摘要： 阅读理解Transportation shapes the world: along with communications, it forms a global net that connects person to person, city to city, and country to country.
Transportation shapes the world: along with communications, it forms a global net that connects person to person, city to city, and country to country. Transportation routes as well as vehicles are vital to the functioning and spread of every civilization.
A country’s economy depends on reliable transportation. Cities spread out along roads, rivers, and rails, so does information. Until the 20th century, these routes were confined to land or water. With the invention of powered flight, the air became an open road as well. The earliest way of traveling was undoubtedly by foot, and humans’ earliest means of transporting goods was carrying loads on their back or head. By 4000 B.C., people were using domesticated animals for transport, a method greatly improved in some parts of the world by the invention of the wheel, probably first developed around 3500 B.C..
Until the 19th century, animals were the engines of land transportation. But with the invention of the steam engine and the internal combustion engine, railroads and automobiles revolutionized travel and trade. More than 600 million cars and trucks travel the world today.
Water has always been a fast and efficient mode of travel, and even today it remains a primary mover of heavy goods. The importance of waterways to human civilization can be seen on any map: almost all of the world’s major cities are located on coastlines or rivers. As early as 7000 B.C., people were building canoes; long-distance ships were common by 3000 B.C. Until the 1950s, ships were the chief means of overseas passenger travel.
Although the Montgolfier brothers took flight in balloons in the 18th century, air travel was not practical until the invention of powered flight by the Wright brothers in 1903. Within ten years, the commercial air transportation business had begun.
Since the 20th century, high-speed rail has become another convenient way of travel. Today, two-thirds of the world’s high-speed rail track is in China, which measures nearly 30,000 kms, and this is expected to reach 38,000 kms by 2025.
8. What is the passage mainly about?
A. Technological advancements in transport over time.
B. The influence of economic activities on transportation.
C. The relationship between transportation and information flows.
D. Reasons why land and sea transportation routes were important.
9. Why does the writer mention the location of the world’s major cities?
A. To encourage more people to move to big cities.
B. To explain why boats and ships continue to be irreplaceable.
C. To recommend water as a convenient and cheap form of transportation.
D. To emphasize the contribution of water transport to human development.
10. What can we learn about air travel?
A. Balloons used to be one popular way of air travel.
B. The Montgolfier brothers invented powered flight.
C. The invention of airplanes helped popularize air travel.
D. Air travel became widespread soon after the balloon was invented.
11. What is the total length of high-speed rail track in the world today?
A. About 57,000 kms. B. About 45,000 kms.
C. About 38,000 kms. D. About 30,000 kms.
【答案】8. A 9. D 10. C 11. B
【解析】
