Designed and built by eight Dutch engineers, the world’s longest rideable bicycle is 180 feet long (55.16 meters), roughly the same length as four double-decker buses.

    39-year-old Ivan Schalk had been thinking about building the world’s longest bicycle since reading about it in a Guinness Book of Records when he was a child, but he only started this project several years ago, as a way to fill up his free time. He knew it wasn’t the kind of thing he could build himself, so he sought the help of like-minded people in his home village of Prinsenbeek, which is apparently well-known in the Netherlands for its tech-savvy residents. Together, they spent about four years — not counting the two years of interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic — working on the world’s longest bicycle.

    “I’ve been thinking about the idea for years,” Schalk told Guinness Records. “The goal was to break the world record for the longest bicycle in the world. To achieve this, we took into account all the rules of Guinness World Records (GWR) when building our bicycle.”

    According to the Guinness rulebook, a maximum of two people are allowed to sit on the 55.16-meter-long bicycle, one at the front at the handlebars and one at the back to pedal. However, Schalk also allowed three other people to sit on the long metal structure connecting the front and the back of the bike. They didn’t help in any way, on the contrary, they were added weight, but Guinness decided that there were too many people riding the contraption (奇特的装置) to qualify it for the longest bicycle record.

    The team was slightly disappointed by the original decision, but they decided to simply take the record for the world’s longest tandem (双人自行车) and then go for the record for the world’s largest rideable bicycle as well, this time with the required two people on it. They recently got the confirmation from Guinness that they are the proud owners of two world records.

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1.Why did Ivan Schalk start the project of building the world’s longest bicycle?

A To break a Guinness World Record.

B To become famous in his village.

C To spend his leisure hours.

D To showcase his engineering skills.

解析：选C。C细节理解题。根据第二段的“but he only started this project several years ago, as a way to fill up his free time”可知，他一直在考虑建造这辆自行车，但几年前才开始，以此来打发空闲时间。故选C。

2.How many years had passed by the time Ivan Schalk and his team began the project?

A Two years.

B Four years.

C Six years.

D Eight years.

解析：选C。C细节理解题。根据第二段的“Together, they spent about four years — not counting the two years of interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic — working on the world’s longest bicycle.”可知，他们一起花了大约四年的时间——不包括因COVID-19大流行而中断的两年——建造了世界上最长的自行车。因此从开始建这辆自行车到现在已经过去了6年时间。故选C。

3.What was the original goal of Ivan Schalk and his team?

A To break the world record for the longest tandem.

B To qualify for the longest bicycle record with five people riding.

C To create the world’s largest rideable bicycle.

D To break the world record for the longest bicycle in the world.

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据第三段中的“The goal was to break the world record for the longest bicycle in the world.”可知，他们一开始建造这辆自行车的目标是打破世界上最长自行车的世界纪录。故选D。

4.According to the Guinness rulebook, how many people are allowed to sit on the bicycle?

A One person at the front and one at the back.

B Two people at the front.

C Three people in the middle.

D Two people at the front and three at the back.

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。根据第四段中的“According to the Guinness rulebook, a maximum of two people are allowed to sit on the 55.16-meter-long bicycle, one at the front at the handlebars and one at the back to pedal.”可知，根据吉尼斯规则手册，这辆55.16米长的自行车最多允许两人坐在上面，一人在前方操控车把，一人在后方狂踩踏板。故选A。