托福阅读背景知识：欧洲人口增长

　　在2014年6月29日的托福阅读考试中有这样一道题：19世纪欧洲人口增长和城市化关系。中青留学网小编在此提醒大家：本文属于因果型文章，侧重点在原因，背景知识也是常考的历史发展类背景，理解时需要额外关注的是历史类文章句子偏难，在定位到答案后要小心断句，仔细理解，避免误选。

　　托福阅读真题再现：

　　版本一：是19世纪欧洲人口数量的增长和农业的关系吧貌似。

　　版本二：食物供给变好了导致了工业革命欧洲人口的上升

　　版本三：19世纪欧洲人口变化的因素和城市化发展

　　解析：从话题来看重复的是2013年7月13日北美阅读。本文属于因果型文章，侧重点在原因，背景知识也是常考的历史发展类背景，理解时需要额外关注的是历史类文章句子偏难，在定位到答案后要小心断句，仔细理解，避免误选。理解时的重点是提取给定的原因及原因发挥的作用。

　　相关背景：

　　After a century of virtually no population growth, the countries of Western Europe experienced dramatic population increases between 1750 and 1800. Many countries doubled in size. In some countries, the growth continued through the nineteenth century. The population of Great Britain, for instance, doubled between 1750 and 1800 and then tripled between 1800 and 1900.

　　There were several reasons for the sudden increase. Medical advances and improved hygiene limited the devastation caused by epidemic diseases and plagues. The introduction of new food crops, most notably the potato, provided a better diet for the poor and reduced the incidence of famine. The combination of greater public order and fewer civil wars meant that life was less hazardous. The net result was a lower death rate and soaring populations.

　　The growing population, with a rising proportion of children to raise and older people to care for, put increased pressure on every aspect of society. Many peasants were no longer able to provide land for their children, who were forced to look for other ways to make their living. Small artisans in the cities suffered similar problems, unable to provide places for their children in their own workshops.

　　The exact relationship between population growth and industrialization is unclear, though the two are clearly intertwined. (Even countries that were late to industrialize shared in the general population increase, and its related problems.) What is clear is that the growth in population increased the demand for both food and manufactured goods and provided an abundance of cheap labor to produce them.