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2017 ‫מועד פברואר‬ - 47 - ‫ פרק שני‬- ‫ אנגלית‬

Reading Comprehension

This part consists of two passages, each followed by several related questions. For each
question, choose the most appropriate answer based on the text.

Text I (Questions 13-17)

(1) Until the late nineteenth century, timekeeping was a local matter. Most towns had a
central clock that was set to twelve o'clock each afternoon when the sun reached its
zenith. People would adjust their pocket watches and clocks to correspond to the time
shown on their town's main clock. Travel between cities meant having to reset one's

(5) pocket watch upon arrival. Once railroads began moving people rapidly across great
distances, timekeeping became much more complicated. Because nearly every station
had a different local time, preparing reliable train schedules was next to impossible.

In 1876, Sir Sandford Fleming, an engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway,
missed a train because of a flawed timetable. Forced to spend the night at the station,

(10) Fleming determined to impose order where there was none by creating a universal
standard time. Two years later, Fleming proposed a system of worldwide time zones
much like the one used today. He divided the map of the world into 24 time zones, with
a one-hour time difference between one zone and the next. Almost immediately,
railroad companies adopted Fleming's principle of standard time zones.

(15) Fleming's idea was heralded by politicians and businessmen as a brilliant solution.
In 1884, an international conference was held in Washington, D.C., to formalize the
application of worldwide time zones. The conference established a prime meridian – a
common point of reference from which all countries and regions would measure
distances and time zones around the earth. Greenwich, England, was designated as this

(20) point. Not all countries embraced the idea immediately. The U.S., for example, did not
pass the Standard Time Act until 1918. Today, almost all countries use standard
international time zones.

Questions

13. The main purpose of the text is to discuss -

(1) Sir Sandford Fleming's contribution to railroad travel
(2) how and why standard time zones were created
(3) the principles and complexities of scheduling trains
(4) timekeeping before the nineteenth century

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