The transport of emigrants fromIreland across the Atlantic has a curious history. During

the eighteenthcentury emigration from Ireland was on a small scale; it is doubtful if thenumbers exceeded 5,000 in any one season. The emigrants came mainly fromUlster(厄，).They were Presbyterian()smallfarmers of Scottish descent(),and not paupers(贫);They took some capital and experience with them and their motive was to bettertheir lot().During this period emigration was not easy; all agreements had to be made bythe emigrant himself, who traveled to the port and bargained personally for hispassage with the captain of the ship in which he wished to sail. This practicewas changed as a result of the Napoleonic wars. Before 1807 almost all theimported timber(材)used in Great Britain came from northern Europe. But in that year the Treaty ofTilist()was signed between Napoleon and the emperor Alexander Russia; as a consequence,timber from northern Europe was suddenly cut off, and had to be imported insteadfrom the British provinces in North America. The trade proved immenselyprofitable, and after Waterloo heavy duties were placed on European timber, topreserve the market for British North America. By the eighteen-forties thetrade, which had barely existed thirty years previously, had grown to an annualimportation of over 925 loads of timber.

While the timber trade wasrapidly developing, economic conditions in Ireland became disastrous.Agriculture prices, inflated during the Napoleonic war, dropped heavily afterWaterloo, and Ireland became a country in which, with the exception ofnortheast Ulster, employment for wages virtually ceased to exist. Theextraordinary increase in population continued and standards of life becamealmost unbearably low.

46.In the eighteenth century people left Ireland because______.

A. they wanted to getricher

B. their skill in farmingwas in demand abroad

C. they were desperatelypoor

D. they were religiousrefugees

47. The writer saystraveling overseas was difficult for eighteenth century Irishmen because______.

A. the ships captainshad strong religious prejudices

B. there was no organizedroutine

C. passengers became thecaptains legal property

D. captains took most ofthe emigrants savings

48.The Napoleonic war led to ______.

A. Britain not beingallowed to import wood from northern Europe

B. wood produced inRussia being sold to Napoleon

C. the Britishauthorities putting a stop to Irish travelers arrangements with captains

D. the Russians feelingmuch larger numbers of trees for their own use

49.Timber was taxed in order to ______.

A. maintain good pricesfor European timber

B. encourage Americansales in Britain

C. protect North Americanindustry from overseas imports

D. encourage Britishsales in America

50.Irish people became very poor after the Napoleonic war because______.

A. food prices became solow

B. living standards sankdrastically

C. food prices became sohigh

D. there waspractically no work to do