tailieunhanh - Preparetaiton course for the toefl ibt reading part 9

The recording program that can be purchased to accompany this book includes all of the recorded materials from the Listening, Writing, and Speaking sections and the Mini-Tests and Complete Tests. This program is available on either audio CDs or audio cassettes | i -s I 4 PASSAGE TWO Questions 5-9 i. J paragraph Demographic Change . 1 By the end of the 1920s American society had undergone a long and historic . demographic change. Since the 1870s the country had been moving from a more rural mode that was based on high birthrates as high as 50 births annually per thousand people in the early nineteenth century to a more metropolitan mode. Prior to the 1870s the population of the country was increasing by about a third every decade however by the end of the 1920s a radical about-face had taken place. 2 One major factor to affect the demographics of the country during this period was a dramatic decrease in birthrates. The trend during this era was more pronounced in urban areas but also had an effect in rural areas. As a result of the trend toward smaller families particularly in cities the birthrate was down to births annually per thousand women by 1920 and had dropped even further to births annually per thousand women by 1930. 3 At the same time the deathrate too was falling. Urban living led to better sanitation refrigeration and water purification it also resulted in better medical care as doctors and hospitals were more readily available. Most likely as a result of these factors there were only eleven deaths per thousand annually by the early 1920s which was half the rate of the 1880s. . 5. Why does the author include the phrase as high as 50 births annually per thousand people in the early nineteenth century in paragraph 1 To show that metropolitan areas of the country had higher birthrates than rural areas To provide statistical evidence of the elevated birthrate in the 1870s To quantify what had happened with the American population in the previous century To argue against the belief that the demographics of the country had changed 6. The author uses the word however in paragraph 1 in order to make it clear that an extreme change had taken place to emphasize how tremendously the population was increasing to .