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  3. After 45 years of the queen’s rule, James I succeeded Elizabeth I to the Eng

After 45 years of the queen’s rule, James I succeeded Elizabeth I to the Eng

游客2023-12-25  14
问题     After 45 years of the queen’s rule, James I succeeded Elizabeth I to the English throne in 1603, at which point the English economy was struggling. The population of England was swelling, food production was insufficient, and prices were high. Despite its instability, a few industries brought reliable income to the English economy. In particular, many merchants relied on the export of cloth to continental Europe. For the first decade of James I’s reign, the cloth trade prospered and was an important source of revenue for the English. However, the king was to make a serious mistake that would eventually lead to the fall of the English cloth trade.
    In 1614, William Cockayne, an English merchant and politician, proposed that James I make a dramatic change to the way the English exported cloth. At the time, the English produced primarily unfinished cloth. This meant that they sold cloth that had not been dyed, bleached, or otherwise processed. Most often, companies in the Netherlands bought the plain cloth from England and finished it themselves. The Dutch were experts in the complex procedures and technologies required to finish cloth, and these procedures add significant value to the unfinished cloth they had purchased from England. As a result, Dutch cloth companies could sell their goods at much higher prices than the English could. Hoping to transfer these profits to English companies, Cockayne proposed that the English finish the cloth themselves to increase the value of their cloth exports. He also asked James I to establish a company, which was to function under Cockayne’s leadership, that would control and monopolize the export of finished cloth to continental Europe. The king was in need of money, and the prospect of increased revenue appealed to him. Thus, he agreed to Cockayne’s plan and, per Cockayne’s request, founded the King’s Merchant Adventurers, a company with a primary purpose of exporting finished cloth.
    However, Cockayne’s plan disrupted the previously steady English cloth trade and was ultimately ineffective for a number of reasons. First, James I’s support of Cockayne’s company created a rift between the king and many powerful English merchants, particularly the members of the unfinished cloth company called the Merchant Adventurers, which had been cast aside in favor of Cockayne’s group. Furthermore, the Dutch, who had previously been Europe’s main supplier of finished cloth, responded to English competition by refusing to purchase any English cloth products, and many other European nations did the same. In addition, merchants in other countries refused to ship English cloth or charged English business people inflated fees for shipping. The resistance from abroad was particularly damaging to the King’s Merchant Adventurers because it could not afford the ships that were necessary to transport its goods to European markets.
    In addition to the difficulties caused by its widespread unpopularity, Cockayne’s company was unable to produce quality goods. For one, Cockayne did not have the funds to acquire the machines needed to finish cloth. Moreover, English cloth makers were not experts in the finishing process and could not match the high-quality finished cloth produced by their competitors in the Netherlands. By 1617, just three years after the company was established, James I had dissolved the King’s Merchant Adventurers. [br] Based on the information in the first and second paragraphs, what can be inferred about the English cloth trade prior to the establishment of the King’s Merchant Adventurers?
选项 A、It was neglected in favor of the shipping and agriculture industries.
B、It was the only profitable sector of the English economy.
C、It was responsible for driving up prices for necessary items in England.
D、It consisted of multiple companies working with international partners.
答案 D
解析 第1段第4句提到，很多的商人依赖向欧洲大陆出口布料；第2段第4句提到。在“国王的商人冒险家”公司成立之前，荷兰的公司从英国购买布料，从这些表述可以看出从事出口布料生意的公司有很多，而且其布料出口能繁荣也应该是与其他国家有合作关系的。故D项“由多家与国际合作的公司组成”正确。A项“受到忽视，更倾向于航运和农业产”在在文中未有提及。B项“是英国经济中唯一盈利的部门”在第1段第3句提到，尽管经济不稳定，但一些行业为英国经济带来了可靠的收入，因此布料贸易并非英国经济中唯一盈利的部门，故可排除。C项“负责推商英国必需品的价格”利用prices were high来设置的干扰项，文中是说英国经济陷入困境，粮食产量不足导致物价高企，而布料贸易是能够为英国经济带来稳定收入的来源，并不是反倒推高英国必需品的价格的原因，因此C项可排除。
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