Chinese
Reading A
China Railway Development
Moreover, China now boasts the Number One High-speed Railway Network in the world .On a global basis, China's rail transport volume is one of the world's largest, having six percent of the world's operating railways, and carrying 25 percent of the world's total railway workload. China also leads in terms of the growth rate of transport volume and use of transport equipment.
1. Can you name some of the earliest railways in China?
2. What do you know about the role rail transport plays
in today’s China?
Words & Expressions
mode transportation
Chinese
Reading A
China Railway Development
Not only has the Chinese railway network expanded in size since 1949, but it has also seen great technological advances.
get an overall knowledge of railway development in China
master some key words and expressions in the text
understand some important sentences.
Reading Through
Chinese
Reading A
China Railway Development
The first railroad to be built in China was the Woosung Railway in 1876. By 1911, there were around 9,000 km of tracks in China. However, many railways were designed, constructed, or even owned by foreign companies. The first indigenously designed and constructed railway by Chinese is the Jingzhang railway built from 1905 to 1909, a difficult job due to the mountainous terrain. The chief engineer of this railway was Zhan Tianyou, who is known as the Father of China's Railway.
Chinese
Reading Ant
After the establishment of new China, the new government invested heavily in the railway network. From the 1950s to the 70s, lines, especially those in western China, were expanded. One example is the 1900 km railway from Lanzhou to Urumqi, which was built between 1952 and 1962. In Southwestern China, several mountain railways were constructed, such as the Baoji-Chengdu Railway, built in the 1950s, and the Chengkun Railway, built in the 1970s. The railway to Xizang (Tibet), the Qingzang railway, was one of the most difficult to build; the line was finally completed and opened to the public in 2006. Today, every province-level entity of China, with the exception of Macau, is connected to the railway network.
Unit 1 Railway Development
CONTENTS
Teaching Objectives Unit 1 Railway Development Reading Through
Exercises
Teaching Objectives
Students will be able to:
Reading A
Lead-in Questions
Words and Expressions
Text Language Points
Exercises
Leading-in Questions Before reading the passage, see how much you know about railway development by answering the following questions.
on a global basis
Reading A
China Railway Development
Rail transport is the most commonly used mode of longdistance transportation in China. Almost all rail operations are handled by the Ministry of Railways, which is part of the State Council of China. By the end of 2010, the operating rail network traverses the length and breadth of the country, covering a total length of 91,000km, making only the rail networks in the United States and Russia larger in size. As of 2009, Chinese Railway owned about 603,082 wagons, 49,355 coaches and 18,922 locomotives and ran more than 38,000 trains daily, including about 3,500 passenger trains. The network today serves all provinces, with the exception of the special administrative region of Macau.
Chinese
Reading A
China Railway Development
As of October 2008, the Chinese State Council approved a new CNY 2 trillion railway investment plan to take it up to 2020. The scheme extended China's previously announced railway building program, which was allocated CNY 1.25 trillion in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan for 2006 to 2010. As a result of the increased investment, the country's railway network grew from 78,000km at the end of 2007 to 91,000 km at the end of 2010, Growth in freight transport was thought to be one of the drivers behind the increased focus on rail, and the need to increase capacity to meet rising demand.
wagon Macau
traverse
trillion allocate
capacity
indigenously terrain
entity multiple track
Words & Expressions
establishment
electrified
fold
respectively
in terms of
行为模式 a mode of behaviour
Language Points
transportation (transport) n. a system for carrying