The Rise of Florence
Paragraph 1：In the Central Middle Ages, starting around 1000 A.D., a number of northern Italian cities, including Venice and Genoa, rode a wave of economic and population growth that saw them become among the most prosperous and powerful cities in Europe. Florence, though a late starter because of its isolation from the sea and the trade opportunities it offered, caught up with and overtook its rivals by engaging in manufacture and commerce, as well as trade. How did it manage to climb to its powerful position by the end of the Middle Ages (1400 AD)?
1. The word rivals in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. critics
B. competitors
C. neighbors
D. superiors
2. What can be inferred from paragraph 1 about Venice and Genoa during the Central Middle Ages?
A. They were more involved in commerce than they were in manufacturing.
B. They were dependent upon trade with Florence.
C. They benefited from being close to ocean trade routes.
D. They had strong economic ties to other European cities.
3. According to paragraph 1, what was true of Florence by 1400 A.D.?
A. Its economy was still developing at a slower pace than the economies of Venice and Genoa.
B. It was less prosperous and powerful than most European cities.
C. Its economy emphasized manufacturing over trade.
D. It had become the most prosperous and powerful city in northern Italy.
Paragraph 2：All the cities of Europe were becoming manufacturing centers, but Florence did it better than most. The industry was textiles, or cloth production. During most of the Middle Ages, textile production tasks such as spinning, weaving, and dyeing were carried out in small workshops that combined together in a complex collective organization. Master craftsmen controlled the manufacturing, while the buying and selling was carried on by merchants. This medieval system was transformed in two ways, and Florence took the decisive lead in both. Firstly, the master craftsmen and merchants were replaced by a new breed of entrepreneur who controlled both the trading and manufacture of textiles. From the thirteenth century Florence merchant entrepreneurs set up offices in cities all over Europe from Edinburgh to Constantinople – the archive of the Datini family shows letters from customers and suppliers from 200 different European towns – while they also bought up workshops in Florence and employed managers to run them.
4. According to paragraph 2, all of the following are true of the textile industry during most of the Middle Ages EXCEPT:
A. Textiles were produced in small workshops.
B. Textile trading and manufacturing were separately controlled.
C. Textile products were transported to markets by master craftsmen.
D. Some textile workshops were joined in collective organizations.
5. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A. The archive of the Datini family reveals the duties of Florentine merchant entrepreneurs, which included establishing and managing workshops.
B. During the thirteenth century, merchant entrepreneurs traveled throughout Europe, setting up and managing workshops in cities as far apart as Edinburgh and Constantinople.
C. Powerful merchant entrepreneurs such as the Datini family communicated with customers all over Europe who wanted to buy and manage workshops in Florence.
D. Thirteenth-century merchant entrepreneurs in Florence established offices throughout Europe in addition to purchasing workshops in Florence and hiring managers to operate them.
Paragraph 3：The second commercial innovation was the development of banking. To support their network of trade, the new merchant entrepreneurs needed a sophisticated method of making money available and moving it around. Florentines got into this role sooner than anyone else, acting as guarantors and providing credit and financial and accounting services to the new merchant entrepreneurs. The banker, someone who did not make or trade in goods and services, but only in money, was a new and powerful commercial phenomenon. At the height of its power Florence was controlled by about a hundred families, all of whom were involved in banking.
Paragraph 4：These commercial innovations may seem mundane, but improvements in organization were to have a revolutionary effect on European commerce. In part these depended on technological advances, many of them made or promoted in Florence. By the thirteenth century paper was being manufactured in Italy, while the use of Arabic numerals was also spreading. Mechanical clocks became widespread in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, giving a new dimension to levels of organization and productivity. Double-entry bookkeeping, an important new accounting technique, was first introduced in Florence, while Florentine bankers organized the exchange of currency (a potential barrier to trade when every city-state was minting its own coinage), advancing credit, overdrafts, deposits, and withdrawals. By 1355 the Peruzzi family had offices in Florence, Palermo, Naples, Avignon, Bruges, and London, with agents running local banks in other major European cities, while the Bardi family had agents in Constantinople, Jerusalem, Cyprus, Majorca, Barcelona, Nice, Marseilles, Paris, Avignon, Lyon, and Bruges. The Florentines were not just bankers to the merchant entrepreneurs of Florence, they were the bankers of Europe – and its richest merchants.
6. According to paragraph 4, why was it important for Florentine bankers to organize the exchange of money?
A. To allow Florentine bankers to participate in trade as merchant entrepreneurs
B. To allow foreign merchants to use Florentine banks
C. To allow Florentine families to set up offices in other cities
D. To make it possible for people using different currencies to trade
7. What is the author’s purpose in listing the office locations of the “Peruzzi family” and the “Bardi family”?
A. To suggest that Florentine banking was dominated by two families in the fourteenth century
B. To compare the wealth of Florentine bankers with the wealth of Florentine merchant entrepreneurs
C. To illustrate the influence of Florentine banking throughout Europe
D. To show the strong competition among Florentine banking families
Paragraph 5：Moreover, the education system of medieval Florence was, despite its lack of a university, highly developed. Around 10,000 young people, out of a total population of 90,000, were enrolled in schools in the mid-fourteenth century, with 1,500 of these in advanced schools of mathematics, Latin, and logic. With further professional training for those entering law or banking, this was a formidable group of people who were educated, literate, and fluent with numbers. Also, despite the wealth of its merchant and banking families, Florence had a strong tradition of republican government and civic participation by guilds (associations of artisans and various other kinds of workers). No one individual or family gained control of Florence until the rise of the merchant Cosimo de Medici – an influential merchant who was the first to rule Florence – in the early fifteenth century.
8. According to paragraph 5, which of the following was NOT true of the education system of medieval Florence?
A. It enrolled about 10,000 students.
B. It did not have a university.
C. It provided professional training for lawyers and bankers.
D. It provided all students with advanced training in Latin, math, and logic.
Paragraph 2：All the cities of Europe were becoming manufacturing centers, but Florence did it better than most. The industry was textiles, or cloth production. ■During most of the Middle Ages, textile production tasks such as spinning, weaving, and dyeing were carried out in small workshops that combined together in a complex collective organization. ■Master craftsmen controlled the manufacturing, while the buying and selling was carried on by merchants. ■This medieval system was transformed in two ways, and Florence took the decisive lead in both. ■Firstly, the master craftsmen and merchants were replaced by a new breed of entrepreneur who controlled both the trading and manufacture of textiles. From the thirteenth century Florence merchant entrepreneurs set up offices in cities all over Europe from Edinburgh to Constantinople – the archive of the Datini family shows letters from customers and suppliers from 200 different European towns – while they also bought up workshops in Florence and employed managers to run them.
9. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit?
By the end of the Middle Ages, however, the manufacture and trading of textiles began to undergo fundamental changes.
10. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selected THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
Florence’s success in manufacturing and commerce placed it in a powerful position in the late Middle Ages.
Answer Choices:
A. Because of its ideal geographic location, Florence was one of the first Italian cities to prosper economically, leading to a large increase in population.
B. Florence modernized the textile industry by producing a new type of entrepreneur who was in charge of both the manufacture of cloth and its trade.
C. The bankers of Florence facilitated trade in significant ways by making currency exchange possible and providing numerous financial services to new entrepreneurs.
D. New accounting techniques such as double-entry bookkeeping were learned by Florentine bankers working in other European centers and imported to Florence.
E. Despite Italy’s tradition of republican government, the successful merchant entrepreneurs of Florence made it difficult for other groups to participate in civic governance.
F. Florence had a developed education system that provided citizens with the skills necessary to succeed in commerce, as well as access to new technologies which increased organization and productivity.
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