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Chinese Population Growth
Increases in population have usually been accompanied (indeed facilitated) by an increase in trade. In the Western experience, commerce provided the conditions that allowed industrialization to get started, which in turn led to growth in science, technology, industry, transport, communications, social change, and the like that we group under the broad term of “development.” However, the massive increase in population that in Europe was at first attributed to industrialization starting in the eighteenth century occurred also and at the same period in China, even though there was no comparable industrialization.
It is estimated that the Chinese population by 1600 was close to 150 million. The transition between the Ming and Qing dynasties (the seventeenth century) may have seen a decline, but from 1741 to 1851 the annual figures rose steadily and spectacularly, perhaps beginning with 143 million and ending with 432 million. If we accept these totals, we are confronted with a situation in which the Chinese population doubled in the 50 years from 1790 to 1840. If, with greater caution, we assume lower totals in the early eighteenth century and only 400 million in 1850, we still face a startling fact: something like a doubling of the vast Chinese population in the century before Western contact, foreign trade, and industrialization could have had much effect.
To explain this sudden increase we cannot point to factors constant in Chinese society but must find conditions or a combination of factors that were newly effective in this period. Among these is the almost complete internal peace maintained under Manchu rule during the eighteenth century. There was also an increase in foreign trade through Guangzhou (southern China) and some improvement of transportation within the empire. Control of disease, like the checking of smallpox by variolation may have been important. But of most critical importance was the food supply.
Confronted with a multitude of unreliable figures, economists have compared the population records with the aggregate data for cultivated land area and grain production in the six centuries since 1368. Assuming that China’s population in 1400 was about 80 million, the economist Dwight Perkins concludes that its growth to 700 million or more in the 1960s was made possible by a steady increase in the grain supply, which evidently grew five or six times between 1400 and 1800 and rose another 50 percent between 1800 and 1965. This increase of food supply was due perhaps half to the increase of cultivated area, particularly by migration and settlement in the central and western provinces, and half to greater productivity—the farmers’ success in raising more crops per unit of land.
This technological advance took many forms: one was the continual introduction from the south of earlier-ripening varieties of rice, which made possible double-cropping (the production of two harvests per year from one field). New crops such as corn (maize) and sweet potatoes as well as peanuts and tobacco were introduced from the Americas. Corn, for instance, can be grown on the dry soil and marginal hill land of North China, where it is used for food, fuel, and fodder and provides something like one-seventh of the food energy available in the area. The sweet potato, growing in sandy soil and providing more food energy per unit of land than other crops, became the main food of the poor in much of the South China rice area.
Productivity in agriculture was also improved by capital investments, first of all in irrigation. From 1400 to 1900 the total of irrigated land seems to have increased almost three times. There was also a gain in farm tools, draft animals, and fertilizer, to say nothing of the population growth itself, which increased half again as fast as cultivated land area and so increased the ratio of human hands available per unit of land. Thus the rising population was fed by a more intensive agriculture, applying more labor and fertilizer to the land.
Paragraph 1
Increases in population have usually been accompanied (indeed facilitated) by an increase in trade. In the Western experience, commerce provided the conditions that allowed industrialization to get started, which in turn led to growth in science, technology, industry, transport, communications, social change, and the like that we group under the broad term of “development.” However, the massive increase in population that in Europe was at first attributed to industrialization starting in the eighteenth century occurred also and at the same period in China, even though there was no comparable industrialization.
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中国的人口增长
人口增长通常伴随着(事实上促进了)贸易的增加。按照西方社会的经验，商业为工业化的开始提供了条件，而工业化反过来又促进了科学、技术、工业、交通运输、通信进步、社会变化和所有我们归结为“发展”方面的进步。但是，十八世纪开始的工业化带来了欧洲的人口大幅增长;同时间中国的人口也暴涨，尽管中国没有经历类似的工业化。
据估计，到1600年中国的人口已经接近1亿5000万。明清之交(十七世纪)人口数量可能有所减少，但从1741年到1851年，人口数量每年都稳步显著地上升，从1亿4300万涨到了4亿3200万。如果我们认为这些统计数据真实有效，我们将面临这样一个情形：从1790年到1840年，中国人口在这50年间翻了一番。如果我们对这些统计数据的真实性谨慎一些，我们假设在18世纪初总人数要少一些，到1850年也只有4亿的话，事实依然让人吃惊：在与西方接触、对外贸易和工业化之前，像中国这样庞大的人口数量翻倍增长的因素本应像西方一样对社会产生很大的影响的。
要解释这种突然的人口增加，我们不能直指中国社会的一些一直不变的因素，而是必须找到当时在那一时期新出现的有影响力的一系列条件或诸多组合因素。其中包括：十八世纪的中国处于满族统治下，国内几乎完全和平;广州(华南)的对外贸易也有所增加，国家内部的交通运输也有所改善;还有一个重要因素是疾病的控制，如通过人痘接种来克制天花。但这当中最重要的还是粮食供应。
面对大量的不可靠的数据，经济学家将1368年以来的6个世纪的人口统计记录与耕地面积和粮食生产总量的综合数据进行了比较。假设在1400年中国的人口是8000万左右，：由于粮食产量稳步增长，到20世纪60年代人口是有可能增长到7亿人的，明显地从1400年到1800年增长了5到6倍，从1800年到1965年又增长了50%。粮食供应的增加可能一半是由于耕地面积的增加，特别是因为移民和定居到中西部省份带来的耕地面积增加;另一半是由于生产力的提高——农民成功提高了每单位土地面积的粮食产量。
技术进步有许多形式：一个是不断从南方引进早熟的水稻品种，这种水稻可以一年两熟(一块地每年收获两季)。新作物如玉米、红薯、花生和烟草从美洲传进来。拿玉米来说，可以在干燥的土壤和华北边缘的山地种植，可用作食品、燃料、饲料，提供了当地七分之一的食物能量。红薯可以在沙质土壤中种植，由于每单位土地面积提供的食物能量比其他作物都多，所以成为了很多华南水稻种植地区穷人们的主要食品。
资本的投入也提高了农业生产力。首先是灌溉方面，从1400年到1900年，总灌溉土地似乎增加了近三倍。农用工具、役畜和肥料方面都有进步，更不用说人口本身也有增长，增速是耕地面积增速的一半，因此增加了单位土地面积上的劳动力比例。这种更加密集的农业生产为增长的人口提供食物，而人口为土地提供更多的劳动力和肥料。
1. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A.Commerce, industrialization, and development are common features of the Western experience.
B.Trade, industrialization, and development accelerated social change in Western societies.
C.Trade and industrialization brought about development in Western societies.
D.In Western societies, social change provided the conditions for development in a number of areas.
2. The word “attributed” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A.accustomed
B.credited
C.exposed
D.transformed
Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2
Increases in population have usually been accompanied (indeed facilitated) by an increase in trade. In the Western experience, commerce provided the conditions that allowed industrialization to get started, which in turn led to growth in science, technology, industry, transport, communications, social change, and the like that we group under the broad term of “development.” However, the massive increase in population that in Europe was at first attributed to industrialization starting in the eighteenth century occurred also and at the same period in China, even though there was no comparable industrialization.
It is estimated that the Chinese population by 1600 was close to 150 million. The transition between the Ming and Qing dynasties (the seventeenth century) may have seen a decline, but from 1741 to 1851 the annual figures rose steadily and spectacularly, perhaps beginning with 143 million and ending with 432 million. If we accept these totals, we are confronted with a situation in which the Chinese population doubled in the 50 years from 1790 to 1840. If, with greater caution, we assume lower totals in the early eighteenth century and only 400 million in 1850, we still face a startling fact: something like a doubling of the vast Chinese population in the century before Western contact, foreign trade, and industrialization could have had much effect.
3.According to paragraphs 1 and 2, which of the following is true of Chinese population growth between 1741and 1851?
A.It coincided with the beginning of industrialization in China.
B.It prompted speculation about the actual number of people living in China in previous centuries.
C.It continued the steady growth in population of previous centuries.
D.It occurred in the absence of certain conditions generally associated with population growth.
4.According to paragraph2, the estimated population of China in the mid 1700s was ?
A.143 million
B.150 million
C.400 million
D.432 million
Paragraph 3
To explain this sudden increase we cannot point to factors constant in Chinese society but must find conditions or a combination of factors that were newly effective in this period. Among these is the almost complete internal peace maintained under Manchu rule during the eighteenth century. There was also an increase in foreign trade through Guangzhou (southern China) and some improvement of transportation within the empire. Control of disease, like the checking of smallpox by variolation may have been important. But of most critical importance was the food supply.
5.The word “constant ” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A.unique
B.dominant
C.altered
D.unchanging
6.Paragraph 3 supports all of the following statements about eighteenth-century Chinese society EXCEPT:
A.It was troubled by frequent conflicts with foreign nations.
B.It improved its transportation system.
C.It experienced growth in international commerce.
D.It managed to prevent the spread of certain diseases.
Paragraph 4
Confronted with a multitude of unreliable figures, economists have compared the population records with the aggregate data for cultivated land area and grain production in the six centuries since 1368. Assuming that China’s population in 1400 was about 80 million, the economist Dwight Perkins concludes that its growth to 700 million or more in the 1960s was made possible by a steady increase in the grain supply, which evidently grew five or six times between 1400 and 1800 and rose another 50 percent between 1800 and 1965. This increase of food supply was due perhaps half to the increase of cultivated area, particularly by migration and settlement in the central and western provinces, and half to greater productivity—the farmers’ success in raising more crops per unit of land.
7.Paragraph 4 answers which of the following questions about China’s population growth between 1400 and 1965?
A.Which figures relating to China’s population growth were unreliable?
B.Why did Dwight Perkins assume that China’s population in 1400 was about 80 million?
C.Where in China did most of the population increase take place?
D.What factors made China’s population growth between 1400 and 1965 possible?
8.The word “aggregate” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A.available
B.reliable
C.combined
D.recorded
Paragraph 5
This technological advance took many forms: one was the continual introduction from the south of earlier-ripening varieties of rice, which made possible double-cropping (the production of two harvests per year from one field). New crops such as corn (maize) and sweet potatoes as well as peanuts and tobacco were introduced from the Americas. Corn, for instance, can be grown on the dry soil and marginal hill land of North China, where it is used for food, fuel, and fodder and provides something like one-seventh of the food energy available in the area. The sweet potato, growing in sandy soil and providing more food energy per unit of land than other crops, became the main food of the poor in much of the South China rice area.
9.What can be inferred from paragraph 5 about the introduction of corn and sweet potatoes in China?
A.These crops required much more care than other crops.
B.These crops were consumed in limited quantities.
C.These crops permitted an expansion of the area used for farming.
D.These crops became available all over China within a short period of time.
Paragraph 6
Productivity in agriculture was also improved by capital investments, first of all in irrigation. From 1400 to 1900 the total of irrigated land seems to have increased almost three times. There was also a gain in farm tools, draft animals, and fertilizer, to say nothing of the population growth itself, which increased half again as fast as cultivated land area and so increased the ratio of human hands available per unit of land. Thus the rising population was fed by a more intensive agriculture, applying more labor and fertilizer to the land.
10.The word “ratio” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A.proportion
B.availability
C.importance
D.cost
Paragraph 5 and Paragraph 6
This technological advance took many forms: one was the continual introduction from the south of earlier-ripening varieties of rice, which made possible double-cropping (the production of two harvests per year from one field). New crops such as corn (maize) and sweet potatoes as well as peanuts and tobacco were introduced from the Americas. Corn, for instance, can be grown on the dry soil and marginal hill land of North China, where it is used for food, fuel, and fodder and provides something like one-seventh of the food energy available in the area. The sweet potato, growing in sandy soil and providing more food energy per unit of land than other crops, became the main food of the poor in much of the South China rice area.
Productivity in agriculture was also improved by capital investments, first of all in irrigation. From 1400 to 1900 the total of irrigated land seems to have increased almost three times. There was also a gain in farm tools, draft animals, and fertilizer, to say nothing of the population growth itself, which increased half again as fast as cultivated land area and so increased the ratio of human hands available per unit of land. Thus the rising population was fed by a more intensive agriculture, applying more labor and fertilizer to the land.
11.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraphs 5 and 6 as one of the strategies the Chinese applied in agriculture?
A.The growing of two crops on the same field during the same year
B.The improvement of systems to supply crops with water
C.The application of increasing amounts of fertilizer to the land
D.The reduction in the amount of human labor per unit of land
12.What purpose does paragraph 5 serve in the larger discussion about China’s population growth?
A.It provides evidence of China’s emerging foreign trade relations.
B.It illustrates how the Chinese increased their food supply.
C.It provides evidence of why population growth was most noticeable in the south.
D.It shows how foreign crops gradually gained greater acceptance in China.
13.Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
Other developments addressed the problems of dry and sandy areas unsuitable for growing China’s native crops.
Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square [■] to add the sentence to the passage.
This technological advance took many forms: one was the continual introduction from the south of earlier-ripening varieties of rice, which made possible double-cropping (the production of two harvests per year from one field). ■ New crops such as corn (maize) and sweet potatoes as well as peanuts and tobacco were introduced from the Americas. ■Corn, for instance, can be grown on the dry soil and marginal hill land of North China, where it is used for food, fuel, and fodder and provides something like one-seventh of the food energy available in the area. ■The sweet potato, growing in sandy soil and providing more food energy per unit of land than other crops, became the main food of the poor in much of the South China rice area. ■
14. 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.
Drag your answer choices to the spaces where they belong. To remove an answer choice, click on it.
To review the passage, click VIEW TEXT.
Over the centuries, China has experienced an extraordinary increase in its population.
Answer Choices
A.Understanding the exceptional increase in population in China requires giving up commonly held assumptions relative to the phenomenon of population growth.
B.The economist Dwight Perkins applied a particular statistical method to determine the increase in China’s population.
C.The sudden population growth in China started in its northern and southern provinces, and it spread rapidly to the central and western areas of the country.
D.Improved transportation management and enhanced disease control contributed to China’s population explosion.
E.The increase in China’s food supply, which affected population growth, was the result of technological developments in agriculture and capital investment.
F.A steady increase in foreign trade since the 1400s provided the conditions necessary for large-scale agricultural development.
Q1
正确答案：C
解析：高亮文本的意思是：从西方社会的经验来看，商业为工业化提供发展条件，而工业化也反而让科学、技术、工业、交通、交流、社会变化和一切我们归纳为“发展”这个术语下的其他层面得以进步发展。句子结构比较简单，就是说商业和工业让西方社会的许多方面得到发展。原文中的commerce和题目选项中的trade是同义表达，trade也在第一句中提到了，C选项为正确答案。A和B选项错误理解了development这个单词在句中的地位，D选项中的social change不对。
Q2
正确答案：B
解析：单词所在定位句的意思是：但是在欧洲，大规模的人口增长首先是归因于在18世纪开始的工业化发展，同期中国人口也在大规模增长，即便那时中国没有与之可比拟的工业化发展。B选项的credit 取“归因于，把…归功于”的意思。从前后文来看，这个单词只能取一个含有表原因意思的词来表达前后文的因果关系。
Q3
正确答案：D
解析：定位原文：“The transition…”明清过渡时期(也就是17世纪)，中国人口数量可能有所下降(may have seen a decline)，但是从1741到1851年年间，每年都在稳定和显著的增长。后面接着说无论我们是否真的认可这些数据的真实性(if we accept…/If, with greater caution…)，的确人口都翻倍增长了，在与西方外交，国外贸易和工业化之前，像中国人口翻倍增长的某些因素本应该对社会产生很大的影响的(像西方社会)，但是实际却没有(could have done结构)。也就是说基于前文讨论和人口增长的相关条件和影响，中国的人口增长情况却是讨论的特例，它缺少通常和人口增长相关的条件。C选项错在说是基于previous centuries的人口持续增长的基础上持续的，而17世纪明清两朝过渡时，人口数量可能是下降的。
Q4
正确答案：B
解析：段落中说从1741到1851期间，人后从最开始的143 million 到最后的432 million，保守估计，最后也有400 million。题目问的是18世纪中期估计的人口数量。既知此期间中国人口是持续增长的，要选取一个在143到400之间的值，1750年左右，比143稍微多一些，只能选B。
Q5
正确答案：D
解析：constant意为“持续不变的”，结合选项，只能选择D选项;其余三个选项为“独一无二的”，“支配的，统治的，占优势的”和“改变了的”的意思。根据后文，本词应该和“newly effective”有相反含义的，结合选项，也只能是D。
Q6
正确答案：A
解析：B、C和D选项分别对应本段“some improvement of transportation”，“an increase in foreign trade through Guangzhou”和“Control of disease, like… been important.”A选项和“complete internal peace”相矛盾。
Q7
正确答案：D
解析：结合选项看问题，本段讨论的是经济学家探讨了人口记录、耕地面积和粮食产量之间的关系。假设1400年中国人口是80million，经济学家Dwight Perkins 推断后续的人口增长也是因为粮食产量增加才有可能，然后说1400到1965之间粮食产量如何一直增加，然后又讨论了粮食产量的增加是因为什么。一层递进一层探讨原因，正好回应了D选项的问题：哪些因素致使了在1400到1965之间中国人口的增长。
Q8
正确答案：C
解析：aggregate意为“聚合的，结合的”，结合选项，只有C选项“组合的”符合，组合数据，统计数据;其余三项的常见意为“可获得的，可利用的”，“可靠的，可信赖的”和“记录的”的意思。
Q9
正确答案：C
解析：根据题干对应原文“New crops…Corn…The sweet potato…”这些定位句可知，虽然corn和sweet potato是从 the Americas引进的，但是中国南北各有适应它们生长的地域环境，所以可以推测出它们因此能得以大面积种植。对应选项C。
Q10
正确答案：A
解析：ratio 为“比例、比率”的含义，A选项为“比例、占比”，为ratio的同义替换词，其余三个选项依次为“可用性，实用性”，“重要性”和“成本、花费”的含义。
Q11
正确答案：D
解析：A选项对应P5的“one was … double-cropping (the production of two harvests per year from one field)”;B选项对应P6的第1、2句关于“irrigation”的;C选项对应P6的第3句“… a gain in…and fertilizer…”最后一句也提到了fertilizer;D选项对应P6第3句“… increased the ratio of human hands available…”与原文矛盾。
Q12
正确答案：B
解析：题目问的是第5段在全文讨论中起到的作用。看到第4段探讨了人口增长、耕地面积和粮食产量之间的关系，在最后一句得出结论粮食产量增长一部分原因是因为农业耕地增加;另一部分原因是农民的生产力增加了——在单位面积收获了更多的作物。然后马上再第5段开始讨论了“the forms of technological advance”，也就是着重说了前一段最后提到的半句“greater productivity”的根本原因，也就是由于农业技术进步，农民才有可能有更高的生产力，除了耕地增加之外，详细阐述了粮食产量是如何增加的;从上下文的层次结构分析，只有B选项正确。
Q13
正确答案：插入第一个方框中(A)
解析：被插入文本是说：一些其他的进步发展解决了不适宜种植中国本土农作物的那些干燥和沙化土地的问题。Other developments是指代事物的另一个方面，也就是前文应该探讨了第一个方面;后面应该详细讨论了如何干燥和沙化土地问题是如何被解决的。结合两点，只能放在第一个方框处，和前半句合理形成“One…Other ”结构，同时和后文提到的corn在dry soil区域种植，sweet potato在sandy soil 区域种植形成合理逻辑。
Q14
正确答案：A D E
解析：A选项对应第1、2段，参见Q3，要理解中国人口增长的根本原因，不能按照通常人口增长的相关理论去解释;D选项对应文章第3段，参见Q6，详细讨论了那时中国人口增长的combination of factors;E选项对应第5、6自然段，仔细探讨了中国粮食产量增长的各种原因。
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