TEXT D In Britain in the middle
of the eighteenth century, requisite conditions were in evidence for making that
nation the first great industrial country, "the workshop of the world". Already
enjoying a vigorous commercial economy, Britain experienced a tremendous
population growth and increasing trade at home and abroad. The
population boom is attributed to several circumstances in Britain at that time.
Good harvests had produced abundant and therefore cheaper food. The plague years
were over, probably as a result of improved water supplies and the availability
of soap. With opportunities for work in industry, people were marrying younger
and producing larger families for whom they could earn the means to provide. The
death rate dropped, and the population in- creased. Labor was thus accessible
for the development of an industrial society. Industry’s need
for fuel sparked expansion in coal mining. Production of iron depended upon coal
smelting, which produced cheap iron for machines and buildings. The iron
industry moved to the central and northern sections of Britain for coal.
Following the invention and improvement of the steam engine, water power was
supplanted by steam power with its ensuing requirement of access to coal
fields. Britain’s foremost industries were wool and cotton
weaving. Between 1733 and 1789, a series of ingenious labor-saving machines were
invented. They would dispense with water power and rely on steam for increased
production. Kay’s flying shuttle made it possible to widen cloth and doubled
production as well. Hargreaves’ spinning jenny, a cotton-spinning machine that
replaced the spinning wheel, and Cartwright’s power loom rejuvenated both the
cotton and wool industries. Once the countryside was dotted with mills beside
rivers and streams, but the need for coal drove the textile industry into the
North where it continues to operate to this day. Industrialization was
complemented by a dynamic approach to cheap transportation. A network of canals
was constructed and covered 2,000 miles by 1815. The canal system reduced coal
prices and provided easier access to raw materials and markets. Furthermore, a
man named Macadam had the idea of solidifying roads with small stones, so road
traffic was made easier. This period of British industrial
expansion is called the Industrial Revolution. The rapid change in the nation’s
economy was effected by the steam engine and various power-driven machines.
Never again would England be an agricultural nation. The author mentions Kay’s flying shuttle, Hargreaves’ spinning jenny and Cartwright’s power loom in order to show that______.
A．these labor-saving machines were also independent from any power-driven engines B．since these inventors were northerners, the textile industry became more prosper- ous in the north than in the south C．these machines replaced one another and the frequent renewal of implements caused the rapid development of the wool and cotton weaving industries D．with the invention of these machines substituting for the former labor-consuming ones, the textile industry was revitalized