2. 外语
  3. Before the mid-1860’s, the impact of the railroads in the United States was limited, in the sense that the tracks ended at the M

Before the mid-1860’s, the impact of the railroads in the United States was limited, in the sense that the tracks ended at the M

admin2010-02-17  56
问题      Before the mid-1860’s, the impact of the railroads in the United States was limited, in the sense that the tracks ended at the Missouri River, approximately the center of the country. At the point the trains turned their freight, mail, and passengers over to steamboats, wagons, and stage coaches. This meant that wagon freighting, stage-coaching, and steam-boating did not come to an end when the first train appeared; rather they became supplements or feeders. Each new "end-of-track" became a center for animal drawn or waterborne transportation. The major effect of the railroad was to shorten the distance that had to be covered by the older, slower, and more costly means. Wagon freighters continued operating throughout the 1870’s and 1880’s and into the 1890’s. Although over constantly shrinking routes, coaches and wagons continued to crisscross the West wherever the rails had not yet been laid. The beginning of a major change was foreshadowed in the later 1860’s, when the Union Pacific Railroad at last began to build westward from the Central Plains city of Omaha to meet the Central Pacific Railroad advancing eastward from California through the formidable barrier of the Sierra Nevada. Although President Abraham Lincoln signed the original Pacific Railroad bill in 1862 and a revised, financially much more generous version in 1864, little construction was completed until 1865 on the Central Pacific and 1866 on the Union Pacific. The primary reason was skepticism that a railroad built through so challenging and thinly settled a stretch of desert, mountain, and semiarid plain could pay a profit. In the words of an economist, this was a case of "premature enterprise", where not only the cost of construction but also the very high risk deterred private investment. In discussing the Pacific Railroad bill, the chair of the congressional committee bluntly stated that without government subsidy no one would undertake so unpromising a venture; yet it was a national necessity to link the East and the West together.
Which of the following is NOT true about the American transportation in the 1860’s?
选项 A、The impact of railroads was still limited.
B、Passengers and freight had to transfer from railroads to other modes of transportation to reach western destinations.
C、Wagon freighters continued operating.
D、Railroad travel was quite expensive.
答案D
解析 文中第四句提到，当时铁路并没有完全取代其它交通工具，而是作为其它传统、缓慢、成本高的交通方式的补充。因此，我们可以推断铁路旅行费用不高。
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