The economy of the United States after 1952 was the economy of a well-fed, almost fully employed people. Despite__1__alarms, the country escaped any postwar depression and lived in a__2__of boom. An economic survey of the year 1955, a typical year of the 1950's, may be typical as__3__the rapid economic growth of the decade. The national output was__4__at 10 percent above that of 1954(1955 output was estimated at 392 billion dollars). The production of manufactures was about 40 percent more than it had__5__ in the years immediately following World War I . The country's business spent about 30 billion dollars for new factories and machinery. National income __6__ for spending was almost a third greater than it had been in 1950. Consumers spent about 256 billion dollars; that is about 700 million dollars a day, or about twenty-five million dollars every hour, all round the __7__ . Sixty-five million people held jobs and only a little more than two million wanted jobs but could not find them. Only agriculture__8__that it was not sharing in the boom. To some observers this was a sad reflection of the mid-1920's. As farmers' share of their products__9 __ , marketing costs rose. But there were, among the observers of the national economy, a few who were not as confident as the majority. Those few seemed to fear that the boom could not last long and would__10__lead to the opposite—depression.
A. eventually B. averaged C. gradually D. state
E. valued F. form G. declined H. occasional
I. casual J. argued K. descended L. complained
M. clock N. available O. illustrating
I. H 2. D 3. O 4. E 5. B 6. N 7. M 8. L 9. G 10. A
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