Question

Central Park

Although the name central park suggests that it has a clear organizing feature, New York’s City’s famous green space has no official center. There is no formal walkway that cuts through the park or monuments that marks its middle. Instead of symmetry, central park contains widened parks and an ever-changing landscape that appears random and rustic. Despite appearances, the park is an achievement of planning and engineering. Years of citizens campaigning for a park on New York City’s Manhattan island convinced the state to purchase 750 acres of land in 1853. After a chance meeting with the project organizer, Frank Law Olmstead who was raised in Connecticut and had been deeply impressed by the public parts of England applied for the job of Park Superintendent in 1857. Olmstead was appointed Superintendent and workers began clearing the land for construction. The park now needed a design. Calvert Vaux, a British architect, who had helped to design the grounds of the White House and the Smithsonian Institution asked Olmstead to collaborate with him. The two developed a plan that would give city dwellers a tranquil growing space. After a vote by park commissioners, Vaux and Olmstead became the official designers of Central Park. Creation of the park required years of construction. Thanks in part to the use of 166 tons of gunpowder, the swampy land was transformed into gentle slopes, scenic vistas by the movement of 2.5 million cubic yards of earth. By the time construction finished, the park included 58 miles of walking paths and 7 land made bodies of water. Today, Olmstead and Vaux’s work of art welcomes about 40 million visitors each year. Without itself having a single orientation, central park’s natural and open designs made it a central escape from the noise and unyielding grid of the city that surrounds it.

According to the passage, which of the following factors caused New York State to purchase that land that is now called Central Park?
a. New York citizens had been campaigning for years for a public park in Manhattan
b. The state need someone to oversee the construction of the park and Frank Law Olmstead volunteered.
c. The city was growing quickly and the state government was worried about running out of land.
d. The state government recognized the need for a peaceful space in a chaotic city

Answer 1

New York State purchased the land for Central Park due to years of campaigning by citizens for a public park in Manhattan. The park was part of the City Beautiful movement providing a tranquil green space inspired by social reformers. Central Park is today a testament to careful planning and ecological preservation.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to the passage, New York State was compelled to purchase the land that is now known as Central Park because New York citizens had been campaigning for years for a public park in Manhattan. The efforts to create a tranquil green space for the bustling city were influenced by the City Beautiful movement, initiated by influential figures such as Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.

Their vision was to provide city dwellers with a tranquil green space, countering the dirt and chaos of the urban environment and promoting moral and physical well-being. The creation of Central Park was a result of social reformers and middle and upper-middle-class citizens who saw the need for green spaces as essential to the health and morality of the city's inhabitants.

The park's layout, although appearing random and rustic, was in fact a meticulously planned and engineered landscape that transformed swampy land into picturesque slopes and pathways. Central Park has since become an iconic example of urban planning, integrating natural landscapes within the city for ecological preservation and public enjoyment.