Cambridge IELTS Academic 17
TEST 19
Questions 1-6
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes
1-6
on your answer sheet, write
TRUE
if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE
if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN
if there is no information on this
1
Many Madagascan forests are being destroyed by attacks from insects.
2
Loss of habitat has badly affected insectivorous bats in Madagascar.
3
Ricardo Rocha has carried out studies of bats in different parts of the world.
4
Habitat modification has resulted in indigenous bats in Madagascar becoming
useful to farmers.
5
The Malagasy mouse-eared bat is more common than other indigenous bat species
in Madagascar.
6
Bats may feed on paddy swarming caterpillars and grass webworms.
44
TEST 20 READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on
Questions 7-13
which are based on
Reading Passage 1 below.
[Note: This is an extract from READING PASSAGE 1 about The
development of the London underground railway]
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 to 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.
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