Text 1:
The two groups merged and established the Metropolitan Railway Company in August 1854. The
company’s plan was to construct an underground railway line from the Great Western Railway’s
(GWR) station at Paddington to the edge of the City at Farringdon Street – a distance of almost
5 km. The organisation had difficulty in raising the funding for such a radical and expensive
scheme, not least because of the critical articles printed by the press. Objectors argued that the
tunnels would collapse under the weight of traffic overhead, buildings would be shaken and
passengers would be poisoned by the emissions from the train engines. However, Pearson and his
partners persisted.
Find words related to: problem, negative, destroy, insist
Text 2:
Amongst the most vocal advocates for a solution to London’s traffic problems was Charles
Pearson, who worked as a solicitor for the City of London. He saw both social and economic
advantages in building an underground railway that would link the overground railway stations
together and clear London slums at the same time. His idea was to relocate the poor workers who
lived in the inner-city slums to newly constructed suburbs, and to provide cheap rail travel for
them to get to work. Pearson’s ideas gained support amongst some businessmen and in 1851 he
submitted a plan to Parliament. It was rejected, but coincided with a proposal from another group
for an underground connecting line, which Parliament passed.
Find words related to: move, agree, disprove, benefits
Text 3
The area in the centre of the Italian town of Lucca, known as the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro,
is yet another impressive example of an amphitheatre becoming absorbed into the fabric
of the city. The site evolved in a similar way to Arles and was progressively filled with
buildings from the Middle Ages until the 19th century, variously used as houses, a salt depot
and a prison. But rather than reverting to an arena, it became a market square, designed
by Romanticist architect Lorenzo Nottolini. Today, the ruins of the amphitheatre remain
embedded in the various shops and residences surrounding the public square.
Find words related to: storage, buildings
Text 4
In late 1946 or early 1947, three Bedouin teenagers were tending their goats and sheep
near the ancient settlement of Qumran, located on the northwest shore of the Dead
Sea in what is now known as the West Bank. One of these young shepherds tossed a
rock into an opening on the side of a cliff and was surprised to hear a shattering sound.
He and his companions later entered the cave and stumbled across a collection of
large clay jars, seven of which contained scrolls with writing on them. The teenagers
took the seven scrolls to a nearby town where they were sold for a small sum to a local
antiquities dealer. Word of the find spread, and Bedouins and archaeologists eventually
unearthed tens of thousands of additional scroll fragments from 10 nearby caves;
together they make up between 800 and 900 manuscripts. It soon became clear that this
was one of the greatest archaeological discoveries ever made.
Find words related to: throw, noise, went into, container, money
Text 5
Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls have been on interesting journeys. In 1948, a Syrian
Orthodox archbishop known as Mar Samuel acquired four of the original seven scrolls
from a Jerusalem shoemaker and part-time antiquity dealer, paying less than $100
for them. He then travelled to the United States and unsuccessfully offered them to a
number of universities, including Yale. Finally, in 1954, he placed an advertisement in
the business newspaper The Wall Street Journal- under the category ‘Miscellaneous
Items for Sale’ – that read: ‘Biblical Manuscripts dating back to at least 200 B.C. are for
sale. This would be an ideal gift to an educational or religious institution by an individual
or group.’ Fortunately, Israeli archaeologist and statesman Yigael Yadin negotiated their
purchase and brought the scrolls back to Jerusalem, where they remain to this day.
Find words related to: free of charge, posted, organization, buy
Text 6
Even as the Metropolitan began operation, the first extensions to the line were being authorised;
these were built over the next five years, reaching Moorgate in the east of London and
Hammersmith in the west. The original plan was to pull the trains with steam locomotives, using
firebricks in the boilers to provide steam, but these engines were never introduced. Instead, the
line used specially designed locomotives that were fitted with water tanks in which steam could
be condensed. However, smoke and fumes remained a problem, even though ventilation shafts
were added to the tunnels.
Find words related to: started, expansion, main, pollution, airflow
Text 7
The phenomenon of stadiums as power stations has arisen from the idea that energy
problems can be overcome by integrating interconnected buildings by means of a smart grid,
which is an electricity supply network that uses digital communications technology to detect
and react to local changes in usage, without significant energy losses. Stadiums are ideal
for these purposes, because their canopies have a large surface area for fitting photovoltaic
panels and rise high enough (more than 40 metres) to make use of micro wind turbines.
Find words related to: issues, identify, perfect, solar
Text 8
This approach relies on the revolutionary CRISPR genome editing technique, in
which changes are deliberately made to the DNA of a living cell, allowing genetic
material to be added, removed or altered. The technique could not only improve
existing crops, but could also be used to turn thousands of wild plants into useful
and appealing foods. In fact, a third team in the US has already begun to do this
with a relative of the tomato called the groundcherry.
Find words related to: method, by purpose, convert, similar species
