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Hard: Upper intermediate level and above, B2 and above 

Introduction

Read the article and answer the questions below. To listen to this article, click here for an audio download.

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1      "The railway that got the world on track." On the 27 September 1825, crowds gathered in a small market town in north-east England to witness something that had not been seen before – a train carrying passengers for the first time. It had taken eight hours to travel 48km – around the speed of an average cyclist – but this steam locomotive was a pioneer in the development of modern railways and changed the world forever as rail spread across the globe.

2      2025 marks 200 years of passenger trains, and the UK is celebrating this milestone with Railway 200 – a year-long programme of events. From guided walking tours along old, abandoned rail routes, to competitions and careers events. Railway 200 organisers have also designed a travelling exhibition on a special train that will criss-cross the UK for 12 months. Admission to the train is free and there are four carriages, each with a different theme. These include a carriage with hands-on, interactive activities which invite people to test their engineering skills. Emma Roberts, Railway 200 organiser, said it is an "unforgettable experience" for visitors.

3  Also celebrating this bicentennial is Tom Chesshyre, train enthusiast and author of 'Slow Trains Around Britain'. Among what attracts him to train travel is that you can see places off the beaten track out the train window, and you can relax and read a book without worrying about traffic jams. Tom's favourite slow train ride is from Inverness, in the middle of Scotland, to the most northerly station in the whole of the UK in Thurso through "a kind of desolate landscape". Tom says, "You feel like you're taking a train and disappearing from modern life, leaving it behind." The route Tom crowned 'most picturesque' was a short journey from St Erth in Cornwall to St Ives which travels along a clifftop with the beach down below.

4  Train travel has come a long way since 1825. Today, trains are more efficient and better connected than ever. From the Eurostar, which connects London to mainland Europe through a tunnel under the English Channel, to high-speed routes in Japan and China, the world is on the move.

Questions

1.   Match the heading to the paragraph. 

Paragraph 1 ________
Paragraph 2 ________
Paragraph 3 ________
Paragraph 4 ________

a. Nationwide celebrations
b. Trains in modern times
c. The train that changed the world
d. Train museums
e. Rail travel in Asia
f. Train route recommendations

2.    Choose the correct option based on the content of the article.

1. What happened on 27 September 1825?
a. The first train travelled across the UK.
b. The first passenger train journey took place.
c. A train carried goods for the first time.

2. The writer of the text thinks the first passenger train was…
a. cheap.
b. slow.
c. boring.

3. Railway 200 have organised events just for schools and families.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

4. Tom Chesshyre says the most picturesque slow train route is in Scotland.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

5. The Eurostar is a train which crosses a body of water.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

3.    Use the words from the list to complete the summary of the article.

The first train to carry passengers travelled in 1825. It was a 1) ________. This was a huge 2) ________ in British history as it connected communities and improved people's lives. Since then, the modern railway allows people to see places which are 3) ________ and far from civilisation, without sitting in traffic. If you're a train travel 4) ________, why not take a train and 5) ________ round all the parts of the UK?

off the beaten track
hands-on
bicentennial
enthusiast
criss-cross 
milestone
steam locomotive

Vocabulary

on track
making progress  

steam locomotive
a vehicle powered by steam

milestone
an important event in the development of some part of history  

criss-cross
travel from one side of something to the other, and back again  

hands-on
involving active participation    

bicentennial
200th anniversary

enthusiast
a person who is very interested in a particular subject  

off the beaten track
in a place far away from roads or paths, where not many people go   

desolate
empty of inhabitants  

picturesque
(of a place) beautiful, resembling a picture   

Answers

1.    Match the heading to the paragraph.

Paragraph 1 c) The train that changed the world
Paragraph 2 a) Nationwide celebrations
Paragraph 3 f) Train route recommendations
Paragraph 4 b) Trains in modern times

2.    Choose the correct option based on the content of the article.

1. b.On the 27 September 1825, crowds gathered in a small market town in north-east England to witness something that had not been seen before – a train carrying passengers for the first time.

2. b.It had taken eight hours to travel 48km –around the speed of an average cyclist. The writer includes this sentence to illustrate how slow the train was compared to modern trains. We can therefore infer that the writer thinks the train was slow. 

3. c.Not given. Railway 200 have organised events, but who the events are for is not mentioned. 

4. b. False.The route Tom crowned ‘most picturesque’ was a short journey from St Erth in Cornwall to St Ives.

5. a.True.From the Eurostar, which connects London to mainland Europe through a tunnel under the English Channel.

3.    Use the words from the list to complete the summary of the article. 

The first train to carry passengers travelled in 1825. It was a steam locomotive. This was a huge milestone in British history as it connected communities and improved people's lives. Since then, the modern railway allows people to see places which are off the beaten track and far from civilisation, without sitting in traffic. If you're a train travel enthusiast, why not take a train and criss-cross round all the parts of the UK?

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