雅思阅读第123套P2-Early occupations around the river Thames

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 on thefollowing pages.

Early occupations around the riverThames

A In her pioneering survey, Sources ofLondon English, Laura Wright has listed the variety of medieval workers whotook their livings from the river Thames. The baillies of Queenhithe andBillingsgate acted as customs officers. There were conservators, who wereresponsible for maintaining the embankments and the weirs, and there were thegarthmen who worked in the fish garths (enclosures). Then there were galleymenand lightermen and shoutmen, called after the names of their boats, and therewere hookers who were named after the manner in which they caught their fish.The searcher patrolled the Thames in search of illegal fish weirs, and thetideman worked on its banks and foreshores whenever the tide permitted him todo so.

B All of these occupations persisted formany centuries, as did those jobs that depended upon the trade of the river.Yet, it was not easy work for any of the workers. They carried most goods upontheir backs, since the rough surfaces of the quays and nearby streets were notsuitable for wagons or large carts; the merchandise characteristically arrivedin barrels which could be rolled from the ship along each quay. If the burdenwas too great to be carried by a single man, then the goods were slung on polesresting on the shoulders of two men. It was a slow and expensive method ofbusiness.

C However, up to the eighteenth century,river work was seen in a generally favourable light. For Langland, writing inthe fourteenth century, the labourers working on river merchandise wererelatively prosperous. And the porters of the seventeenth and early eighteenthcenturies were, if anything, aristocrats of labour, enjoying high status.However, in the years from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century,there was a marked change in attitude. This was in part because the workingriver was within the region of the East End of London, which in this periodacquired an unenviable reputation. By now, dockside labour was considered to bethe most disreputable, and certainly the least desirable form of work.

D It could be said that the firstindustrial community in England grew up around the Thames. With the host ofriver workers themselves, as well as the vast assembly of ancillary trades suchas tavern-keepers and laundresses, food-sellers and street-hawkers, shopkeepersand marine store dealers - there was a workforce of many thousands congregatedin a relatively small area. There were more varieties of business to beobserved by the riverside than ,in any other part of the city. As a result, withthe possible exception of the area known as Seven Dials, the East End was alsothe most intensively inhabited region of London.

E It was a world apart, with its ownlanguage and its own laws. From the sailors in the opium dens of Limehouse tothe smugglers on the malarial flats of the estuary, the workers of the riverwere not part of any civilised society. The alien world of the river hadentered them. That alienation was also expressed in the slang of the docks,which essentially amounted to backslang, or the reversal of ordinary words.This backslang also helped in the formulation of Cockney rhyming slang*, sothat the vocabulary of Londoners was directly'affected by the life of theThames.

F The reports in the nineteenth-centurypress reveal a heterogeneous world of dock labour, in which the crowds ofcasuals waiting for work at the dock gates at 7.45 a.m. include pennilessrefugees, bankrupts, old soldiers, broken-down gentlemen, discharged servants,and ex-convicts. There were some 400-500 permanent workers who earned a regularwage and who were considered to be the patricians of dockside labour. However,there were some 2,500 casual workers who were hired by the shift. The work forwhich they competed fiercely had become ever more unpleasant. Steam power couldnot be used for the cranes, for example, because of the danger of fire. So thecranes were powered by treadmills. Six to eight men entered a wooden cylinderand, laying hold of ropes, would tread the wheel round. They could lift nearly20 tonnes to an average height of 27 feet (8.2 metres), forty times in an hour.This was part of the life of the river unknown to those who were intent uponits more picturesque aspects.

SECTION 2: QUESTIONS 14-26

Questions 14-19

Reading Passage 2 has SIXparagraphs, A-F.

Choose the correct heading, A-F,from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number, i-ix.

List of Headings

i

A mixture of languages and nationalities

ii

The creation of an exclusive identity

iii

The duties involved in various occupations

iv

An unprecedented population density

v

Imports and exports transported by river

vi

Transporting heavy loads manually

vii

Temporary work for large numbers of people

viii

Hazards associated with riverside work

ix

The changing status of riverside occupations

14 ____________Paragraph A

15 ____________Paragraph B

16 ____________Paragraph C

17 ____________Paragraph D

18 ____________Paragraph E

19 ____________Paragraph F

Questions 20-21

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Write the correct letters.

Which TWO statements aremade about work by the River Thames before the eighteenth century?

AGoods were transported from the river bycart.

BThe workforce was very poorly paid.

COccupations were specialised.

DWorkers were generally looked down upon.

EPhysical strength was required.

Questions 22-23

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Write the correct letters.

Which TWO statements aremade about life by the River Thames in the early nineteenth century?

AThe area was very crowded.

BThere was an absence of crime.

CCasual work was in great demand.

DSeveral different languages were in use.

EInhabitants were known for theirfriendliness.

Questions 24-26

Complete the sentences below.

Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS fromthe passage for each answer.

In the nineteenth century, onlya minority of dock workers received a 24 _________________

Cranes were operated manuallybecause 25 _________________ created a risk of fire.

Observers who were unfamiliarwith London’s docks found the River Thames 26 _________________