Cambridge 18 (General Training) | Test 3 | Section 3

Roman Roads

The long straight roads built by the Romans have, in many cases, become just as famous in history as their greatest emperors and generals. Building upon more ancient routes and creating a huge number of new ones, Roman engineers were fearless in their plans to join one point to another in as straight a line as possible, whatever the difficulties in geography and the costs in manpower. Consequently, roads required bridges, tunnels, viaducts and many other architectural and engineering features to create a series of breathtaking but highly useful monuments, which spread from Europe to eastern parts of the Roman empire.

fearless (adjective)

/ˈfɪr.ləs/

not afraid, in a way that people admire

e.g., These dogs are absolutely fearless.

manpower (noun) [uncountable]

/ˈmænpaʊər/

the number of workers needed or available to do a particular job

e.g., We're a little short on manpower today, so we'll need you to do some extra tasks.

breathtaking (adjective)

/ˈbreθteɪkɪŋ/

extremely exciting, beautiful, or surprising

e.g., The view from my bedroom window was absolutely breathtaking.