Intermediate passages 1 The best recruiting agents

67 Why leave?

If people are satisfied where they are, they will not migrate. Throughout history, people have left their native lands for a variety of reasons: religious or racial persecution, lack of political freedom, economic deprivation. The forces that attracted them to new homelands were the opposites of these: religious and political freedom, ethnic tolerance, economic opportunity. The leading motive behind migration has always been economic. Overpopulation creates shortages of jobs and food. The natural resources of a region can become exhausted, impelling a whole group of people to migrate. People who are oppressed for any reason will in all likelihood be economically deprived as well. The movement from farm to city is a prime example of migration for economic reasons. During the Industrial Revolution of the 18^th and 19^th centuries, millions of people left poverty-stricken rural areas for the cities. Even the low-paying, seven-day-a-week jobs in early factories were better than the endless toil and misery of trying to earn a living on the farm. This search for jobs in urban areas has continued to be a leading cause of migration up to the present.

1. 
   According to the author, all of those who migrate A) try to escape from overpopulation in the area B) are under some form of state persecution
   

C) are members of an ethnic group who seek political freedom D) have some sort of dissatisfaction with their native land

2. 
   The main reason that most migrants leave their homelands is that A) they want to practise their religion freely
   

B) their political ideas conflict with those of the state

C) they are driven away by the hostile climate of the region D) they think they can make more money elsewhere

3. 
   Country people who moved to the city during the Industrial Revolution A) generally found satisfactory jobs within a week
   

B) usually regretted the rural lives they had left behind

C) preferred the most miserable urban jobs to the struggle of rural life D) often returned to the farms where they could at least survive