lesson : Overland transport in the United States . Listen, understand and answer.

lesson : Overland transport in the United States . Listen, understand and answer.

Overland transport in the United States was still extremely primitive in 1790. Roads were few and short, usually extending from inland communities to the nearest river town or seaport. Nearly all interstate commerce was carried out by sailing ships that served the Line bays and harbors of the seaboard. Yet, in 1790 the nation was on the threshold of a new era of road development. Unable to finance road construction, states turned for help to private companies, organized by merchants and land speculators who had a personal interest in improved communications with the interior. The pioneer in this move was the state of Pennsylvania, which chartered a company in 1792 to construct a turnpike, a road for the use of which a toll, or payment, is collected, from Philadelphia to Lancaster. The legislature gave the company the authority to erect tollgates at points along the road where payment would be collected, though it carefully regulated the rates. The states had unquestioned authority to regulate private business in this period.) The company built a gravel road within two years, and the success of the Lancaster Pike encouraged imitation. Northern states generally relied on private companies to build their toll roads, but Virginia constructed a network at public expense. Such was the road building fever that by 1810 New York alone had some 1,500 miles of turnpikes extending from the Atlantic to Lake Erie. Transportation on these early turnpikes consisted of freight carrier wagons and passenger stagecoaches. The most common road freight carrier was the Conestoga wagon, a vehicle developed in the mid-eighteenth century by German immigrants in the area around Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It featured large, broad wheels able to negotiate all but the deepest ruts and holes, and its round bottom prevented the freight from shifting on a hill. Covered with canvas and drawn by four to six horses, the Conestoga wagon rivaled the log cabin as the primary symbol of the frontier. Passengers traveled in a variety of stagecoaches, the most common of which had four benches, each holding three persons. It was only a platform on wheels, with no springs; slender poles held up the top, and leather curtains kept out dust and rain.

Transportasi darat di Amerika Serikat
masih sangat primitif pada tahun 1790. Jalannya yang sedikit dan pendek, biasanya membentang dari pedalaman ke kota melalui sungai atau pelabuhan terdekat. Hampir semua perdagangan antarnegara dilakukan oleh kapal layar yang melayani Teluk dan pelabuhan di pesisir. Namun, pada tahun 1790 bangsa ini berada di gerbang era baru pembangunan jalan. Ketidakmampuan membiayai pembangunan jalan, negara meminta bantuan kepada perusahaan swasta, yang diselenggarakan oleh pedagang dan makelar tanah yang memiliki kepentingan pribadi dalam meningkatkan komunikasi dengan pihak lain. Pelopor dalam langkah ini adalah negara bagian Pennsylvania, yang menyewa sebuah perusahaan pada tahun 1792 untuk membangun jalan raya berbayar, jalan yang digunakan untuk tol, atau gerbang pembayaran, yang dihubungkan dari Philadelphia ke Lancaster. Badan legislatif memberikan wewenang kepada perusahaan untuk mendirikan gerbang tol di titik-titik di sepanjang jalan di mana pembayaran akan ditagihkan, meskipun dengan hati-hati mengatur tarifnya. (Negara bagian memiliki wewenang yang tidak diragukan lagi untuk mengatur bisnis wilayyahnya pada periode ini.) Perusahaan membangun jalan berkerikil dalam waktu dua tahun, dan keberhasilan Lancaster Pike mendorong peniruan. Negara bagian utara umumnya mengandalkan perusahaan swasta untuk membangun jalan tol mereka, tetapi Virginia membangun jaringan dengan biaya publik. Begitulah demam pembangunan jalan sehingga pada tahun 1810 New York saja memiliki sekitar 1.500 mil jalan raya yang membentang dari Atlantik ke Danau Erie. Transportasi di jalan tol awal ini terdiri dari kereta pengangkut barang dan kereta penumpang. Angkutan yang paling umum adalah kereta Conestoga, kendaraan yang dikembangkan pada pertengahan abad kedelapan belas oleh imigran Jerman di daerah sekitar Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Kendaraan ini menggunakan roda besar dan lebar yang mampu melewati semua jenis lintasan kecuali bekas roda dan lubang yang dalam, dan bagian bawahnya berbentuk bundar yang mencegah barang bergeser di atas bukit. Ditutupi dengan kanvas dan ditarik oleh empat hingga enam kuda, kereta Conestoga bersaing dengan kabin kayu sebagai simbol utama perbatasan. Penumpang bepergian dengan berbagai kereta , yang paling umum memiliki empat banjar bangku, masing-masing menampung tiga orang. Kendaraan itu hanya papan tebal di atas roda, tanpa pegas; tiang-tiang ramping menopang bagian atas, dan tirai kulit menahan debu dan hujan.

Check your comprehension by answering the questions below :
1. Paragraph 1 discusses early road building in the United States mainly in terms of the.
(A) popularity of turnpikes.
(B) financing of new roads.
(C) development of the interior.
(D) laws governing road use.
2. The word “primitive” in line 1 is closest in meaning to.
(A) unsafe.
(B) unknown.
(C) inexpensive.
(D) undeveloped
3. In 1790 most roads connected towns in the interior of the country with.
(A) other inland communities.
(B) towns in other states.
(C) river towns or seaports.
(D) construction sites.
4. The phrase “on the threshold of” in line 4 and 5 is closest in meaning to.
(A) in need of.
(B) in place of.
(C) at the start Of.
(D) with the purpose of.
5. According to the passage, why did states want private companies to help with road building?.
(A) The states could not
afford to build roads themselves.
(B) The states were not as well equipped as private companies.
(C) Private companies could complete roads faster than
the states.
(D) Private companies had greater knowledge of the interior.
6. The word “it” in line 11 refers to.
(A) legislature.
(B) company.
(C) authority.
(D) payment.
7. The word “imitation” in line 14 is closest in meaning to.
(A) investment.
(B) suggestion.
(C) increasing.
(D) copying.
8. Virginia is mentioned as an example of a state that.
(A) built roads without tollgates.
(B) built roads with government money.
(C) completed 1,500 miles of turnpikes in one year.
(D) introduced new law restricting road use.
9. The “large, broad wheels” of the Conestoga wagon are mentioned in line 21 as an example of a feature of wagons that was.
(A) unusual in mid-eighteenth century vehicles.
(B) first found in Germany.
(C) effective on roads with uneven surfaces.
(D) responsible for frequent damage to freight