IELTS Reading Practice Test 5-2
Thursday, July 18, 2013
READING PASSAGE -2
The Anderton Boat Lift
Section I
When the Trent and Mersey Canal
opened in 1777, the Cheshire town of Anderton was the obvious place to transfer goods to and from the nearby
River Weaver. There was just one problem: the canal was fifteen metres above the river.
Pathways, inclined planes, and chutes were constructed to
ease the task of moving cargo by hand. Primitive railways were laid to move cargoes,
cranes were built, and steam engines were later installed to power lifting. In
the early 1870s, however, the Weaver Navigation Trustees decided to eliminate
the cost, effort, and wastage involved in hand transportation when the
engineers Edward Leader Williams and Edwin Clarke suggested a ‘boat carrying
lift’.
Section II
Their design was a unique and magnificent example of the
Victorians’ mastery of cast iron and hydraulics. Completed in 1875 , graceful
in appearance, simple in use, and above all efficient, the lift was hailed as a marvel of the era, and became a prototype for larger versions on the waterways of France and Belgium .
The operating mechanism consisted of two vertical sets of
interconnected hydraulic cylinders and pistons set into the bed of the river and each
piston supported a boat- ‘carrying tank 22.86 metres long and 4.72 metres wide. At
rest, one tank was level with the canal and the other level with the river and
to move the tanks, a small amount of water was removed from the bottom tank making it lighter
than the top tank.
Because the two hydraulic cylinders were connected, the
heavier top tank moved down and forced hydraulic liquid through the connecting
pipe into the other cylinder pushing that piston and the lighter tank upwards.
Watertight gates both on the tanks and at the entrance to the canal contained
the water while the tanks were moving. A hydraulic pump driven by steam
supplied the small amount of additional energy required to effect a reasonably
rapid movement and to enable the tanks to be precisely levelled at the end of their journey.
Section III
All went well for the first ten years, then pitting and
grooving of the cylinders and pistons occurred. Investigations showed that the
canal water used as the hydraulic liquid was contaminated by chemicals and was
corrosive, therefore causing the damage. It was immediately changed to
distilled water from the steam engine powering the hydraulic pump. Corrosion
was dramatically reduced but the damage had been done. In addition, the boiler
for the steam engine needed renewing, so in 1906 the Trustees ordered the
construction of a new lift, to a design by their engineer ] A Saner.
Section IV
The new lift was built over the top of the Victorian
structure, utilizing the Victorian front and rear columns. The main structure
had strong A-frames at either side of the new lift to support the enormous
weight of the platform that now formed the top of the framework: on it was
located the new operating mechanism, which included seventy- two pulleys
weighing up to 35 tonnes each.
Each of the boat-carrying tanks was now suspended on wire
ropes which ran from the tank to the top of the lift, around pulleys, and down
to cast-iron weights at the side of the structure. These were equal to the
weight of the water-filled tank. Turning the pulleys one way or the other moved the ropes, so that one tank was
raised or lowered independently of the other tank. Because the tanks were
counterbalanced by the weights, only a small electrical motor was required to turn the pulleys and so
move the tanks up or down.
Completed in 1908 the lift was reliable, cheap and easy to
operate. Unlike the Victorian lift it was not the least bit elegant, but it was
functional and it worked.
Section V
Both the 1875 the 1908 versions carried large volumes of
commercial traffic and the principal cargoes transported were coal, china clay,
salt, manufactured goods, including china ware, and agricultural produce. .
Sadly, trade on inland waterways in Britain declined dramatically in the 1950s, and goods traffic via
the lift effectively ended in the 1960s. The 1970s increase in pleasure boating briefly
prolonged its active life, but in 1982 the ‘Cathedral of the Canals’ was
finally closed.
Section VI
Demolition seemed inevitable, but, after a long campaign by
concerned groups, British Waterways agreed, in 1999, to save the lift.
Some wanted it ‘conserved as found’, but that would entail
replacing much of the existing structure, virtually creating a replica lift.
The steel of the 1908 structure had been badly corroded by pollutants from the
local chemical industries and would need replacing if it were to support the
overhead machinery and 500-tonne counterweights. In addition, safety
considerations would require the installation of a back-up braking system.
It was decided, therefore, to revert to the 1875
hydraulically—operated system, using the original cast-iron structure. Although
the counterweights had to be removed, the 1908 framework and pulleys would be
retained as a static monument.
It was a huge and expensive project, and not without
difficulties. Eventually, in 2002, the Anderton Boat Lift was officially
reopened. Boat owners and visitors alike can once again ride ‘the world’s first
boat lift’.
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You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 15-27, which
are based on Reading Passage 2.
List of headings
a.
The lift in use
b.
The first and second Lifts
c.
Restoring the lift
d.
The new canal
e.
Mechanical problems
f.
Why the lift was needed
g.
The supports of the second lift
h.
A new framework and machinery
i.
How the original lift worked
j.
A completely new lift M‘
Example Section
I Answer
f
15.
Section II
16.
Section III
17.
Section IV
18.
Section V
19.
Section VI
Complete the diagram below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each
answer.
Write your answers in boxes 20 —24 on your answer sheet.
Complete the notes below
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Reading Passage 2 for each
Write your answers in boxes 25 - 27 on your answer sheet.
25. Similar lifts to the Anderton
were later built in ..............
26. Extra power to move the tanks
came from ....................
27. Using Water from the canal
harmed the ......................
ANSWER
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