Listening – Gap Filling – Bài Thực Hành Số 9

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Talking about the history of bikes

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I’d like to take this opportun­ity to welcome you to our 1 , “Two Centuries of the Bike”.

Let’s stroll around the exhibition, shall we?

Although there were a few early 2 back in the 1700s, you didn’t really see many bikes till, say, the 1830s in England. Bikes were a 3 to the rapid 4 of cities early in the 19th century. Cit­ies like London were getting too big to walk 5 ! The early bike let people travel with less effort than walking. Plus a bike was a lot 6 than a horse!

Think of it. No one 7 a bike for, what, five thousand years of human 8 ? Why did people do it then? Probably because this was the start of the Machine Age: people wanted 9 to do all the work.

There were some 10 , however. For one thing, there were no 11 . You simply 12 yourself along using your feet. Kind of like today’s 13 . That meant you went fairly slowly. And up­hill, you actually worked harder, pushing that two-wheeler. Plus, the wheels were made of wood covered with metal, as you can see from this model. So the 14 was that the ride was quite uncomfortable on most roads. Only a few 15 lovers had or used them.

By the 1860s, though, 16 were being made. As you can see from this 17 , metal frames had become the rule. They’re more durable than wood, and they don’t warp in the rain. The biggest improvement however was the 18 of the chain and sprocket system. They are connected. This meant you did not push the bike.  You used pedals just like today. You had to try harder to 19 , so it took some practice to 20 out how to use the pedals. But it made the ride so much easier. As a result, the good thing was that you could ride a lot more 21 and with very little effort.

By the 1880s, another big change was the use of rubber 22 . These became pretty common at that time. Though the first ones were 22 rubber, the ride was a good deal more comfortable than the old iron and wood system. This is a big consideration because the faster you go, the more you feel every bump. Air-filled tyres – “pneumatic tyres” – didn’t really come into use till around the year 1900, as you can see from this exhibition over here. That made the 23 even more comfortable.

So, by 1890 or so, people were going a lot faster and a lot more smoothly. There was one problem when you were going quickly and 24 : “OH NO! HOW DO I STOP?” Yes, we all laugh now.

But for a long time, the only way to stop was drag your feet. That didn’t work very well and it would be dangerous if you were going fast. In the 25 cities of those years – New York, Chicago, and so on, you would get 26 if you couldn’t stop for, say, a streetcar.

Plus look at this bike. The front wheel is nearly a metre and two thirds tall! They made them that way so you could see over people and wagons. But you couldn’t 27 your feet. This model is called a “velocipede” – a “speed pedal”. Another 28 of the bike in this period is that it has two equal-sized wheels, which 29 a big change in 30 .

For with the velocipede, 31 appeared. If you wanted to stop, you just pushed the pedal backwards. Doing that 32 the back wheel of the bike. This technique worked a lot better than dragging your feet or jumping off the high seat there! This meant that bikes became a great deal 33 . It would have been safer if people wore 34 , but the first bicycle helmet wasn’t invented until years later, and even then it was little more than a 35  ballcap. It really wasn’t until the 1970s that the bike helmet was 36 to provide some real 37 .