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
In his business, Duncan Phyfe used all of the following EXCEPT ______.
A. division of labor
B. an assembly line
C. continental designs
D. the least expensive materials
Đáp án D
Trong sự nghiệp của mình, Duncan Phyfe đã sử dụng tới tất cả những điều sau đây, NGOẠI TRỪ______.
A. sự phân chia lực lượng lao động.
B. dây chuyền lắp ráp.
C. những thiết kế nội địa.
D. những vật liệu ít tốn kém nhất.
Các dẫn chứng A, B, C được tìm thấy trong bài:
+ Đoạn 5: “At the peak of his success, Phyfe employed 100 craftsmen. Some economic historians point to Phyfe as having employed division of labor (A) and an assembly line (B)” – (Vào thời kì đỉnh cao của thành công, Phyfe đã thuê về 100 thợ thủ công. Một số nhà sử gia kinh tế đã chỉ ra rằng Phyfe đã áp dụng sự phân công lao động và một dây chuyền lắp ráp).
+ Đoạn 6 – (C): “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 ” – (Phyfe không tạo ra những thiết kế mới. Thay vào đó, ông vay mượn từ một loạt các phong cách cổ điển của các thời kỳ, Empire, Sheraton, Regency, và Pháp cổ điển trong số đó).
Ngoài ra cũng có dẫn chứng chứng minh D sai, nằm ở đoạn 5: “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” – (Từng phần của đồ nột thất được làm từ những chất liệu có sẵn tốt thất. Ông được cho là đã chi ra 1000 đô cho một khúc gỗ gụ Santo Domingo).