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  3. ENGLAND’S ECONOMY IN THE 16TH CENTURY (1) In the last half of the 16th century England emerged as a commercial and manufactu

ENGLAND’S ECONOMY IN THE 16TH CENTURY (1) In the last half of the 16th century England emerged as a commercial and manufactu

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问题                                                 ENGLAND’S ECONOMY IN THE 16TH CENTURY
    (1) In the last half of the 16th 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.
    (2) England provides the prominent example of the expansion of agricultural production well before the general European agricultural revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. A larger population stimulated the increased woolens 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 30%. In sharp contrast with fanning in Spain, English land owners brought more dense marshes and woodlands into cultivation.
    (3) 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 contributed 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 woolen trade.
    (4) 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 interests of 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.
    (5) 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.
    (6) But above all textile manufacturing transformed English economy. Woolens, which accounted for 80% of the exports, worsted (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 16th 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 carding (combing fibers in preparation for spin) in their homes.
    (7) The English textile trade was closely tied to Antwerp, in the Spanish Netherlands, where workers dyed English cloth. [A] The entrepreneur Sir Thomas Gresham became England’s representative there. [B] He so enhanced the reputation of English business in that region that English merchants could operate on credit—the most prominent achievement for the 16th century. [C] 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. [D]
Why does the author mention that "English land owners brought more dense marshes and woodlands into cultivation”?
选项 A、To give an example of a way in which the English increased agricultural production
B、To emphasize the influence of English agriculture on the agriculture of other European countries
C、To emphasize that Spanish agriculture needed to improve their farming methods
D、To discuss an intended consequence of crop specialization
答案A
解析 本题定位在第2段最后一句，问为何作者提及“英格兰的土地所有者还在茂密的湿地和林地耕作”，属于修辞目的题。根据第2段第1句“早在18世纪和19世纪欧洲农业革命之前，英格兰就为农业的扩大化生产提供了范例”可推测，之后的句子都在列举英格兰通过什么方式来扩大农业生产。A项“举例说明英格兰人扩大农业生产的一个方式”最符合题意：B项“强调英格兰农业对欧洲其他国家农业的影响”，原文第2段第3句“英格兰的农业比欧洲大陆其他任何地方的更有效率、更能满足市场需求”，对比了英格兰农业和欧洲其他国家农业的发展，但并未说明英格兰农业对欧洲其他国家农业的影响。C项“强调西班牙农业需要改进耕作方法”，原句强调的是英格兰土地持有者怎么做，而西班牙农业并不是作者强调的部分。D项“讨论农作物专业化的预期效果”，农作物专业化在文中没有依据。
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