問題詳情

Questions 40-50At the turn of the twentieth century, Americans who wished to travel between citieseither for work or for pleasure had limited options. The steam railroad offered the best,the most reliable and the fastest means of transport. Electric railways (trams and trolleys)Line provided reasonable intraurban and short-distance intercity travel They also offered some5 longer routes, but only in certain parts of the country. Horse-drawn coaches were neithera competitive nor a comfortable alternative given the deplorable slate of the nation'shighways; and though bicycles were popular in both town and country, they, too, werehampered by poor road surfaces. It took the mass production and ownership of cars,together with increased attention to road construction, to bring the major breakthrough10 in travel in the 192Q*s. And alongside the rapid spread of the popular and individualisticauto came the slower, but significant, growth of bus transport. Not only did buses largelyreplace trams and trolleys in urban mass transit, they also opened up new avenues ofintercity travel both to those Americans who couH not afford cars and to those car ownerswho preferred to leave distance driving to others.15 No particular date marks the beginning of the American intercity bus industry becauseso many individuals were attracted to it at about the same time by the large profitsavailable to those who could cany fare-paying passengers over public highways- Theseubiquitous bus pioneers came from all walks of life. Few knew much about transport orabout business, but they were willing to take a chance on a new venture that had low entry20 costs. Frequently driving used vehicles, these drivers concentrated on local servicesoperated on a consumer-demand basis with the driver taking cash fares. There were noformal schedules or routes. People became aware of the new service by word of mouthor newspaper advertisements, but a regular commitment was not guaranteed. Bus driversfrequently did not start until they Had a full load; and those who traveled on the earlybuses were content with reaching iheir destination rather than enjoying a fast orcomfortable journey.
40, What is the main topic of the passage?
(A) The difficulties with various forms of public transportation in the 1920's
(B) The effect of poor roads on the development of rail transportation
(C) The differences between intraurban arid intercity transportation at the aim of the century
(D) The early development of bud transportation

參考答案

答案：D
難度：適中0.642857
統計：A(5),B(7),C(7),D(36),E(0)

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