Almost every machine with moving parts has wheels, yet no one knows exactly when the first wheel was invented or what it was used for. We do know, however, that they existed over 5,500 years ago in ancient Asia.

The oldest known transport wheel was discovered in 2002 in Slovenia. It is over 5,100 years old. Evidence suggests that wheels for transport didn’t become popular for a while, though. This could be because animals did a perfectly good job of carrying farming tools and humans around.

But it could also be because of a difficult situation. While wheels need to roll on smooth surfaces, roads with smooth surfaces weren’t going to be constructed until there was plenty of demand for them. Eventually, road surfaces did become smoother, but this difficult situation appeared again a few centuries later. There had been no important changes in wheel and vehicle design before the arrival of modem road design.

In the mid-1700s, a Frenchman came up with a new design of road—a base layer (層) of large stones covered with a thin layer of smaller stones. A Scotsman improved on this design in the 1820s and a strong, lasting road surface became a reality. At around the same lime, metal hubs (the central part of a wheel) came into being, followed by the pneumatic tyre(充氣輪胎) in 1846. Alloy wheels were invented in 1967, sixty years after the appearance of tarmacked roads (柏油路). As wheel design took off, vehicles got faster and faster.

1.What might explain why transport wheels didn’t become popular for some time?

A.Few knew how to use transport wheels.

B.Humans carried farming tools just as well.

C.Animals were a good means of transport.

D.The existence of transport wheels was not known.

2.What do we know about road design from the passage?

A.It was easier than wheel design.

B.It improved after big changes in vehicle design.

C.It was promoted by fast-moving vehicles.

D.It provided conditions for wheel design to develop.

3.How is the last paragraph mainly developed?

A.By giving examples.

B.By making comparisons.

C.By following time order.

D.By making classifications.

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A.The beginning of road design.

B.The development of transport wheels.

C.The history of public transport.

D.The invention of fast-moving vehicles.

 

【答案】

1.C

2.D

3.C

4.B

【解析】

【語篇解讀】本文是一篇說明文,題材是車輪。全文講述了車輪的發(fā)展歷程以及道路設計對車輪發(fā)展的影響。本解

1.推理判斷題。難度:中等。根據(jù)第二段This could be because animals did a perfectly good job of carrying farming tools and humans around.(這或許是因為動物在拉運農具人們的方面做得不錯。)可知由于當時動物使用的方便讓輪子沒能夠普及。

2.推理判斷題。難度:較難。根據(jù)第3段 There had been no important changes in wheel and vehicle design before the arrival of modem road design.(在現(xiàn)代道路設計之前,輪子和交通工具的設計都沒有重大變化)。第4段接著講述了隨著道路設計的進步,各種新型的輪子(包括充氣輪胎)隨之發(fā)展,而且也促進了車輛的發(fā)展。由此可知,道路設計的發(fā)展促進了車輪的發(fā)展。

3.推理判斷題。難度:較易。根據(jù)第四段時間數(shù)字,In the mid-1700s、in the 1820s、in 1846、in 1967,只有C項符合。

4.主旨大意。難度:中等。全文講述了車輪的發(fā)展歷程以及道路設計對車輪發(fā)展的影響,故選C項。

 

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