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[jasonlulu_2000]

Two thousand four was a good year for American farmers. Total farm earnings were estimated at seventy-four thousand million dollars for the year. That means the average farm income was about seventy-one thousand dollars, or a gain of about three percent from the year before.

However, the growth in earnings depended on the size of the farm. Large farms had increased earnings of six and one-half percent. Smaller farms saw growth in earnings of less than three percent.

Part of American farm income came from the federal government. The Department of Agriculture reports that about thirty-nine percent of farmers accepted some kind of aid, or subsidy, in two thousand three.

An organization called the Commodity Credit Corporation supervises farm aid. The C.C.C. is part of the Agriculture Department�s Farm Services Agency.

The C.C.C. seeks to keep crop prices at balanced levels. The agency uses loan programs, direct payments and even buys crops to support prices. It also supervises emergency farm aid and special programs like the Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act of two thousand four. That act ends price supports for tobacco farmers by offering them payments for up to ten years.

Reports say the total amount of farm aid paid last year is estimated at fifteen thousand seven hundred million dollars.

An organization called the Environmental Working Group keeps information on all farm subsidies paid by the government. The group examined subsidies between nineteen ninety-five and two thousand three.

It says ten percent of farms received seventy-two percent of government subsidies during that nine-year period. The group says big farms that are ____1_____ as corporation or partnership businesses receive the most aid. It says the big farms receive more aid, even when they are more profitable than smaller family farms.

Critics say farm subsidies are costly and wasteful. Critics also note that subsidies go only to growers of widely traded crops, like corn, cotton, wheat and soybean.

But many farmers, including ones who only receive a few thousand dollars a year, support the subsidy programs. They say small farming communities in states like Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota would not survive without the aid.

1. A. organized B. run

I think both choices fit in the situation. Do you agree?


2. There are so many "receive"'s in this passage. Why does the author use "accept" in the sentence "The Department of Agriculture reports that about thirty-nine percent of farmers accepted some kind of aid, or subsidy, in two thousand three"


Thanks for your help

[redset]

1. I'd say run fits better because it implies something about how the business operates - organized sounds more like planning that happened in the past, or implies that several farms work together in an organised fashion. Honestly both words would work, but I'd tend towards run or operated personally.

2. Accept and receive have different meanings. Accepting is when something is offered and you choose to take it - that sentence is about how many farmers chose to take aid of some kind from the government. It's really about the choices that farmers make, and how many rely on some help.

Receiving is about who gets something - it's a more passive word and in this case it's about where the money is going. Those sentences basically say that the government provides a certain amount of money for aid - most of that (72%) went to a minority (10%) of farms. It's not about who accepts the aid (asking whether or not they want it), but about who actually gets the money, and how much.