How did Cardiff's 1842-1848 mortality rate compare to the UK average?

• A. Lower than UK average (20 per 1000)
• B. Higher than UK average (30 per 1000)
• C. Equal to UK average (20 per 1000)
• D. Approximately twice the UK average (40 per 1000)

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is how urban growth and living conditions in a rapidly industrializing city affected health and death rates. Cardiff in the 1840s expanded quickly as a coal port, drawing many people into crowded housing with limited sanitation. Poor water supply, foul streets, and outbreaks of diseases such as cholera hit hardest in dense urban areas, especially among children and the poor. These factors pushed Cardiff’s death rate up to about 30 per 1,000, higher than the UK average of around 20 per 1,000. This contrast shows why urban centers could be less healthy than the national picture during this period. The other options don’t fit because they’d imply Cardiff was equal to, lower than, or dramatically higher than the national rate, which isn’t supported by the typical patterns seen in industrial cities of that era.