13/16年托福阅读+答案解析:England's Economy in the Sixteenth Century

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 In the last half of the sixteenth century England emerged as a commercial and manufacturing power in Europe due to a combination of demographic, agricultural and industrial factors. The population of England and Wales grew rapidly from about 2.5 million in the 1520s to more than 3.5 million in 1580, reaching about 4.5 million in 1610. Reduced mortality rates and increased fertility, the latter probably generated by expanding work opportunities in manufacturing and farming (leading to earlier marriage and more children), explained this rapid rise in population. While epidemics and plague occasionally took their toll, the people in England still suffered less than did those in continental Europe. Furthermore, the country had been pulled out of the war that occurred in France and central Europe during the same period.

England provides the prominent example of the expansion of agricultural production well before the general European agricultural revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. A larger population stimulated the increased woollen through crop civilization. English agriculture became more efficient and market-oriented than almost anywhere else on the continent. Between 1450 and 1640 the yield of grain per acre increased by at least thirty percent. In sharp contrast with farming in Spain, English land owners brought more dense marshes and woodlands into cultivation.

The great land estates of the English society largely remained intact and many wealthy land owners aggressively increased the size of their holdings, a precondition for increased productivity. Marriages between the children of landowners also increased the size of land estates. Primogeniture (the full inheritance of land by the eldest son) helped prevent land from being subdivided. Younger sons of independent land owners left the family and went to find other respective locations. Larger farms were conducive more to commercialized farming at the time when an expanding population pushed up demand and prices. Farmland owners turned part of their land into pasture land for sheep in order to adapt to developing woollen trade.

Some of the great land owners as well as Yeomen (farmers whose holdings and security of land tenure guaranteed their prosperity and status), organized their holdings in the interest efficiency. Many farmers selected crops for sales in growing London market. In their quest for greater profits, many land owners put their squeeze on their tenants. Between 1580 and 1620 land lords raised rents and altered conditions of land tenure in their favor, preferring shorter phases and forcing tenants to pay an entry fee before agreeing to rent them land. Landlords evicted those who could not afford annual, more onerous terms. But they also pushed tenants toward more productive farming methods, including crop rotation.

England's exceptional economic development also drew the country's natural resources, including iron, timber, and coal, extracted in far greater quantity than elsewhere in the continent. New industrial development expanded the production of iron and pewter in and around the city of Birmingham.

But above all textile manufacturing transformed English economy. Woolens, which accounted for eighty percent of the exports, worsteds (sturdy yarn spun from combed wool fibers), and other cloth found eager buyers in England as well as in the continent. Moreover, late in the sixteenth century as English merchants began making forays across the Atlantic these textiles were also sold in the Americas. Cloth manufacturers undercut production by urban craftspeople by "putting out" work to the villages and farms of the countryside. In such domestic industry poor rural women could spin and make cading (combing fibers in preparation for spin) in their homes.

The English textile trade was closely tied to Antwerp, in the Spanish Netherlands, where workers dyed English cloth. The entrepreneur Sir Thomas Gresham became England's representative there. He so enhanced the reputation of English business in that region that English merchants could operate on credit---the most prominent achievement for sixteenth century. He also advised the government to explore the economic possibilities of Americas, which led to the first concerted efforts at colonization, undertaken with commercial profits in mind.

Paragraph 1

1. The word "generated" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A/Produced

B/Strengthened

C/followed

D/dominated

1A

本题为词汇题。“generate”的意思是“产生;引起”，词汇所在句“the latter probably generated by expanding work opportunities in manufacturing and farming (leading to earlier marriage and more children)”的意思是“生育率的提升可能是由于制造业和农业提供了大量工作机会(导致早婚现象和生育更多孩子)而造成的。” A 选项 produce 的意思是: 产生;生产,意思符合，为正确答案。 B 选项 strengthen 的意思是：加强，巩固。排除。 C 选项 follow 的意思是：跟随，接着。排除 D 选项 dominate 的意思是：支配，影响。排除。

2. The word "furthermore** in the passage is closest in meaning to

A/however

B/in addition

C/similarly

D/in general

2B

本题为词汇题。“Furthermore”的意思是“此外;而且”，表示递进关系。词汇所在句“Furthermore, the country had been pulled out of the war that occurred in France and central Europe during the same period.”的意思是“此外，在同一时期英国退出了在法国和欧洲中部的战争。” A 选项 however 的意思是 “然而，无论如何”，表转折，排除。 B 选项 in addition 的意思是“另外，而且”，表递进，故为正确选项。 C 选项 similarly 的意思是“同样地”，表并列，排除。 D 选项 in general 的意思是“通常，一般来说”，表总结，排除。

3. All of the following are mentioned in Paragraph 1 as developments that led to England's emergence as a commercial and manufacturing power EXCEPT

A/rapid population growth

B/an increase in the number of jobs

C/a trend toward earlier marriages

D/an end to epidemics and a plague

3/D

根据题干中的“EXCEPT”我们可以判断这是一道否定事实信息题。遇到此类题型我们一般用排除法。 A 选项，根据题干中的关键词“population”我们可以在这一段主旨句中找到这个词的形容词同义表达“demographic”，意思是：人口统计学的。主旨句“In the last half of the sixteenth century England ……a combination of demographic, agricultural and industrial factors.”的意思是：十六世纪后半叶，在人口、农业、工业因素的共同作用下，英国成为欧洲的商业和制造业强国。本段第二句话进一步描述了英国人口的快速增长。因此 A 选项符合原文，排除。 B 选项关于工作机会的增多。根据关键词“job”定位到本段第三句，job 虽然没有原词出现，但本句中“work opportunities”等同于 job，“expanding work opportunities in manufacturing and farming”说明制造业和农业提供了大量工作机会，故 B 选项符合原文，排除。 C 选项关于早婚的趋势。根据关键词“marriage”我们很容易定位到原文第三句话括号中的内容(leading to earlier marriage and more children),提到了早婚和生育更多孩子的情况，故 C 选项符合原文，排除。 D 选项关于流行病和瘟疫不再发生，根据关键词“ epidemics ”、“plague”定位到这句话“While epidemics and plague occasionally took their toll, the people in England still suffered less than did those in continental Europe.”意思是“虽然流行病和瘟疫经常会导致很多人死亡，但相比欧洲大陆的情况来说，英国人遭受的损失更小。”所以文中并没有说流行病和瘟疫不再发生，只是说相比其他国家，英国遭受的损失更小。故 D 选项与原文矛盾，为正确答案。

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