Seventeenth-Century European Economic Growth

In the late sixteenth century and into the seventeenth, Europe continued the growth that had lifted it out of the relatively less prosperousmedieval period (from the mid 400s to the late 1400s). Among the key factors behind this growth were increased agricultural productivity and an expansion of trade.

Populations cannot grow unless the ruraleconomy can produce enough additional food to feed more people. During the sixteenth century, farmers brought more land into cultivation at the expense of forests and fens (low-lying wetlands). Dutch land reclamation in the Netherlands in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries provides the most spectacular example of the expansion of farmland: the Dutch reclaimed more than 36.000 acres from 1590 to 1615 alone.

Much of the potential for European economicdevelopmentlay in what at first glance would seem to have been only sleepy villages. Such villages, however, generally lay in regions of relativelyadvanced agricultural production, permitting not only the survival of peasants but also the accumulation of an agricultural surplus for investment. They had access to urban merchants, markets, and trade routes.

Increased agricultural production in turn facilitated ruralindustry, an intrinsic part of the expansion of industry. Woolens and textile manufacturers, in particular, utilized rural cottage (in-home) production, which took advantage of cheap and plentifulrural labor. In the German states, the ravages of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) further moved textile production into the countryside. Members of poor peasant families spun or wove cloth and linens at home for scant remuneration in an attempt to supplementmeager family income.

More extended trading networks also helped develop Europe's economy in this period. English and Dutch ships carrying rye from the Baltic states reached Spain and Portugal.Population growth generated an expansion of small-scale manufacturing, particularly of handicrafts, textiles, and metal production in England, Flanders, parts of northern Italy, the southwestern German states, and parts of Spain. Only iron smelting and mining required marshaling a significantamount of capital (wealth invested to create more wealth).

The development of banking and other financial services contributed to the expansion of trade. By the middle of the sixteenth century, financiers and traders commonly accepted bills of exchange in place of gold or silver for other goods. Bills of exchange, which had their origins in medieval Italy, were promissory notes (written promises to pay a specifiedamount of money by a certain date) that could be sold to third parties. In this way, they provided credit. At mid-century, an Antwerp financier only slightly exaggerated when he claimed, "0ne can no more trade without bills of exchange than sail without water." Merchants no longer had to carry gold and silver over long, dangerous journeys. An Amsterdam merchant purchasing soap from a merchant in Marseille could go to an exchanger and pay the exchanger the equivalentsum in guilders, the Dutch currency. The exchanger would then send a bill of exchange to a colleague in Marseille, authorizing the colleague to pay the Marseille merchant in the merchant's own currency after the actual exchange of goods had taken place.

Bills of exchange contributed to the development of banks, as exchangers began to provide loans. Not until the eighteenth century, however, did such banks as the Bank of Amsterdam and the Bank of England begin to provide capital for business investment. Their principalfunction was to provide funds for the state.

The rapid expansion in international trade also benefitted from an infusion of capital, stemming largely from gold and silver brought by Spanish vessels from the Americas. This capital financed the production of goods, storage, trade, and evencreditacross Europe and overseas. Moreover an increased creditsupply was generated by investments and loans by bankers and wealthy merchants to states and by joint-stock partnerships-an English innovation (the first majorcompany began in 1600). Unlike short-term financialcooperation between investors for a single commercialundertaking, joint-stock companies provided permanentfunding of capital by drawing on the investments of merchants and other investors who purchased shares in the company.

According to paragraph 1, what was true of Europe during the medieval period?

A. Agricultural productivity declined.

B. There was relatively little economic growth.

C. The general level of prosperity declined.

D. Foreign trade began to play an important role in the economy.

B. Positioning to the first sentence with the keyword period, saying that the period is less prosperous, but if you look at this sentence it is easy to mis-choose the answer C. The decay of C is called decrease, that is to say, the prosperity of Medisval declines in C. , but the original text is not prosperous, it is a low state, not a downward trend, so C is wrong; and B's economy has almost no growth is a synonymous replacement of less prosperous, correct; A and C are similar to the reasons for the wrong; D Did not say.

The word "key" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. historical

B. many

C. important

D. hidden

Key: Critical, important. A is history; B is many; C is important; D is hidden. The key is commonly known as the key, and of course, the key meaning, so C's important is correct. The previous article said that the European economy has started to grow, and then what factors of development are blabla, and the reason behind this is definitely relatively important, so Important correct. The sentence only gives two reasons, many are wrong; historical historical and hidden are completely unreliable.

According to paragraph 2, one effect of the desire to increase food production was that

A. land was cultivated in a different way

B. more farmers were needed

C. the rural economy was weakened

D. forests and wetlands were used for farming

D. Use the keyword keyword to locate the first sentence with increment food production, but the question is the influence, so the answer should be the next sentence. It is said that people open more land, at the expense of forests and wetlands, so the answer is D. The original A did not say that it was a different way of reclamation and error; B's farmers had no relevant information; C's rural economy had no information.

According to paragraph 3, what was one reason villages had such great economic potential?

A. Villages were located in regions where agricultural production was relatively advanced.

B. Villages were relatively small in population and size compared with urban areas.

C. Some village inhabitants made investments in industrial development.

D. Village inhabitants established markets within their villages.

A uses economic potential as the key word to locate the first sentence, but the first sentence of at first glance and the second sentence of who always indicate useful information in the second sentence, saying that the village's agriculture is advanced, so the answer is A. Did not say B/C/D.

Paragraph 4 supports the idea that increased agricultural production was important for the expansion of industry primarily because it

A. increased the number of available workers in rural areas

B. provided new types of raw materials for use by industry

C. resulted in an improvement in the health of the rural cottage workers used by manufacturers

D. helped repair some of the ravages of the Thirty Years' War

A uses the expansion of industry as the key word to locate the first sentence, but the first sentence merely states a fact. The useful information is in the second sentence, saying that those manufacturers use a lot of cheap rural labor, so the answer is A, B/ C/D did not say.

The word "meager" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. very necessary

B. very low

C. traditional

D. primary

Meager: Poor, inadequate, and thin. A is necessary; B is very small, poor; C is traditional; D is the main. So B's very low is the correct answer. Corresponding to the original: Members of poor peasant families spun or wove cloth and linens at home for scant remuneration in an attempt to supplement meager family income. The original sentence says that many poor people's textile lines or weaving fabrics earn subsidies to supplement what kind of family income, certainly It is necessary for supplementation to be low, so it is very low, A and D are basically not able to use the textile line to subsidize; the original has no concept of time, so the traditional B is wrong.

Why does the author mention that "English and Dutch ships carrying rye from the Baltic states reached Spain and Portugal"?

A. To suggest that England and the Netherlands were the two most important trading nations in seventeenth-century Europe

B. To suggest how extensive trading relations were

C. To contrast the importance of agricultural products with manufactured products

D. To argue that shipping introduced a range of new products

The purpose of the function, the entire sentence is a detail, so look at the previous sentence, that is, the central sentence of this paragraph, saying that the expanding trade network contributes to European economic development at that time, followed by the arrival of Dutch and British ships to Spain. And Portugal, used to prove the expansion of trade, so the answer is B, others are not reliable.

By including the quotation in paragraph 6 by the financier from Antwerp, the author is emphasizing that

A. sailing was an important aspect of the economy

B. increasing the number of water routes made trade possible

C. bills of exchange were necessary for successful trading

D. financiers often exaggerated the need for bills of exchange

The title of the function is firstly targeted by Antewerp to the fifth sentence. The original sentence is a detail in its entirety. To see the previous sentence, the information in the previous sentence is too small, so look ahead and find the answer, saying that the draft is a kind of The answer to a contractual bill resold to a third party is C, the necessity of a bill of exchange. Of course, the first sentence can also be read. It is said that banks and other financial services facilitate the expansion of trade and can also choose the answer.

According to paragraph 6, merchants were able to avoid the risk of carrying large amounts of gold and silver by

A. using third parties in Marseille to buy goods for them

B. doing all their business by using Dutch currency

C. paying for their purchases through bills of exchange

D. waiting to pay for goods until the goods had been delivered

C. Use gold or silver as the key word to locate the second sentence. Speak that financiers and dealers accept money orders instead of gold and silver. Only C mentions the bills of exchange, so the answer is C. The others did not say.

According to paragraph 7, until the eighteenth century, it was the principal function of which of the following to provide funds for the state?

A. Bills of exchange

B. Exchangers who took loans

C. Banks

D. Business investment

C. Use the keywords of funds, state, and principle function to locate the last sentence, saying that their most important role is to provide funds to the country. Because of its, in the past, the previous sentence stated that until the 18th century, the bank provided business investment. Money, and then said that before the money was provided to the country, its refers to the bank, so the answer C is correct.

The phrase "an English innovation" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. a new development introduced by the English

B. an arrangement found only in England

C. a type of agreement negotiated in English

D. a type of partnership based on English law

A : an English innovation originally intended to refer to the British invention. Even if the intention is to see it, B/C/D is not reliable, and after the dash, it explains the previous content. Before that, the joint-stock partnership, the joint stock, and the brackets after it A phenomenon was explained, indicating that this is a new thing that was not previously available, so A is correct.

According to paragraph 8, each of the following was a source of funds used to finance economic expansion EXCEPT

A. groups of investors engaged in short-term financial cooperation

B. the state

C. wealthy merchants

D. joint-stock companies

B, EXCEPT questions, exclusion. A's short-term financial cooperation corresponds to the last sentence, correct, not selected; B seems to correspond to the third sentence, but the original text says that bankers and rich merchants lend money to state, and state money is borrowed from others and cannot promote development. B wrong, election; C and D correspond to the third sentence of the original text, correct, not selected.

They could also avoid having to identify and assess the value of a wide variety of coins issued in many different places..

A

B

C

D

C The four transition points are the noun coins, many different places, the pronouns they and the adverbs also. The coin is replaced with the currency of the penultimate sentence of the original text. Many different places correspond to Amsterdam and Marseille in the penultimate sentence of the original text. Therefore, C or D is correct. In addition, coins can also correspond to coins and silver in the penultimate sentence. , so B or C is correct; and they also avoid explain that they have avoided one thing before, just correspond to the last sentence of the third sentence of no longer have to carry gold and silver, so C is correct.

In late sixteenth-and early seventeenth-century Europe, increased agricultural production and the expansion of trade were important in economic growth.

A.Bringing more land under cultivation produced enough food to create surpluses for trade and investment as well as for supporting the larger populations that led to the growth of rural industry.

B.Most rural villages established an arrangement with a nearby urban center that enabled villagers to take advantage of urban markets to sell any handicrafts they produced.

C.Increases in population and the expansion of trade led to increased manufacturing, much of it small-scale in character but some requiring significant capital investment.

D.Increased capital was required for the production of goods, for storage, for trade, and for the provision of credit throughout of Europe as well as distant markets overseas.

E.Bills of exchange were invented in medieval Italy but became less important as banks began to provide loans for merchants.

F.The expansion of trade was facilitated by developments in banking and financial services and benefitted from the huge influx of capital in the form of gold silver from the Americas.

The ACF bringing option corresponds to the first sentence of the second paragraph of the original text, correct. Most of the options did not say originally, do not choose. The increase in option corresponds to the first sentence of the fourth paragraph of the original text, correct. The increased capital option MS corresponds to the second sentence of the eighth paragraph, but the original text says capital promotes the development of blabla. It does not say that blabla's development requires capital, so it is wrong and it is not chosen. The bills option contradicts the second game of the sixth paragraph and does not choose. The expansion option corresponds to the first sentence of the sixth and eighth paragraphs of the original text, correct.