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How New York Became America's Largest City

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How New York Became America's Largest City

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Section 1
In the 18th century, New York was smaller than Philadelphia and Boston. Today, it is the largest city in America. How can the change in its size and importance be explained? To answer this question, we must consider certain facts about geography, history, and economics. Together, these three will explain the huge growth of America's most famous city.

Section 2
The map of the Northeast shows that four of the most heavily populated areas in this region are around seaports. At these points, materials from across the sea enter the United States, and the products of the land are sent there for export across the sea.

Section 3
Economists know that places where transportation lines meet are good places for making raw materials into finished goods. That is why seaports often have cities nearby. But cities like New York needed more than their geographical location in order to become great industrial centers. Their development did not happen simply by chance.

Section 4
About 1815, when many Americans from the east coast had already moved toward the west, trade routes from the ports to the central regions of the country began to be a serious problem. The slow wagons of that time, drawn by horses or oxen, were too expensive for moving heavy freight very far. Americans had long admired Europe's canals. In New York State, a canal seemed the best solution to the transportation problem. From the eastern end of Lake Erie all the way across the state to the Hudson River, there is a long strip of low land. Here, the Erie Canal was constructed. After several years of work, it was completed in 1825.

Section 5
The canal produced an immediate effect. Freight costs were cut to about one-tenth of what they had been. New York City, which had been smaller than Philadelphia and Boston, quickly became the leading city on the coast. In the years that followed, transportation routes on the Great Lakes were joined to routes on the Mississippi River. Then New York City became the endpoint of a great inland shipping system that extended from the Atlantic Ocean far up the western branches of the Mississippi.

Section 6
The coming of the railroads made canal shipping less important, but it tied New York even more closely to the central regions of the country. It was easier for people in the central states to ship their goods to New York for export overseas.

Section 7
Exports from New York were greater than imports. Consequently, shipping companies were eager to fill their ships with passengers on the return trip from Europe. Passengers could come from Europe very cheaply as a result.

Section 8
Thus, New York became the greatest port for receiving people from European countries. Many of these people remained in the city. Others stayed in New York for a few weeks, months, or years, and then moved to other parts of the United States. For these great numbers of new Americans, New York had to provide homes, goods, and services. Their labor helped the city become great.

Exercise 1 Word Use

Decide which of the following choices is closest in meaning to the underlined word in the sentence and write down the corresponding letter.

1. About 1815, when many Americans from the east coast had already moved toward the west, trade routes from the ports to the central regions of the country began to be a serious problem.

A. methods used
B. ways planned
C. areas traveled

2. The slow wagons of that time, drawn by horses or oxen, were too expensive for moving heavy freight very far.

A. goods
B. boxes
C. bags

3. From the eastern end of Lake Erie all the way across the state to the Hudson River, there is a long strip of low land.

A. a narrow piece
B. a thick piece
C. a small piece

4. The coming of the railroads made canal shipping less important, but it tied New York even more closely to the central regions of the country.

A. states
B. countries
C. areas

5. Exports from New York were greater than imports. Consequently, shipping companies were eager to fill their ships with passengers on the return trip from Europe.

A. In fact
B. As a result
C. In addition

Exercise 2: Matching the Headings

The reading passage How New York Became America's Largest City has 8 sections numbered 1-8. Choose the most suitable heading for each section from the list of headings below.

Write the appropriate numbers (I-VIII). The heading of Section 4 has been given as an example.

Headings:

I. Then came the train
II. Cheap fares from Europe
III. Seaports
IV. Three factors
V. Not just because of where it is
VI. Most popular place to arrive
VII. Beginning of canal shipping
VIII. Further development of water transport

6. Section 1

7. Section 2

8. Section 3

Example: Section 4 VII

9. Section 5

10. Section 6

11. Section 7

12. Section 8

Exercise 3: T/F/NG Questions

Read the passage How New York Became America's Largest City and look at the following statements. Write
TRUE if the statement is true;
FALSE if the statement is false;
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage.

13. New York is typical of cities that became industrial centers simply because of their geographical locations.

14. In 1815, people moved to the central regions of the country in wagons drawn by horses.

15. All Americans agreed that they should build a canal for transportation.

16. The Erie Canal was constructed between Lake Erie and the Hudson River.

17. The Erie Canal was not successful in bringing the freight costs down immediately.

18. Canal transportation was affected by the coming of the railroads.

19. The labor of people whom shipping companies brought back from Europe helped New York become great.

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Paragraph A
The word public comes from a Latin word, publicus, meaning "people." A public library is for all the people in a community to use. It charges no fee for its services. The public library will have available, within the limits of its budget, a wide variety of books and other materials. These books or other materials may be borrowed, or taken out for a specific time, by anyone in the community. The library loans its materials.

Paragraph B
Public libraries are usually tax-supported. There are a few that are instead supported from money that has been donated. And there are some that receive part of their money from taxes and part from gifts.

Paragraph C
Few public libraries are exactly alike. Not only are the shapes and sizes of the buildings different, but so are the number of books and other materials in each. Your nearest library may be like the Los Angeles Public Library, which has over 4,538,458 books and bound periodicals (magazines and journals) in its collection. Or it may be like the Cherokee County Public Library, which has only about 3,800 books in its collection.

Paragraph D
Libraries vary in other ways, too, for instance, in the number of hours (or days) they are open or in the number of people who work there. Most public libraries, however, arrange their books and other materials in similar ways. They divide their collections into two basic age groups: children and adults. Adult books are in one place; children's books are in another. Then the books are further separated by the kind of book. Storybooks—works of fiction—are separated from information or fact books—nonfiction.

Paragraph E
People often want to refer to, that is, look something up in a certain basic information book. Thus, reference books, which are rarely read cover to cover, are put in a special place in the library, a reference section or perhaps a reference room. Reference books are never to be taken out of the library building.

Paragraph F
Each library decides for itself how it should further arrange its books and other materials. In a large city library, certain nonfiction materials may be put into a special area or separate room. For instance, there may be a separate room just for all the materials a library has on music. In another large city, the music materials might not be kept so separate. It would depend on what the people in that city had indicated they found useful.

Paragraph G
A library's holdings are everything the library has in its collection. These holdings almost always reflect the community's special interests. Suppose, for example, there were a town where Morgan horses were widely raised and trained. That town's library would most likely have a great deal of material about Morgan horses. Since the people who were interested in Morgan horses would probably be less interested in other breeds of horses, the library might have only a small amount of material on Mustangs or Appaloosas.

Exercise 1 Word Use

Decide which of the following choices is closest in meaning to the underlined word in the sentence and write down the corresponding letter.

1. A public library is for all the people in a community to use. It charges no fee for its services.
A. asks in payment
B. requires
C. increases

=> Correct Answer:

2. The library loans its materials.
A. lends
B. borrows
C. sells

=> Correct Answer:

3. There are a few that are instead supported from money that has been donated.
A. loaned
B. asked in payment
C. given for free

=> Correct Answer:

4. It would depend on what the people in that city had indicated they found useful.
A. agreed
B. pointed out
C. decided

=> Correct Answer:

Exercise 2: Matching the Headings

The reading passage Public Libraries has 7 paragraphs (A-G). Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (I-IX). There are more headings than you can use.

Headings:

I. The Role of Reference Books

II. Different Types of Library Support

III. How Libraries Arrange Materials

IV. Variations in Library Collections

V. The Importance of Community Interests

VI. Public Libraries and Financial Support

VII. Differences in Library Facilities

VIII. The Impact of Donations on Libraries

IX. Arranging Library Books and Materials

Match the paragraphs:

5. Paragraph A
=>

6. Paragraph B
=>

7. Paragraph C
=>

8. Paragraph D
=>

9. Paragraph E
=>

10. Paragraph F
=>

11. Paragraph G
=>

Excercise 3: Sentence completion

Refer to the passage Public Libraries and choose from the passage NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS to complete the following sentences:

12. A public library provides free services to everyone__________

13. People who borrow the books can keep them for________________

14. The money used to support public libraries may come from donations, gifts and _____________

15. The collections in most public libraries are arranged according to two age groups____________

16. Books that people can only read in the library ___________

17. In some libraries, people may find certain nonfiction materials kept in_____________

18. From the holdings a library has, we can see if the community has any _____________