Ⅰ.阅读理解
Transportation shapes the world: along with communications, it forms a global net that connects person to person, city to city, and country to country.Transportation routes as well as vehicles are vital to the functioning and spread of every civilisation.
A country's economy depends on reliable transportation.Cities spread out along roads, rivers, and rails；so does information. Until the 20th century, these routes were confined to land or water.With the invention of the powered flight, the air became an open road as well.The earliest way of travelling was undoubtedly by foot, and humans' earliest means of transporting goods was carrying loads on their backs or shoulders.By 4000 BC, people were using domesticated animals for transport, a method greatly improved in some parts of the world by the invention of the wheel, probably first developed around 3500 BC.
Until the 19th century, animals were the engines of land transportation.But with the invention of the steam engine and the internal combustion engine, railroads and automobiles revolutionized travel and trade.Millions of cars and trucks travel the world today.
Water transport has always been a fast and efficient mode of travel, and even today it remains a primary way of transportation of heavy goods.The importance of waterways to human civilisation can be seen on any map：almost all of the world's major cities are located on coastlines or rivers.As early as 7000 BC, people were building canoes. Until the 1950s, ships were the chief means of overseas passenger travel.
Although the Montgolfier brothers took flight in balloons in the 18th century, air travel was not practical until the invention of the powered flight by the Wright brothers in 1903.Within ten years, the commercial air transportation business began.
Since the 20th century, high-speed rail has become another convenient way of travel.By 2019, more than two-thirds of the world's operation length of high-speed rail was in China, which measured 35,000 km, and Chinese operation length of high-speed rail is expected to reach 38,000 km by 2025.
语篇解读：本文主要介绍了世界交通运输业的发展历史。人类最早的运输方式是人力运输，随着技术的进步，逐渐发展成为水运、空运、铁路运输等多位一体的综合运输体系；中国高铁的发展更为世界交通运输史增添了新的篇章。
1．What is the passage mainly about?
A．Technological advancements in transport over time.
B．The influence of economic activities on transportation.
C．The relationship between transportation and the information flow.
D．Reasons why land and sea transportation routes were important.
解析：选A 主旨大意题。通读全文可知，文章主要介绍了世界交通运输业的发展历史，故A项正确。
2．Why does the writer mention the location of the world's major cities?
A．To encourage more people to move to big cities.
B．To explain why boats and ships continue to be irreplaceable.
C．To recommend water transport as a convenient and cheap form of transportation.
D．To emphasize the contribution of water transport to human development.
解析：选D 写作意图题。根据第四段内容可知，水运一直是一种快捷高效的旅行方式，即使在今天，它仍然是重型货物的主要运输方式；水路对人类文明的重要性可以在任何地图上看到：几乎世界上所有的主要城市都位于海岸线或河畔。据此可知，作者提及世界主要城市的位置是为了强调水运对人类的发展作出的贡献，故D项正确。
3．What was the total operation length of high-speed rail in the world by 2019?
A．About 57,000kms. B．About 52,500kms.
C．About 38,000kms. D．About 35,000kms.
解析：选B 细节理解题。根据本文尾句可知，截至2019年，世界上超过三分之二的高速铁路运营里程在中国，其运营里程达到3.5万千米。据此可以推算出截至2019年世界高铁运营里程约为5.25万千米，故B项正确。
