2016年托福阅读专项辅导练习题及答案(二)

　　2016年托福阅读专项辅导练习题及答案(二)

　　Pennsylvania's colonial ironmasters forged iron and a revolution that had both

　　industrial and political implications. The colonists in North America wanted the right to

　　the profits gained from their manufacturing. However, England wanted all of the

　　Line colonies' rich ores and raw materials to feed its own factories, and also wanted the

　　(5) colonies to be a market for its finished goods. England passed legislation in 1750 to

　　prohibit colonists from making finished iron products, but by 1771, when entrepreneur

　　Mark Bird established the Hopewell blast furnace in Pennsylvania, iron making had

　　become the backbone of American industry. It also had become one of the major issues

　　that fomented the revolutionary break between England and the British colonies. By the

　　(10) time the War of Independence broke out in 1776, Bird, angered and determined, was

　　manufacturing cannons and shot at Hopewell to be used by the Continental Army.

　　After the war, Hopewell, along with hundreds of other "iron plantations," continued to

　　form the new nation's industrial foundation well into the nineteenth century. The rural

　　landscape became dotted with tall stone pyramids that breathed flames and smoke,

　　(15) charcola-fueled iron furnaces that produced the versatile metal so crucial to the nation's

　　growth. Generations of ironmasters, craftspeople, and workers produced goods during

　　war and peace—ranging from cannons and shot to domestic items such as cast-iron

　　stoves, pots, and sash weights for windows.

　　The region around Hopewell had everything needed for iron production: a wealth of

　　(20) iron ore near the surface, limestone for removing impurities from the iron, hardwood

　　forests to supply the charcoal used for fuel, rushing water to power the bellows that

　　pumped blasts of air into the furnace fires, and workers to supply the labor. By the

　　1830's, Hopewell had developed a reputation for producing high quality cast-iron stoves,

　　for which there was a steady market. As Pennsylvania added more links to its

　　(25) transportation system of roads, canals, and railroads, it became easier to ship parts made

　　by Hopewell workers to sites all over the east coast. There they ware assembled into

　　stoves and sold from Rhode Island to Maryland as the "Hopewell stove". By the time the

　　last fires burned out at Hopewell ironworks in 1883, the community had produced some

　　80,000 cast-iron stoves.

　　5. Pennsylvania was an ideal location for the Hopewell ironworks for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

　　(A) Many workers were available in the area

　　(B) The center of operations of the army was nearby

　　(C) The metal ore was easy to acquire

　　(D) There was an abundance of wood

　　答案：B