首页
登录
职称英语
THE TRANSPORTATION REVOLUTION1 By the close of the eighteent
THE TRANSPORTATION REVOLUTION1 By the close of the eighteent
游客
2024-01-04
63
管理
问题
THE TRANSPORTATION REVOLUTION
1 By the close of the eighteenth century, the outlines of a world economy were clearly visible.Centered in Western Europe, it included Russia, India, the East Indies, the Middle East, northern and western Africa, and the Americas.Trade had increased greatly and shipping had grown in volume and speed, connecting the markets of the world more closely than ever before.
The world market, however, was confined to the coasts and along rivers, and its effects were rarely felt a hundred miles inland.
The expansion of economic activity into the interior, and its spread throughout China, Japan, Oceania, and Africa, was a major development of the nineteenth century.It was largely accomplished through a revolution in transportation, particularly the development of the steamship, canals, and railroads.
2 Since the fifteenth century, the wooden sailing ship had been the main instrument of European economic and political expansion.Sailing ships constantly grew in carrying capacity and speed with improvements in design, and they were built of easily available materials.The age of sailing ships reached its
zenith
in the middle of the nineteenth century, the era of the great ocean-plying clippers that carried the majority of international trade.
3 Before 1850, the bulk of internal trade was carried by water.In Western Europe, there had been several attempts to supplement the excellent river network with canals.However, it was the demands of the Industrial Revolution, particularly the need to transport huge quantities of coal, that stimulated large-scale canal building in the years 1760-1850, first in Britain and then in Western Europe and the United States.The introduction of steamboats gave an additional
impetus
to river navigation and canal construction.The steamship rose in stature in the 1870s, when technical progress reduced the amount of coal the steam engine consumed.Technical innovation, along with the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, enabled the steamship to surpass the sailing ship as the chief instrument of international trade.
4 Methods of land transport continued to be slow, uncertain, and expensive until the
boom
in railroad construction at mid century.In 1840 there were 5,500 miles of rail track throughout the world; just twenty years later, there were 66,000 miles.Of these, 50 percent were in North America and 47 percent were in Europe.The rail lines built during that period served populated areas where considerable economic activity already existed, yet a global ideology of railroads gradually emerged: the belief that railroads could populate and bring wealth to undeveloped regions.
5 In Britain and the United States, private companies built hundreds of uncoordinated rail projects, but in continental Europe railroad construction became a concern of the state, which provided overall control and a large share of capital.Until 1914, the building of railroads remained the most important reason for the export of capital as well as the main method of developing new territories.British capital financed the majority of the railroads built in India, Canada, and Latin America.The U.S.transcontinental railroad played a key role in populating and developing huge tracts of land in North America, as did the Trans-Siberian Railway in Asia.
6 In the course of the nineteenth century, around 9 million square miles of land were settled in North and South America and Oceania.This was made possible by the decline in transportation costs, which greatly extended the area from which bulky products such as grains and minerals could be marketed.The introduction of
refrigeration
on railcars and steamers in the 1870s opened huge markets for meat, dairy products, and fruit in North America and Europe.The 1870s also saw the adoption of steel rails, electric signals, compressed-air brakes, and other inventions that made railroads a leading source of technical innovation in the nineteenth century.
7 In the world context, the rise of the railroad was inseparable from that of the steamship.The economic and geographic consequences of these two innovations complemented one another.Both had the effect of increasing the size of markets as well as the amount of economic activity worldwide.
Glossary:
clipper:a sailing ship that was built for great speed [br] Look at the four squares,A,B,C, and D, which indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.Where would the sentence best fit?
Railroad construction required enormous amounts of capital and was financed in diverse ways.
A In Britain and the United States, private companies built hundreds of uncoordinated
rail projects, but in continental Europe railroad construction became a concern of the state,
which provided overall control and a large share of capital.BUntil 1914, the building of railroads remained the most important reason for the export of capital as well as the main method of developing new territories.CBritish capital financed the majority of the railroads built in India, Canada, and Latin America.DThe U.S.transcontinental railroad played a key role in populating and developing huge tracts of land in North America, as did the Trans Siberian Railway in Asia.
选项
A、Square A
B、Square B
C、Square C
D、Square D
答案
A
解析
The added sentence introduces the topic of how railroad construction was financed.The rest of the paragraph develops this topic with facts and details: ...private companies...; ...a concern of the state...; British capital financed the majority of the railroads...(1.8)
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3333552.html
相关试题推荐
InConnecticut,(hundreds)ofhouses(datingfrom)theseventeenthandeighteent
Themajor(economic)activitiesofCheyenne,Wyoming,(include)transportation,
Themainpointofthepassageisthattheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturiesw
Themainpointofthepassageisthattheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturiesw
Themainpointofthepassageisthattheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturiesw
Themainpointofthepassageisthattheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturiesw
Themainpointofthepassageisthattheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturiesw
Inthenineteenthcentury,Montrealgrew(into)animportant(transportation)an
THETRANSPORTATIONREVOLUTION1Bythecloseoftheeighteent
THETRANSPORTATIONREVOLUTION1Bythecloseoftheeighteent
随机试题
Whoisprobablydeliveringthistalk?[br]Wherehavetheyjustbeen?TheGrand
Inwhatplacesistherenoneedforatip?Incoffeehousesor_________________
TheGesturalTheoryofLanguageTheinitiallanguagein
Mostofushaveformedanunrealisticpictureoflifeonadesertisland.We
质量管理活动本身的质量评价一般采用自我评价法。()
我国著作权法所称的“作品”,其特征有()等。A.是文学、艺术和科学领域内的智
点光源艺术装饰灯具嵌入式安装,顶板内由接线盒到灯具的金属软管应执行()定额。
氯乙酸AS-D萘酚酯酶是特异性酯酶,几乎仅出现在下列哪种细胞中A.粒细胞 B.
拟在天津市河西区建造一座7层的住宅楼,房屋高度22m,平面和立面均规则,采用现浇
(2019年真题)价值工程分析中,将功能按用户的需求分类,有必要功能和不必要功能
最新回复
(
0
)