Question

the excerpt is from the history of cotton manufacture in great britain, by edward baines. a great number of streams... furnish water - power adequate to turn many hundred mills: they afford the element of water, indispensable for scouring, bleaching, printing, dyeing, and other processes of manufacture: and when collected in their larger channels, or employed to feed canals, they supply a superior inland navigation, so important for the transit of raw materials and merchandise. according to the excerpt, in what ways did water help englands industrial boom? water supplied power and a means of transportation. water helped people build hundreds of mills. water helped people trade goods with nations overseas. water enabled people to create raw materials

Explanation:

文中提到大量溪流提供水力（water - power），可驱动众多工厂；水是制造过程（如洗涤、漂白等）不可或缺的元素；水收集于大渠道或用于供应运河时，提供了内陆航运（inland navigation），利于原材料和商品运输。第一个选项“Water supplied power and a means of transportation”涵盖了文中水提供动力和运输方式这两个关键作用。第二个选项“Water helped people build hundreds of mills”只强调建工厂，未体现水的其他作用；第三个选项“Water helped people trade goods with nations overseas”文中未提及与海外国家贸易；第四个选项“Water enabled people to create raw materials”与原文不符，水是用于制造过程（如处理原材料等），不是创造原材料。

Answer:

Water supplied power and a means of transportation.