Maglev Trains: the Future of Transportation?
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Maglev Trains: The Future of Transportation? By Jason Moore What are Maglev Trains? Maglev trains ride or float on a cushion of air. Maglev trains do not use an engine to move like traditional trains. They use a technology called magnetic levitation. (The name maglev is a combination of the words magnetic and levitation.) Electromagnets are placed on the train and on the guideway, or track. When electricity flows through the electromagnets, they act like magnets. One set of the magnets repel. That means they push away from one another. This reaction between the magnets creates a magnetic field. The field lifts the train off of the track. This lets air flow between the train and the guideway. The trains never touch the Magnets levitate when they repel. The track; they hover just above the track. A second set of magnets word levitation means to rise up in the move the 'floating train' ahead. The trains move quickly because air. they aren’t slowed down by friction between wheels and track. Where was the first maglev train? China was the first country to run a maglev train. This commercial train opened on December 31, 2002. The train takes passengers to and from the Pudong Airport to the city center 19 miles away. The trip takes about eight minutes. That’s because the train can travel up to 267 miles per hour! A trip through the city traffic would take much, much longer! What are the advantages? Maglev trains do not have as many parts as traditional trains. This means there are less breakdowns. These trains have no wheels running along metal tracks, so they are very quiet. They are friendly to the environment. There is no engine to create pollution. The trains are weatherproof too. Snow, cold weather, and rain don’t affect how they run. This means there is Maglev Train less disruption to schedules. 1 © Copyright by Write Score LLC Maglev trains are designed to glide through the air. The front is curved so that the air slides over the train as it moves. This helps the train to move faster and reduces friction with the air. Maglev trains can move at speeds up to 300 miles per hour. That is twice as fast as Amtrak’s fastest commuter train. What are the disadvantages? The biggest downside to maglev trains is the cost. These trains can’t run on the tracks that already exist in many countries. This means that the train tracks that already exist would have to be changed to work with maglev trains. Another idea would be to build all new tracks. Both ideas are very expensive. 2 © Copyright by Write Score LLC Name_________________________________ Use the passage Maglev Trains: The Future of Transportation? to answer these questions. How does the overall design of maglev trains contribute to their ability to move very fast? Why is this unique to maglev 1. trains? Use details and information from the text to support your answer. Reread paragraph 2. 2. What does the underlined word tell you about the first maglev train? This author uses a question and answer text structure to present information 3. about maglev trains. How does the text structure add to the reader’s understanding of the text? The author included two photographs in the article. 4. How do the photographs contribute to the overall understanding of the text? Compare maglev trains to traditional trains. 5. How are they alike? How are they different? © Copyright Write Score LLC Name_________________________________ Discussion Questions: • The title of the article is “Maglev Trains: The Future of Transportation?” Based on the information in the article, what is your opinion? Will maglev trains become more widely used in the future? • The author included two photographs in the article. Were the photographs the best choice to add to the overall understanding of the text? What else might the author have included to assist the reader’s understanding? • Look closely at paragraph 1. What structure does the author use to present the information about maglev trains? Is that structure the best choice? What other structure might the author have used? © Copyright Write Score LLC .