Darmowe konto pozwoli wrócić do niego później.
Polecenie
Przeczytaj tekst. Z podanych odpowiedzi wybierz właściwą, zgodną z treścią tekstu. Zakreśl jedną z liter: A, B, C albo D.
Have you ever wondered why traffic lights are red, yellow and green?
The first signalling system was built in London in 1868. It was not designed for motor cars as they didn't exist at that time. Horse-drawn carriages were a popular means of transport in those days and there were many pedestrians, but the first traffic signalling system was not for them either. In fact, it was for controlling railway vehicles. At first the system was pretty basic and didn't even have lights. There were just two wooden arms that moved. Their position informed train drivers to go or to stop. But at night it was impossible to see the arms, so railway engineers installed simple lights to make the system visible after dark. Red was for "stop", green for "be careful" and white for "go".
Darmowe konto pozwoli wrócić do niego później.
However, the choice of white for "go" caused a lot of problems. At night, white lights from street lamps sometimes made train drivers believe the white traffic light was on and that they could go. This resulted in several serious collisions, and railway officials decided to replace the white light with yellow and to change the meaning of the traffic light colours. The green light now meant "go" and yellow meant "be careful" as it was the most clearly visible traffic light at night. Soon the system was introduced on roads, and red, yellow and green lights have been used ever since.
And have you ever wondered how colour-blind drivers, who cannot tell the difference between some colours, read traffic lights? Most of them rely on the order of the lights, because green is at the bottom and red is at the top, and this order never changes.
Road engineers in the United States wanted to help colour-blind people recognize the lights better. At first, they tried making the lights much stronger, but it was not effective. One successful solution was changing the lights by adding an orange shade to the red light and a blue shade to the green. This change made a big difference to most colour-blind drivers and such lights can be found all over the USA. Another idea, called Uni-Signal, combines colours with shapes. In this system the red light is triangle-shaped, the green light is square, and the yellow light is a circle. These different shapes allow colour-blind drivers to identify traffic lights from much farther away. However, this system is not widely used because introducing it would be extremely expensive.
Some people believe that the best way to make roads safer is to have no traffic lights at all! The idea is simple – if no one is automatically given the right to drive through at crossroads, then everybody will drive more carefully. However, opponents of this solution say that traffic lights are necessary, especially at big crossroads where the traffic is heavy.
6.1. The first signalling system was designed for
A. horse-drawn carriages.
B. pedestrians.
C. motor cars.
D. trains.
6.2. Railway officials decided to stop using the white light because it was
A. not liked by car drivers.
B. not easy to see at night.
C. mistaken for the colour yellow.
D. the same as the light of street lamps.
6.3. Colour-blind drivers in the USA were helped when
A. the traffic light colours were replaced by shapes.
B. the traffic light colours were modified a little.
C. the order of the traffic light colours was changed.
D. the traffic light colours were made stronger.
6.4. Which is stated in the text as an OPINION, not a fact?
A. The use of white traffic lights for "go" led to some dangerous accidents.
B. The combination of colour and shape is helpful for colour-blind drivers.
C. The disappearance of traffic lights will improve road safety.
D. The white traffic lights were replaced by yellow ones.
6.5. Which is the best title for the text?
A. THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRAFFIC LIGHTS
B. OPPOSITION TO NEW TRAFFIC LIGHTS
C. THE FUTURE OF TRAFFIC LIGHTS
D. LIFE BEFORE TRAFFIC LIGHTS
6.1. D
6.2. D
6.3. B
6.4. C
6.5. A
poprawna odpowiedź.
Ocena według schematu punktowania CKE, zwykle w 15–30 s
Dowiedz się, ile punktów naprawdę zdobywasz. Zrób zdjęcie kartki albo wklej odpowiedź: Maturownik+ porówna ją ze schematem punktowania, policzy punkty i wytłumaczy, gdzie i dlaczego je tracisz.