Text History of New York New York, America largest city, is the national leader in business, finance, manufacturing, the service industries, fashion and the arts. Its recorded history begins with an Italian navigator, Giovanni da Verrazano, who around 1524 sailed into the present New York Harbour. In 1609 Captain Henry Hudson explored the harbour and the river, later named after him. In 1624 Dutch colonists arrived and created a permanent settlement, named New Amsterdam. The following year the Dutch West Indian Company bought the whole island of Manhattan from Indians for a few trinkets. Dutch was the official language of New Amsterdam, but before its population reached 500 it was reported that 18 different languages were spoken there. In 1663 the colony was captured by the British fleet under the Duke of York and renamed New York, but the Dutch and those who came with them stayed. So, from the very first years of its existence, New York was truly an international city. New York was active in the colonial opposition to Britain and several battles were fought in the area. In 1778 the British seized the city and controlled it for the rest of the war. When in November 1783 the Americans returned, they found New York in a very poor state. Out of its 4,000 buildings, about 1,000 had been burned and the rest were hardly inhabitable. An energetic programme of general reconstruction was launched. Within the next four years the population doubled and in 1800 reached 60,000; by 1815 the value of imports arriving in New York harbour was double of that of Boston and three times that of Philadelphia, the major colonial ports before the Revolutionary War. The construction of the Erie Canal, the bridge canal between Buffalo, on Lake Erie, and Albany, on the Hudson, was completed in 1825. It cut travel time by one-third, shipping costs by nine-tenths, opened the Great Lakes area and made New York City the chief Atlantic port of the USA. The opening of the Erie Canal accelerated even more the expansion of the city, already the nation largest. After the Civil War of 1861・865, industrial development quickened and brought a massive wave of immigration from all over the world. During the 19th century the city expanded northwest from the tip of Manhattan and by 1884 included the whole island as well as the territory of the present Bronx. In 1898 New York assumed its present boundaries, annexing Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Answer the questions to the text: 1. According to the text, the settlement on the Hudson River was started by A. Captain Henry Hudson B. Giovanni da Verrazano C. the Dutch West Indian Company D. immigrants from the Netherlands 2. Which of the following is true? A. Captain Henry Hudson founded a permanent settlement on the banks of the Hudson B. The Dutch West Indian Company became the owner of Manhattan in 1625 C. the island of Manhattan was not settled until 1624 D. the present name of the first permanent settlement on the island of Manhattan refers to the beginning of the 17th century 3. It follows from the text that A. after the opening of the Erie Canal New York became the largest city of the USA B. the three-year British rule over New York in the second half of the 18th century effected housing problems C. the original settlers of the island of Manhattan did not seem to know its true value D. the first permanent settlers in the area of the Hudson were people of one nationality 4. In the autumn of 1783 the population of New York was A. more than 30,000 B. less than 30,000 C. a little less than 60,000 D. not multinational 5. Which of the following is true? A. before the Revolutionary War, Boston was the largest colonial port B. before the Revolutionary War, New York was the largest colonial port C. after the Revolutionary War, the port of Philadelphia was larger than the port of Boston D. during the Revolutionary War the port of New York was larger than the port of Boston Text 1. D; 2. B; 3. C; 4. B; 5. A
