People in the United States in the nineteenth century were haunted by the prospect that unprecedented change in the nation’ s ec

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问题     People in the United States in the nineteenth century were haunted by the prospect that unprecedented change in the nation’ s economy would bring social chaos. In the years following 1820, after several decades of relative stability, the economy entered a period of sustained and extremely rapid growth that continued to the end of the nineteenth century. Accompanying that growth was a structural change that featured increasing economic diversification and a gradual shift in the nation’ s labor force from agriculture to manufacturing and other nonagricultural pursuits.
    Although the birthrate continues to decline from its high level of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the population roughly doubled every generation during the rest of the nineteenth century. As the population grew, its makeup also changed.
    Massive waves of immigration brought new ethnic groups into the country. Geographic and social mobility—downward as well as upward—touched almost everyone. Local studies indicate that nearly three quarters of the population—in the North and South, in the emerging cities of the Northeast, and in the restless rural counties of the West—changed their residence each decade. As a consequence, historian David Donald has written, " Social atomization affected every segment of society. " and it seemed to many people that " all the recognized values of orderly civilization were gradually being eroded. "
    Rapid industrialization and increased geographic mobility in the nineteenth century had special implications for women because these changes tended to magnify social distinctions. As the roles men and women played in society became more rigidly defined, so did the roles they played in the home. In the context of extreme competitiveness and dizzying social change, the household lost many of its earlier functions and the home came to serve as a haven of tranquility and order. As the size of families decreased, the roles of husband and wife became more clearly differentiated than ever before. In the middle class especially, men participated in the productive economy while women ruled the home and served as the custodians of civility and culture. The intimacy of marriage that was common in earlier periods was rent, and a gulf that at times seemed unbridgeable was created between husbands and wives.
According to the passage, how was the economy of the United States between 1820 and 1900?

选项 A、It was expanding.
B、It was in sharp decline.
C、It was stagnant.
D、It was disorganized.

答案A

解析 文章第一段指出,在1820年后,“the economy entered a period of sustained and extremely rapid growth”即进人了一个持续高速增长时期,并且提到这一情况延续至19世纪末。因此A项(在1820至1900年间,美国经济呈现扩张发展态势)是正确的。
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