IELTS Reading 練習自行車的歷史（含題目+詳解）

A Brief History of the Bicycle

IELTS · 雅思備考 · 11 min read · 2026-04-25

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主題: The invention and social impact of the bicycle
文章重點: The modern bicycle reached its near-final form within seventy years of the first running machine, and its 1885 safety design proved so effective that it has barely changed in 140 years.
難度: 中等 · Intermediate
建議時間: 18 分鐘

重要單字

patented — officially registered as a new invention / 取得專利
velocipede — a 19th-century pedal-driven bicycle / 早期腳踏車
boneshaker — nickname for the rough-riding velocipede / 顛骨車
displaced — replaced; pushed out of use / 取代
emancipate — to free from restrictions / 解放
pneumatic — using air pressure; air-filled / 充氣的

30 秒快速理解 30-second summary

The first ancestor of the bicycle was Karl von Drais's pedal-less running machine of 1817. French makers added pedals to the front wheel in the 1860s, leading to the dangerous high-wheeler. John Kemp Starley's 1885 Rover Safety Bicycle, with two equal wheels and a chain drive, displaced the high-wheeler within a decade and gave clerks, factory workers and women new freedom of movement. Its basic geometry has barely changed since.

逐段練習 Read paragraph by paragraph

1 段落 1 — A wooden start without pedals

The earliest two-wheeled human-powered vehicle generally accepted as an ancestor of today's bicycle was patented in 1817 by Karl von Drais, a German civil servant. His "running machine" had two wooden wheels in line, a wooden frame and a steerable front wheel, but no pedals. The rider pushed the ground with both feet. Slow and uncomfortable, it briefly attracted fashionable attention before disappearing. The technology, in other words, is younger than people often imagine.

本段重要單字 (3)

patented — officially registered as a new invention / 取得專利
steerable — able to be turned to control direction / 可轉向
briefly — for a short time only / 短暫地

Quick Check · 隨堂小測

How long did Drais's running machine remain popular?

For many decades after 1817.
Only briefly, before disappearing.
It was never popular at all.

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答案：B — Only briefly, before disappearing.

The paragraph says it "briefly attracted fashionable attention before disappearing" — so it was popular only for a short time, not many decades.

2 段落 2 — Pedals, oversized wheels and danger

Pedals arrived in the 1860s. French craftsmen attached cranks directly to the front wheel, producing the velocipede — a metal-framed but still wooden-wheeled machine nicknamed the "boneshaker" for the experience of riding it on cobblestones. Because the pedals were on the front wheel, increasing speed required making the front wheel larger. By the 1870s this logic had produced the famous high-wheeler, with a front wheel up to 1.5 metres in diameter. It was fast and graceful but dangerous: a stone in the road could throw the rider over the handlebars from a considerable height.

本段重要單字 (3)

velocipede — a 19th-century pedal-driven bicycle / 早期腳踏車
boneshaker — nickname for the rough-riding velocipede / 顛骨車
cranks — arms that turn rotary motion into pedalling / 曲柄

Quick Check · 隨堂小測

Why was the front wheel of the high-wheeler made so large?

To make the bike heavier and more stable.
Because larger wheels meant more speed when pedals drove the front wheel.
So the rider would be high enough to see over walls.

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答案：B — Because larger wheels meant more speed when pedals drove the front wheel.

The paragraph explains: "Because the pedals were on the front wheel, increasing speed required making the front wheel larger." Speed was the driver, not stability or visibility.

3 段落 3 — The chain-driven breakthrough

The decisive innovation arrived in the 1880s and is associated with the British engineer John Kemp Starley. His "Rover Safety Bicycle" of 1885 placed two wheels of equal, modest size and connected the pedals to the rear wheel by a chain. The geometry made the machine stable, easy to mount and far harder to fall from. Within a decade the safety bicycle had displaced the high-wheeler almost completely, and bicycle ownership in Britain rose from a few thousand enthusiasts to several million riders by 1900.

本段重要單字 (3)

displaced — replaced; pushed out of use / 取代
geometry — the arrangement of parts and angles / 幾何結構
enthusiast — a person with strong interest in a hobby / 愛好者

Quick Check · 隨堂小測

How quickly did the safety bicycle replace the high-wheeler?

It took about fifty years.
Within roughly ten years.
It never fully replaced it.

看答案 · Show answer

答案：B — Within roughly ten years.

The paragraph says "Within a decade the safety bicycle had displaced the high-wheeler almost completely" — a decade is roughly ten years.

4 段落 4 — Wider freedoms on two wheels

The social effects were considerable. Bicycles offered cheap independent travel to clerks and factory workers who could not afford horses, and to women whose movement had been previously constrained by both cost and convention. Susan B. Anthony, the American suffragist, remarked that the bicycle had "done more to emancipate women" than anything else of her time. Twentieth-century refinements — pneumatic tyres, derailleur gears, lighter alloys — improved comfort and performance, but the basic geometry of the safety bicycle has barely changed in 140 years.

本段重要單字 (3)

emancipate — to free from restrictions / 解放
pneumatic — using air pressure; air-filled / 充氣的
refinement — a small improvement to an existing design / 細部改良

Quick Check · 隨堂小測

What does the paragraph mainly suggest about the bicycle's impact?

It was useful only for a small number of wealthy enthusiasts.
It widened freedom of movement for ordinary workers and women.
It was quickly replaced by motor cars after 1900.

看答案 · Show answer

答案：B — It widened freedom of movement for ordinary workers and women.

The paragraph stresses cheap independent travel for clerks, factory workers and women, and quotes Anthony on emancipation — so widened freedom is the main idea.

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閱讀前先看 Before you read

30 秒快速理解 30-second summary

逐段練習 Read paragraph by paragraph

1 段落 1 — A wooden start without pedals

2 段落 2 — Pedals, oversized wheels and danger

3 段落 3 — The chain-driven breakthrough

4 段落 4 — Wider freedoms on two wheels

每天 5 分鐘的系統練習

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