Passage New York City and the Hudson Valley Brickmaking Industry
New York City and the Hudson Valley Brickmaking Industry
(1) Residents of New York City cannot help but notice that the buildings they are surrounded by are predominantly made of brick. (2) Indeed, one author described the bricks that make up some of New York City’s most recognizable landmarks, including the Empire State Building and the arches of the Brooklyn Bridge, as “an inescapable presence.” (3) Nearly 65 million people visit New York City every year to see these and other attractions. (4) Why was so much brick used in buildings constructed during the century before World War II? (5) The answer involves an explosion in New York City’s population that caused an increase in demand for bricks starting in the mid-1800s and lasting into the 1940s that affected the area more than 100 miles up the Hudson River Valley toward Albany. (6) When demand later declined, the industry would entirely disappear.
(7) New York City’s appetite for brick was fueled by surging population and demand for safer building materials. (8) The city’s population ballooned from about 313,000 people in 1840 to more than 7 million a century later. (9) Following large, destructive fires in the 1830s, the city had enacted laws requiring the use of fire-resistant materials. (10) Bricks turned out to be an inexpensive way for builders to quickly throw together a lot of structures while keeping building owners and safety inspectors happy.
(11) The brickmaking industry in the Hudson Valley skyrocketed. (12) At the industry’s peak, approximately 130 brick factories crammed themselves into a 120-mile stretch along the Hudson River. (13) These factories employed much of the region’s population. (14) Population growth in the Hudson River Valley after the mid-1800s was substantial, though percentage increases were smaller than those in New York City. (15) Even though the factories operated only during the summers, their production was immense. (16) Hudson Valley factories shipped over a billion bricks on barges down the river to New York City annually. (17) In fact, The New York Times declared, “It’s fairly safe to assume that any brick building constructed between 1800 and 1950 includes some form of sediment from the banks of the Hudson River.”
(18) History has proven, however, that boom times eventually end. (19) Shifting architectural trends halted not only the Hudson Valley’s brickmaking boom, but its entire industry. (20) Starting early in the twentieth century, architects and builders increasingly favored steel, glass, and concrete instead of brick. (21) By 1979, reduced demand for brick had driven every Hudson Valley brick factory out of business.
(22) The Hudson Valley’s brickmaking legacy lives on in the architecture of New York City. (23) Throughout the city, famous and ordinary buildings stand as evidence of the remarkable productivity achieved by the Valley’s brickmakers. (24) The brick buildings surrounding New Yorkers today serve as a reminder that, as one amateur brick historian put it, “The skyline of New York City used to be the landscape of the Hudson River Valley.”
Question
Which sentence would best follow sentence 20 to support ideas in the fourth paragraph (sentences 18–21)?
- AAt first many people thought the new materials did not look as strong as brick, but eventually the public embraced the trend.
- BIncreasingly expensive shipping and labor costs also drove up the costs for brickmaking factories.
- CThe Flatiron building, completed in 1902, is a notable example of an early steel-framed building.
- DThe more that New York City builders chose to use these materials, the fewer bricks they bought.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks which sentence would best follow sentence 20 to support ideas in the fourth paragraph (sentences 18–21).
A. Incorrect. Although the information in the sentence that consumers eventually “embraced the trend” of building with steel, glass, and concrete suggests that demand for those building materials likely increased, this detail does not clearly link increased use of steel, glass, and concrete to lower demand for brick. Therefore, this sentence would not be the best choice to follow sentence 20 to support the ideas in the fourth paragraph.
B. Incorrect. This sentence introduces a different cause of the decline of brickmaking—economic costs—rather than providing support or explanation for the idea that the shift to steel, glass, and concrete caused lower demand for brick. Thus, this sentence is not the best one to follow sentence 20.
C. Incorrect. Although this sentence adds detail related to sentence 20 by giving an example of steel use, it shifts focus toward a specific building rather than the overall trend in material preference. It does not help explain the link between a growing preference for steel, glass, and concrete and declining demand for brick. Therefore, this sentence would not best follow sentence 20 to support the ideas in the fourth paragraph.
D. CORRECT. This sentence supports the ideas in the fourth paragraph. It would best follow sentence 20 because it directly states the cause-and-effect relationship between builders’ preference for steel, glass, and concrete described in sentence 20 and the resulting decline in brick use detailed in sentence 21. It also supports the idea in sentence 19 that shifting architectural trends ended the entire Hudson Valley brickmaking industry.
Question analysis
This supporting-details question asks which sentence would best follow sentence 20 of the brickmaking passage. Sentence 20 sits in the fourth paragraph, which tells how a turn toward steel, glass and concrete ended the Hudson Valley brick industry. Each option is plausible and about building, so students must judge which one best supports the paragraph’s point at that spot.
- NYS standards
- 7W2b developing a topic
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Choosing a sentence that supports a paragraph’s point is regular grade 7 writing work. The paragraph is only four sentences long and the options are short, but each one relates to the topic, so the choice rests on a close judgment of relevance.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- How sentences fit together moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 12, 465 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 81 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- An inaccurate statement in the explanation was corrected.
- Students, last 30 days
- Not enough answers yet to show (it takes 10).
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)
Why it is hard
The paragraph’s logic has a gap between a change in taste and the closing of the factories, and only one option fills it. The Flatiron example is the strongest lure because it follows naturally from steel in sentence 20, and the shipping-costs option tempts students who see that the paragraph explains a decline. Both are reasonable sentences; they fail because they do not link the new materials to fewer bricks.
How sentences fit together moderate Working it out
Sentence 20 says builders favored steel, glass and concrete; sentence 21 says reduced demand closed every factory. The missing step, that the new materials cut brick purchases, is what the added sentence must supply. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
All four options concern building materials or brickmaking, and three would be true and on topic somewhere in the passage, so each must be judged at this exact spot. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Restate the point of sentences 18–21 in one sentence, then ask of each option whether it would help a reader see how that point follows from sentence 20, not just whether it is true and related.
Traps
- Off the point: Adds or keeps something that does not support the paragraph's or the passage's focus, or an introduction or conclusion that misses the main point.
The wrong answers, classified
A Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Follows the new materials into public taste, whether they looked as strong as brick, but never connects that shift to fewer bricks, the link the paragraph needs.
B Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Offers a believable second reason for the decline, rising shipping and labor costs, but the paragraph blames shifting architectural trends, and this sentence does nothing to explain them.
C Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Gives the Flatiron Building as an early steel-framed example, which suits sentence 20 alone, but turns to one landmark instead of showing how the new materials cut demand for brick.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The handbook’s explanation of Option D ends “It also supports, with a detail about the closing of the last factory, the idea in sentence 18 that the entire Hudson Valley brickmaking industry was ended.” Option D (“The more that New York City builders chose to use these materials, the fewer bricks they bought.”) contains no detail about a factory closing; the closing of every factory is sentence 21, already in the passage. The idea that the entire industry ended is in sentence 19 (“Shifting architectural trends halted not only the Hudson Valley’s brickmaking boom, but its entire industry”); sentence 18 says only that “boom times eventually end.” The site now says “It also supports the idea in sentence 19 that shifting architectural trends ended the entire Hudson Valley brickmaking industry.” Option D is still the answer.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need a sentence to add right after sentence 20. It must support the main idea of the fourth paragraph, sentences 18–21. To support means to help explain or prove. So first find that main idea. Then find the gap after sentence 20.
Read sentences 19 to 21
Sentence 19 gives the main idea: “Shifting architectural trends halted not only the Hudson Valley’s brickmaking boom, but its entire industry.” Architectural trends are changes in how buildings are designed. Sentence 20 says builders “increasingly favored steel, glass, and concrete instead of brick.” Sentence 21 says “reduced demand for brick had driven every Hudson Valley brick factory out of business.”
Find the missing step
Sentence 20 is about builders liking new materials. Sentence 21 is about factories closing. A step is missing in between. Builders who used new materials bought fewer bricks. That is the link from sentence 20 to sentence 21. The new sentence should spell it out.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. It is about what people thought of the new materials. It never says fewer bricks were bought.
- B is wrong. It adds a different cause, rising costs. The paragraph blames changing building styles.
- C is wrong. The Flatiron Building is one example of steel. It doesn’t show how steel cut the demand for brick.
- D is right. “These materials” points back to steel, glass and concrete in sentence 20. It says that more of them meant fewer bricks, which leads straight into sentence 21.
Watch out: C fits sentence 20 nicely, since both are about steel. But one building doesn’t explain why the factories closed.
Choose the answer
D links the new building styles to fewer bricks, which explains why every factory closed. It also supports the idea in sentence 19 that changing trends ended the whole industry. So the answer is D, “The more that New York City builders chose to use these materials, the fewer bricks they bought.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer. It follows sentence 20 smoothly, because the Flatiron Building is a steel building. But the paragraph needs to explain why the brick factories closed. Only D says that using more steel, glass and concrete meant buying fewer bricks. That is the missing link.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “New York City and the Hudson Valley Brickmaking Industry” as printed (page 64)
