Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 24 to 30.
Duncan Phyfe made some of the most beautiful furniture found in America. His family name was originally Fife, and he was born in Scotland in 1768. In 1784, the Fife family immigrated to Albany, New York where Duncan’s father opened a cabinetmaking shop. Duncan followed his father’s footsteps and was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker. After completing his training, Duncan moved to New York City.
Duncan Fife was first mentioned in the 1792 NYC Directory as a furniture “joiner” in business at 2 Broad Street. Two years later, he moved, expanded his business, and changed his name to Phyfe. He was a quiet-living, God-fearing young man who felt his new name would probably appeal to potential customers who were definitely anti-British in this post-Revolutionary War period.
Duncan Phyfe’s name distinguished him from his contemporaries. Although the new spelling helped him better compete with French emigrant craftsmen, his new name had more to do with hanging it on a sign over his door stoop.
The artisans and merchants who came to America discovered a unique kind of freedom. They were no longer restricted by class and guild traditions of Europe. For the first time in history, a man learned that by working hard, he could build his business based on his own name and reputation and quality of work.
Phyfe’s workshop apparently took off immediately. At the peak of his success, Phyfe employed 100 craftsmen. Some economic historians point to Phyfe as having employed division of labor and an assembly line. What his workshop produced shows Phyfe’s absolute dedication to quality in workmanship. Each piece of furniture was made of the best available materials. He was reported to have paid $1,000 for a single Santo Domingo mahogany log.
Phyfe did not create new designs. Rather, he borrowed from a broad range of the period’s classical styles, Empire, Sheraton, Regency, and French Classical among them. Nevertheless, Phyfe’s high quality craftsmanship established him as America’s patriotic interpreter of European design in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Although the number of pieces produced by Duncan Phyfe’s workshop is enormous, comparatively few marked or labeled pieces have been found extant. In antiques shops and auctions, collectors have paid $11,000 for a card table, $24,200 for a tea table, and $93,500 for a sewing table
Based on the information in the passage, what can be inferred about Duncan Phyfe’s death?
A. He died in the eighteenth century
B. He died in Albany
C. He died in the nineteenth century
D. He died in Scotland
Đáp án C
Dựa vào thông tin có trong đoạn văn, có thể suy ra được điều gì từ cái chết của Duncan Phyfe?
A. Ông qua đời vào thế kỉ 18.
B. Ông qua đời ở Albany.
C. Ông qua đời vào thế kỉ 19.
D. Ông qua đời ở Scotland.
Giải thích:
Trong đoạn văn không đề cập trực tiếp tới thời gian và địa điểm qua đời của Phyfe, nên ta cần suy ta từ những dữ kiện có trong bài.
+ Đoạn đầu tiên: “he was born in Scotland in 1768” – (Ông được sinh ra ở Scotland vào năm 1768).
+ Cuối đoạn 5: “Nevertheless, Phyfe’s high quality craftsmanship established him as America’s patriotic interpreter of European design in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries” – (Mặc dù vậy, sự nghiệp đồ thủ công mĩ nghệ chất lượng cao của Phyfe đã giúp ông trở thành thông dịch ái quốc của Mĩ về thiết kế Châu Âu và cuối thế kỉ 18 và đầu thế kỉ 19).
=> Ông sống ít nhất qua đầu thế kỉ 19, nhưng không thể sống được tới thế kỉ 20 (vì nếu tới thế kỉ 20 là ông hơn 130 tuổi) =>Ông mất vào thế kỉ 19