Matching the influx of foreign immigrants into the larger cities of the United States during the late nineteenth century was a domestic migration, from towns and farms to cities, within the United States. The country had been overwhelmingly rural at the beginning of the century, with less than 5 percent of Americans living in large towns or cities. The proportion of urban percent by 1880 and to 46 percent by 1900. A country with only 6 cities boasting a population of more than 8,000 in 1800 had become one with 545 such cities in 1900. Of these, 26 had a population of more than 100,000 including 3 that held more than a million people. Much of the migration producing an urban society came from smaller towns within the United States, but the combination of new immigrants and old American "settlers" on America’s "urban frontier" in the late nineteenth century proved extraordinary.
The growth of cities and the process of industrialization fed on each other. The agricultural revolution stimulated many in the countryside to seek a new life in the city and made it possible for fewer farmers to feed the large concentrations of people needed to provide a workforce for growing numbers of factories. Cities also provided ready and convenient markets for the products of industry, and huge contracts in transportation and construction - as well as the expanded market in consumer goods - allowed continued growth of the urban sector of the overall economy of the United States.
Technological developments further stimulated the process of urbanization. One example is the Bessemer converter (an industrial process for manufacturing steel), which provided steel girders for the construction of skyscrapers. The refining of crude oil into kerosene, and later the development of electric lighting as well as of the telephone, brought additional comforts to urban areas that were unavailable to rural Americans and helped attract many of them from the farms into the cities. In every era the lure of the city included a major psychological element for country people: the bustle and social interaction of urban life seemed particularly intriguing to those raised in rural isolation.
Question 36. What aspects of the United States in the nineteenth century does the passage mainly discuss?
A. Technological developments
B. The impact of foreign immigrants on cities
C. Standards of living
D. The relationship between industrialization and urbanization
Question 37. The paragraph preceding the passage most probably discuss____________.
A. foreign immigration B. rural life
C. the agricultural revolution D. famous cities of the twentieth century
Question 38. What proportion of population of the United States was urban in 1900?
A. Five percent B. Eleven percent
C. Twenty-eight percent D. Forty-six percent
Question 39. The word "stimulated" in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to____________.
A. forced B. prepared C. limited D. motivated
Question 40. Why does the author mention "electric lighting" and "the telephone" the last paragraph?
A. They contributed to the agricultural revolution
B. They are examples of the conveniences of city life
C. They were developed by the same individual.
D. They were products of the Bessemer converter.
Question 41. The word "them" in the last paragraph refers to____________.
A. urban areas B. rural Americans C. farms D. cities
Question 42. The word "intriguing" in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to ____________
A. profitable B. comfortable C. attractive D. challenging
9. Đề thi thử THPT 2021 - Tiếng Anh - Nhóm GV MGB - Đề 9 - có lời giải
