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  3. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, workers were differentiated by skill, income, and relative opportunities for advance

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, workers were differentiated by skill, income, and relative opportunities for advance

admin2012-01-14  61
问题     At the beginning of the nineteenth century, workers were differentiated by skill, income, and relative opportunities for advancement. The unskilled fared poorly. Laborers, weavers, and mill workers, who constituted perhaps 40 percent of the urban working class, received about a dollar per day. Skilled workers—variously known as craftsman, artisans, or mechanics—received nearly double that. The tools they owned and their proficiency in using them gave skilled workers marketable assets. Working independently or with others as journeymen in small shops directed by master craftsmen, who supervised the production of goods for a custom market, they could realistically anticipate becoming masters someday.
    The technological and economical changes of the nineteenth-century had a marked impact on American workers. Improvements in turnpikes(收费公里) or toll roads gave way to "canal fever" accompanied by the appearance of steamboats and, in the 1880s and 1840s, railroads. The resulting sharp reduction in transportation costs enabled sellers to compete successfully in distant markets, opening up great profit-making opportunities to efficient large-scale manufacturers. Limited custom-order and local trade gave way to a massive national market, inevitably affecting the conditions of the workers who produced for this market.
    Merchants increasingly assumed control not only over the sale of goods but also over their production. Their possession of substantial capital and easy access to credit enabled them to contract for massive orders all over the country. The size of their operations enabled them to cut prices below those fixed by masters and journeymen.
    On the surface, little seemed to have changed. In the typical shop the master was still the chief, and the craftsmen he presided over still owned their tools. Their style of work in many cases differed little from what it had been in the eighteenth century. But now the merchant capitalist supplied the raw materials and owned and marketed the finished product made in the shop. The masters became small contractors employed by the merchant capitalist and, in turn, employing one to a dozen journeymen. Since the profits of masters came solely out of wages and work, they sought to lessen dependence on skill and to increase speed of output. To increase profits, masters demanded greater productivity from skilled workers and resorted to cheaper labor—prisoners, women, children, and the unskilled. Under the increasing economic pressure, the apprentice system eventually broke down. (385 words)
Who would probably provide the cheapest goods?
选项 A、Masters.
B、Journeymen.
C、Workers.
D、Merchants.
答案D
解析 第三段最后一句：由于商人经营规模大，所以货物的价格要低于商店老板和工匠们所提供的商品价格。
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