IV:Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions. The National Automobile Show inNew Yorkhas been one of the top auto shows in theUnited Statessince 1900. On November 3 of that year, about 8,000 people looked over the “horseless carriages.” It was the opening day and the first opportunity for the automobile industry to show off its wares to a large crowd; however, the black-tie audience treated the occasion more as a social affair than as a sales extravaganza. It was also on the first day of this show that William McKinley became the firstU.S.president to ride in a car.The automobile was not invented in theUnited States. That distinction belongs toGermany. Nikolaus Otto built the first practical internal-combustion engine there in 1876. Then, German engineer Karl Benz built what are regarded as the first modern automobiles in the mid-1880s. But theUnited Statespioneered the merchandising of the automobile. The auto show proved to be an effective means of getting the public excited about automotive products. By happenstance, the number of people at the firstNew York show equaled the entire car population of theUnited States at that time. In 1900, 10 million bicycles and an unknown number of horse-drawn carriages provided the prime means of personal transportation. Only about 4,000 cars were assembled in theUnited States in 1900, and only a quarter of those were gasoline powered. The rest ran on steam or electricity.After viewing the cars made by forty car makers, the show’s audience favored electric cars because they were quiet. The risk of a boiler explosion turned people away from steamers, and the gasoline-powered cars produced smelly fumes. The Duryea Motor Wagon Company, which launched the American auto industry in 1895, offered a fragrant additive designed to mask the smells of the naphtha that it burned. Many of the 1900 models were cumbersome—the Gasmobile, the Franklin, and the Orient, for example, steered with a tiller like a boat instead of with a steering wheel. None of them was equipped with an automatic starter.These early model cars were practically handmade and were not very dependable. They were basically toys of the well-to-do. In fact, Woodrow Wilson, then a professor atPrincetonUniversityand later President of theUnited States, predicted that automobiles would cause conflict between the wealthy and the poor. However, among the exhibitors at the 1900 show was a young engineer named Henry Ford. But before the end of the decade, he would revolutionize the automobile industry with his Model T Ford. The Model T, first produced in 1909, featured a standardized design and a streamlined method of production—the assembly line. Its lower costs made it available to the mass market.Cars at the 1900 show ranged in price from $1,000 to $1,500, or roughly $14,000 to $21,000 in today’s prices. By 1913, the Model T was selling for less than $300, and soon the price would drop even further. “I will build cars for the multitudes,” Ford said, and he kept his promise.
Câu 1: The passage implies that the audience viewed the 1900 National Automobile Show primarily as a(n)___________
A. chance to buy automobiles at low prices.
B. formal social occasion.
C. chance to invest in one of thirty-two automobile manufacturers.
D. opportunity to learn how to drive.
Câu 2: According to the passage, who developed the first modern car?
A. William McKinley
B. Nikolaus Otto
C. Henry Ford
D. Karl Benz
Câu 3: Approximately how many cars were there in the United States in 1900?
A. 4,000
B. 8,000
C. An unknown number
D. 10 million
Câu 4: The phrase “by happenstance ” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to________.
A. By design
B. Coincidentally
C. For example
D. Generally
Câu 5: Approximately how many of the cars assembled in the year 1900 were gasoline powered?
A. 1,000
B. 2,000
C. 4,000
D. 32
Câu 6: Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word “launched” in paragraph 4 _____.
A. designed
B. initiated
C. joined
D. anticipated
Câu 7: The purpose of the “additive” mentioned in paragraph 4 was to ___________
A. hide strong smells.
B. make engines run more efficiently.
C. increase the speed of cars.
D. make cars look better.
Câu 8: Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as steering with a tiller rather than with a steering wheel?
A. A Gasmobile
B. A Duryea
C. A Franklin
D. An Orient
Câu 9: It is clear from the passage that the early cars___________
A. were more formal.
B. involved less expensive cars.
C. involved fewer manufacturers.
D. were more spectacular.
Câu 10: What was the highest price asked for a car at the 1900 National Automobile Show in the dollars of that time?
A. $300
B. $21,000
C. $14,000
D. $1,500
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