In the late nineteenthcentury,politicaland social changes were occurring rapidly in Siam (now Thailand). The old ruling families were being displaced by an evolvingcentralizedgovernment. These families were pensioned off (givenasumof money to live on) orsimplyhad their revenues taken away orrestricted; their sons were enticed away to schools fordistrictofficers, later to be posted in some faraway province; and the old patron-client relations that hadboundtogetherlocalsocietiessimplydisintegrated. Localrulers could no longer protect their relatives and attendants in legal cases, and with the ending in 1905 of the practice of forcing peasant farmers to work part-time forlocalrulers, the rulers no longer had aregularbase for relations withruralpopulations. The oldlocalruling families, then, wereseveredfrom theirtraditionalsocialcontext.

The same situation viewed from theperspectiveof theruralpopulationisevenmorecomplex. According to thegovernment’s firstcensusof theruralpopulation, taken in 1905, there were about thirty thousand villages in Siam. This was probably a large increase over thefigureeventwo or three decades earlier, during the late 1800s. It is difficult to imagine it now, but Siam’s CentralPlainin the late 1800s was nowhere near as densely settled as it is today. There were still forests closely surrounding Bangkok into the last of the nineteenthcentury, andevenatcentury’s end there were wild elephants and tigers roaming the countryside only twenty or thirty miles away.

Muchpopulationmovement involved the opening up of new lands for ricecultivation. Two things made this possible and encouraged it to happen. First, the opening of thekingdomto the full force of internationaltradeby the Boring Treaty (1855) rapidly encouragedeconomicspecializationin the growing of rice, mainly to feed the rice-deficient portions of Asia (India and china inparticular). Theaverageannualvolumeof rice exported from Siam grew from under 60 million kilograms per year in the late 1850s to more than 660 million kilograms per year at the turn of thecentury; and over the same period theaverageprice per kilogram doubled. During the same period, the area planted in rice increased from about 230,000 acres to more than350, 000 acres. This growth was achieved as the result of thecollectivedecisions of thousands of peasants families toexpandtheamountof land theycultivated,clearand plant new land, oradoptmoreintensivemethods ofagriculture.

They were able to do so because of oursecondconsideration. They wererelativelyfreer than they had been half acenturyearlier. Over thecourseof the Fifth Reign (1868 – 1910), the ties thatboundruralpeople to thearistocracyandlocalruling elites were greatly reduced. Peasants now paid a tax on individualsinsteadof being required torenderlabor service to thegovernment. Under these conditions, it made goodsenseto thousands of peasant families to in effect work full-time at what they had been able to do only part-timepreviouslybecause of the requirement to work for the government: grow rice for the marketplace.

Numerouschanges accompanied these developments. Theruralpopulationboth dispersed and grew, and was probably lesshomogeneousand moremobilethan it had been agenerationearlier. The villages became morevulnerabletoarbitrarytreatment bygovernmentbureaucrats aslocalelites now had less control over them. By the early twentiethcentury, asgovernmentmodernization in asensecaught up with what had been happening in the countryside since the 1870s, thegovernmentbureaucracy intruded more and more into village life. Provincial police began toappear,alongwithdistrictofficers andcattleregistration and land deeds and registration forcompulsorymilitaryservice. Village handicraftsdiminishedor died out completely as people bought imported consumer goods, like cloth and tools,insteadof making them themselves. Moreeconomicvariationtookshapeinruralvillages, as some grewprosperousfrom farming while others did not. As well as can be measured,ruralstandards of living improved in the Fifth Reign. But thestatisticalaverages mean little when measured against theharshrealities of peasant life.

Questions:
question_stem: The word “severed” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: cut off

tag: B
text: viewed

tag: C
text: protected

tag: D
text: rescued
answer_key: A
explanation: sever:分离切开，对应 A 选项的 cut off。对应原文 ：The old local ruling families, then, were severed from their traditional social context.
从前文的内容来看，原来的统治家族被夺权，子嗣被流派，各种迹象都表明这些统治家族地位不保，包括对应的这一句话的描述，应该也是对这个就是的统治家族衰败的描述，那么 severed 一定是一个相对 negative 的词。在这四个选项中，C 选项 protected（保护）和 D 选项 rescued（救援）可以立刻被排除，都是比较好的结果，不能表现出衰败，而 B 选项 viewed 代入后语义不通。只有 A 选项最为合适。

question_stem: According to paragraph 1, the situation for Siam’s old ruling families changed in all of the following ways EXCEPT:
choices: tag: A
text: Their incomes were reduced.

tag: B
text: Their sons were posted as district officers in distant provinces.

tag: C
text: They could sell lands that had traditionally belonged to them.

tag: D
text: They had less control over the rural populations.
answer_key: C
explanation: A 选项用 income 定位到该段第三句：These families were pensioned off (given a sum of money to live on) or simply had their revenues taken away or restricted.对应 A 选项; 
B 选项用 their sons 对应该段第三句：...their sons were enticed away to schools for district office later to be posted in some faraway province.对应 B 选项；
C 选项原文中没有提及；
D 选项用 rural population 对应该段倒数第二句：
Local rulers could no longer protect their relatives and attendants in legal cases, and with the ending in 1905 of the practice of forcing peasant farmers to work part-time for local rulers, the rulers no longer had a regular base for relations with rural populations. 对应 D 选项。

question_stem: According to paragraph 2, which of the following was true of Siam in 1905?
choices: tag: A
text: Its urban population began to migrate out of the cities and into the country.

tag: B
text: Its Central Plain was almost as densely populated as it is today.

tag: C
text: It was so rural that wild elephants and tigers sometimes roamed Bangkok.

tag: D
text: It had many more villages than it did in the late 1800s.
answer_key: D
explanation: 用年份1905定位到该段第2,3句：According to the government’s first census of the rural population, taken in 1905, there were about thirty thousand villages in Siam. This was probably a large increase over the figure even two or three decades earlier, during the late 1800s.从这两句话可以得知，1905年有3万个村庄，比起1800s 晚期有很大的增长。这和 D 选项呼应。AB 选项在原文无提及，而 C 选项描述的不是1905的特点。

question_stem: The phrase “rice-deficient portions” in the passage is closest in closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: the parts that consume rice

tag: B
text: the parts that do not have enough rice

tag: C
text: the parts where rice is grown

tag: D
text: The parts that depend primarily on rice
answer_key: B
explanation: rice-deficient： 缺乏大米, 对应 do not have enough rice，对应原文：First, the opening of the kingdom to the full force of international trade by the Bowring Treaty (1855) rapidly encouraged economic specialization in the growing of rice, mainly to feed the rice-deficient portions of Asia (India and China in particular).
可以通过结构这个短语来选择正确答案，rice 应该都认识，deficient 是”缺乏“的意思，这个单词在 tpo 5里大量出现，portion 就是”部分“的意思，连起来就得到了正确答案。当然如果不认识其中几个单词，也可以从对应原句内容上进行推敲。前半句话说了国际贸易鼓励了专门生产大米，后半句话说了这样可以达到的效果是供给亚洲的 rice-deficient portions。很明显，ACD 代入后，都不适合这个语境，只有 B 最合适。

question_stem: Paragraph 3 mentions all of the following as signs of economic growth in Siam EXCEPT
choices: tag: A
text: an increase in the price or rice

tag: B
text: an increase in the amount of rice leaving Siam

tag: C
text: an increase in the nutritional quality of the rice grown

tag: D
text: an increase in the amount of land used for rice production
answer_key: C
explanation: A 选项用 price of rice 定位到：the average price per kilogram doubled，dboubled 对应 A 选项的 increase。 
B 选项用 amount of rice 对应该段第4句话：
The average annual volume of rice exported from Siam grew from under 60 million kilograms per year in the late 1850s to more than 660 million kilograms per year at the turn of the century. grew 对应 B 选项的 increase。
C 选项用 nutritional quality 定位，原文中没有提及。
D 选项用 amount of land 定位到该段的最后一句：This growth was achieve as the result of the collective decisions of thousands of peasants families to expand the amount of land they cultivated, clear and plant new land, or adopt more intensive methods of agriculture. expand 对应 D 选项的 increase。

question_stem: According to paragraph 3, farming families increased the amount of rice they grew in part by
choices: tag: A
text: growing varieties of rice that produced greater yields

tag: B
text: forming collective farms by joining together with other farm families

tag: C
text: planting rice in areas that had previously remained unplanted

tag: D
text: hiring laborers to help them tend their fields
answer_key: C
explanation: 题干没有特别好的定位词，题干问的是：耕作的家庭是通过什么方式来提高大米产量的。快速游览整段，定位到该段的最后一句：This growth was achieve as the result of the collective decisions of thousands of peasants families to expand the amount of land they cultivated, clear and plant new land, or adopt more intensive methods of agriculture. 这里提到了扩产的3个方法，第一就是扩张种植的土地，第二就是清理种植新土地，第三中就是采用高强度的农耕手段。其中第二种方法和 C 选项对应。ABD 都没有提及。

question_stem: According to paragraph 4, what happened after the government ended the practice of requiring rural people to perform labor for it?
choices: tag: A
text: Rural people became more closely connected to the aristocracy.

tag: B
text: Rural people spent more time growing rice for profit.

tag: C
text: The government began to pay the laborers who grew rice for it.

tag: D
text: The government introduced a special tax on rice.
answer_key: B
explanation: 用 government 定位到该段最后一句：...it made good sense to thousands of peasant families to in effect work full-time, grow rice for the marketplace.这里指出这些农民可以通过全职为市场种植大米，和 B 选项呼应。A 和 C 完全没有提及。而 D 选项说的 tax 也不是 government 推行的，农民交的是个人税。

question_stem: Which of the following best describes the relationship between paragraphs 3 and 4 in the passage?
choices: tag: A
text: Paragraph 4 provides further evidence of the economic growth of Siam discussed in paragraph 3.

tag: B
text: Paragraph 4 continues the discussion begun in paragraph 3 of farming improvements that led to economic growth.

tag: C
text: Paragraph 4 examines a particular effect of the Bowring Treaty mentioned in paragraph 3.

tag: D
text: Paragraph 4 discusses the second of two factors that contributed to the expansion of rice farming mentioned in paragraph 3.
answer_key: D
explanation: 第3段第一句话是总起句，提到了人口流动牵涉到开拓新土地种植大米，而后就说有2个因素促使了这个的发生。接着第三段就围绕其中给一个展开，以 first 开头。明显是罗列结构。而第四段的 second 承接了 first,提到了第二个因素。和第四个选项对应。

question_stem: The word “dispersed” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: spread out

tag: B
text: gained power

tag: C
text: adapted

tag: D
text: specialized
answer_key: A
explanation: disperse: 散开; 驱散, 对应 spread out 传播, 散布。The rural population both dispersed and grew, and was probably less homogeneous and more mobile than it had been a generation earlier.这里可以利用 and 的这个并列关系进行推测，disperse 和 grewin 并列，所有在这些选项中，明显只有 A 最为合适，即”农村人口既扩散了，也增长了”。而 B 选项的 gained power（获得权利），C 选项的 adapted（适应）和 D 选项的 specialized（专门从事）代入后都不合适。

question_stem: The word “compulsory” in passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: foreign

tag: B
text: formal

tag: C
text: required

tag: D
text: preferred
answer_key: C
explanation: compulsory 义务的; 强制性的, 对应 required 必修的; 必须的。Provincial police began to appear, along with district officers and cattle registration and land deeds and registration for compulsory military service.这个单词应该不陌生，9年制义务教育中的义务教育翻译过来就是"compulsory educaiton"。不认识的话也可以从原句推敲，原句明显是并列逻辑，在罗列政府对于农村人口的种种管制和限制，而 compulsory 兵役就是其中一个，四个选项中只有 C 选项代入最为合适，即”强制服兵役“。

question_stem: According to paragraph 5, which of the following was true of Siam’s rural people during the Fifth Reign?
choices: tag: A
text: They were forced to spend most of the profits from rice growing on registrations required by the government.

tag: B
text: Their lives remained very difficult even though statistics suggest that their quality of life improved.

tag: C
text: The non-farmers among them were helped by the government more than the farmers among them were.

tag: D
text: They were more prosperous when they were ruled by local elites than when they were ruled by the more modern government of the Fifth Reign.
answer_key: B
explanation: 用 Fifth Reigh 定位到该段倒数第一二句话：
As well as can be measured, rural standards of living improved in the Fifth Reign. But the statistical averages mean little when measured against the harsh realities of peasant life.
虽然倒数第二句话说统计数据显示第五统治时期农村生活水平改善了，但是最后一句接着说统计数据不能说明什么, 农民依然活在水深火热之中。这就和 B 选项对应。ACD 选项均未提及。

question_stem: According to paragraph 5, the government bureaucracy intruded in village life by
choices: tag: A
text: requiring the people to register their cattle and land

tag: B
text: requiring the people to buy certain kinds of imported goods

tag: C
text: discouraging the people from making handicrafts and tools

tag: D
text: encouraging more people to take up farming
answer_key: A
explanation: 用 intrude 定位到：By the early twentieth century, as government modernization in a sense caught up with what had been happening in the countryside since the 1870s, the government bureaucracy intruded more and more into village life.但是这句话并没有讨论他们 intrude 的方法，往后一句看，就是答案出处了：Provincial police began to appear, along with district officers and cattle registration and land deeds and registration for compulsory military service. 强调了 “along with district officers and cattle registration and land deeds”，呼应选项 A。B 选项提到的购买进口产品并不是官僚机构强迫他们去买的，所以错；CD 选项无提及。