Question 16 is based on the recording you have just heard.

Recording One

听力原文

        The Caribbean islands are divided into two worlds, a rich one, and a poor one. (16) [This tropical region’s economy is based mainly on farming.] Farmers are of two types. One is the plantation owner who may have hundreds of thousands of acres. In contrast, this small cultivator is working only a few acres of land.

        Most visitors to the Caribbean are rich. Like the plantation owner, they do not realize or do not want to realize that many farm families barely managed to get by on what they grow. The Caribbean produces many things. (17) [Sugar is the main product.] Other export crops are tobacco, coffee, bananas, spices, and citrus fruits, such as orange, lemon or grapefruit.

        From the West Indies also come oil, mineral pitch and many forest products. Jamaica’s aluminum ore supplies are the world’s largest. Oil comes from Trinidad, Aruba and Curacao, but for many of the smaller islands, sugar is the only export.

        Rum, a strong alcoholic drink, which is distilled from sugar cane, is also an export. The world’s best rum comes from this area. Local kinds vary from the light rums of Puerto Rico to the heavier, darker rums of Barbados and Jamaica. American tourists enjoy stocking up on inexpensive high-quality Caribbean rum while they’re on vacation. In Curacao, the well-known liquor of that name is made from the thick, outer skin of a native orange. 

        Ever since America’s colonial days, the Caribbean islands have been favorite places to visit. Since World War II, tourism has increased rapidly because great numbers of people go there. The islanders have built elaborate resorts, developed harbors and airfields, improved beaches and have expanded sea and air routes. Everything is at the resort—hotel, beach, shopping and recreation. The vacationer never has any reason to explore the island.

        As in most places, those who have money live well, indeed; those who don’t have money live at various levels of poverty. But here the poor greatly outnumber the wealthy. A visitor will find rich people living in apartments or Spanish houses at the seaside or in the countryside. Their servants might include a cook, a maid and a nurse for the children.

        (18) [Most of the people live well below the poverty level.] In towns, they live crowded together in tiny houses. Islanders make the best they can of what they have. Their homes are quite shabby. Sadly, most tourists never see the side of the Caribbean.

16. What does the speaker say about the economy of the Caribbean islands? （关于加勒比群岛的经济，讲话者说了什么？）

解析：C。录音开头说到，这个热带地区的经济主要以农业为基础（based mainly on farming）。C项符合题意，其中agriculture是farming的同义替换，故为正确答案。

错项排除：录音中提到了二战后，加勒比群岛旅游业迅速发展，但并没有说其经济主要依赖旅游业，故A项排除。录音中虽然提到了加勒比群岛的出口产品，但B项的flourishing在录音中无依据，故排除。D项利用录音中的mineral和export进行干扰，但录音中并没有说经济主要依靠矿物出口，故D项排除。