THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Replace the underlined words using words from the box. There is one extra
word.
valuable cover gradually support decline in population surpass
incessantly unchanged

Before the late 18th century, the Western world’s economy was
largely 1- static. Although it periodically expanded as
populations grew, this population growth tended 2- to outstrip the
carrying capacity of the economy, leading to famine, disease, or
war and resulting in 3- population crashes followed by economic
contraction. However, from the late 18th century, economic growth
broke free of this trap and began to rise continually. What
changed was that the efficiency of the economy began to increase
4- relentlessly. Known as the Industrial Revolution, this
transformation began in Britain and then spread to the rest of the
world. The Industrial Revolution was not a single event but a
series of changes that took place 5- in a piecemeal fashion in
different places and different parts of the economy at different
times. Industrialization was 6- underpinned by population growth
and enabled by the Agricultural Revolution, which dramatically
increased agricultural efficiency and output. Another contributor
was slavery. The exploitation of slave labour in the New World
drove an explosive growth in the production of raw cotton to fuel
the textile industries of the era. Slavery also enabled large-
scale production of sugar, tobacco, and other raw materials. The
profits from the trade contributed to the growing financial might
of Europe, and later the US, 7-underwriting the injections of
capital that helped transform cottage industries into global ones.