IELTS Handbook 15 – Test 4

Hi everyone, in this session I’ll be presenting my research about the social history of Britain during the Industrial Revolution. I particularly looked at how ordinary lives were affected by changes that happened at that time. This was a time that saw the beginning of a new phenomenon; consumerism – where buying and selling goods became a major part of ordinary people’s lives.

In fact, it was in the 19th century that the quantity and quality of people’s possessions was used as an indication the wealth (Q31) of the country [chất lượng và số lượng tài sản của người dân được sử dụng để chỉ ra sự thịnh vượng của đất nước]. Before this, the vast majority of people had very few possessions, but all that was changed by the Industrial Revolution. This was the era from the mid-18th to the late 19th century, when improvements (=developments) in how goods were made as well as in technology (Q32) triggered massive social changes that transformed life for just about everybody in several key areas. [những cải tiến trong cách tạo ra hàng hóa cũng như trong công nghệ đã tạo ra những thay đổi xã hội lớn làm thay đổi cuộc sống cho hầu hết mọi người trong một số lĩnh vực chính.]

First let’s look at manufacturing. When it comes to manufacturing, we tend to think of the Industrial Revolution in images of steam engines and coal. And it’s true that the Industrial Revolution couldn’t have taken place at all if it weren’t for these new sources of power (Q33). [chúng ta có xu hướng nghĩ về cuộc Cách mạng Công nghiệp với hình ảnh của động cơ hơi nước và than đá. Và đúng là Cách mạng Công nghiệp đã không thể diễn ra nếu không có những nguồn năng lượng mới này]. They marked an important shift away from the traditional watermills and windmills that had dominated before this. The most advanced industry for much of the 19th century was textiles (Q34). [Nền công nghiệp tân tiến nhất trong phần lớn thế kỷ 19 là dệt may.] This meant that fashionable fabrics, and lace and ribbons were made available to everyone 

Before the Industrial Revolution, most people made goods to sell in small workshops, often in their own homes. But enormous new machines (Q35) were now being created that could produce the goods faster and on a larger scale, and these required a lot more space. So large factories were built replacing the workshops, and forcing workers to travel to work. [Nhưng những máy móc khổng lồ được tạo ra ở thời điểm hiện tại có thể sản xuất hàng hoá nhanh hơn, trên một quy mô lớn hơn, và điều này yêu cầu thêm nhiều không gian hơn. Vì thế mà các nhà máy lớn được xây dựng thay thế cho các xưởng, bắt buộc công nhân phải di chuyển đến chỗ làm]. In fact, large numbers of people migrated from villages into towns as a result.

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As well as manufacturing, there were new technologies in transport, contributing to the growth of consumerism. The horse-drawn stagecoaches and carts of the 18th century, which carried very few people and good, and travelled slowly along poorly surfaced roads, were gradually replaced by the numerous canals that were constructed. These were particularly important for the transportation of goods. The canals gradually fell out of use, though, as railways were developed, becoming the main way of moving goods and people from one end of the country to the other. And the goods they moved weren’t just coal, iron, clothes, and so on – significantly, they included newspapers (Q36), which meant that thousands of people were not only more knowledgeable about what was going on in the country, but could also read about what was available in the shops . [Và hàng hóa mà họ chuyển đi không chỉ là than đá, bàn là, quần áo, v.v. mà chúng còn bao gồm cả báo chí, có nghĩa là sẽ cóhàng nghìn người không chỉ hiểu biết nhiều hơn về những gì đang diễn ra trong nước, mà còn có thể cũng đọc về những gì có sẵn trong các cửa hàng]. And that encouraged them to buy more. So faster forms of transport resulted in distribution becoming far more efficient – goods could now be sold all over the country, instead of just in the local (Q37) market. [hàng hóa hiện có thể được bán trên toàn quốc, thay vì chỉ ở thị trường địa phương].  

The third main area that saw changes that contributed to consumerism was retailing. The number and quality of shops grew rapidly, and in particular, small shops suffered as customers flocked to the growing number of department stores – a form of retailing that was new in the 19th century. The entrepreneurs who opened these found new ways to stock them with goods, and to attract customers: for instance, improved lighting (Q38) inside greatly increased the visibility of the goods for sale. [hệ thống chiếu sáng được cải thiện bên trong làm tăng đáng kể độ hiển thị của hàng hóa bày bán]. Another development that made goods more visible from outside resulted from the use of plate glass, which made it possible for windows (Q39) to be much larger than previously [Một sự phát triển khác làm cho hàng hóa dễ nhìn thấy hơn từ bên ngoài là kết quả của việc sử dụng tấm kính giúp cửa sổ có thể đạt kích cỡ lớn hơn nhiều so với trước đây]. New ways of promoting goods were introduced, too. Previously, the focus had been on informing potential customers about the availability of goods; now there was an explosion in (=was persuasively became) advertising (Q40) trying to persuade people to go shopping. [hiện tại, sự bùng nổ trong quảng cáo đang cố gắng thuyết phục mọi người đi mua sắm].

Flanders claims that one of the great effects of the Industrial Revolution was that it created choice. All sorts of things that had previously been luxuries – from sugar to cutlery – became conveniences, and before long they’d turned into necessities: life without sugar or cutlery was unimaginable. Rather like mobile phones these days!