Many college students today own personal computer that cost anywhere from $1,000 toperhaps %5,000 or more. (26)_________, it is not uncommon for them to purchase(27)_________costing another several hundred dollars. Twenty years ago, computers were(28) ___________, but they were very large and extremely expensive. Few, if any,(29) __________ purchased computers for home use. Over the years, the price of the “guts” of acomputer---its memory—has declined to less than a thousandth of the price per unit ofmemory that prevailed twenty years ago. This is the main reason why computers cost so muchless today than they used to. Moreover, (30) _________improvements have made it possibleto (31) ___________memory circuitry that is small enough to fit into the portable personalcomputers that many of us own and use. (32)___________, as the price of computation hasdeclined the average consumer and business have spent more on purchasing computers.
(33)___________,improved agricultural technology, hybrid(杂交) seeds,(34)_________animal breeding, and so on have vastly increased the amount of output atypical farmer can produce. The prices of goods such as meats and grains have fallen sharplyrelative to the prices of most other goods and services. As agricultural prices have fallen, manyhouseholds have decreased their total expenses on food. Even though the(35)______________of a product purchased generally increases when its price falls, totalexpenses on it may decline.
26. In addition
27. software
28. available
29. individuals
30. technological
31. manufacture
32. In short
33. By contrast
34. scientific
35. quantity