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

　　The early passenger coaches were uncomfortable because of their inadequate springs, hard seats, poor lights, and even poorer heating. Crude coupler, consisting of links with various types of iron bars and pins, were used to attach one coach to another. Brakes also were very unsatisfactory. This could result in an unpleasant experience for the passengers because of the assorted jerks and bounces as each car bumped into the one ahead. There were no signal lights, either of green or of red, to guide the train crews on their way. Various kinds of peculiar accidents could happen. On one occasion a railroad extended its roadbed over the bay of a lake by using a wooden bridge erected on wooden piling. In the spring when the ice went out of the lake some of the moving ice pushed the bridge down, causing the railroad to suspend operations temporarily. At one time or another, most communities were anxious to be served by the iron horse. Farmers and villagers frequently pooled their savings to invest in railroads that might come their way. Sometimes the schemes of the railroad builders were successful, causing infant communities to grow into cities, creating factory towns, and bringing prosperity to the citizens. More often the schemes failed, and the communities concerned frequently stood still or declined.

　　The expansion of railroads across the western part of the nation and the completion of the transcontinental lines were made very attractive by the national Congress. Huge grants of land were given by our government to the railroads to encourage them to build tracks. During one period of 21 years more than 1,500,000 acres of land were given to railroads. These land gifts made it possible for the railroads to be built, caused hundreds of western communities to be born and to grow, and sometimes brought great profits to those who owned the railroads. In the ten years between 1840 and 1850, over 6,000 additional miles of track were laid, bringing the total to 9,021 miles.