By 1939, how many cinema tickets were sold per week?

By 1939, how many cinema tickets were sold per week?

• A. 12 million
• B. 18 million
• C. 23 million
• D. 30 million

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is the scale of cinema’s popularity in the late 1930s. By 1939, cinema had become a mass leisure activity, with a weekly audience running into the tens of millions. About 23 million tickets sold per week shows just how widespread going to the movies had become—families and individuals could afford a regular night out, and cinemas were plentiful and central to weekly leisure. This level of attendance reflects the strong appeal of films, the advent of sound cinema, and the social habit of making cinema a staple part of entertainment before the war. The other figures would understate or overstate how common film-going was at the time, making 23 million the best match for the era.

The main idea here is the scale of cinema’s popularity in the late 1930s. By 1939, cinema had become a mass leisure activity, with a weekly audience running into the tens of millions. About 23 million tickets sold per week shows just how widespread going to the movies had become—families and individuals could afford a regular night out, and cinemas were plentiful and central to weekly leisure. This level of attendance reflects the strong appeal of films, the advent of sound cinema, and the social habit of making cinema a staple part of entertainment before the war. The other figures would understate or overstate how common film-going was at the time, making 23 million the best match for the era.