[单项选择]The phrase "a given place" in this passage refers to（）
A. America
B. any area in the world
C. the American countryside
D. any American city

The population of a given place can grow in three ways: by extension of its borders to include nearby land and people; by natural increase — an excess of births over deaths; and by migration— an excess of in-migrants over out-migrants. Between the Civil War and the early 1900s, many cities joined nearby suburbs, thereby increasing their populations. The most notable union occurred in 1898 when New York City, which had consisted only of Manhattan, united with four surrounding boroughs and grew overnight from 1.5 million to over 3 million people. Although annexation (合并) did increase urban populations somewhat, its major effect was to enlarge the physical size of cities. As death rates declined in the late nineteenth century, the populations of most cities increased naturally, and urban birthrates also fell steadily throughout the nineteenth century. As a result, in most cases natural increase did not account for very much of any given city’s population gr
A. In the late eighteenth century, many cities in America increased in size.
B. The populations of most cities increased naturally in the nineteenth century.
C. The most important way for an urban population to grow is through natural increase.
D. The population growth of American cities was the result of both immigration and expansion.