Practice CST #3

1.

The agricultural changes which took place in England during the 1600s contributed to England’s later industrial development by

A.

Strengthening the importance of the family farm.
B.

Breaking large estates into smaller farms.
C.

Encouraging city dwellers to return to farming.
D.

Producing more food with fewer workers.

Correct Answer
D. Producing more food with fewer workers.

Explanation
The British Agricultural Revolution describes a period of development in Britain between the 17th century and the end of the 19th century, which saw an epoch-making increase in agricultural productivity and net output. This in turn supported unprecedented population growth, freeing up a significant percentage of the workforce, and thereby helped drive the Industrial Revolution. Instead of focusing on growing food in order to survive, people were now able to focus on earning wages.

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2.

Louis Pasteur’s research into germ theory in the nineteenth century is significant because it

A.

Created safety standards for machine workers.
B.

Led to techniques that increase crop production.
C.

Identified the importance of vitamins to nutrition.
D.

Proved that cleanliness helps to prevent infections.

Correct Answer
D. Proved that cleanliness helps to prevent infections.

Explanation
Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist who is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. His discoveries reduced mortality and his experiments supported the germ theory of disease, which was that microscopic organisms were the cause of many of the diseases that inflicted people.

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3.

Use the information to complete the statement.The streets were hot and dusty on the summer day. Stokers emerged from low underground doorways into factory yards, and sat on steps, and posts, and palings, wiping their swarthy visages, and contemplating coals. The whole town seemed to be frying in oil. There was a stifling smell of hot oil everywhere. The steam-engines shone with it, the mills throughout their many stories oozed and trickled it. —Charles Dickens, Hard Times, 1854The historical era most likely referred to in this quotation is the

A.

Industrial Revolution.
B.

Great Awakening.
C.

French Revolution.
D.

Enlightenment.

Correct Answer
A. Industrial Revolution.

Explanation
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of the times. It began in the United Kingdom, then subsequently spread throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world.
The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in human history; almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. Most notably, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth. Rapid urbanization led to poor living conditions as cities developed in a quick but unorganized manner.

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4.

What historical trend was most responsible for the change in Birmingham’s population shown above?

A.

Immigration from the colonies
B.

Industrial growth
C.

Improvements in urban health care
D.

Famine in rural areas

Correct Answer
B. Industrial growth

Explanation
The industrial revolution led to a growth in population and rapid urbanization, where families moved from farms in villages and the country to the city in search of wage-based work.

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5.

In the nineteenth century, labor unions developed mostly in response to

A.

Increasing unemployment.
B.

Government ownership of businesses.
C.

Wages and working conditions.
D.

Racial and gender discrimination.

Correct Answer
C. Wages and working conditions.

Explanation
The industrial revolution was marked by many issues with labor and working conditions. This resulted in many labor unions as a form of protest against the low wages and poor working conditions.

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6.

To increase production output during the Industrial Revolution, businesses primarily invested in

A.

Workers' wages.
B.

Machinery.
C.

Training.
D.

Marketing.

Correct Answer
B. Machinery.

Explanation
Starting in the later part of the 18th century, there began a transition in parts of Great Britain's previously manual labour and draft-animal–based economy towards machine-based manufacturing. It started with the mechanisation of the textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined coal.

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7.

In the mid-1700s, how did trade contribute to the early growth of an industrial economy in Great Britain?

A.

It allowed the British to educate their workforce.
B.

It provided funds to pay high wages to the new labor class.
C.

It enabled British merchants to hire skilled foreign laborers.
D.

It gave British entrepreneurs the capital needed to open new factories.

Correct Answer
D. It gave British entrepreneurs the capital needed to open new factories.

Explanation
Trade expansion allowed British entrepreneurs to increase their profits by lowering the costs of shipping goods while also increasing the demands and profits. It was further enabled by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways.

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8.

The American Civil War decreased Europe's supply of cotton from the American South. What did the Europeans do to maintain the flow of this natural resource for their textile industries?

A.

European factory owners agreed to pay a higher price for American cotton.
B.

European factory owners supported abolition of slavery to end the Civil War.
C.

European factory owners turned to Egypt and India as new sources of cotton.
D.

European governments intervened militarily to force the resumption of the trade in cotton.

Correct Answer
C. European factory owners turned to Egypt and India as new sources of cotton.

Explanation
European countries were able to attain cotton through territories they had conquered in Africa and Asia.

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9.

What late-eighteenth century European artistic movement arose as a reaction against Classicism’s emphasis on reason?

A.

Impressionism
B.

Realism
C.

Romanticism
D.

Surrealism

Correct Answer
C. Romanticism

10.

The social criticism of Charles Dickens’s novels Hard Times and David Copperfield was a response to conditions brought about by

A.

Colonial conflicts.
B.

Industrialization.
C.

Unionization.
D.

Parliamentary reforms.

Correct Answer
B. Industrialization.