Question

In the 18th century, New York was smaller than Philadelphia and Boston. Today it is the largest city in America. How can the change in its size and importance be explained?

    To answer this question we must consider certain facts about geography, history, and economics. Together these three will explain the huge growth of America’s most famous city.

    The map of the Northeast shows that the four areas with the largest populations in this region are around seaports. At these points materials from across the sea enter the United States, and the products of the land are sent there for export across the sea.

     We know that places where transportation lines meet are good places for making raw materials into finished goods. That is why seaports often have cities nearby. But cities like New York needed more than their geographical location in order to become great industrial centers. Their development did not happen simply by chance.www.zxxk.com

     About 1815, when many Americans from the east had already moved toward the west, transportation routes from the seaports to the central regions of the country began to be a serious problem. The slow wagons of that time, usually drawn by horses, were too expensive for moving heavy freight (貨物) very far. In New York State a canal seemed the best answer to the transportation problem. From the eastern end of Lake Erie all the way across the state to the Hudson River there is a long strip of low land. Here the Erie Canal was built, and after several years of work it was completed in 1825.

     The canal produced an immediate effect. Freight costs were cut to about one tenth of what they had been. New York City, which had been smaller than Philadelphia and Boston, quickly became the leading city of the coast. In the years that followed, transportation routes on the Great Lakes were joined to routes on the Mississippi River. Then New York City became the end point of a great inland shipping system that started from the Atlantic Ocean far up the western branches of the Mississippi.

1.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. The Development of Transportation in New York

B. Export and Import of New York

C. How New York Became America's Largest City

D. How New York Exchanged with Europe

2.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The Erie Canal connected Lake Erie with the Hudson River.

B. Economists are of the opinion that places where farming is done are good for making raw materials into finished goods.

C. Wagons drawn by horses and oxen soon proved to be better and cheaper than canal transportation.

D. The seaports usually have less population but more business.

3.Freight costs were reduced to 10% of what they had been because of ________.

A. cheap and fast wagons                          B. the new sea routes

C. the construction of the Erie Canal       D. the development of industry

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.C

2.A

3.C

【解析】

試題分析 ：文章在講紐約如何成為一個大都市。

1.C主旨大意，本文在講紐約如何成為大都市。

2.A 細節推斷題 從倒數第二段From the eastern end of Lake Erie all the way across the state to the Hudson River there is a long strip of low land. Here the Erie Canal was built, and after several years of work it was completed in 1825.推斷出A項正確。

3.C細節題 從最后一段第一句話The canal produced an immediate effect. Freight costs were cut to about one tenth of what they had been. New York City, which had been smaller than Philadelphia and Boston, quickly became the leading city of the coast推斷出A項正確。

考點：介紹城市的說明文。