雅思听力

🎧 Listening Transcript

Good morning, everyone. Today we're going to discuss the history of the bicycle. Now, you might think the bicycle was invented in the 19th century, but its earliest form appeared in the 15th century, when an Italian artist sketched a device with two wheels and a pedal-less frame. However, it wasn't until 1817 that a German baron, Karl von Drais, built a steerable two-wheeler, which he called the 'Laufmaschine'. This machine required riders to push their feet against the ground to move. Interestingly, the first real pedal-driven bicycle was developed in Scotland in 1839 by a blacksmith named Kirkpatrick Macmillan. His design used treadles connected to the rear wheel, but it was not widely adopted. It was only in the 1860s, in France, that pedals were attached directly to the front wheel, giving rise to the 'velocipede'. So, the key point is that the bicycle evolved over several centuries, with major contributions from different countries.