By the mid-nineteenth century, the term "icebox" had entered the American language, but ice was still only beginning to affect the diet of ordinary citizens in the United States. The ice trade grew with the growth of cities. Ice was used in hotels, taverns, and hospitals, and by some forward-looking city dealers in fresh meat, fresh fish, and butter. After the Civil War (1860-1865), as ice was used to refrigerate freight cars, it also came into household use. Even before 1880, half the ice sold in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and one-third of that sold in Boston and Chicago, went to families for their own use. This had become possible because a new household convenience, the icebox, a precursor of the modern refrigerator, had been invented.

Making an efficient icebox was not as easy as we might now suppose. In the early nineteenth century, the knowledge of the physics of heat, which was essential to a science of refrigeration, was rudimentary. The common-sense notion that the best icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting was of course mistaken, for it was the melting of the ice that performed the cooling. Nevertheless, early efforts to economize ice included wrapping the ice in blankets, which kept the ice from doing its job. Not until near the end of the nineteenth century did inventors achieve the nice balance of insulation and circulation needed for an efficient icebox.        

But as early as 1803, an ingenious Maryland farmer, Thomas Moore, had been on the right track. He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of Washington, for which the village of Georgetown was the market center. When he used an icebox of his own design to transport his butter to market, he found that customers would pass up the rapidly melting stuff in the tubs of his competitors to pay a premium price for his butter, still fresh and hard in neat, one-pound bricks. One advantage of his icebox, Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have to travel to market at night in order to keep their produce cool.

What does the passage mainly discuss?

Đáp án B

Theo bài đọc, từ “icebox” trở thành một phần ngôn ngữ của nước Mỹ khi nào?

A. năm 1803                                                            B. khoảng trước năm 1850

C. Suốt thời nội chiến                                               D. những năm 1950

Dẫn chứng: By the mid-nineteenth century, the term "icebox" had entered the American language, butice was still only beginning to affect the diet of ordinary citizens in the United States.

After the Civil War (1860-1865), as ice was used to refrigerate freight cars, it also came into household use. Even before 1880, half the ice sold in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and one-third of that sold in Boston and Chicago, went to families for their own use.

Đáp án C

Tác giả đề cập đến “ fish” ở đoạn đầu bởi vì

A. nhiều người bán cá cũng bán đá lạnh

B. cá được vận chuyển trong xe chở hàng đông lạnh

C. những người bán cá là trong số những người sử dụng đá lạnh vì mục đích buôn bán đầu tiên.

D. cá không phải là một phần của chế độ ăn uống bình thường hằng ngày trước khi thùng đông lạnh được phát minh.

Dẫn chứng: The ice trade grew with the growth of cities. Ice was used in hotels, taverns, and hospitals, and by some forward-looking city dealers in fresh meat, fresh fish, and butter.

Đáp án D

Theo bài đọc, cái nào sau đây là bất lợi đối với sự phát triển của thùng đông lạnh?

A. Sự cạnh tranh giữa những người sở hữu xe vận tải đông lạnh.

B. Sự thiếu mạng lưới việc làm để phân phối đá

C. Việc sử dụng sự cách li không đủ

D. Hiểu biết chưa đầy đủ về vật lý Dẫn chứng: In the early nineteenth century, the knowledge of the physics of heat, which was essential to a science of refrigeration, was rudimentary.

Đáp án A

Từ “ rudimentary” [ thô sơ] ở đoạn 2 gần nghĩa nhất với

A. kém phát triển                                                    B. đang phát triển

C. cần thiết                                                                D. không thú vị

Dẫn chứng: In the early nineteenth century, the knowledge of the physics of heat, which was essential to a science of refrigeration, was rudimentary.

Đáp án D

Tác giả miêu tả Thomas Moore như là đã “ on the right track” [ đi đúng hướng] để ám chỉ rằng

A. con đường đến chợ băng qua gần với nông trại của Moore

B. Moore là một thương gia thật thà

C. Moore là một nông dân phát đạt

D. Thiết kế của Moore khá là thành công

Dẫn chứng: But as early as 1803, an ingenious Maryland farmer, Thomas Moore, had been on the right track. He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of Washington, for which the village of Georgetown was the market center.

Đáp án A

Theo bài đọc, thùng ướp lạnh của Moore cho phép ông

A. thu phí nhiều hơn cho món bơ                            B. đi chợ về đêm

C. sản xuất bơ nhanh hơn                                         D. sản xuất đá cả năm

Dẫn chứng: When he used an icebox of his own design to transport his butter to market, he found that customers would pass up the rapidly melting stuff in the tubs of his competitors to pay a premium price for his butter, still fresh and hard in neat, one-pound bricks.

Đáp án C

Từ “ produce” (n) [ nông sản] được đề cập ở đoạn cuối có thể bao gồm

A.thùng đá                                                              B. bơ

C. đá lạnh                                                                  D. chợ

Dẫn chứng: One advantage of his icebox, Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have to travel to market at night in order to keep their produce cool.