Q1. [1] medium thorough-understanding
Consider the following two statements about the nineteenth-century global economy and choose the option that best describes their relationship.
Statement 1: The abolition of Britain's Corn Laws led to a sharp rise in food imports, spurring the clearing of vast new agricultural lands in America and Australia.
Statement 2: Between the 1820s and 1914, roughly 50 million people emigrated from Europe to America and Australia.
Options:
A) Statement 1 describes a consequence of Statement 2.
B) Statement 1 describes a development that, along with push factors in Europe, helps explain Statement 2.
C) Both statements refer to unconnected events in different parts of the world.
D) Statement 2 is a cause that explains Statement 1.
- A Statement 1 is a cause that helps explain Statement 2.
- B Statement 2 is a cause that helps explain Statement 1.
- C Both statements describe the same event in different words.
- D The two statements are unrelated facts.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 14:58 · grounding rag
Model Answer
Option B — The abolition of Corn Laws (Statement 1) spurred agricultural expansion and labour demand overseas, which, combined with push factors in Europe, helps explain mass emigration (Statement 2).
Explanation
The textbook passage explicitly links both events: scrapping the Corn Laws raised food imports → lands cleared in America/Australia → demand for labour → migration of ~50 million Europeans. Statement 1 is a contributing cause (pull factor) of Statement 2, not the other way around. From the given MCQ options (A–D), the closest correct match is B.