People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

mostly in the eastern half of the United States, west of the Appalachian Mountains and east of 
the Mississippi River. 
1. The main point of the passage is that the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were a time 
when 
(A) the European textile industry increased its demand for American export products 
(B) mechanization of spinning and weaving dramatically changed the textile industry 
(C) cotton became a profitable crop but was still time-consuming to process 
(D) cotton became the most important American export product 
2. The word "favored" in line 2 is closest in meaning to 
(A) preferred
 
 
(B) recommended 
 
(C) imported 
 
(D) included 
3. All of the following are mentioned in the passage as reasons for the increased demand for 
cotton EXCEPT 
(A) cotton's softness 
(B) cotton's ease of processing 
(C) a shortage of flax and wool 
(D) the growth that occurred in the textile industry. 
4. The word "laborious" in line 8 is closest in meaning to 
(A) unfamiliar 
(B) primitive 
 
(C) skilled 
 
(D) difficult 
 

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5. According to the passage, one advantage of sea island cotton was its 
(A) abundance of seeds 
 
 
(B) long fibers
 
(C) long growing season 
 
 
(D) adaptability to different climates 
6. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about cotton production in the 
United States after the introduction of Whitney's cotton gin? 
(A) More cotton came from sea island cotton plants than before. 
(B) More cotton came from short-staple cotton plants than before. 
(C) Most cotton produced was sold domestically. 
(D) Most cotton produced was exported to England. 
7. The word "surge" in line 18 is closest in meaning to 
(A) sharp increase
 
 
 
(B) sudden stop 
(C) important change 
 
 
(D) excess amount 
8. The author mentions "wheat and wheat flour" in line 22 in order to 
(A) show that Americans exported more agricultural products than they imported. 
(B) show the increase in the amount of wheat products exported. 
(C) demonstrate the importance of cotton among American export products. 
(D) demonstrate that wheat farming was becoming more profitable. 
9. The word "unprecedented" in line 25 is closest in meaning to 
(A) slow 
(B) profitable 
 
(C) not seen before
 
 

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(D) never explained 
10. According to the passage, the Mississippi River was 
(A) one of the boundaries of a region where new agricultural settlement took place 
(B) a major source of water for agricultural crops 
(C) the primary route by which agricultural crops were transported 
(D) a main source of power for most agricultural machinery 
 
 

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Appendix B: Reading task in PD condition 
The  first  peoples  to  inhabit  what  today  is  the 
southeastern United States  sustained themselves  as  hunters  and 
gathers. Sometimes early in the first millennium A.D., however, 
they began to cultivate corn and other crops. Gradually, as they 
became  more  skilled  at  gardening,  they  settled  into  permanent 
villages and developed a rich culture, characterized by the great 
earthen mounds they erected as monuments to their gods and as 
tombs  for  their  distinguished  dead.  Most  of  these  early  mound 
builders were part of the Adena-Hopewell culture, which had its 
beginnings near the Ohio River and takes its name from sites in 
Ohio.  The  culture  spread  southward  into  the  present-day  states 
of  Louisiana,  Alabama,  Georgia,  and  Florida.  Its  peoples 
became great traders, bartering jewellery,  pottery, animal pelts, 
tools,  and  other  goods  along  extensive  trading  networks  that  
stretched up and down eastern North America and as far west as 
the Rocky Mountains. 
About A.D. 400, the Hopewell culture fell into decay. Over the next centuries, it was 
supplanted by another culture, the Mississippian, named after the river along which many of 
its  earliest  villages  were  located.  This  complex  civilization  dominated  the  Southeast  from 
about A.D. 700 until shortly before the Europeans began arriving in the sixteenth century.  At 
the  peak  of  its  strength,  about  the  year  1200,  it  was  the  most  advanced  culture  in  North 
America.  Like  their  Hopewell  predecessors,  the  Mississippians  became  highly  skilled  at 
growing  food,  although  on  a  grander  scale.  They  developed  an  improved  strain  of  corn, 
which  could  survive  in  wet  soil  and  a  relatively  cool  climate,  and  also  learned  to  cultivate 
Please write the words 
that you have looked up 
in the dictionary. 
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