Introduction
When the London and Birmingham Railway opened in 1838, it was an engineering marvel. But progress from the era of the Great Pyramids to Britain’s railways did not lie in engineering alone. It lay in the fact that the industrial revolution was an achievement not of servants gratifying a political elite, but of free men pursuing their own advantages.
THE Great Pyramid of Egypt was, according to Diodorus Siculus, constructed by 300,000 — according to Herodotus, by 100,000 — men. It required for its execution twenty years, and the labour expended upon it has been estimated as equivalent to lifting 15,733,000,000 of cubic feet of stone one foot high.*
Whereas, if the labour expended in constructing the London and Birmingham Railway be in like manner reduced to one common denomination the result is 25,000,000,000 of cubic feet more than was lifted for the Great Pyramid; and yet the English work was performed by about 20,000 men in less than five years.
And whilst the Egyptian work was executed by a powerful monarch concentrating upon it the labour and capital of a great nation, the English railway was constructed, in the face of every conceivable obstruction and difficulty, by a company of private individuals out of their own resources, without the aid of Government or the contribution of one farthing of public money.
Abridged
These figures come originally from the work of Peter Lecount (1794-1852), an assistant engineer of the London and Birmingham Railway who also wrote a history of the line. He was a former Naval officer, and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society active in scientific research for the Board of Longitude.
Précis
Samuel Smiles compared the building of the London and Birmingham Railway with the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The railway, he said, was a greater feat of engineering, achieved by fewer men in less time, and done freely and for profit, rather than by slaves on their master’s orders, a testimony to Britain’s progressive society. (57 / 60 words)
Samuel Smiles compared the building of the London and Birmingham Railway with the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The railway, he said, was a greater feat of engineering, achieved by fewer men in less time, and done freely and for profit, rather than by slaves on their master’s orders, a testimony to Britain’s progressive society.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, despite, may, otherwise, ought, unless, whereas.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 According. Common. Government.
2 Its. Manner. Perform.
3 Contribution. Cubic. Execution.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
ns (9+8)
ensue. ions. nausea. noes. noise. noose. nose. ones. onus.
aeons. anise. anus. eons. ionise. nous. unease. unis.
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