Which claim from the article is least supported?
A “New York didn’t seem to need the river anymore, except as a sewer. And
that’s what it became.” (paragraph 2)
B “Industry on the river had made some New Yorkers filthy rich.”
(paragraph 3)
C “But it had just made the river filthy.” (paragraph 3)
D “But now there were other dreamers in the valley, with their own dreams of
wealth.” (paragraph 6)
And why
is excerpt is from a book about the history of the Hudson River.
Excerpt from River of Dreams
by Hudson Talbott
By the twentieth century, New York City had long since reached its destiny of
becoming the most powerful city in America. In less than 300 years it had grown from
a tiny Dutch outpost in the wilderness to the business capital of the world. It was a city
built on dreams.
1
But it was made out of bricks and cement that had come from the banks of the
Hudson. e river which had fed all those dreams was now fading into the background.
New York didn’t seem to need the river anymore, except as a sewer. And that’s what it
became.
2
Industry on the river had made some New Yorkers filthy rich. But it had just made
the river filthy. Garbage, factory waste, plant chemicals and the raw sewage of the cities
and towns along its banks were dumped directly into the river. e water turned
greenish brown, except by the GM plant, where it turned red or yellow or whatever
color they were painting the cars that day.
3
e fishing industry collapsed. e few fish that survived were too poisonous to eat.
Smog from the factory smoke and dust from the cement plants blanketed the valley.
And it was all legal.
4
Most people don’t start out with dreams of polluting a river. But it was oen the
result of people chasing their dreams of wealth with little care of how they reached it.
e Hudson Valley had always drawn them.
5
But now there were other dreamers in the valley, with their own dreams of wealth.
ey dreamed of the wealth of wildlife in a healthy forest, the abundance of fish in
oxygen-rich water, and the great fortune of living in a beautiful river valley.
6
So perhaps it was a matter of time before the two types of dreamers would meet each
other—in court.
7
Session 1 Page 13
GO ON
Read this article. Then answer questions 15 through 21.
In 1963, Con Edison, New York City’s power company, proposed a plan for
constructing the largest hydroelectric pumping station ever built. e plan called for
carving out a gigantic hole in the side of majestic Storm King Mountain on the Hudson
River.
8
But then they met Franny Reese. Franny was a longtime valley resident with a simple
point to make: the mountain could not speak for itself. If she didn’t speak for it, who
would?
9
Franny and a group of like-minded people founded Scenic Hudson and took on the
power company in a landmark court case. Con Ed challenged the right of private
citizens to participate, but the court sided with the citizens, in the ruling now known as
the Scenic Hudson Decision.
10
Aer dragging out the case for seventeen years, Con Ed finally gave up and Storm
King survived unblemished. It was the beginning of the environmental movement in
this country, and once again, the Hudson Valley was the birthplace.
11
More and more people joined the movement as they realized how much difference
each of us can make.
12
e love of their land was still alive in the hearts of Americans, and now that it was
aroused again, things began to change.
13
Many new laws and new citizens’ groups have been inspired by those early heroes of
the environment, and their work has begun to bring the Hudson back to life.
14
e Mahicans called it “e River at Flows Both Ways.” Slowly we are learning
that taking care of the river is the only way that the river can take care of us.
15
Fiy years have passed since I dreamed of going to New York to see the river that
shares my name, and thirty-five years since that dream came true. I live in the Hudson
Valley now, grateful to all those who came before me, following their dreams to this
river, building this nation, sharing its beauty, securing its future.
16
It’s now my turn to help in keeping the river of dreams flowing, for all those
dreamers yet to come.