Passage: "Before the railways, a town kept its own time. Noon was when the sun stood highest over that town, so a clock in one city might differ by several minutes from a clock a hundred miles to the west, and nobody was inconvenienced by it. A coach took long enough that the discrepancy was absorbed by the journey. The railway removed that slack. A timetable that promised a departure at ten o'clock had to mean the same ten o'clock at both ends of the line, and a train running on one clock towards a train running on another was a danger rather than an untidiness. Railway companies therefore adopted a single time along their routes, usually the time of the capital, and printed it in their timetables. Public clocks followed, sometimes after local resistance, and the legal definition of time followed the public clocks rather than leading them. It is tempting to describe this as technology imposing uniformity. The sequence is better read the other way round: the railways created a situation in which disagreement about the time had a cost, and institutions then converged on a standard because the cost was easier to remove than to bear." What is the main purpose of this passage?

Explaining how the railways made local time unworkable and how a standard was adopted, and correcting a simple account of why it happened.

Criticizing the public for resisting the introduction of a standard time.

Arguing that the railways were the most important technology of their century.

Describing how noon was determined in a town before clocks were synchronized.

Passage: "Before the railways, a town kept its own time. Noon was when the sun stood highest over that town, so a clock in one city might differ by several minutes from a clock a hundred miles to the west, and nobody was inconvenienced by it. A coach took long enough that the discrepancy was absorbed by the journey. The railway removed that slack. A timetable that promised a departure at ten o'clock had to mean the same ten o'clock at both ends of the line, and a train running on one clock towards a train running on another was a danger rather than an untidiness. Railway companies therefore adopted a single time along their routes, usually the time of the capital, and printed it in their timetables. Public clocks followed, sometimes after local resistance, and the legal definition of time followed the public clocks rather than leading them. It is tempting to describe this as technology imposing uniformity. The sequence is better read the other way round: the railways created a situation in which disagreement about the time had a cost, and institutions then converged on a standard because the cost was easier to remove than to bear." Why did clocks in different towns show different times?

Each town set noon by the moment the sun was highest over it.

Each town's clocks were built to a different standard of accuracy.

Clocks were wound at different hours in different towns.

Towns deliberately kept different times to distinguish themselves.

Passage: "Before the railways, a town kept its own time. Noon was when the sun stood highest over that town, so a clock in one city might differ by several minutes from a clock a hundred miles to the west, and nobody was inconvenienced by it. A coach took long enough that the discrepancy was absorbed by the journey. The railway removed that slack. A timetable that promised a departure at ten o'clock had to mean the same ten o'clock at both ends of the line, and a train running on one clock towards a train running on another was a danger rather than an untidiness. Railway companies therefore adopted a single time along their routes, usually the time of the capital, and printed it in their timetables. Public clocks followed, sometimes after local resistance, and the legal definition of time followed the public clocks rather than leading them. It is tempting to describe this as technology imposing uniformity. The sequence is better read the other way round: the railways created a situation in which disagreement about the time had a cost, and institutions then converged on a standard because the cost was easier to remove than to bear." Why did travel by coach not make time differences a problem?

A coach journey was slow enough that the difference was lost inside it.

Coach companies published the time of the capital instead.

Coach passengers were not given a timetable to keep to.

Coaches traveled only within a single town's time.

Passage: "Before the railways, a town kept its own time. Noon was when the sun stood highest over that town, so a clock in one city might differ by several minutes from a clock a hundred miles to the west, and nobody was inconvenienced by it. A coach took long enough that the discrepancy was absorbed by the journey. The railway removed that slack. A timetable that promised a departure at ten o'clock had to mean the same ten o'clock at both ends of the line, and a train running on one clock towards a train running on another was a danger rather than an untidiness. Railway companies therefore adopted a single time along their routes, usually the time of the capital, and printed it in their timetables. Public clocks followed, sometimes after local resistance, and the legal definition of time followed the public clocks rather than leading them. It is tempting to describe this as technology imposing uniformity. The sequence is better read the other way round: the railways created a situation in which disagreement about the time had a cost, and institutions then converged on a standard because the cost was easier to remove than to bear." What turned disagreeing clocks from untidiness into danger?

Passengers began arriving late for departures they had paid for.

Railway companies could be fined for inaccurate timetables.

Public clocks in stations were too small for passengers to read.

Two trains could be moving towards each other while each was being run on a different clock.

Passage: "Before the railways, a town kept its own time. Noon was when the sun stood highest over that town, so a clock in one city might differ by several minutes from a clock a hundred miles to the west, and nobody was inconvenienced by it. A coach took long enough that the discrepancy was absorbed by the journey. The railway removed that slack. A timetable that promised a departure at ten o'clock had to mean the same ten o'clock at both ends of the line, and a train running on one clock towards a train running on another was a danger rather than an untidiness. Railway companies therefore adopted a single time along their routes, usually the time of the capital, and printed it in their timetables. Public clocks followed, sometimes after local resistance, and the legal definition of time followed the public clocks rather than leading them. It is tempting to describe this as technology imposing uniformity. The sequence is better read the other way round: the railways created a situation in which disagreement about the time had a cost, and institutions then converged on a standard because the cost was easier to remove than to bear." Why does the passage end by discussing the sequence of events?

To argue that legal reform should have come before the public clocks changed.

To show that resistance to standard time was stronger than is usually believed.

To reject a simple cause-and-effect account and argue instead that the railways made disagreement costly, after which institutions converged.

To claim that the railways in fact had little to do with the change.

Main idea, detail, inference, the purpose of a closing argument, reference and vocabulary in context, on one short academic passage. Test your knowledge…10 questions • ZestlySample questions:• Passage: "Before the railways, a town kept its own time. Noon was when the sun stood highest over that town, so a clock in one city might…• Passage: "Before the railways, a town kept its own time. Noon was when the sun stood highest over that town, so a clock in one city might…• Passage: "Before the railways, a town kept its own time. Noon was when the sun stood highest over that town, so a clock in one city might…• Passage: "Before the railways, a town kept its own time. Noon was when the sun stood highest over that town, so a clock in one city might…• Passage: "Before the railways, a town kept its own time. Noon was when the sun stood highest over that town, so a clock in one city might…• Passage: "Before the railways, a town kept its own time. Noon was when the sun stood highest over that town, so a clock in one city might…• Passage: "Before the railways, a town kept its own time. Noon was when the sun stood highest over that town, so a clock in one city might…• Passage: "Before the railways, a town kept its own time. Noon was when the sun stood highest over that town, so a clock in one city might…Want to check what you know — or test someone else?Create your own quiz

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