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8.The writer says that the curret Australian cricket team …..
have better facilities than other teams
are the best team in the world at the moment
are losing their dominant position in the sports
are a team other teams don’t like to play.
9. The process of professionalism …..
has made the sport more popular
has made cricket more difficult to understand
has raised the standard of the sport
has required its participation to be braver.
10. Whom is the text aimed at?
Amateur cricketers
Cricket fans
Newcomers to cricket
People who don’t like cricket.
Part 2
Questions 11-20 are based on the following text.
South-East Asia on Track with Mass Transit Railways
A number of cities, including Toronto and Vancouver, are constructing mass transit railways in an attempt to overcome the inadequate road systems, where simple travelling five blocks can take over an hour. In this article, we take a look at this form of transport in three South-East Asian cities: Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore
Bangkok is a thriving city with a population of six million and a further two million who travel into the city every day. Well-known for the terrible daily traffic jams, the Thai government desperately needed a transport system that would reduce pressure on the already busy roads. In 1992, city administrators embarked upon the Sky Train project, notable for several reasons.
First of all, the government was reluctant to invest public funds in the huge project (around $1.7 billion), so private investment had to be found. In the end, a conglomerate including Siemens and the Italian-Thai Construction Company won the contract but in 1997, when the Asian economic crisis hit, the whole enterprise nearly collapsed when nervous investors wanted to pull the plug. A second major issue was the actual construction, which was taking place in the middle of the road and, whilst accidents were rare, a taxi driver was killed when a beam fell from one of the viaducts. Construction was stopped for two months and stricter safety rules were implemented. A further difficulty involved personnel who all had to be trained from scratch.
Yet despite all these problems, the Sky Train opened ahead of schedule. Now, though, there is a further challenge for the operators: persuading the people to use the system. Compared to the buses, tickets are not particularly cheap. In order to pay the debt, the operators need to aim for a minimum of 680,000 trips a day which presents a real marketing challenge. And the Sky Train is only the first part of an ambitious plan: a further 240 kilometres of track, including an underground portion, is already in the pipeline.
Private investment in the rail system proved to be an unsuccessful approach for Malaysia, whose government was forced to take over the finances of Kuala Lumpur’s mass transit system in 2001.Although construction had already been completed, severe financial problems hit the companies responsible for the transit system. Now, the government has arranged a $5.5 billion bond to buy the assets, which will then be leased back to the companies.
The Light Rail Transit (LRT) system has 24 stations and is a combination of tunnel and elevated track, designed to avoid impacting on existing roads. At present, around 10,000 people ride the train daily, but the target figure is 30,000. Safety and automation feature heavily: the trains are driverless, the signalling is fully automated and it is able to provide a service level of 90 seconds between trains during peak hours. In terms of safety, passengers can communicate directly with the control centre from two-way phones and every platform has emergency buttons and CCTV cameras. There is even an ‘intrusion detection system’ which can detect when passengers get too close to the moving trains or tracks. As well as extending the system, the government is looking at introducing an integrated ticketing system for buses and LRT as well as merging six competing bus services.
Adding to Singapore’s existing Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) is the new North East Line: a $2.6 billion, 20-kilometreunderground system which was opened in 2003 by the state’s Land Transport Authority. The line, including the stations, is fully automatic. It can carry 40,000 people per hour in each direction without anyone operating the trains or opening the doors at the station. Like the Malaysian system, an operating time of 90 seconds can be achieved during peak times, although currently, trains reach the stations every three minutes.
A concept that is being explored is the use of ‘multi-modal’ stations. These would incorporate bus stations, MRT interchange stations, residential developments and retail space. This would allow total integration of
transport systems as well as ease of transfer and should be in place by 2008. For a small country like Singapore, encouraging the community to use public transport instead of cars makes nothing but sense.
11. The Thai government did not want to
use foreign investment for a mass transit railway.
rely on private investment.
build a mass transit railway.
spend public money on a mass transit railway.
12.What serious problem was there during the Sky Train's construction?
Workers were injured.
It caused significant traffic delays.
A motorist was killed.
Workers disregarded safety procedures.
13.When did the Sky Train open?
before the due date.
on the due date.
after the due date.
The passage doesn't say.
14.The biggest problem the Sky Train faces now is that
it isn't very popular.
too many people use it every day.
the underground section of the network still needs to be finished.
investors have withdrawn funds from the project.
15.When did the Malaysian government put money into the LRT project?
before it was built.
while it was being built.
after it was built.
It was paid for completely using private investment.
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