GRE Reading Comprehension: JiJing 352-GRE阅读机经352篇 - V75OPG7G67RM07R8K

Several factors conspired to make the growth of any more substantial industrial base seem most unlikely – bereft of easily harnessed waterpower, mounting real estate costs caused by the development of retail stores, and the application of laborious mechanic treated with contempt and rejected with disdain. The merchant John Dix concluded in 1872 that New York City would remain "purely a trading city." Yet well Dix's observations had merit at the time, important changes subsequently began spurring industrialization. Manufacturers in such previously small industries as leather tanning, shipbuilding, and sugar refining enlarged their operations, aided by growth in the local market. Some manufacturers began marketing their goods nationally, an operation made more profitable by improved transportation. The city's burgeoning population provided the labor pool and enlarged demand to encourage the growth of new and highly competitive local markets in house construction, shoemaking, and tailoring. Merchant demand for printed materials and newspapers lured printers to New York City. By the 1820s, even the New York City financial market, although still largely the preserve of mercantile speculators, marine insurance, and land investment, began to trade in shares of small local manufacturing firms.