Early Telecommunications Devices Reading Answers

Dec 20, 2022

Early Telecommunications Devices Reading Answers contains a write up about the invention of early telecommunication devices. Early Telecommunications Devices Reading Answers comprising 14 different types of questions. Candidates in this IELTS Section will be shown various question types with clear instructions. Early Telecommunications Devices Reading Answers comprises three types of questions: Matching heading, sentence completion, and Choose the correct option. For Matching heading in IELTS Reading passage, candidates need to thoroughly go through each passage. For sentence completion, candidates need to skim the passage for keywords and understand the concept. To choose the correct option, candidates must read the IELTS Reading passage and understand the statement provided. To gain proficiency, candidates can practice from IELTS reading practice test.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Early Telecommunications Devices Reading Answers

Although it is hardly used anymore, the telegraph is familiar to most people. This early telecommunication device is credited, as any school student knows, to Samuel Morse, who, in 1844 made the first long-distance electronic communication via his invention, the Morse's telegraph. What is not so commonly known is that Morse was not the only telegraph nor was he the only such inventor at this time. A rival system, developed by William Cook and Charles Wheatstone, was patented in England in 1845 and was subsequently adopted for use by British rail companies to enable speedy communication between rail stations.
However, the Cooke-Wheatstone telegraph, which used six wires and a fragile receiver requiring five magnetic needles, proved to be awkward to use, difficult to transport and expensive to build. Morse's version used one wire and a receiver of a simpler and stronger design. This is, no doubt, why it became the favored telegraph in many parts of the world, especially the United States, which built a telegraph line along railway tracks crossing the North American continent, linking eastern cities with western frontiers.
Morse chose the Magnetic Telegraph Company to handle the patents for his telegraph technology, and within seven years of the appearance of his invention, the company had licensed use of the telegraph to more than 50 companies across the US. In 1851, twelve of these companies came together to form the Western Union Company. By 1866, Western Union had grown to include more than 4000 telegraph offices, almost all in rail stations.
Another early telecommunications device is still very much with us, the telephone. Although the telephone is popularly thought to be the brainchild of one man, Alexander Graham Bell, this is not the whole truth. Phillip Reis, a schoolteacher in Germany, invented a device in 1861 that he labeled a telephone. Reis’s invention was limited to transmitting musical tones, however, and could not send the sound of the human voice across the wire.
While Reis was working on his invention, Bell and another man, Elisha Gray, were also working toward the invention of the telephone, though by an indirect route. Both were, in fact, seeking ways of allowing multiple telegraph signals to travel along the telegraph line - a system known as a harmonic telegraph. Bell worked in Boston while Gray was based in Chicago, and the two were rivals in their area of research. For both inventors, the perfection of the harmonic telegraph proved too difficult and both, separately but at some time, changed plans and started on the development of a telephone. Most interesting of all is the fact that both men applied for a patent to the US patent office for their respective telephones on the same day, 14 February 1876. Bell was lucky enough to have arrived a few hours earlier than Gray and so it was Bell whose name was to be forever associated with the telephone. The harmonic telegraph, incidentally, was perfected by Thomas Edison, best known as the inventor of the light built, in 1881.
Rights to Bell’s patent (now recognized as the most valuable patent in the history of technology) were offered to Western Union for $100000, with the assumption that the giant telegraph company would be enthusiastic about the new technology. But Western Union disliked Bell's design and instead asked Elisha Gray to make refinements to his original telephone design. Bell`s company began to set up its own business and sell telephones, while Western Union, with its somewhat different design, was its competitor.
Competition between the two continued for about two years, but all the while, the Bell company was mounting a legal challenge to Western Union, claiming it held the only true basic patents for the telephone. It based its claim on the fact that Bell had beaten Gray to the patent office and so should be the sole recognized inventor of the telephone. Eventually, Western Union had to agree with Bell and gave up its telephone rights and patents to the Bell company. The telephone company's entire network of telephones was handed over to the Bell company. As compensation, Western Union was given 20 percent of revenue from rental of its former equipment; this arrangement was to last until Bell's patents expired. In an effort to fight the power the Bell company enjoyed from exclusive rights to Bell's patents, a small telephone company, Pacific Union, established telephone services in the 1920s and 1930s that it claimed were based on the telephone design of Phillips Reis. They maintained that because Reis's invention pre-dated Bell1s, the Bell design was not the first of its kind and, therefore, Bell's patents were not valid. Although the court accepted that the company may have been using Reis's technology, it nonetheless held that only Bell's patents could legally be used.
The Bell company, eventually named American Telephone & Telegraph, thus formed an effective monopoly on telephone services in the United States. The company subsequently grew to such an extent that, a century later, it was the largest privately held enterprise in the world, with more than a million employees controlling communication between more than 100 million telephones. In 1984, American Telephone & Telegraph was found by a US court to be too monopolistic and was ordered to be broken up into several smaller companies.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Question 1-6:
Complete the table below. Use no more than three words from the reading passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

Year	Event	Inventor (s) (by surname)
1845	Patent of telegraph	........(1)........
1851	Establishment of ........(2)........	-
1861	Invention of telephone	........(3)........
1876	Application for patent of ........(4)........	Gray
1881	Successful development of ........(5)........	Edison

Question 1:

Answer: Cooke and Wheatstone
Supporting sentence: A rival system, developed by William Cook and Charles Wheatstone, was patented in England in 1845 and was subsequently adopted for use by British rail companies to enable speedy communication between rail stations.
Keyword: rival system, patented, British rail companies
Keyword location: Para 1, lines 6-8
Explanation: As stated in paragraph 1, Cooke and Wheatstone's method was patented and was used by the British railway companies for reliable and quick communication in between stations. Morse's telegraph was not the only one available at the time.

Question 2:

Answer: Western Union Company
Supporting sentence: In 1851, twelve of these companies came together to form the Western Union Company. By 1866, Western Union had grown to include more than 4000 telegraph offices, almost all in rail stations.
Keyword: companies, Western Union Company, telegraph
Keyword location: Para 3, lines 3-5
Explanation: The Western Union Company, which was founded in 1851 by twelve corporations, reportedly acquired more than 4000 telegraph offices by 1866, the most of which were located in rail stations.

Question 3:

Answer: Reis
Supporting sentence: Phillip Reis, a schoolteacher in Germany, invented a device in 1861 that he labeled a telephone.
Keyword: schoolteacher, Germany, telephone
Keyword location: Para 4, lines 3-4
Explanation: The telephone was created in 1861 by Phillip Reis, a German schoolteacher, but it could only transmit musical tones.

Question 4:

Answer: Telephone
Supporting sentence: Most interesting of all is the fact that both men applied for a patent to the US patent office for their respective telephones on the same day, 14 February, 1876.
Keyword: interesting, applied, patent
Keyword location: Para 5, lines 7-8
Explanation: Bell and Gray submitted separate patent applications for their separate telephones on the same day, according to paragraph 5 and lines 7-8.

Question 5:

Answer: (The)harmonic telegraph
Supporting sentence: The harmonic telegraph, incidentally, was perfected by Thomas Edison, best known as the inventor of the light built, in 1881.
Keyword: telegraph, inventor, light built
Keyword location: Para 5, lines 10-11
Explanation: Thomas Edison invented the harmonic telegraph, as described in lines 10–11 of paragraph 5, and is best known for creating the lightbulb in 1881.

Question 6-10:
Look at the following lists of inventors and companies. Match each inventor to one of the companies that used his/their technology. Choose E if there is no information in the reading passage.
Write the appropriate letters A-E in boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet.

Inventors
(6) Bell (7) Cooke and Wheatstone (8) Edison (9) Gray (10) Reis

Companies
A British rail companies B Pacific Union C American telephone & telegraph D Western Union E No information in reading passage

Question 6:

Answer: C
Supporting sentence: The Bell company, eventually named American Telephone and Telegraph, thus formed an effective monopoly on telephone services in the United States.
Keyword: Bell company, monopoly, telephone services
Keyword location: Para 8, lines 1-2
Explanation: Bell's business, afterwards known as American Telephone and Telegraph, amassed a monopoly advantage over the country's telephone service.

Question 7:

Answer: A
Supporting sentence: A rival system, developed by William Cook and Charles Wheatstone, was patented in England in 1845 and was subsequently adopted for use by British rail companies to enable speedy communication between rail stations.
Keyword: rival system, patentes, british rail companies
Keyword location: Para 1, lines 6-8
Explanation:According to Paragraph 1, British train firms used the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph, which was patented in England, for quick communication between stations.

Question 8:

Answer: E
Explanation:No relevant information has been found in the paragraph associated with the question.

Question 9:

Answer: D
Supporting sentence: But Western Union disliked Bell's design and instead asked Elisha Gray to make refinements to his original telephone design.
Keyword: western union, design, refinements, telephone design
Keyword location: Para 6, lines 3-4
Explanation: When Bell Company offered Western Union its patent, Western Union declined and sought the rival, Elisha Gray, to modify the telephone's original design.

Question 10:

Answer: B
Supporting sentence: In an effort to fight the power the Bell company enjoyed from exclusive rights to Bell's patents, a small telephone company, Pacific Union, established telephone services in the 1920s and 1930s that it claimed were based on the telephone design of Phillip Reis.
Keyword: bell company, rights, claimed, telephone design
Keyword location: Para 7, lines 8-9
Explanation:To combat the monopoly Bell Firm was enjoying due to Bell's unique patent, a small company called Pacific Union launched telephone services, and it was based on concepts by Phillip Reis.

Question 11-14:
Using no more than three words, answer the following questions. Write your answers in boxes 11-14 on your answer sheet

11) Name one reason why Cooke and Wheatstone's invention was not as successful as Morse's.
12) In what type of location did Western Union typically offer its telegraph services?
13) What sort of information was Reis's original invention able to send?
14) What device did Alexander Graham Bell try but fail to invent?

Question 11:

Answer: Awkward to use
Supporting sentence: However, the Cooke-Wheatstone telegraph, which used six wires and a fragile receiver requiring five magnetic needles, proved to be awkward to use, difficult to transport and expensive to build.
Keyword: telegraph, six wires, magnetic needles
Keyword location: Para 2, lines 1-2
Explanation: Because it was expensive to make, difficult to use, and difficult to carry, as was noted in Paragraph 2, Cooke and Wheatstone's invention did not have the same level of success as Morse's.

Question 12:

Answer: Rail stations
Supporting sentence: By 1866, Western Union had grown to include more than 4000 telegraphs, almost all in rail stations.
Keyword: western union, telegraph offices, rail stations
Keyword location: Para 3, lines 4-5
Explanation: Twelve companies joined forces to form the Western Union Company, which went on to purchase more than 4000 telegraph offices, the most of which were located in rail stations.

Question 13:

Answer: Musical tones
Supporting sentence: Reis's invention was limited to transmitting musical tones, however, and could not send the sound of the human voice across the wire.
Keyword: invention, musical tones, human voice
Keyword location: Para 4, lines 4-5
Explanation:According to the information in Paragraph 4, Phillip Reis created the telephone in 1861, but it could only transmit musical tones and not human voices.

Question 14:

Answer: Harmonic telegraph
Supporting sentence: For both inventors, the perfection of the harmonic telegraph proved too difficult and both, separately, but at around the same time, changed plans and started on the development of a telephone.
Keyword: perfection, telegraph, difficult
Keyword location: Para 5, lines 5-6
Explanation: The harmonic telegraph was a difficult innovation for both Bell and Gray to perfect, so they adjusted their objectives and began working on the creation of the telephone.

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