Since the（1）

beginning

beginning

（begin） of the last century there have been enormous changes in the way people live．The world has become a much smaller place and life is much faster．
    In the first half of the twentieth century，the horse was （2）

gradually

gradually

（gradual） replaced by the motor car as the most popular form of transport．A hundred years ago，air travel was in its infancy （初期）；now there （3）

are

are

（be） over 90，000 commercial flights a day worldwide．In（4）

the

the

1940s，steam trains were still a common sight on the world's railways．They have now all but disappeared from mainline routes and in a lot of （5）

countries

countries

（country），electric powered highspeed trains can be seen racing across the countryside at around 300 kilometres an hour．
    And information travels faster，too，thanks （6）

to

to

developments in information technology，telecommunications and mass media． （7）

Having

Having

（have） your own computer at home was almost unheard of in 1970，but just 40 years later in 2010 there were well over a billion （8）

personal

personal

（person） computers in use worldwide．The telephone（9）

invented

invented

（invent） in 1876 was already fairly widely in use by 1910，with some seven million installed （安装） in the United States alone．But （10）

who

who

could have predicted that a century later an estimated 70 per cent of the world's population would own a mobile phone？