Asignment practise english 2 pps

Directions: Questions 31–35 are based on the following passage, a first draft of an essay about the history of bicy￾cles. Read the passage and the questions that follow. For each question, choose the answer that will most improve

the passage. Some questions ask you to choose the best revision of a particular sentence or pair of sentences. Other

questions ask you to consider how to best improve the overall organization of the passage. In each case, the cor￾rect answer is the one that most closely conforms to the conventions of formal writing.

(1)Today, bicycles are so common it’s hard to believe they haven’t always been around. (2)But two hundred years

ago, bicycles weren’t even existing, and the first bicycle, invented in Germany in 1818, was nothing like our bicy￾cles today—it was made of wood and didn’t even have pedals. (3)Since then, however, numerous innovations and

improvements in design have made the bicycle one of the most popular means of recreation and transportation

around the world.

(4)In 1849, James Starley, an English inventor, made the front wheel many times larger than the back

wheel, put a gear on the pedals to make the bicycle more efficient, and lightened the wheels by using wire spokes.

(5)Although this bicycle was much lighter and less tiring to ride, it was still clumsy, and ridden mostly for enter￾tainment. (6)In 1839, Kirkpatrick Macmillan a Scottish blacksmith dramatically improved upon the original bicy￾cle design, employing tires with iron rims to keep them from getting worn down. (7)But the back wheel was

substantially larger than the front wheel.

(8)Another Englishman, H.J. Lawson, invented the “safety bicycle,” which had equal sized wheels that were

less prone to toppling over. (9)Lawson also attached a chain to the pedals to drive the rear wheel. (10)As the bicy￾cle improved over time, its popularity grew and it became useful for transportation.

–PRACTICE TEST 3–

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