Paper 1a
Read the passage and answer the questions which follow. The more difficult ones are marked with an *.
A There are hundreds of cable car systems around the world. (In countries where American English is preferred, they are called 'aerial tramways' because a cable car - a vehicle running along a ropeway - does not need to be in the air. It can remain at ground level, like our own Peak Tram or the famous trams of San Francisco.) Basically there are two cables, or ropeways. One is very strong and carries the weight of the cabins, while the other is attached to a motor and pulls them along. In small systems with only two cabins, the weight of one supplies the force to move the other (eg. the Peak Tram).
B For Hong Kong people, cable cars probably suggest fun and sight-seeing. Most of us have at some point travelled from the lower part of Ocean Park up to the higher attractions by cable car, enjoying - unless we are nervous of heights - the lovely sea view. There is also the Ngong Ping Skyrail, built at a cost of HK$1 billion, to carry tourists in 112, 17-seater cabins, three and a half miles across Lantau and up to the Tian Tan Buddha Statue. Unfortunately, an accident earlier this year when a cabin fell off the ropeway (luckily while the system was not in use) has damaged public confidence in the system.
C It is not only in Hong Kong that cable cars are mainly for pleasure. Since 1929 there has been a cable system to carry visitors up to the top of the Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. The latest cabins on that system each carry 65 passengers and rotate 360 degrees as they rise up the mountain. That way, no one misses any of the spectacular view. The longest and highest system is in the Venezuelan city of Merida, where tourists can take the one-hour trip to the top of the local mountain, the Sierra Nevada. Cable cars can, however, have more practical purposes, and be mainly used by people to travel from home to work and vice-versa, as with the system which runs between Roosevelt Island and Manhattan. The cabins are enormous, holding 125 people, and move at 16mph.
D Nearer home, Chongqing has a commuter system over the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers which pass through the city. In Malaysia, you can take the Genting Skytrain, the world's fastest cable system, which opened in 1997 to go up to the Genting Highlands, a cool mountain region of gardens and resorts. You can also travel most enjoyably from the Singapore mainland over to the holiday island of Sentosa by cable car.