To the forty-one million immigrants who have arrived upon our shores during the past onehundred forty years, these lines indicated that the poor, hungry, and persecuted could findfreedom and opportunity in the New World. They arrived in such large numbers that by theend of the nineteenth century some Americans had doubts concerning the policy of admittingunlimited numbers of immigrants. By 1921, this viewpoint was widely accepted. During the1930's we discovered that emigration from this nation was at times larger than immigration tothis nation. The history of these significant developments divides itself into the three clearlydefined periods. Period of Early Immigration

　　The period from 1790 to 1861 is considered as the period of early immigration. In 1790,one year after the new government was organized, the population of the United States wasapproximately 4,000,000. Of that number more than seventy-five per cent were descendantsof immigrants who had sailed westward from England and northern Ireland. By 1810 there wereprobably 5,000 to 6,000 immigrants per year. At about 1820 the rate began to increase. By1840 the new arrivals numbered more than 80,000 yearly. The number continued to increaseuntil, in 1854, it reached a total of 428,000. Although many of these continued to come fromGreat Britain, the largest numbers were of German and Irish origin. A trickle was nowapparent from Italy, Austria-Hungary , and the nations of Scandinavia.

　　The Period of the Later Immigration

　　The years intervening between 1861 and 1917 marked the period of later immigration.During the early part of this period there was need for more man-power to do work and toprovide troops for the armed forces during the War Between the States. The need for workersfor industry and laborers for railroad construction encouraged President Lincoln to askCongress to pass favorable legislation for immigrants. Employers of unskilled laborersrushed to support the recommendation. The American Emigrant Company was organized tosecure immigrants by advancing their transportation expenses and recovering the loan fromthe wages earned during the first year of employment. The government capitalized on theinflux of immigrants by building stands in the fields next to the harbor of New York City andoffering sums of money to the newcomers if they would join the army. In the post-war periodimmigrants eagerly sailed for America as the "golden land of opportunity" where "the streetswere paved with bricks of gold". The rapid growth of industry and reports of our prosperitycontinued to call thousands of immigrants to our land long after the war needs were over. Theseinducements and descriptions of America motivated immigrants to sail for the United States inlarge numbers during this entire period. So many came that the American people becameconcerned about the open-door policy. In 1882 the first restrictive law was passed. This lawforbade acceptance of people who were lunatics, idiots, immoral persons, paupers, andpersons likely to become public charges. In 1885 the Alien Contract Labor Law was passed,prohibiting American employers from importing laborers from Europe under contract.

　　Period of Severe Restrictions

　　During the period of 1917 to the present time immigration has.been severely restricted.As immigrants continued to flow into the country, more and more concern was felt aboutadmitting such large numbers. As a result more laws were passed restricting the number ofimmigrants who might come to our shores. In 1917 an act was passed requiring a literacy testfor all immigrants over 16 years of age. In 1918 an act was passed which excluded anarchistsand others who advocated the overthrow of the government by violence. These acts and theones previously passed excluded only about 1. 4 per cent of the total number of immigrantswho wanted to come to the United States, so the number of immigrants arriving here was notgreatly reduced.

　　The first drastic measure taken to reduce immigration was the quota law passed in 1921.This law limited the number of immigrants from any one country to 3 per cent of thenationality of that country which was in the United States in 1910. The law of 1924 reduced thequotas to 2 per cent based on the 1890 census. As a result, in 1925 only 294,000 immigrantswere admitted. Later amendments were made to the law of 1924 in 1929. These amendmentsstated that the total annual quota could not exceed 150,000.

　　The 150,000 to be admitted from all nations under the 1929 amendment were to beapportioned in terms of the number of people of a given nation's origin living in the UnitedStates in 1920 and the total population in the same year. This meant that a national originwhich represented 10 per cent of the total population in 1920 would have a quota of 15,000from the foreign country which sent the respective immigrants. This law, in addition to stillfurther restricting immigration, assigned 83 per cent of the total to nations of western andnorthern Europe and the remainder to southern and eastern European nations. During thefollowing ten years(1931-1940) only 528,431 people sought a new home in our United States.This was fewer than arrived in the decade of the 1830's, a century earlier. This effect may beattributed to the restrictive legislation combined with the consequences of the economicdepression of the 1930's. It is important to note that during this ten-year span of 1931 to1940, 459,738 emigrated from our country back to the countries of their origin, in mostinstances. The war years of the 1940's and the continuation of the 1929 legislation keptimmigration at an average of 100,000 per year in the decade of 1941-1950.

　　On June 27, 1952, the Immigration and Nationality Act became the law of the land. Itdiscontinued racial bars on immigration but did not give up the quota system based onnational origins. Asiatic nations were permitted an annual quota based upon a formula likethe one given to European nations. Under this act, immigration was restricted to a maximumof 154,657 with most of the migrants to come from northern and western Europe. One yearlater, in 1953, permission was granted to allow 214,000 refugees to enter the United Statesduring the following three years. This was in addition to the numbers permitted under the lawof 1952. Since then, the immigration law has been further liberalized.

　　If a public opinion poll were taken in the United States today, it would most probably showthat a majority of Americans favor restricting immigration. The overwhelming majority,however, favor legislation to permit the admission of immigrants who can contribute to thedevelopment and progress of the nation.

　　1. In 1780, 3,000,000 Americans were descended from immigrants of England andnorthern Ireland.

　　2. The new government of the United States was founded in 1789.

　　3. The 1929 amendment merely served to restrict immigration to the U. S. .

　　4. The years from 1861 to 1917 witnessed a need for immigrants as workers in industry andlaborers from railroad construction.

　　5. The restriction of immigration to the U. S. was one of the factors leading to theeconomic depression of the 1930s.

　　6. The depression of the 1930s was dealt with by permitting immigrants who couldcontribute to the development and progress of the nation.

　　7. In 1929, only a little more than 150,000 foreigners migrated to the U. S. .

　　8. Between 1931 and 1940 only______people emigrated to the U. S. .

　　9. Since 1953 the immigration law has become increasingly

　　10. In the 1880s Americans were concerned that immigrants were likely to become

　　參考答案：

　　I. Y 2. Y 3. N 4. Y 5. N 6. NG 7. N 8. 528,431 9.liberalized 10. public charges

　　六級閱讀理解模擬練習題二：

　　The most interesting architectural phenomenonof the 1970's was the enthusiasm for refurnishingolder building. Obviously, this was not an entirelynew phenomenon. What is new is the whole scalein reusing the past, in recycling, in adaptiverehabilitation (更新 ). A few trial efforts, such asGhirardelli Square in San Francisco, proved theirfinancial feasibility in the 1960's, but it was in the1970's, with strong government support through tax incentives and rapid depreciation (貶值) ,as well as growing interest in ecology (生態) issues, that recycling became a major factor onthe urban scene. One of the most comprehensive ventures was the restoration andtransformation of Boston's eighteenth century Faneuil Hall and the Quincy Market, designedin 1824. This section had fallen on hard times, but beginning with the construction of a newcity hall immediately nearby, it has returned to life with the intelligent reuse of these fine oldbuildings under the design leadership of Benjamin Thompson. He has provided a marveloussetting for dining, shopping, professional office, and simply walking.

　　Butler Square, in Minneapolis, serves as an example of major changes in its complex ofoffices, commercial space, and public amenities carved out of a massive pile designed in 1906as a hardware warehouse. The exciting interior timber structure of the building washighlighted by cutting light courts through the interior and adding large skylights.

　　San Antonio, Texas, offers a big object lesson for numerous other cities combating urbandecay. Rather than bringing in the bulldozers ( 推土機) , San Antonio's leaders rehabilitatedexisting structures, while simultaneously cleaning up the San Antonio River, which runsthrough the business district.

　　26. The main idea of the passage is_______.

　　A. during the 1970's, old building in many cities were recycled for modern use

　　B. recent interest in ecology issues has led to the cleaning up of many rivers

　　C. the San Antonio example shows that bulldozers are not the right way to fight urbandecay

　　. D. strong government support has made adaptive rehabilitation a reality in Boston

　　27. According to the passage, Benjamin Thompson was the designer for a project in

　　A. Boston B. San Francisco

　　C. Minneapolis D. San Antonio

　　28. The space at Quincy Market is now used as_______.

　　A. Boston's new city hall B. sports and recreational facilities

　　C. commercial and industrial warehouses D. restaurants, offices, and stores

　　29. What is the author's opinion of the San Antonio's project?

　　A. It is clearly the best of the projects discussed.

　　B. It is a good project that could be copied by other cities.

　　C. The extensive use of bulldozers made the project unnecessarily costly.

　　D. The work done on the river was more important than work done on the buildings.

　　30. The passage states that the San Antonio project differed from those in Boston andMinneapolis in that_______.

　　A. it consisted primarily of new buildings

　　B. it occurred in the business district

　　C. it involved the environment as well as buildings

　　D. it was designed to combat urban decay

　　參考答案：

　　26. A 27. A 28. D 29.B 30.C