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Updated on: 18 Nov 2025, 19:14
Originally posted by RonPurewal on 18 Nov 2025, 19:02.
Last edited by RonPurewal on 18 Nov 2025, 19:14, edited 1 time in total.
Last edited by RonPurewal on 18 Nov 2025, 19:14, edited 1 time in total.
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Question 1
N
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
(N/A)
Question Stats:
100% (03:31) correct
0%
(00:00) wrong
based on 32
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 2
N
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
(N/A)
Question Stats:
100% (01:19) correct 0%
(00:00) wrong
based on 11
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 3
N
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
(N/A)
Question Stats:
100% (01:18) correct 0%
(00:00) wrong
based on 13
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 4
N
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
(N/A)
Question Stats:
100% (01:46) correct 0%
(00:00) wrong
based on 12
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History
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Time
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Not Attempted Yet
The factors cited by historians as having motivated American territorial expansion between 1800 and 1860 are as varied as those scholars’ theses themselves, but one such factor—the precipitous drop in transportation costs during that period—is reliably cited by them all, and for good reason. No other influence pushing settlers westward had nearly the same transformative power as the sudden affordability of “getting out there”, or indeed of sending products back east. Large swaths of land abruptly became viable as potential additions to the United States economy. What caused these dramatic gains in the cost-effectiveness of long-distance transportation? Some of that progress was attributable to developments far beyond American shores, such as British advances in railroads and canals. The bulk of it, however, came from the resourcefulness of Americans who innovated to solve problems that literally lay before their eyes.
The steamboat, devised for American interior waterways, exemplifies this type of responsive invention: While the potential for steam-powered transport had been obvious since a steam engine first pumped water out of a coal mine a century earlier, the labor and expenses of its actual development waited for the promise of profit, which in 1800 was only just coalescing. Soon enough, Robert Fulton—an American who was already renowned for the submarines he had designed in France—had designed and built the Claremont, the first working steamboat, whose first journey down the Hudson River in New York marked the beginning of an era.
Other Americans quickly recognized the great economic potential of Fulton’s invention and quickly set about appropriating its design to better suit local needs. By 1820, steamboats worked the Atlantic seaboard, the Great Lakes, and the western rivers—after having been adapted to each unique combination of environment and task. Along the Atlantic coast, sleek elongated steamboats plied long-established sailboat transportation networks, serving travelers who were willing to pay premium fares for speed and reliability. Their counterparts on the wide-open Great Lakes continually pushed boundaries of size and capacity as they carried ever more passengers and cargo. Steamboats on the western rivers were short and wide, a combination that maximized their ability to carry cargo while navigating the tortuous curves of the rivers and remaining afloat in as little as 2 feet (60 cm) of water.
The steamboat, devised for American interior waterways, exemplifies this type of responsive invention: While the potential for steam-powered transport had been obvious since a steam engine first pumped water out of a coal mine a century earlier, the labor and expenses of its actual development waited for the promise of profit, which in 1800 was only just coalescing. Soon enough, Robert Fulton—an American who was already renowned for the submarines he had designed in France—had designed and built the Claremont, the first working steamboat, whose first journey down the Hudson River in New York marked the beginning of an era.
Other Americans quickly recognized the great economic potential of Fulton’s invention and quickly set about appropriating its design to better suit local needs. By 1820, steamboats worked the Atlantic seaboard, the Great Lakes, and the western rivers—after having been adapted to each unique combination of environment and task. Along the Atlantic coast, sleek elongated steamboats plied long-established sailboat transportation networks, serving travelers who were willing to pay premium fares for speed and reliability. Their counterparts on the wide-open Great Lakes continually pushed boundaries of size and capacity as they carried ever more passengers and cargo. Steamboats on the western rivers were short and wide, a combination that maximized their ability to carry cargo while navigating the tortuous curves of the rivers and remaining afloat in as little as 2 feet (60 cm) of water.
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
A. compare and contrast the approaches of various scholars to a historical question
B. consider competing explanations for an observation from historical economics and then argue in favor of one of those explanations
C. describe a series of historical innovations and explain the economic effects of some specific inventions from that series
D. explain the origins of a historical phenomenon in general terms and then illustrate that explanation with an example
E. provide reasoning and examples to confirm a causal relationship asserted by numerous historians
A. compare and contrast the approaches of various scholars to a historical question
B. consider competing explanations for an observation from historical economics and then argue in favor of one of those explanations
C. describe a series of historical innovations and explain the economic effects of some specific inventions from that series
D. explain the origins of a historical phenomenon in general terms and then illustrate that explanation with an example
E. provide reasoning and examples to confirm a causal relationship asserted by numerous historians
2. The author would most likely agree that the “scholars’ theses” mentioned in the highlighted text differ in
A. how their authors consider and evaluate the reliability of the source materials that they cite
B. the degree to which they emphasize domestic American innovations in transportation between 1800 and 1860 as compared to those from abroad
C. the relative importance they accord to the increased affordability of transportation among causative factors in the westward expansion of the United States
D. the secondary causes of American territorial expansion that they consider
E. their explanations of how long-distance travel within the United States become more cost-effective between 1800 and 1860
A. how their authors consider and evaluate the reliability of the source materials that they cite
B. the degree to which they emphasize domestic American innovations in transportation between 1800 and 1860 as compared to those from abroad
C. the relative importance they accord to the increased affordability of transportation among causative factors in the westward expansion of the United States
D. the secondary causes of American territorial expansion that they consider
E. their explanations of how long-distance travel within the United States become more cost-effective between 1800 and 1860
3. The passage does NOT describe any instance in which the process of "responsive invention" (see highlighted text)
A. focused on the modification of existing designs to suit local operating conditions, rather than on the invention of altogether new designs
B. created the first physical prototypes of an innovation whose designer was not the first to have conceptualized it
C. proceeded to material production only once substantial returns on the effort and investment of production were reasonably assured
D. was catalyzed by an initial migration of population and industry into new territory
E. was used to capture market share from an existing business entity
A. focused on the modification of existing designs to suit local operating conditions, rather than on the invention of altogether new designs
B. created the first physical prototypes of an innovation whose designer was not the first to have conceptualized it
C. proceeded to material production only once substantial returns on the effort and investment of production were reasonably assured
D. was catalyzed by an initial migration of population and industry into new territory
E. was used to capture market share from an existing business entity
4. Which of the following, if true of the region that includes the “western rivers” cited in the highlighted text, would best explain a specific design adaptation of early steamboats operated in that region?
A. Almost all of the western rivers empty into the Mississippi River, which is several miles wide near the end of its course.
B. In parts of the region, some winters are so frigid that the rivers freeze over for several weeks.
C. Much of the region’s soil is high in clay, which makes it susceptible to unpredictable shifting and therefore unsuitable for the building of roads or railroads.
D. Several of the region's major products are natural resources such as timber, which do not spoil and do not need to be protected from harsh weather.
E. Summers in the region are long and dry, with nearly all of the water in many rivers evaporating before it is replenished by autumn rains.
A. Almost all of the western rivers empty into the Mississippi River, which is several miles wide near the end of its course.
B. In parts of the region, some winters are so frigid that the rivers freeze over for several weeks.
C. Much of the region’s soil is high in clay, which makes it susceptible to unpredictable shifting and therefore unsuitable for the building of roads or railroads.
D. Several of the region's major products are natural resources such as timber, which do not spoil and do not need to be protected from harsh weather.
E. Summers in the region are long and dry, with nearly all of the water in many rivers evaporating before it is replenished by autumn rains.
Question #1: The OA will be automatically revealed on Wednesday 31st of December 1969 04:00:00 PM Pacific Time Zone
Question #2: The OA will be automatically revealed on Wednesday 31st of December 1969 04:00:00 PM Pacific Time Zone
Question #3: The OA will be automatically revealed on Wednesday 31st of December 1969 04:00:00 PM Pacific Time Zone
Question #4: The OA will be automatically revealed on Wednesday 31st of December 1969 04:00:00 PM Pacific Time Zone
18 Nov 2025, 19:04
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Fresh new RC for you all! The answers are "deferred" to promote discussion; I'll reveal them in a few days.
Ron
Ron
