the work of the railroad pioneers in america became the basis for a great surge of railroad building halfway through the nineteenth century that linked the nation together as never before. railroads eventually became the nations number one transportation system, and remained so until the construction of the interstate highway system halfway through the twentieth century. they were of crucial importance in stimulating economic expansion, but their influence reached beyond the economy and was pervasive in american society at large.
by 1804, english as well as american inventors had experimented with steam engines for moving land vehicles. in 1920, john stevens ran a locomotive and cars around in a circular track on his new jersey estate, which the public saw as an amusing toy. and in 1825, after opening a short length of track, the stockton to darlington railroad in england became the first line to carry general traffic. american businesspeople, especially those in the atlantic coastal region who looked for better communication with the west, quickly became interested in the english experiment. the first company in america to begin actual operations was the baltimore and ohio, which opened a thirteen- mile length of track in 1830. it used a team of horses to pull a train of passenger carriages and freight wagons along the track. steam locomotive power didnt come into regular service until two years later.
however, for the first decade or more, there was not yet a true railroad system. even the longest of the lines was relatively short in the 1830s, and most of them served simply to connect water routes to each other, not to link one railroad to another. even when two lines did connect, the tracks often differed in width, so cars from one line couldnt fit onto tracks of the next line. schedules were unreliable and wrecks were frequent. significantly, however, some important developments during the 1830s and 1840s included the introduction of heavier iron rails, more flexible and powerful locomotives, and passenger cars were redesigned to become more stable, comfortable, and larger. by the end of 1830 only 23 miles of track had been laid in the country. but by 1936, more than 1,000 miles of track had been laid in eleven states, and within the decade, almost 3,000 miles had been constructed. by that early age, the united states had already surpassed great britain in railroad construction, and particularly from the mid-1860s, the late nineteenth century belonged to the railroads.
1 the word stimulating in line 5 is closest in meaning to
(a) helping
(b) changing
(c) promoting
(d) influencing
2 the word their in line 6 refers to
(a) railroad pioneers
(b) railroads
(c) the interstate highway system
(d) american society
3 which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
(a) the united states regarded great britain as a competitor in developing the most efficient railroad system
(b) steam locomotive power was first used in 1832
(c) american businessmen saw railroads as a threat to established businesses
(d) steam locomotives replaced horses because of the distances across the country the author concludes that for the first decade or more, there was not yet a true railroad system because
(a) passenger cars were not stable, comfortable or large
(b) locomotives were not powerful enough
(c) schedules were unreliable and wrecks were frequent
(d) lines were relatively short and not usually linked
SAT阅读答题策略
SAT阅读考试答题方法一个
SAT阅读填空题常见易混词汇20个
SAT阅读备考要根据考试特点
SAT阅读真题之单篇短阅读解析
SAT阅读高分需要的技能
SAT阅读真题考什么?
突破SAT填空题的常用技巧
SAT阅读完成句子题答题方法
SAT阅读真题文章分类
SAT阅读技巧和步骤
SAT阅读考试特点三个
SAT阅读常见重要词汇
SAT阅读主要题型解答方法
SAT阅读考试策略三个
SAT阅读题型分类总结
提高SAT阅读成绩需要抓住主题
6道SAT填空题真题
如何找到SAT阅读关键词?
SAT阅读备考建议
SAT阅读真题文章类型
SAT阅读填空题备考要点
SAT填空题高分攻略
SAT阅读高分备考方案
SAT阅读答题的规律
SAT阅读真题小说节选
如何提高SAT阅读能力?
2014年10月5日SAT官方每日一题---阅读
SAT阅读高分经验
SAT阅读填空题答题技巧五个
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |