the British granted the new American nation a western boundary at____.

A．Ohio

B．Illinois

C．the Mississippi River

D．the Appalachian Mountains

3．Which states laid claim to the largest land-holdings?

A．North Carolina.

B．South Carolina.

C．Virginia.

D．Georgia.

4．Why does the author mention Colonel Clark's expedition?

A．To explain how one state strengthened its land claims.

B．To criticize an effort to acquire additional agricultural resources.

C．To show that many explorers searched for new land.

D．To question the validity of Virginia's claims.

5．According to the passage, the smaller states tried to raise money to pay their war debts by____.

A．collecting taxes

B．exporting crops

C．selling land

D．raising cattle

1．【答案】A

【精析】从文章首句“Political controversy about the public-land policy of the United States began with the American Revolution.”可知，文章的中心是有关美国的公有土地政策的争论问题，故选A项。

2．【答案】C

【精析】从第二段第一句“At the peace negotiations with Britain, American demanded, and got, a western boundary at the Mississippi River.”（经过和英国的和平谈判，美国人的要求——西部边境线以密西西比河为界——得到了满足。）可知，正确答案为C项。

3．【答案】C

【精析】从第二段第四句可知，是弗吉尼亚州对那片最大的土地提出了所有权的要求，因此选C项。

4．【答案】A

【精析】从上下文可以推知，文中引用克拉克上校探险的事实的目的是为了强调提出土地要求的声明，故选A项。

5．【答案】A

【精析】从最后一段第三句话“While they levied heavy taxes to repay states war debts...”可知，较小的州是靠征收重税来偿还战争债务的。they指那些smaller states。因此A项为正确答案。