READING PASSAGE 2. You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-17, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below. The start of the automobile's history went all the way back to 1769 when automobiles running on the steam engine were invented as carriers for human transport. ; In 1806, the first batch of cars powered by an internal combustion engine came into being, which pioneered the intro.:. duction of the widespread modem petrol-fueled internal combustion engine in 1885. It is generally acknowledged that the first practical automobiles equipped with petrol/gaso line-powered internal combustion - engines were invented almost at the same time by differ ent German inventors who were working ·on their own. Karl Benz first built the automobile in 1885 in· Mannheim. Benz attained a patent for his invention on 29 January 1886, and in 1888, he started to produce automobiles in a company that later became the renowned Mer cedes-Benz. As this century began, the automobile industry marched into the transportation market for the wealth. Drivers at that time were an adventurous bunch; . they would go out regardless of the weather condition even if they weren't even protected by an enclosed body . or a con- , vertible top. Everybody in �e community knew who owned what car, and cars immediately ' became a symbol of identity and status. Later, cars became more popular among the public since it allowed people to travel whenever and wherever they wanted, Thus, the price of automobiles in Europe and North America kept dropping, and more people from ·the middle
