大学英语四级阅读的200篇: Unit 41 passage 1_大学英语阅读

大学英语四级阅读的200篇: Unit 41 passage 1

　　tof about 13 miles. The famous locomotive Tom Thumb made the trip in one hour. Other experiments proved successful about the same time. The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad built tracks between Albany and Schenectady using another famous locomotive, named the De Witt Clinton , which had been built in New York State. It completed a successful trip in 1831 and at times achieved a speed of 30 miles per hour. Another notable achievement was accomplished by the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad in 1832. This railroad used still another famous locomotive named Old Ironsides , which had been built in the foundry of M. W. Baldwin at Philadelphia. It not only reached but maintained a speed of 28 mile per hour. By 1840 there were 2,818 mile of railroad tracks in the United States.

　　Most of the tracks on these early railroads were made of wood covered with strips of iron, known in some areas as Black-Snake Rails . Sometimes they would become loosened where they were joined together, and the ends would suddenly shoot up through the wooden floors of the cars. In their snake-like way they would dart or glide in some unexpected direction. It was possible for some unlucky passenger to be impaled with one of these strips. These rails were a constant menace to the safety and the lives of the people on board. Trains carried sledge-hammers to pound the rails back in shape and sometimes the iron snakes had to be sawed off.

　　The early locomotives used wood as fuel and had greedy appetites. Sometimes it seemed impossible to keep an adequate supply of dry wood on hand. Showers of sparks from the chimneys fell on the passenger, the wooden cars and bridges, and the surrounding woods, wetting frequent fires. Clouds of smoke also added to the annoyance of passengers, and sometimes boilers would burst.