Uncovering the Truth about Germany's Autobahns Reading Answers

Uncovering the Truth about Germany's Autobahns Reading Answers practice test and answers with explanations are given here for your practice. The reading passage has five paragraphs along with 13 questions. The questions are divided into three categories:  matching headings, multiple-choice, and matching summary completion questions.

Table of contents:

• Solution for Uncovering the Truth about Germany's Autobahns Reading Answers
• Uncovering the Truth about Germany's Autobahns Reading Answers IELTS Reading Practice Test
• Passage
• Questions
• Answers with Explanations

Solution for Uncovering the Truth about Germany's Autobahns Reading Answers

For your acknowledgment, we have given Uncovering the Truth about Germany's Autobahns Reading Answers in the table below.

Answer Table

1. i	5. ii	9. B	13. The (German) Government
2. iv	6. D	10. B
3. vii	7. A	11. Physical and Mechanical
4. iii	8. D	12. Car manufacturers self-regulate

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Uncovering the Truth about Germany's Autobahns Reading Answers is given here for your knowledge, and it will help you improve your grasping and reading comprehension skills. To solve the questions easily, read the passage attentively in sequence, and underline the keywords and important information given in the passage. You can easily excel your IELTS reading module with useful tips and tricks.

Passage

We have provided Uncovering the Truth about Germany's Autobahns Reading reading passage. Read the passage and answer all the questions (1-13) in 20 minutes. Refer your answers with Uncovering the Truth about Germany's Autobahns Reading Answers with location.

Uncovering the Truth about Germany's Autobahns

1. Officially the Bundesautobahnen, which, when translated, means federal expressways, we know them more commonly as the autobahns – Germany’s impressive system of motorways. There is nothing extraordinary about them, fine feats of engineering though they may be, so why has the term autobahn become so well known? The simple answer is that people living outside of Germany have had their curiosity more than a little tickled on account of the fact that Germany’s motorways are, in one specific way, very unique indeed.
   
   They are not the longest system in the world, this plaudit going to the Interstate Highway System of America, nor are they even second or third (China and India respectively), and though they come a healthy fourth in the length stakes, this is really neither here nor there. No, indeed, what fascinates us about the autobahns has nothing to do with their technical or design features. It is though, a lot to do with how fast you can go on them. The autobahns, you see, are the only stretch of motorway in the world on which you can drive your car (provided it is not towing a trailer) at, well, any speed you like.
   
   Now that’s a very attractive proposition for many boy racers out there who would salivate at the prospect of being able to drive as fast as they wanted, and, therefore, on that rather scary point, perhaps we should consider asking the, well, obvious question: what on earth were the Germans thinking when they did this? Surely having no speed limit whatsoever is a recipe for disaster.
   
   
2. To clarify, there is a ‘recommended’ speed limit of 130km/h on all stretches of the German motorway, and a hard limit is imposed on some vehicles. Buses carrying standing passengers and motorbikes pulling trailers cannot go faster than 60 km/h. All other buses, as well as passenger cars and trucks with trailers, and all vehicles weighing in excess of 3.5 tonnes are not allowed to exceed 80km/h. Rare exceptions include buses that have been officially certified to travel at 100km/h and passenger cars carrying trailers that have received similar certification.
   
   Nonetheless, the fact remains that all other cars, trucks, and motorbikes, while encouraged to adhere to the ‘recommended’ speed limit, are by no means bound to it and can, in effect, travel as fast as they please. Indeed, many of them do and it is not uncommon to see a car racing past you on the autobahn traveling in excess of 140km/h.
   
   
3. In such circumstances, it would not be at all surprising to learn that Germany has an awful record on road safety, except that it doesn’t. Indeed, Germany’s road safety record is comparable, and in some cases superior, to that of all other industrialized European countries. So is this just luck rewarding recklessness? Well, first of all, it’s important to concede that speed limits do apply at junctions and other danger spots, such as sections under repair, and that there are even weather-related speed limits on some stretches of the autobahn (lower speed limits are used in cases of wet lanes).
   
   To fail to point this out would be to paint a picture, rather unfairly, of speed-hungry officials putting the traveling public in jeopardy on roads in order to gratify their own thrill-lust. Of course, this is not the case. Indeed, safety considerations aside, the Germans have even imposed speed limits for other purposes, such as to reduce pollution and noise on some stretches of the autobahn, so there is no crazy speed-fuelled agenda here. ‘Mad’ you may say, but the Germans actually seem to think this is safe.
   
   
4. And the statistics appear to back them up though. After all, the International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis Group’s research indicates that there are 2.2 road-user fatalities per billion vehicle kilometers on German autobahns each year. Using the same statistics, 4.5 fatalities occur on United States motorways each year. In fact, when you look beyond the myth of the motorway without speed limits, where drivers regularly clock up speeds in excess of 200km/h and uncover the more sober reality, you realize that the German approach might not be as daft as it first seemed.
   
   For a start, only 2% of all traffic regularly travels on the unrestricted stretches of the motorway as, despite the vast area they cover, they are strategically located in rural areas with low traffic volume.
   
   The other 98% of vehicles on the road do in fact have their speeds very strictly regulated, and these regulations are also heavily enforced. Speed cameras are everywhere and the motorways are patrolled by unmarked police cars ready to pull over speed offenders and reckless drivers. The Germans have also taken into consideration statistics that show that very few road accidents occur on motorways in low-volume traffic each year. In fact, these stretches of motorway offer up some of the safest driving conditions, statistically speaking, of all. The Germans have therefore reasoned that they don’t need to regulate rural motorways a great deal, and it would seem they are right.
   
   
5. Furthermore, the myth of limitless speed is also quite misleading. In reality, all German car manufacturers (and most international ones) keep to a gentlemen’s agreement whereby they limit the top speed of their cars to around 150 km/h for safety reasons, unless tire pressure is optimally maintained and cars are constantly serviced (as would happen, say, in motor racing), traveling at higher speeds than that is, well, extremely risky and can lead to blowouts and other physical and mechanical failures that have the potential to cause death.
   
   Therefore, the situation is a little different than we might have assumed because while there is no official speed limit in theory, car manufacturers self-regulate so, in practice, a limit on the maximum speed vehicles can travel has been put in place. In addition, the few vehicles which are capable of clocking speeds in excess of 150km/h seldom get the opportunity (the time and space) to build up to these speeds on the German autobahns, and, if they do, well, the way the German government sees it, they might as well be driving that fast there rather than in the suburbs, so let them do it!

Questions

Questions 1-5

Reading Passage has five paragraphs, A-E. 
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings (i-viii) below.

i. The Fascination Explained

ii. Speedsters Thwarted by Manufacturers (in) A Policy Well Conceived

iii. A Policy Well Conceived

iv. Speed Limits That Are Not Speed Limits

v. Recklessness Rewarded

vi. Safety Compromised

vii. Safety Not Only Factor Driving Speed Regulators

viii. The Longest Motorways Examined

1. Paragraph A - ____
2. Paragraph B - ____
3. Paragraph C - ____
4. Paragraph D - ____
5. Paragraph E - ____

Questions 6-10

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.

6. German road regulations state that

1. all vehicles must adhere to a recommended speed limit of 130km/h.
2. the speed limit for all buses is 100km/h.
3. no trailer-carrying vehicle can travel at speeds in excess of 80km/h.
4. passenger cars carrying trailers must not exceed a limit of 80km/h without prior approval.

7. Special motorway speed limits

1. are sometimes imposed on all vehicles in difficult driving conditions.
2. never apply to cars, trucks, and motorcycles, which can travel at any speed, provided they are not towing a trailer.
3. like all speed limits in Germany – are only recommended maximum speeds, and are not enforceable in law.
4. are only seen at junctions and on stretches of motorway which need work.

8. The section of the German motorway system which has no upper-speed limit for some vehicles

1. is also that which sees the most volume of traffic.
2. is not a significant part of the system as a whole, only accounting for about 2% of the country’s motorways.
3. is, however, patrolled by unmarked police cars which monitor traffic flow.
4. receives a comparatively small amount of the country’s overall traffic volume.

9. German car manufacturers

1. have a legal agreement to limit their vehicles’ speeds.
2. self-regulate to an extent when it comes to safety considerations.
3. implement an unusual practice of limiting their vehicles’ fuel consumption.
4. regularly service their vehicles for safety purposes.

10. What do you think is the writer’s view of the German approach to speed regulation?

1. It is irresponsible and reckless.
2. It initially appears baffling, but, on closer inspection, makes a lot of sense.
3. It is inadequate in cities and leaves a lot to be desired in rural areas.
4. It is over-reliant on self-regulation by manufacturers and even drivers themselves.

Questions 11-13

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

For cars operating at high speeds, it is necessary to maintain optimal tire pressure and ensure that the vehicle is serviced regularly in order to combat the heightened risk of 
11. _____________ failures. In reality, due to the practice whereby 12. ________________, few vehicles have the capacity to travel at speeds in excess of 150km/h. When it comes to vehicles that can and are determined to travel at very high speeds, 13. _______________ would rather they attempt to drive excessively fast on the parts of the motorway it deems safe than anywhere else.

Answers for Uncovering the Truth about Germany's Autobahns with Explanations

Uncovering the Truth about Germany's Autobahns Reading Answers with explanations are given below for your reference.

(Note: The text in Bold mentions the location and keywords for the justification. The lines in italics show the referring lines of the passage.)

1. Answer: i

Explanation: 2nd,3rd, and 4th lines of paragraph A state that No, indeed, what fascinates us about the autobahns has nothing to do with their technical or design features. It is though, a lot to do with how fast you can go on them. The autobahns, you see, are the only stretch of motorway in the world on which you can drive your car (provided it is not towing a trailer) at, well, any speed you like.

2. Answer: iv

Explanation: The second paragraph of section B explains that Nonetheless, the fact remains that all other cars, trucks, and motorbikes, while encouraged to adhere to the ‘recommended’ speed limit, are by no means bound to it and can, in effect, travel as fast as they please. Indeed, many of them do and it is not uncommon to see a car racing past you on the autobahn traveling in excess of 140km/h.

3. Answer: vii

Explanation: 7th and 8th line of paragraph C narrates that Indeed, safety considerations aside, the Germans have even imposed speed limits for other purposes, such as to reduce pollution and noise on some stretches of the autobahn, so there is no crazy speed-fuelled agenda here. ‘Mad’ you may say, but the Germans actually seem to think this is safe.

4. Answer: iii

Explanation: 8th, 9th, and 10th line of paragraph D justifies that The Germans have also taken into consideration statistics that show that very few road accidents occur on motorways in low-volume traffic each year. In fact, these stretches of motorway offer up some of the safest driving conditions, statistically speaking, of all. The Germans have therefore reasoned that they don’t need to regulate rural motorways a great deal, and it would seem they are right.

5. Answer: ii

Explanation: The second paragraph of section E notifies that Therefore, the situation is a little different than we might have assumed because while there is no official speed limit in theory, car manufacturers self-regulate so, in practice, a limit on the maximum speed vehicles can travel has been put in place. In addition, the few vehicles which are capable of clocking speeds in excess of 150km/h seldom get the opportunity (the time and space) to build up to these speeds on the German autobahns, and, if they do, well, the way the German government sees it, they might as well be driving that fast there rather than in the suburbs, so let them do it!

6. Answer: D

Explanation: 3rd line of paragraph B describes that All other buses, as well as passenger cars and trucks with trailers, and all vehicles weighing in excess of 3.5 tonnes are not allowed to exceed 80km/h.

7. Answer: A

Explanation: 4th line of paragraph B indicates that Rare exceptions include buses that have been officially certified to travel at 100km/h and passenger cars carrying trailers that have received similar certification.

8. Answer: D

Explanation: 5th line of paragraph D represents that For a start, only 2% of all traffic regularly travels on the unrestricted stretches of the motorway as, despite the vast area they cover, they are strategically located in rural areas with low traffic volume.

9. Answer: B

Explanation: 2nd line of paragraph E mentions that In reality, all German car manufacturers (and most international ones) keep to a gentlemen’s agreement whereby they limit the top speed of their cars to around 150 km/h for safety reasons, unless tire pressure is optimally maintained and cars are constantly serviced (as would happen, say, in motor racing), traveling at higher speeds than that is, well, extremely risky and can lead to blowouts and other physical and mechanical failures that have the potential to cause death.

10. Answer: B

Explanation: 4th and 10th line of paragraph D cites that In fact, when you look beyond the myth of the motorway without speed limits, where drivers regularly clock up speeds in excess of 200km/h and uncover the more sober reality, you realize that the German approach might not be as daft as it first seemed. The Germans have therefore reasoned that they don’t need to regulate rural motorways a great deal, and it would seem they are right.

11. Answer: Physical and Mechanical

Explanation: 2nd line of paragraph E says that In reality, all German car manufacturers (and most international ones) keep to a gentlemen’s agreement whereby they limit the top speed of their cars to around 150 km/h for safety reasons, unless tire pressure is optimally maintained and cars are constantly serviced (as would happen, say, in motor racing), traveling at higher speeds than that is, well, extremely risky and can lead to blowouts and other physical and mechanical failures that have the potential to cause death.

12. Answer: Car Manufacturers Self-regulate

Explanation: 3rd line of paragraph E tells that Therefore, the situation is a little different than we might have assumed because while there is no official speed limit in theory, car manufacturers self-regulate so, in practice, a limit on the maximum speed vehicles can travel has been put in place.

14. Answer: The (German) Government

Explanation: 4th line of paragraph E explains that In addition, the few vehicles which are capable of clocking speeds in excess of 150km/h seldom get the opportunity (the time and space) to build up to these speeds on the German autobahns, and, if they do, well, the way the German government sees it, they might as well be driving that fast there rather than in the suburbs, so let them do it!

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