1998年英语专业四级真题听力原文本(听写)
DICTATION
The Railway in Britain
The success of early railways, such as the lines between big cities, /led to a great increase in railway building in Victorian times. /Between 1835 and 1865, about 25 thousand kilometers of track were built, /and over 100 railway companies were created./
Railway travel transformed people's lives. /Trains were first designed to can-y goods. /However, a law in the 19th century forced railway companies to run one cheap train a day, /which stopped at every station and cost only a penny a mile. /Soon working class passengers found they could afford to travel by rail. /Cheap day excursion trains became popular and seaside resorts grew rapidly. /The railways also provided thousands of new jobs, /building carriages, running the railways, and repairing the tracks./ Railways even changed the time. /The need to run railways on time meant the local time was abolished / and clocks showed the same time all over the country.