『新东方在线托福阅读』为托福考生准备了ETS托福TPO/Official 51 Passage 3阅读练习：In paragraph 2, why does the author mention the potato blight that occurred in Ireland?真题题目及答案解析，TPO/Official 51 Passage 3阅读原文范文音频翻译

托福TPO/Official 51 Passage 3阅读原文In paragraph 2, why does the author mention the potato blight that occurred in Ireland?题目答案及解析-新东方托福官方网校手机版

Population Growth in Nineteenth-Century Europe

由于工业化，也由于农业产量的大幅度增加（如果没有这些就不可能实现工业化），西欧人到了十九世纪后半叶比世界上大多数民族享有更高的生活水平和更长寿，更健康的生活。

Because of industrialization, but also because of a vast increase in agricultural output without which industrialization would have been impossible, Western Europeans by the latter half of the nineteenth century enjoyed higher standards of living and longer, healthier lives than most of the world’s peoples.

整个欧洲的人口从1800年的1.88亿增加到1900年的4亿。

In Europe as a whole, the population rose from 188 million in 1800 to 400 million in 1900.

到1900年，欧洲几乎每个地区都为人口激增做出了贡献，但每个主要地区都处于人口变化的不同阶段。

By 1900, virtually every area of Europe had contributed to the tremendous surge of population, but each major region was at a different stage of demographic change.

食物供应的改善延续了17世纪晚期的趋势。

Improvements in the food supply continued trends that had started in the late seventeenth century.

新土地被耕种，而美国原产作物，特别是马铃薯的使用继续增加。

New lands were put under cultivation, while the use of crops of American origin, particularly the potato, continued to expand.

直到1850年，区域性农业失灵是造成经济衰退的最常见原因，它们也可能导致局部饥荒。

Regional agricultural failures were the most common cause of economic recessions until 1850, and they could lead to localized famine as well.

1846-1847年的一次马铃薯大疫病（疾病）导致爱尔兰至少有100万人死亡，另有100万人移民，爱尔兰从未恢复到当年马铃薯所支撑的人口数量水平。

A major potato blight (disease) in 1846-1847 led to the deaths of at least one million persons in Ireland and the emigration of another million, and Ireland never recovered the population levels the potato had sustained to that point.

同时，谷物歉收导致整个欧洲大部分地区的困难加剧。

Bad grain harvests at the same time led to increased hardship throughout much of Europe.

然而，在1850年之后，尽管较贫穷的阶层仍然营养不良，但食品的供应速度不断地与人口增长保持同步。

After 1850, however, the expansion of foods more regularly kept pace with population growth, though the poorer classes remained malnourished.

首先，科学和新技术在农业中的应用有所增加。

First, the application of science and new technology to agriculture increased.

在德国大学的带领下，越来越多的研究致力于改良种子，开发化肥和饲养牲畜。

Led by German universities, increasing research was devoted to improving seeds, developing chemical fertilizers, and advancing livestock.

1861年后，随着美国拥有大量农业项目的赠地大学的发展，美国的农作物生产研究也增加了这种组合。

After 1861, with the development of land-grant universities in the United States that had huge agricultural programs, American crop-production research added to this mix.

机械化包括使用马拉收割机和播种机，其中许多机器最初在美国研发。

Mechanization included the use of horse-drawn harvesters and seed drills, many developed initially in the United States.

它还包括机械奶油分离器和其他可改善供应的食品加工设备。

It also included mechanical cream separators and other food-processing devices that improved supply.

The second development involved industrially based transportation.

有了火车和蒸汽运输，就可以将食物迅速运到西欧的贫困地区。

With trains and steam shipping, it became possible to move foods to needy regions within Western Europe quickly.

饥荒（而不是营养不良）已成为过去。

Famine (as opposed to malnutrition) became a thing of the past.

许多以英国为首的西欧国家也开始进口越来越多的粮食，不仅从传统的食物源东欧国家进口，而且也从美洲，澳大利亚和新西兰进口。

Many Western European countries, headed by Britain, began also to import increasing amounts of food, not only from Eastern Europe, a traditional source, but also from the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand.

蒸汽运输提高了速度和容量，并改善了罐头和冷藏食品的新程序（尤其是在1870年之后），这对（后来的）这些发展至关重要。

Steam shipping, which improved speed and capacity, as well as new procedures for canning and refrigerating foods (particularly after 1870), was fundamental to these developments.

到19世纪，欧洲的人口增长包括另一项创新：它与快速的城市化相结合。

Europe’s population growth included one additional innovation by the nineteenth century: it combined with rapid urbanization.

越来越多的西欧人从农村转移到城市，大城市增长最快。

More and more Western Europeans moved from countryside to city, and big cities grew most rapidly of all.

到1850年，英格兰超过一半的人口居住在城市中，人类历史上首次出现这种情况。

By 1850, over half of all the people in England lived in cities, a first in human history.

从某种意义上说，这种模式似乎是不可避免的：越来越多的人占用土地上的可用资源，即使农工和少量制造业相结合，人们也涌入城市寻找工作或其他资源。

In one sense, this pattern seems inevitable: growing numbers of people pressed available resources on the land, even when farmwork was combined with a bit of manufacturing, so people crowded into cities seeking work or other resources.

然而，传统上，城市的死亡率大大超过了农村的死亡率；城市仅通过稳定的移民来维持人口。

Traditionally, however, death rates in cities surpassed those in the countryside by a large margin; cities had maintained population only through steady in-migration.

因此，快速的城市化应该减少了总人口的增长，但是到了19世纪中叶，情况已不再如此。

Thus rapid urbanization should have reduced overall population growth, but by the middle of the nineteenth century this was no longer the case.

城市死亡率仍然很高，特别是在下层贫民窟，但它们开始迅速下降。

Urban death rates remained high, particularly in the lower-class slums, but they began to decline rapidly.

粮食供应的更高可靠性是城市死亡率下降的一个因素。

The greater reliability of food supplies was a factor in the decline of urban death rates.

更为重要的是城市环境卫生的改善以及住房检查等措施。

Even more important were the gains in urban sanitation, as well as measures such as inspection of housing.

改革者，包括开明的医生，开始研究高死亡率的原因并敦促人们补救。

Reformers, including enlightened doctors, began to study the causes of high death rates and to urge remediation.

甚至在细菌被发现之前，人们就相信疾病是由“瘴气”（有害的有害空气）传播的，这引起了人们对下水道和露天垃圾的关注；19世纪30年代，埃德温·查德威克在英国领导了一场堪称楷模的地下下水道改革运动。

Even before the discovery of germs, beliefs that disease spread by “miasmas” (noxious forms of bad air) prompted attention to sewers and open garbage; Edwin Chadwick led an exemplary urban crusade for underground sewers in England in the 1830s.

逐渐地，公共卫生规定开始降低惯常的城市死亡率。

Gradually, public health provisions began to cut into customary urban mortality rates.

到1900年，在西欧的某些地区，城市的预期寿命开始超过农村地区。

By 1900, in some parts of Western Europe life expectancy in the cities began to surpass that of the rural areas.

工业化社会已经找到了将大而增长的城市与人口增长结合起来的方法，这种发展很快就会传播到世界其他地区。

Industrial societies had figured out ways to combine large and growing cities with population growth, a development that would soon spread to other parts of the world.

According to paragraph 1, which of the following is true about Europe in the nineteenth century?

According to paragraph 2, which of the following caused the food supply to increase in most of Western Europe during the nineteenth century?

In paragraph 2, why does the author mention the potato blight that occurred in Ireland?

The phrase “kept pace with” in the passage is closest in meaning to

According to paragraph 3, all of the following factors helped the supply of food meet the needs of a growing population EXCEPT

The word “capacity” in the passage is closest in meaning to

According to paragraph 4, famine became less of a problem in Western Europe during the nineteenth century because of

The word “inevitable” in the passage is closest in meaning to

According to paragraph 5, which of the following factors led to rapid urbanization in the first half of the nineteenth century?

The word “surpass” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 6 about underground sewers?

Paragraph 6 mentions all of the following as factors that contributed to the rapid decline of urban death rates EXCEPT

Look at the four squares  that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Such individual efforts had substantial, concrete effects on society.  Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square  to add the sentence to the passage.

Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

Population Growth in Nineteenth-Century Europe Because of industrialization, but also because of a vast increase in agricultural output without which industrialization would have been impossible, Western Europeans by the latter half of the nineteenth century enjoyed higher standards of living and longer, healthier lives than most of the world’s peoples. In Europe as a whole, the population rose from 188 million in 1800 to 400 million in 1900. By 1900, virtually every area of Europe had contributed to the tremendous surge of population, but each major region was at a different stage of demographic change. Improvements in the food supply continued trends that had started in the late seventeenth century. New lands were put under cultivation, while the use of crops of American origin, particularly the potato, continued to expand. Setbacks did occur. Regional agricultural failures were the most common cause of economic recessions until 1850, and they could lead to localized famine as well. A major potato blight (disease) in 1846-1847 led to the deaths of at least one million persons in Ireland and the emigration of another million, and Ireland never recovered the population levels the potato had sustained to that point. Bad grain harvests at the same time led to increased hardship throughout much of Europe. After 1850, however, the expansion of foods more regularly kept pace with population growth, though the poorer classes remained malnourished. Two developments were crucial. First, the application of science and new technology to agriculture increased. Led by German universities, increasing research was devoted to improving seeds, developing chemical fertilizers, and advancing livestock. After 1861, with the development of land-grant universities in the United States that had huge agricultural programs, American crop-production research added to this mix. Mechanization included the use of horse-drawn harvesters and seed drills, many developed initially in the United States. It also included mechanical cream separators and other food-processing devices that improved supply. The second development involved industrially based transportation. With trains and steam shipping, it became possible to move foods to needy regions within Western Europe quickly. Famine (as opposed to malnutrition) became a thing of the past. Many Western European countries, headed by Britain, began also to import increasing amounts of food, not only from Eastern Europe, a traditional source, but also from the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand. Steam shipping, which improved speed and capacity, as well as new procedures for canning and refrigerating foods (particularly after 1870), was fundamental to these developments. Europe’s population growth included one additional innovation by the nineteenth century: it combined with rapid urbanization. More and more Western Europeans moved from countryside to city, and big cities grew most rapidly of all. By 1850, over half of all the people in England lived in cities, a first in human history. In one sense, this pattern seems inevitable: growing numbers of people pressed available resources on the land, even when farmwork was combined with a bit of manufacturing, so people crowded into cities seeking work or other resources. Traditionally, however, death rates in cities surpassed those in the countryside by a large margin; cities had maintained population only through steady in-migration. Thus rapid urbanization should have reduced overall population growth, but by the middle of the nineteenth century this was no longer the case. Urban death rates remained high, particularly in the lower-class slums, but they began to decline rapidly. The greater reliability of food supplies was a factor in the decline of urban death rates.  Even more important were the gains in urban sanitation, as well as measures such as inspection of housing.  Reformers, including enlightened doctors, began to study the causes of high death rates and to urge remediation. Even before the discovery of germs, beliefs that disease spread by “miasmas” (noxious forms of bad air) prompted attention to sewers and open garbage; Edwin Chadwick led an exemplary urban crusade for underground sewers in England in the 1830s.  Gradually, public health provisions began to cut into customary urban mortality rates.  By 1900, in some parts of Western Europe life expectancy in the cities began to surpass that of the rural areas. Industrial societies had figured out ways to combine large and growing cities with population growth, a development that would soon spread to other parts of the world.