In the reader, tap any word or sentence to hear it in English,
translate it, or look up a definition.
Words to know
affordable
cheap enough that most people can buy it
emancipate
to free a group of people from control or limits
automobile
a car with its own engine for the road
highways
wide, fast roads that connect distant places
outdated
no longer modern or useful today
protests
public actions that show anger about something
decade
a length of time equal to ten years
invest
to put money into something to improve it
A For most of the nineteenth century, cycling was a risky hobby for daring young men. The high-wheeled machines of the 1870s placed the rider more than a meter above the road, and falls were common. That changed in 1885, when John Kemp Starley of Coventry, England, began selling the Rover. His “safety bicycle” had two wheels of the same size, a chain to the rear wheel, and a strong, light frame. Three years later, John Boyd Dunlop added the air-filled rubber tire, which made riding dramatically smoother. By the 1890s, factories in Europe and North America were turning out affordable bicycles by the hundreds of thousands, and a worldwide cycling boom had begun.
B The safety bicycle changed daily life faster than almost any earlier invention. A worker who once had to live within walking distance of a factory could now travel three or four times as far in the same time. This widened the search for jobs and homes. Rural families could reach nearby towns with ease, and historians who study marriage records from that period have found that more couples came from different villages. The effect on women was especially striking, because the bicycle demanded practical clothing and gave riders a new independence. In 1896, Susan B. Anthony, a leader of the American women’s movement, declared that the bicycle had done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.
C The bicycle’s golden age, however, was brief. After Henry Ford launched the inexpensive Model T in 1908, the automobile gradually took the bicycle’s place as the symbol of personal freedom, first in the United States and later in Europe. City planners after 1945 widened roads, built highways through city centers, and gave large areas over to parking. Cycling came to be seen as outdated, or as transport for those who could not afford a car. In many American cities, the bicycle survived mainly as a child’s toy. Even the Netherlands, famous today for its cycling culture, saw bicycle use fall sharply during the 1950s and 1960s as car ownership rose.
D Late in the twentieth century, the tide began to turn. In the 1970s, Dutch protests against traffic deaths, along with the oil crisis of 1973, pushed the Netherlands to build a national network of separate cycle paths. Other countries slowly followed. Paris launched its Vélib’ bike-share program in 2007, and within two years its fleet had grown to more than 20,000 public bicycles. A decade later, hundreds of cities around the world were operating similar systems. Protected lanes, which use curbs or rows of parked cars to shield riders from motor traffic, spread from Amsterdam and Copenhagen to cities such as New York, Bogotá, and Seville.
E Advocates argue that designing for bicycles changes how a city uses its limited space. A single car parking space can hold as many as ten bicycles, and researchers estimate that a protected bike lane can move several times more people per hour than the same lane used for cars. Cities that invest in cycling infrastructure tend to report quieter streets, cleaner air, and measurable health benefits. In Copenhagen, studies have found that roughly half of all trips to work or school are made by bicycle. A machine from the 1880s has thus become a guide to the future of the modern city.
Exam practice
Exam-style questions written by ESLDesk for practice.
They are not official IELTS or TOEFL questions, and ESLDesk is not affiliated with the exam providers.
True / False / Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the information in the passage?
Choose True if the statement agrees with the passage, False if it
contradicts the passage, or Not Given if the passage does not say.
Air-filled tires were introduced within a few years of the Rover first going on sale.
Show answer
True — Passage: Starley began selling the Rover in 1885, and Dunlop added the air-filled rubber tire three years later.
Marriage records from the period indicate that more people were finding partners outside their own villages.
Show answer
True — Passage: historians studying marriage records from that period found that more couples came from different villages.
After the Model T appeared, the bicycle remained the main symbol of personal freedom in the United States.
Show answer
False — Passage: after the Model T, the automobile took the bicycle's place as the symbol of personal freedom, first in the US.
Paris operated the world's first public bike-share program.
Show answer
Not Given — Passage says Paris launched Velib' in 2007 but never says whether any city had a bike-share system before it.
Studies in Copenhagen show that bicycles account for only a small share of trips to work or school.
Show answer
False — Passage: in Copenhagen roughly half of all trips to work or school are made by bicycle, not a small share.
Matching Headings
The passage has 5 paragraphs, A–E.
Choose the best heading for each paragraph from the list below. There are two extra headings you will not use.
How the car pushed cycling aside
Health benefits of cycling to work
From dangerous toy to practical machine
What cities gain from cycling investment
Henry Ford and the birth of mass production
A new freedom in everyday life
The bicycle's return to city streets
Show answer
iii. From dangerous toy to practical machine — Para A describes the inventions (Rover, air-filled tire) that turned a risky hobby into an affordable mass-produced machine.
Show answer
vi. A new freedom in everyday life — Para B covers wider job and home searches, village-crossing marriages, and women's independence: new everyday freedom.
Show answer
i. How the car pushed cycling aside — Para C explains how the Model T and postwar car-centered planning drove cycling into decline.
Show answer
vii. The bicycle's return to city streets — Para D traces the revival: Dutch cycle paths, the Velib' bike-share fleet, and protected lanes spreading worldwide.
Show answer
iv. What cities gain from cycling investment — Para E lists what cycling investment brings cities: better use of space, quieter streets, cleaner air, and health gains.
Summary Completion
Complete the summary below. Choose no more than two words
from the passage for each answer.
Cheap, comfortable machines transformed daily life in the 1890s: workers could live farther from their jobs, and evidence from 1 shows that more couples were forming across village boundaries. After 1908 the car gradually displaced the bike, and postwar planners rebuilt cities around it. The revival began when Dutch protests over traffic deaths, together with the 2 of 1973, pushed the Netherlands to build a countrywide system of separate 3. Advocates now note that a protected lane can carry several times more riders per hour than car traffic, and that one parking space can hold up to ten 4.
Show answers
marriage records — Para B: historians who study marriage records found that more couples came from different villages.
oil crisis — Para D: the oil crisis of 1973, along with Dutch protests, pushed the Netherlands to act.
cycle paths — Para D: the Netherlands built a national network of separate cycle paths.
bicycles — Para E: a single car parking space can hold as many as ten bicycles.
