George Williams, one of Scottsdale’s last remaining cowboys, has been raising horses and cattle on his 120 acres for 20 years. The cattle go to the slaughterhouse, the horses to rodeos. But Mr. Williams is stomping mad. His problems began last year when dishonest neighbours started to steal his cattle. Then other neighbours, most of them newcomers, took offence at his horses roaming on their properties.
Such grumbles are common in Arizona. The most recent Department of Agriculture census shows that 1 213 of Arizona’s 8 507 farms closed down between 1997 and 2002. Many cattlemen are moving out to remoter parts of the state.
Doc Lane is an executive at the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association, a trade group. He says Arizona’s larger ranch owners are making decent profits from selling. It is the smaller players who are the victims of rising land values, higher mortgages and stiffer city council rules. What happens all too often is that people move in next to a farm because they think the land pretty. But soon they start complaining to the council. In Mr. Williams’s case it was the horses that annoyed them. Other newcomers don’t like the noise, the pesticides and the smell of manure.
Locals worry about the precious, dwindling cowboy culture. Arizona’s tourism boards like to promote a steady interest in all things about cowboy and western. Last year more British and German tourists came than usual, and many of them were looking precisely for that. Arizona’s Dude Ranch Association fills its $ 350-a-night luxury ranches most of the year; roughly a third of the guests are European.
Many of the ranchers themselves see all this tourism as a cheeky attempt to commercialise a real and vanishing culture. In Prescott, estate agents promote "American Ranch-style" homes with posters of horse riders. On the other side of the street is Whiskey Row, a famous strip of historic cowboy bars. But in Matt’s Saloon on Saturday night, real cattlemen could not be found.
Farm folk like Mr. Knox and Mr. Williams are weighing up their options. Many will migrate to remoter places where land is cheaper and not crowded with city people. Younger ones take on side-jobs as contractors and are cattle-hands part-time. Older cowboys aren’t sure what to do.
The pesticides and the smell of manure are mentioned to （）
A. explain why newcomers complain to the council
B. introduce the place in which cowboys live
C. explain why smaller players become victims
D. explain why cattlemen are moving out to remoter parts of the state
参考答案：C
解析：
[直击题眼] 第三段第三句之后：It is the smaller players who are the victims of rising land values，higher mortgages and stiffer city council rules．．．．But soon they start complaining to the council．．．．Other newcomers don’t like the noise，the pesticides and the smell of manure．
[深层剖析] 本题在考查逻辑关系的同时，也考查对强调句的掌握。第三段第三句是强调结构，表明这种问题的重要性。而下文谈到新来的居民投诉的问题恰恰说明新居民不愿与牧民做邻居，因而，小农场主成了社会发展的牺牲品。所以选[C]。◆注意：特殊句型(如虚拟句、强调句、倒装句、独立主格等)出现的地方往往有考点。
[主干扰项分析] [A]选项其实是对该题的表层意思的解释，本题要回答句意的弦外之音，即：小农场主是社会发展的牺牲品，因此，[A]不能选。[D]是[C]的具体表现，由于小农场主成了“牺牲品”，所以他们不得不朝该州一些偏远的地区迁徙。因此[D]也不能选。
[次干扰项分析] [B]与文章无关。
