"The economic history of the United States", one scholar has written, "is the history of the rise and development of the capitalistic system". The colonists of the eighteenth century pushed forward what those of the seventeenth century have begun: the expansion and elaboration of an economy born in the great age of capitalist expansion.
Our excellent natural resources (paved the way for) the development of abundant capital to increase our growth. Capital includes the tools - such as: machines, vehicles, and buildings - that makes the outputs of labor and resources more valuable. But (it) also includes the (funds) necessary to buy those tools. If a society had to consume everything it produced just to stay alive, nothing could be (put aside) to increase future productions. But if a farmer can grow more corn than his family needs to eat, he can use the surplus as seed to increase the next crop, or to feed workers who build tractors. This process of capital accumulation was aided in the American economy by our cultural heritage. Saving played an important role in the European tradition. It contributed to American’s motivation to put something aside today for the tools to buy tomorrow.
The great bulk of the accumulated wealth of America, as distinguished from what was consumed, was derived either directly or indirectly from trade. Though some manufacturing existed, its role in the accumulation of capital was (negligible). A merchant class of opulent proportions was already visible in the seaboard cities, its wealth as the obvious consequence of shrewd and resourceful management of the carrying trade. Even the rich planters of tidewater Virginia and the rice coast of South Carolina finally depended for their genteel way of life upon the ships and merchants who sold their tobacco and rice in the markets of Europe. As colonial production rose and trade expanded, a business community emerged in the colonies, linking the provinces by lines of trade and identity of interest.
1. With what subject is this passage mainly concerned?
A. Geography B. Finance C. Economics D. Culture
2. The phrase ‘paved the way’ in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to ____.
A. paid for B. supported C. accumulated D. resembled
3. It can be inferred from the passage that the European ancestors of early Americans __.
A. sent many tools to America B. taught their skills to their offspring
C. were accustomed to saving D. were good farmers
4. The word ‘funds’ in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to ____.
A. money B. resource C. labor D. capital
5. According to the passage, which of the following would lead to accumulating capital?
A. Training workers who produce goods. B. Studying the culture history of the country
C. Consuming what is produced D. Planting more of a crop than what is needed
6. The word ‘it’ in the third sentence of paragraph 2 refers to ____.
A. growth B. resource C. labor D. capital
7. According to the passage, capital includes all of the following EXCEPT _.
A. factories B. tractors C. money D. workers
8. According to the passage, the emergence of a business community in the colonies was a result of ____.
A. efficient saving B. the immigration
C. the success of production and trade D. the existence of manufacturing
9. The word ‘negligible’ in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to ____.
A. very important B. not very important
C. necessary to be neglected D. able to be neglected
10. The phrase ‘put aside’ in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to _.
A. hidden B. saved C. reviewed D. consumed