2000-10 TOEFL

[san2612]

Reading passage:

In seventeenth-century colonial North America, all day-to-day cooking was done in the
fireplace. Generally large, fireplaces were planned for cooking as well as for warmth. Those in
the Northeast were usually four or five feet high, and in the South, they were
Line often high enough for a person to walk into. A heavy timber called the mantel tree was


(5) used as a lintel to support the stonework above the fireplace opening. This timber might be scorched occasionally, but it was far enough in front of the rising column of heat to be safe from catching fire.

1. The author mentions the fireplaces built

in the South to illustrate
(A) how the materials used were similar to the materials used in northeastern fireplaces
(B) that they served diverse functions
(C) that they were usually larger than northeastern fireplaces
(D) how they were safer than northeastern fireplaces

The answer is C. But the passage doesn't state the they are larger. It just states their height. Can you explain me why the fireplaces in the South are usually larger than northeastern fireplaces?

 

[5jj]

Thise in the North were four to five feet high, 122 to 153 cm. If those in the South were high enough to walk into, they were probably at least five feeet six high, 168 cm and possibly more than six feet, 183 cm.