General English Level 5 GELEV5 Unit 05 Topic 01.doc  READING 01c The way we were – transport and travel How we got around By the end of the 19th Century, our modes of transport were beginning to change. During the 1800s, the horse played an important role in everyday life. People travelled by stagecoach These were very slow, uncomfortable and expensive. Only the rich could afford them. Henry Ford revolutionised the world by inventing the "horseless carriage" - the car (gas powered). However, cars were unpopular because of laws, which said that they must follow a man walking with a red flag. This meant the maximum speed of cars was only 5 km per hour! But soon, railways introduced inexpensive third class seats and train travel became more popular. In the 1880s liquid fuel helped make cars faster and by the 1920s they were no longer a rich man's toy and many people used them. The bicycle was also widely used at the end of the 19th Century, even though it was unsuitable for the bad roads of that time. Another method of transport was the tram or trolleybus. These looked like trains but ran on the road. They were electrically powered by overhead lines, and carried many people around cities and towns. 153 QUESTLANGUAGE