Britain’s Industrialization
The Industrial Revolution was an extended period of economic growth and change brought about by the application of mineral energy and technological innovations to the process of manufacturing.It occurred throughout Europe during the century between 1750 and 1850,but because of a combination of natural advantages and an infrastructure suited to economic advancement, industrialization first occurred in Britain.
Among Britain’s blessings,water was foremost.Water was its best defense,protecting the island from foreign invasion and making it unnecessary to invest in a costly standing army.Rather,Britain invested heavily in its navy to maintain its commercial preeminence around the globe.The navy protected British interests in times of war and transported British goods in times of peace.Britain’s position in the Asian trade made it the leading importer of cottons,ceramics, and teas.Its colonies,especially in North America,not only provided sugar and tobacco but also formed a rich market for British manufactured goods.
But the commercial advantages that water brought were not confined to oceanic trade.Britain was favored by an internal water system that tied inland communities together.Water transport was far cheaper than transporting goods overland.A packhorse could carry 250 pounds of goods on its back but could move 100,000 pounds by walking alongside a river and pulling a barge.Small wonder that river transport was one of the principal interests of merchants and traders. Beginning in the 1760s,private concerns began to invest in the construction of canals,first to move coal from inland locations to major arteries and then to connect the great rivers themselves.Over the next 50 years several hundred miles of canals were built by authority of the Navigation Acts,which allowed for the sale of shares to raise capital (money).In 1760,the Duke of Bridgewater completed the first great canal.It brought coal to Manchester and ultimately to Liverpool.It cost more than￡250,000 and took14 years of labor to build,but it repaid the duke and his investors many times over by bringing an uneconomical coal field into production.Not the least of the beneficiaries were the people of Manchester,where the price of coal was halved.
Coal was the second of Britain’s natural blessings on which it improved.Britain’s reserves of wood were nearly depleted by the eighteenth century,especially those near centers of population.Coal had been in use as a fuel for several centuries,and the coal trade between London and the northern coal pits had been essential to the growth of the capital.Coal was abundant,much of it almost at surface level along the northeastern coast,and easily transported on water.The location of large coalfields along waterways was a vital condition of its early use.As canals and roadways improved,more inland coal was brought into production for domestic use.Yet it was in industry rather than in the home that coal was put to its greatest use.There again Britain was favored,for large seams of coal were also located near large seams of iron.At first,the coincidence was of little consequence,since iron was processed using charcoal made from wood,and iron foundries were located deep in forests.But ultimately ironmakers learned to use coal for fuel,and then the natural economies of having mineral,fuel,and transport in the same vicinity were given full play.
The factors that contributed to Britain’s early industrialization were not only those of natural advantage.Over the course of years,Britain had developed an infrastructure for economic advancement.The transformation of domestic handicrafts to industrial production depended as much on the abilities of merchants as on those of manufacturers.The markets for domestic manufacturing had largely been overseas,where British merchants built up relationships over generations.Export markets were critical to the success of industrialization as production grew dynamically and most ventures needed a quick turnaround of sales to reinvest the profits in continued growth.The flexibility of English trading houses would be seen in their ability to shift from exporting goods from the East and North America to foreign markets to exporting British manufactures to these markets.
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The Industrial Revolution was an extended period of economic growth and change brought about by the application of mineral energy and technological innovations to the process of manufacturing.It occurred throughout Europe during the century between 1750 and 1850,but because of a combination of natural advantages and an infrastructure suited to economic advancement, industrialization first occurred in Britain.
The word“extended”in the passage is closest in meaning to
Vocabulary Questions词汇题
Alengthy
Bhistorical
Cimpressive
Dclearly defined
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Among Britain’s blessings,water was foremost.Water was its best defense,protecting the island from foreign invasion and making it unnecessary to invest in a costly standing army.Rather,Britain invested heavily in its navy to maintain its commercial preeminence around the globe.The navy protected British interests in times of war and transported British goods in times of peace.Britain’s position in the Asian trade made it the leading importer of cottons,ceramics, and teas.Its colonies,especially in North America,not only provided sugar and tobacco but also formed a rich market for British manufactured goods.
Paragraph 2 implies which of the following about the British navy?
Inference Questions推理题
AIt prevented Britain from engaging in wars by establishing trade in Asia and North America.
BIt was more costly to support than a standing army usually is.
CIt transported manufactured goods from Asia and also from and to North America.
DIt was not large enough to protect Britain from foreign invasions.
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But the commercial advantages that water brought were not confined to oceanic trade.Britain was favored by an internal water system that tied inland communities together.Water transport was far cheaper than transporting goods overland.A packhorse could carry 250 pounds of goods on its back but could move 100,000 pounds by walking alongside a river and pulling a barge.Small wonder that river transport was one of the principal interests of merchants and traders. Beginning in the 1760s,private concerns began to invest in the construction of canals,first to move coal from inland locations to major arteries and then to connect the great rivers themselves.Over the next 50 years several hundred miles of canals were built by authority of the Navigation Acts,which allowed for the sale of shares to raise capital (money).In 1760,the Duke of Bridgewater completed the first great canal.It brought coal to Manchester and ultimately to Liverpool.It cost more than￡250,000 and took14 years of labor to build,but it repaid the duke and his investors many times over by bringing an uneconomical coal field into production.Not the least of the beneficiaries were the people of Manchester,where the price of coal was halved.
The phrase“confined to”in the passage is closest in meaning to
Vocabulary Questions词汇题
Aassociated with
Bdirected to
Climited to
Dproduced by
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But the commercial advantages that water brought were not confined to oceanic trade.Britain was favored by an internal water system that tied inland communities together.Water transport was far cheaper than transporting goods overland.A packhorse could carry 250 pounds of goods on its back but could move 100,000 pounds by walking alongside a river and pulling a barge.Small wonder that river transport was one of the principal interests of merchants and traders. Beginning in the 1760s,private concerns began to invest in the construction of canals,first to move coal from inland locations to major arteries and then to connect the great rivers themselves.Over the next 50 years several hundred miles of canals were built by authority of the Navigation Acts,which allowed for the sale of shares to raise capital (money).In 1760,the Duke of Bridgewater completed the first great canal.It brought coal to Manchester and ultimately to Liverpool.It cost more than￡250,000 and took14 years of labor to build,but it repaid the duke and his investors many times over by bringing an uneconomical coal field into production.Not the least of the beneficiaries were the people of Manchester,where the price of coal was halved.
Why does the author mention that a “packhorse could carry 250 pounds of goods on its back but could move 100,000 pounds by walking alongside a river and pulling a barge”
Rhetorical Purpose Questions修辞目的题
ATo help support the idea that Britain had an unusually good internal water system
BTo explain why water transport was far cheaper than transporting goods overland
CTo help explain how Britain’s internal water system tied inland communities together
DTo suggest that oceanic trade may have been less commercially advantageous than trade within Britain itself
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But the commercial advantages that water brought were not confined to oceanic trade.Britain was favored by an internal water system that tied inland communities together.Water transport was far cheaper than transporting goods overland.A packhorse could carry 250 pounds of goods on its back but could move 100,000 pounds by walking alongside a river and pulling a barge.Small wonder that river transport was one of the principal interests of merchants and traders. Beginning in the 1760s,private concerns began to invest in the construction of canals,first to move coal from inland locations to major arteries and then to connect the great rivers themselves.Over the next 50 years several hundred miles of canals were built by authority of the Navigation Acts,which allowed for the sale of shares to raise capital (money).In 1760,the Duke of Bridgewater completed the first great canal.It brought coal to Manchester and ultimately to Liverpool.It cost more than￡250,000 and took14 years of labor to build,but it repaid the duke and his investors many times over by bringing an uneconomical coal field into production.Not the least of the beneficiaries were the people of Manchester,where the price of coal was halved.
According to paragraph 3,all of the following statements about the first great canal are true EXCEPT:
Negative Factual Information Questions否定事实信息题
AIt originated at a coal source in Manchester and Liverpool.
BIt was finished being built in 1760.
CPrivate capital was invested in its construction.
DIt ended up being extremely profitable for its investors.
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But the commercial advantages that water brought were not confined to oceanic trade.Britain was favored by an internal water system that tied inland communities together.Water transport was far cheaper than transporting goods overland.A packhorse could carry 250 pounds of goods on its back but could move 100,000 pounds by walking alongside a river and pulling a barge.Small wonder that river transport was one of the principal interests of merchants and traders. Beginning in the 1760s,private concerns began to invest in the construction of canals,first to move coal from inland locations to major arteries and then to connect the great rivers themselves.Over the next 50 years several hundred miles of canals were built by authority of the Navigation Acts,which allowed for the sale of shares to raise capital (money).In 1760,the Duke of Bridgewater completed the first great canal.It brought coal to Manchester and ultimately to Liverpool.It cost more than￡250,000 and took14 years of labor to build,but it repaid the duke and his investors many times over by bringing an uneconomical coal field into production.Not the least of the beneficiaries were the people of Manchester,where the price of coal was halved.
According to paragraph 3,one effect of the construction of the Duke of Bridgewater’s canal was to
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
Abring about the passage of Navigation Acts governing the sale of shares to raise capital for canal construction
Bincrease investment in mining coal from Manchester and Liverpool
Cmake it profitable to mine coal from a field where production had previously not been economical
Dcause the consumer price of coal throughout Britain to drop by more than half
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Coal was the second of Britain’s natural blessings on which it improved.Britain’s reserves of wood were nearly depleted by the eighteenth century,especially those near centers of population.Coal had been in use as a fuel for several centuries,and the coal trade between London and the northern coal pits had been essential to the growth of the capital.Coal was abundant,much of it almost at surface level along the northeastern coast,and easily transported on water.The location of large coalfields along waterways was a vital condition of its early use.As canals and roadways improved,more inland coal was brought into production for domestic use.Yet it was in industry rather than in the home that coal was put to its greatest use.There again Britain was favored,for large seams of coal were also located near large seams of iron.At first,the coincidence was of little consequence,since iron was processed using charcoal made from wood,and iron foundries were located deep in forests.But ultimately ironmakers learned to use coal for fuel,and then the natural economies of having mineral,fuel,and transport in the same vicinity were given full play.
All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 4 as factors that favored the development of coal as a fuel in Britain EXCEPT:
Negative Factual Information Questions否定事实信息题
ACoal could easily be traded for other kinds of goods.
BIn some locations coal was close to the surface.
CSizable coalfields existed along waterways.
DCoal existed in large quantities.
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The factors that contributed to Britain’s early industrialization were not only those of natural advantage.Over the course of years,Britain had developed an infrastructure for economic advancement.The transformation of domestic handicrafts to industrial production depended as much on the abilities of merchants as on those of manufacturers.The markets for domestic manufacturing had largely been overseas,where British merchants built up relationships over generations.Export markets were critical to the success of industrialization as production grew dynamically and most ventures needed a quick turnaround of sales to reinvest the profits in continued growth.The flexibility of English trading houses would be seen in their ability to shift from exporting goods from the East and North America to foreign markets to exporting British manufactures to these markets.
According to paragraph 5,merchants contributed to the success of Britain’s industrialization in part by
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
Asupporting government control over Britain’s internal market of manufactured goods
Bbuilding up relations with makers of domestic handicrafts
Cpreventing manufacturing production from outpacing profits
Dexporting British manufactured goods overseas
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But the commercial advantages that water brought were not confined to oceanic trade.⬛Britain was favored by an internal water system that tied inland communities together.⬛Water transport was far cheaper than transporting goods overland.⬛A packhorse could carry 250 pounds of goods on its back but could move 100,000 pounds by walking alongside a river and pulling a barge.⬛Small wonder that river transport was one of the principal interests of merchants and traders. Beginning in the 1760s,private concerns began to invest in the construction of canals,first to move coal from inland locations to major arteries and then to connect the great rivers themselves.Over the next 50 years several hundred miles of canals were built by authority of the Navigation Acts,which allowed for the sale of shares to raise capital (money).In 1760,the Duke of Bridgewater completed the first great canal.It brought coal to Manchester and ultimately to Liverpool.It cost more than￡250,000 and took14 years of labor to build,but it repaid the duke and his investors many times over by bringing an uneconomical coal field into production.Not the least of the beneficiaries were the people of Manchester,where the price of coal was halved.
Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage
Such interconnection was possible because no place in Britain is more than 30 miles from a navigable river.Insert Text Questions句子插入题
Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square sentence to the passage.
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Between 1750 and 1850,the Industrial Revolution occurred throughout Europe,but because of a combination of factors,it occurred first in Britain.
Prose Summary Questions概要小结题
Select 3 answers
ABecause Britain could defend itself against foreign invasion with a small standing army,more people and resources were used to build canals and the infrastructure needed for manufacturing goods.
BBritain enjoyed the economic advantage of having its coal seams near its iron seams and of having both close to transportation routes.
CBritain benefited from having investors who would simultaneously engage in various interconnected businesses,such as transportation, foundries,and local and international trade.
DBritain benefited from its navy,which secured its leading commerce around the globe,and from its water system,which connected communities and made transportation of goods more economical.
ECoal was used for fuel in homes in Britain long before it became important for industry because,by the eighteenth century,Britain’s reserves of wood were largely used up.
FIndustrialization in Britain succeeded because the country had developed a system for sustained economic growth supported by the activities of both manufacturers and merchants.
