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Passage 4

Those who welcomed the railway saw it as more than a rapid and comfortable means of passing. They actually saw it as afactor in world peace. They did not foresee that the railway would be just one more means for the rapid movement of aggressive armies. None of them foresaw that the more weare together-the more chances there are of war. Any boy or girl who is one of a large family knows that.

Whenever any new invention is put forward, those for it and those against it can always find medical men to approve or condemn. The anti-railway group produced doctors who said that tunnels would be most dangerous to public health: they would produce colds, catarrhs (粘膜炎) and consumptions. The deafening noise and the glare of the engine fire, would have a bad effect on the nerves. Further, being moved through the air at a high speed would do grave injury to delicate lungs. In those with high blood-pressure, the movement of the train might produce apoplexy (中風(fēng)). The sudden plunging of a train into the darkness of a tunnel, and the equally sudden rush into full daylight, would cause great damage to eyesight. But the pro-railway group was of course able to produce equally famous medical men to say just the opposite. They said that the speed and swing of the train would equalize the circulation, promote digestion, tranquilize the nerves, and ensure good sleep.

The actual rolling-stock was anything but comfortable. If it was a test of endurance to sit for four hours outside a coach in rain, or inside in dirty air, the railway offered little more in the way of comfort. Certainly the first-class carriages had cushioned seats; but the second-class had only narrow bare boards, while the third-class had nothing at all; no seats and no roof; they were just open trucks. So that third-class passengers gained nothing from the few mode except speed. In the matter of comfort, indeed they lost; they did, on the coaches, have a seat, but now they had to stand all the way, which gave opportunities to the comic (滑稽的) press. This kind of thing: A man was seen yesterday buying a third-class ticket for the new London and Birmingham Railway. The state of his mind is being enquired into.

A writer in the early days of railways wrote feelingly of both second-and third-class carriages. He made the suggestion that the directors of the railways must have sent all over the world to find the hardest possible wood. Of the open third-class trucks he said that they had the peculiar property of meeting the rain from whatever quarter it came. He described them as horizontal shower-baths, from whose searching power there was no escape.

1. All boys and girls in large families know that 　.

A)　a boy and a girl usually fight when they are together

B)　people tend to be together more than they used to be

C)　a lot of people being together makes fights likely

D)　Railway leads the world to peace

2. According to those who welcomed the railway, the railway itself should include all the following except 　.

A)　the railway enables people travel fast

B)　the railway brings comfort to people

C)　the railway makes the world peaceful

D)　the railway leads the world to war as well.

3. According to the anti-railway group, all the followings are true but 　.

A)　tunnels are dangerous to public health

B)　the noise and the glare of the engine fire may affect people's nerves

C)　the rapid speed through the air does damage to people's lungs

D)　to those with high blood-pressure, the rapid speed of the train causes them to die

4. We may safely conclude that 　.

A)　the author belongs to the anti-railway group

B)　the author belongs to the for-railway group

C)　the author speaks highly of the railway

D)　the author may never take train because of its potential dangers

5. What is the tone of this passage?

A)Practical

B)Satirical

C)Humorous

D)Exaggerated

Passage 4 答案

1.C　2.D　3.D　4.A　5.C

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（責(zé)任編輯：rhj）

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