-
Passage
Ⅰ
Agricultural Society in
Eighteenth-Century British America
P1:
Throughout the colonial
period, mostNortherners, especially New
Englanders,
depended on the land for a
livelihood,although a living had literally to be
wrested
from the earth. Community lands
were used for grazing and logging (people could
petition
the
town
for
the
right
to
cut
wood).
Agriculture
was
the
predominant
occupation, and what industrial and
commercial activity there was revolved almost
entirely around materials extracted
from the land, the forests, and the ocean.
P2:
At
the
end
of
the
eighteenth
century,
approximately
90
percent
of
all
Americansearned a major
portion of their living by farming. Generally,
high ratios
of land andother natural
resources to labor generated exceptionally high
levels of
output
per
workerin
the
colonies.
Located
between
the
Potomac
and
the
Hudson
rivers,
the
Middle
Colonieswere,
on
the
whole,
fertile
and
readily
tillable,
and
therefore
enjoyed
a
comparativeadvantage
in
the
production
of
grains
and
other
foodstuffs.
Most
production
in
the
NewWorld
was
for
the
colonists’
own
consumption, but sizable
proportions of colonial goodsand services were
produced
for
commercial
exchange.
In
time,
New
England
colonistshad
tapped
into
a
sprawling
Atlantic trade network that connected them to the
Englishhomeland as
well
as
the
West
African
Slave
Coast,
the
Caribbean's
plantation
islands,
andthe
Iberian Peninsula.
1.
Paragraph 1
mentions all of the following as economic
activities that New
Englanders
practiced EXCEPT
A growing crops
B raising animals
C trading
goods
D cutting timber
2.
Paragraph 1 and Passage 2 support all
of the following statements about the
economies in colonial period EXCEPT
A
The northern colonies engaged in
international trade.
B
The middle colonies had agricultural
advantages the northern colonies did not.
C
The northern
colonists earned their living by farming
D
The middle colonies were less
prosperous than the northern colonies.
3.
According to
paragraph2, what can be inferred about New
Englanders at the end
of the eighteenth
century?
A
They
wanted to connect with their homeland.
B
They prepared
products for international trade.
C
They could not be self-
sufficient on grains.
D
They produced most of the goods in the
New World.
4.
The word
“
sizable
” in the passage is
closet in meaning to
A
mixed
B
enormous
C
growing
D
constant
P3:
In the North,
land was seemingly limitless
in
extent and
therefore not
highly
priced,
and
almost
every
colonist
wanted
to
be
a
landholder.
The
widespread
ownership of land
distinguished farming society in Colonial America
from every
other agricultural region of
the Western world. Equal access to land ownership
in
this early period made it possible
for most men other than indentured servants to
purchase
or
inherit
a
farm
of
at
least
50
acres.
The
North
was
developed
as
a
rigidly hierarchical society in which
status was determined by or at least strongly
correlated with the extent to which one
owned, controlled, or labored on land.
5.
According to
paragraph 3 in what way did farming society in the
northern colonies
differ from farming
societies in the rest of the Western world?
AThe differences between
social classes were much greater.
B People lived much closer together.
C The proportion of land owners was
much higher.
D Many more families had
servants.
P4:
The eighteenth century witnessed a sharp rise in
population, which left many
faced
with
the
harsh
reality
of
an
increasingly
limited
supply
of
land;
this
was
especially
true
in
New
England,
where
farms
inherited
from
prior
generations
could not be divided and subdivided
indefinitely. An example of this principle in
action was the life of Edward Richards
in Dedham, Massachusetts, a proprietor of
the town, who had significant civic
responsibilities, including road-building, militia
duty,
and
fence-
viewing,
and
who
received
parcels
of
land
in
return
for
his
investment and work. By 1653, he owned
over 55 acres and ranked twelfth of 78
property
owners
in
terms
of
the
size
of
his
holdings.
Eventually,
the
Richards
family
controlled
several
hundred
acres
of
land,
enough
for
Nathaniel
Richards,
Edward’s son, to give
80
-acre farms to two sons while a third
retained the central
farm after his
death. In this way, the average farm would shrink
by two thirds in a
century.
6.
The word
“
indefinitely
” in the
passage is closet
in meaning to
A
fairly
B
safely
C
more than once
D
without limit
7.
Why does author include a discussion of
“
Edward Richards in Dedham,
Massachusetts
”
A
To give an
example of the type of inheritance farm owners
generally
provided for their sons.
B
To help
explain why the farms started by the founders
averaged at least 250
acres.
C
To indicate
that New England farms were always inherited by
the oldest sons
from their fathers.
D
To help
illustrate how limited the overall land supply was
in New England.
P5:
The decreasing fertility
of the soil compounded the problem of dwindling
farm
size in New England. When land had
been plentiful, farmers had planted crops in
the same field
for three
years and then let it lie fallow in
pasture seven
years or
more until it regained its fertility.
On the smaller farms of the eighteenth century,
however, farmers reduced fallow time to
only a year or two. Such intense use of
the
soil
reduced
crop
yields,
forcing
farmers
to
plow
marginal
land
or
shift
to
livestock production.
8.
The word
“
compounded
” in the passage
is closet i
n meaning to
A
added to
B
resulted from
C
led to
D
occurred before
9.
According to
paragraph5, what causes the crop yields in New
England to fail?
A
The shift to livestock production by
many farmers.
B
The decreased amount of time that
fields were left fallow.
C
The practice of planting crops in the
same field for three years in a row.
D
The reduced
size of the average field.
P6:
Under
these
circumstances,
those
families
who
were
less
well-off
naturally
struggled
to
make
ends
meet
farming
what
little
land
they
had.
The
diminishing
size and
productivity of family farms forced many New
Englanders to move to the
frontier
or
out
of
the
area
altogether
in
the
eighteenth
century.
Vital
as
the
agriculture of New England was to the
people of the area, it constituted a relatively
insignificantportion of
the
region’s total
commercial output for
sale (its destiny lay
in another kind
of economic endeavor). In addition, the growing
season was much
shorter
in
the
North,
and
the
cultivation
of
cereal
crops
required
incessant
labor
only during spring
planting and autumn harvesting; and so, from a
very early date,
many
New
Englanders
combined
farming
with
otherintermittent
work,
such
as
clock-
making, shoe-making, carpentry, and weaving,
thereby enabling themselves
to live
better lives than they would have had they been
confined to the resources of
their
own
farms.
Homecrafts
and
skilled
trades
of
all
varieties
were
common
features of rural life in all the
colonies, but especially in New England.
10.
According to paragraph6 why did many
New Englanders move out of the area in
the eighteenth century
A
They wanted to
live in towns rather than on farms.
B
Their farms no
longer provided them with good living.
C
There was
unequal distribution of males and females in New
England.
D
They were being crowded out by migrants
from outside New England.
11.
The word
“
endeavor
” in the passage is
closet in meaning to
A
effect
B
improvement
C
effort
D
accelerator
12.
Why does the
author include the information about the
“
intermittent work, such as
clock-making, shoe-making, carpentry,
and weaving
” that northern cultivators
engaged in?
A
To suggest that northern cultivators
were not as skilled at agricultural work
as southern cultivators were.
B
To indicate an
economic effect of the shorter northern growing
season on
northern cultivators.
C
To challenge
the claim that work routines in the north were
less intense than
they were in the
south.
D
To
emphasize that northern workers tried to change
their agriculturally
centered economy.
P6:
Under
these
circumstances,
those
families
who
were
less
well-off
naturally
struggled to
make ends
meet
farming what
little land they
had.
■
The diminishing
size and productivity of family farms
forced many New Englanders to move to the
frontier
or
out
of
the
area
altogether
in
the
eighteenth
century.
■
Vital
as
the
agriculture of New
England was to the people of the area, it
constituted a relatively
insignificantportion of
the
region’s total
commercial output for
sale.
■
(its destiny
lay in another kind of economic
endeavor).
■
In addition, the
growing season was
much
shorter
in
the
North,
and
the
cultivation
of
cereal
crops
required
incessant
labor only during spring planting and
autumn harvesting; and so, from a very early
date, many New Englanders combined
farming with otherintermittent work, such
as
clock-making,
shoe-making,
carpentry,
and
weaving,
thereby
enabling
themselves to live better lives than
they would have had they been confined to the
resources of their own farms.
Homecrafts and skilled trades of all varieties
were
common features of rural life in
all the colonies, but especially in New
England.
13.
Look at the
four squares [■] that indicate where the following
sentence could be
added to the passage.
By the end of the eighteenth century,
New England was a net importer of food
and fiber.