剑桥雅思17 Test1 Passage1阅读原文及答案解析

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1剑桥雅思17 Test1 Passage1阅读原文

In the first half of the 1800s, London’s population grew at an astonishing rate, and the central area became increasingly congested. In addition, the expansion of the overground railway network resulted in more and more passengers arriving in the capital. However, in 1846, a Royal Commission decided that the railways should not be allowed to enter the City, the capital’s historic and business centre. The result was that the overground railway stations formed a ring around the City. The area within consisted of poorly built, overcrowded slums and the streets were full of horse-drawn traffic. Crossing the City became a nightmare. It could take an hour and a half to travel 8 km by horse-drawn carriage or bus. Numerous schemes were proposed to resolve these problems, but few succeeded.

Amongst the most vocal advocates for a solution to London’s traffic problems was Charles Pearson, who worked as a solicitor for the City of London. He saw both social and economic advantages in building an underground railway that would link the overground railway stations together and clear London slums at the same time. His idea was to relocate the poor workers who lived in the inner-city slums to newly constructed suburbs, and to provide cheap rail travel for them to get to work. Pearson’s ideas gained support amongst some businessmen and in 1851 he submitted a plan to Parliament. It was rejected, but coincided with a proposal from another group for an underground connecting line, which Parliament passed.

The two groups merged and established the Metropolitan Railway Company in August 1854. The company’s plan was to construct an underground railway line from the Great Western Railway’s (GWR) station at Paddington to the edge of the City at Farringdon Street – a distance of almost 5 km. The organisation had difficulty in raising the funding for such a radical and expensive scheme, not least because of the critical articles printed by the press. This article is from laokaoya website. Objectors argued that the tunnels would collapse under the weight of traffic overhead, buildings would be shaken and passengers would be poisoned by the emissions from the train engines. However, Pearson and his partners persisted.

The GWR, aware that the new line would finally enable them to run trains into the heart of the City, invested almost £250,000 in the scheme. Eventually, over a five-year period, £1m was raised. The chosen route ran beneath existing main roads to minimise the expense of demolishing buildings. Originally scheduled to be completed in 21 months, the construction of the underground line took three years. It was built just below street level using a technique known as ‘cut and cover’. A trench about ten metres wide and six metres deep was dug, and the sides temporarily held up with timber beams. Brick walls were then constructed, and finally a brick arch was added to create a tunnel. A two-metre-deep layer of soil was laid on top of the tunnel and the road above rebuilt.

The Metropolitan line, which opened on 10 January 1863, was the world’s first underground railway. On its first day, almost 40,000 passengers were carried between Paddington and Farringdon, the journey taking about 18 minutes. By the end of the Metropolitan’s first year of operation, 9.5 million journeys had been made.

Even as the Metropolitan began operation, the first extensions to the line were being authorised; these were built over the next five years, reaching Moorgate in the east of London and Hammersmith in the west. The original plan was to pull the trains with steam locomotives, using firebricks in the boilers to provide steam, but these engines were never introduced. Instead, the line used specially designed locomotives that were fitted with water tanks in which steam could be condensed. However, smoke and fumes remained a problem, even though ventilation shafts were added to the tunnels.

Despite the extension of the underground railway, by the 1880s, congestion on London’s streets had become worse. The problem was partly that the existing underground lines formed a circuit around the centre of London and extended to the suburbs, but did not cross the capital’s centre. The ‘cut and cover’ method of construction was not an option in this part of the capital. The only alternative was to tunnel deep underground.

Although the technology to create these tunnels existed, steam locomotives could not be used in such a confined space. It wasn’t until the development of a reliable electric motor, and a means of transferring power from the generator to a moving train, that the world’s first deep-level electric railway, the City & South London, became possible. The line opened in 1890, and ran from the City to Stockwell, south of the River Thames. The trains were made up of three carriages and driven by electric engines. The carriages were narrow and had tiny windows just below the roof because it was thought that passengers would not want to look out at the tunnel walls. The line was not without its problems, mainly caused by an unreliable power supply. Although the City & South London Railway was a great technical achievement, it did not make a profit. Then, in 1900, the Central London Railway, known as the ‘Tuppenny Tube’, began operation using new electric locomotives. It was very popular and soon afterwards new railways and extensions were added to the growing tube network. By 1907, the heart of today’s Underground system was in place.

2剑桥雅思17 Test1 Passage1阅读答案解析

第1题答案：population

对应原文：第1段：In the first half of the 1800s, London’s population grew at an astonishing rate

答案解析：根据between 1800 and 1850与first half of the 1800s的对应定位到第1段的第1句。题目采用所有格替换，将原文中的’s替换为of结构，由修饰关系确定答案为population。

第2题答案：suburbs

对应原文：第2段：His idea was to relocate the poor workers who lived in the inner-city slums to newly constructed suburbs

答案解析：根据上一行的人名定位到第2段，再根据move与relocate的对应定位到这句话。从空前介词in可以推断出答案应该是某个地点，由此锁定suburbs。

第3题答案：businessmen

对应原文：第2段：Pearson’s ideas gained support amongst some businessmen

答案解析：顺着上一题往下，根据Pearson’s ideas定位到这句话。空前短语a number of与some同义替换，由修饰关系确定答案为businessmen。

第4题答案：funding

对应原文：第3段：The organisation had difficulty in raising the funding for such a radical and expensive scheme

答案解析：跟之前题目相比，这道题稍微有些难度。需要根据company与organisation，problems与difficulty两组词的对应才能真正确定答案在这句话中。但只要找到这句话，从词性和句子意思很容易判断funding为正确答案。

第5题答案：press

对应原文：第3段：not least because of the critical articles printed by the press

答案解析：顺着上一题往下，根据articles定位到这句话，由题目意思锁定press为正确答案。

第6题答案：soil

对应原文：第4段：finally a brick arch was added to create a tunnel. A two-metre-deep layer of soil was laid on top of the tunnel

答案解析：根据brick arch定位到第4段的这句话。题干问的是隧道被什么所覆盖，其中cover与laid on top of对应，由此确定答案为soil。

第7题答案：FALSE

对应原文：第5段：The Metropolitan line, which opened on 10 January 1863, was the world’s first underground railway.

答案解析：文章第5段开头提到，Metropoolitan line是世界上第 一条地铁线路。可见之前并没有其他国家修建过。题干中的说法与原文相反，由此判断答案为FALSE。

第8题答案：NOT GIVEN

对应原文：第5段：On its first day, almost 40,000 passengers were carried between Paddington and Farringdon

答案解析：文章只提到第 一天有40000人乘坐Metropolitan line，之前预计的数据如何则完全找不到。题干中more than predicted属于无中生有，由此判断答案为NOT GIVEN。

第9题答案：TRUE

对应原文：第6段：smoke and fumes remained a problem, even though ventilation shafts were added to the tunnels.

答案解析：文章第6段最后一句提到，尽管增加了排气扇，但烟雾和废气仍然是个问题。可见排气扇未能解决隧道中的污染，由此判断答案为TRUE。

第10题答案：TRUE

对应原文：第7段：The ‘cut and cover’ method of construction was not an option in this part of the capital. The only alternative was to tunnel deep underground.

答案解析：第7段最后提到，cut and cover的建造方法不适用于城市中心。唯 一的替代方案文章来自老烤鸭雅思是在地下深处建造隧道。题干中different approach对应alternative，technique对应method，剩下的基本是原词，即所有信息点在原文中都能找到依据，由此判断答案为TRUE。

第11题答案：FALSE

对应原文：第8段：The carriages were narrow and had tiny windows just below the roof because it was thought that passengers would not want to look out at the tunnel walls.

答案解析：根据原文，City & South London线的窗户开在紧挨着车顶的地方。但单凭这句话我们无法判断窗户是否在视平线。需要结合后面那句话，即乘客不想看隧道墙壁才能判断答案为FALSE。

第12题答案：FALSE

对应原文：第8段：Although the City & South London Railway was a great technical achievement, it did not make a profit.

答案解析：根据原文，City & South London线并未盈利，题干中financial success的说法与此相冲突，由此判断答案为FALSE。

第13题答案：NOT GIVEN

对应原文：无

答案解析：原文完全没有提到Tuppenny Tube是否准时运营的问题，题干属于无中生有，由此确定答案为NOT GIVEN。