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  1. General Overview

    General Overview of IELTS Reading Section
  2. IELTS Academic reading structure
  3. IELTS General reading structure
  4. IELTS Reading scores
  5. A step by step guide to improve Reading Skills
  6. Question Types in IELTS Reading
    Question Types in IELTS Reading Exam
  7. Master Note Taking question on IELTS Reading
  8. Matching Heading question on IELTS Reading section
  9. Matching Features question on IELTS Reading
  10. True / False / Not Given question on IELTS Reading section
  11. Summary Completion question on IELTS Reading
  12. Table completion question on IELTS Reading section
  13. Flow Chart Completion Question in IELTS Reading section
  14. Academic Reading Tests
    IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 1
    3 Exams
  15. IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 2
    3 Exams
  16. IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 3
    3 Exams
  17. IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 4
    3 Exams
  18. IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 5
    3 Exams
  19. IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 6
    3 Exams
  20. IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 7
    3 Exams
  21. IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 8
    3 Exams
  22. IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 9
    3 Exams
  23. IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 10
    3 Exams
  24. IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 11
    3 Exams
  25. IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 12
    3 Exams
  26. General Training Reading Tests
    IELTS General Reading Practice Test 1
    3 Exams
  27. IELTS General Reading Practice Test 2
    1 Exam
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Exam 7 of 40

The development of the London underground railway Reading Passage

The development of the London underground railway Reading test with answers and explanation

A new IELTS Reading Academic test passage 1 from Cambridge IELTS 17 Reading test 3 “The development of the London underground railway” Reading answers with location.

In this IELTS Reading exam, you will find The development of the London underground railway reading answers with location

The development of the London underground railway IELTS reading test with answer keys
The development of the London underground railway IELTS reading test with answer keys

In the answer tab, you can find The development of the London underground railway reading answers with location

READING PASSAGE 1

Questions

Passage

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

The development of the London underground railway

In the first half of the 1800s, London’s population grew at an astonishing rate, and the central area became increasingly congested. In addition, the expansion of the overground railway network resulted in more and more passengers arriving in the capital. However, in 1846, a Royal Commission decided that the railways should not be allowed to enter the City, the capital’s historic and business centre. The result was that the overground railway stations formed a ring around the City. The area within consisted of poorly built, overcrowded slums and the streets were full of horse-drawn traffic. Crossing the City became a nightmare. It could take an hour and a half to travel 8 km by horse-drawn carriage or bus. Numerous schemes were proposed to resolve these problems, but few succeeded.

Amongst the most vocal advocates for a solution to London’s traffic problems was Charles Pearson, who worked as a solicitor for the City of London. He saw both social and economic advantages in building an underground railway that would link the overground railway stations together and clear London slums at the same time. His idea was to relocate the poor workers who lived in the inner-city slums to newly constructed suburbs, and to provide cheap rail travel for them to get to work. Pearson’s ideas gained support amongst some businessmen and in 1851 he submitted a plan to Parliament. It was rejected, but coincided with a proposal from another group for an underground connecting line, which Parliament passed.

The two groups merged and established the Metropolitan Railway Company in August 1854. The company’s plan was to construct an underground railway line from the Great Western Railway’s (GWR) station at Paddington to the edge of the City at Farringdon Street – a distance of almost 5 km. The organisation had difficulty in raising the funding for such a radical and expensive scheme, not least because of the critical articles printed by the press. Objectors argued that the tunnels would collapse under the weight of traffic overhead, buildings would be shaken and passengers would be poisoned by the emissions from the train engines. However, Pearson and his partners persisted.

The GWR, aware that the new line would finally enable them to run trains into the heart of the City, invested almost £250,000 in the scheme. Eventually, over a five-year period, £1m was raised. The chosen route ran beneath existing main roads to minimise the expense of demolishing buildings. Originally scheduled to be completed in 21 months, the construction of the underground line took three years. It was built just below street level using a technique known as ‘cut and cover’. A trench about ten metres wide and six metres deep was dug, and the sides temporarily help up with timber beams. Brick walls were then constructed, and finally a brick arch was added to create a tunnel. A two-metre-deep layer of soil was laid on top of the tunnel and the road above rebuilt.

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.

Now start to answer “Could urban engineers learn from dance” questions. You will have 20 minutes to answer questions 1 to 13.

You can download answers as a pdf file from here:

The development of the London underground railway IELTS reading Questions

The development of the London underground railway Reading Passage answers with location

Questions Answers
1 population
2 suburbs
3 businessmen
4 funding
5 press
6 soil
7 FALSE
8 NOT GIVEN
9 TRUE
10 TRUE
11 FALSE
12 FALSE
13 NOT GIVEN

The development of the London underground railway Reading Passage answers explanations

Question 1 Explanation

Question: The 1___________ of London increased rapidly between 1800 and 1850.

Comparing with the phrase in the question and the reading passage, we have:

  • The population of London ⇔ London’s population
  • Increased rapidly ⇔ grew at an astonishing rate
  • between 1800 and 1850 ⇔ In the first half of the 1800s

Correct Answer: population

Question 2 Explanation

Question: Building the railway would make it possible to move people to better housing in the 2_________.

Comparing with the phrase in the question and the reading passage , we have:

  • People ⇔ poor workers
  • Better housing ⇔ newly constructed
  • Move people to better housing in the suburbs ⇔ relocate poor workers to newly constructed suburbs

Correct Answer: suburbs

Question 3 Explanation

Question: A number of 3_________  agreed with Pearson’s idea.

Comparing with the phrase in the question and the reading passage , we have:

  • A number of businessmen ⇔ some businessmen
  • Agreed with ⇔ support
  • Pearson’s idea ⇔ Pearson’s ideas

Correct Answer: businessmen

Question 4 Explanation

Question: The company initially had problems getting the 4 _________ needed for the project Comparing with the phrase in the question and the passage , we have: The company ⇔ The organisation

  • Had problems ⇔ had difficulties
  • Getting the funding ⇔ raising the funding
  • The project ⇔ scheme

Correct Answer: funding

Question 5 Explanation

Question: Negative articles about the project appeared in the _________ 

Comparing with the phrase in the question and the reading passage , we have:

  • Negative articles ⇔ critical articles
  • Appeared in the press ⇔ printed by the press

Correct Answer: press

Question 6 Explanation

Question: With the completion of the brick arch, the tunnel was covered with _________ 

Comparing with the phrase in the question and the reading passage , we have:

  • The tunnel ⇔ the tunnel
  • was covered with soil  ⇔ soil was laid on top of

Correct Answer: soil

Question 7 Explanation

Question: Other countries had built underground railways before the Metropolitan line opened.

Comparing with the phrase in the question and the reading passage , we have:

  • Metropolitan line = Metropolitan line
  • Other countries had built underground railways before # the world’s first underground railway

Correct Answer: False

Question 8 Explanation

Question: More people than predicted travelled on the Metropolitan line on the first day.

Comparing the clusters in the question with the passage , we have:

  • More people than predicted => the reading has no information.

Correct Answer: Not Given

Question 9 Explanation

Quesion: The use of ventilation shafts failed to prevent pollution in the tunnels.

Comparing the clusters in the question with the passage , we have:

  • ventilation shafts <=> ventilation shafts
  • pollution <=> smoke and fumes
  • failed to prevent <=> remained a problem

Correct Answer: True

Question 10 Explanation

Question: A different approach from the ‘cut and cover’ technique was required in London’s central area.

Comparing the clusters in the question with the passage , we have:

  • A different approach <=> alternative

Correct Answer: True

Question 11 Explanation

Question: The windows on City & South London trains were at eye level.

Comparing the clusters in the question with the passage , we have:

  • trains <=> carriages
  • at eye level # below the roof

Correct Answer: False

Question 12 Explanation

Question: The City & South London Railway was a financial success.

Comparing the clusters in the question with the passage , we have:

  • financial success # did not make a profit

Correct Answer: False

Question 13 Explanation

Question: Trains on the ‘Tuppenny Tube’ nearly always ran on time.

Comparing the clusters in the question with the passage , we have:

  • nearly always ran on time => the reading has no information.

Looking in the text, we see that ‘Tuppenny Tube’ appears at the end of the article, we will read it carefully from here until the end. However, information nearly always ran on time not appear

Correct Answer: Not Given

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