The Transcontinental Railroad was perhaps the most monumental technological achievement of the Industrial Revolution. Beginning in 1863, two companies worked more than six years to lay 2000 miles of track between San Francisco, California, and Council Bluffs, a town in Iowa on the Missouri River. On May 10, 1869, in Promontory, Utah, after great fanfare, a railroad worker heaved a large sledgehammer and drove the final spike of the railroad. The strike literally was heard all around the country, as operators of the railroad companies had wired the spike into the transcontinental telegraph line. The land and peoples of the United States would never be the same.
In paragraph 1, the author provides background on the Transcontinental Railroad and presents the passage’s central idea. Which sentence from the paragraph best states the central idea?
A
The Transcontinental Railroad was perhaps the most monumental technological achievement of the Industrial Revolution.
B
On May 10, 1869, in Promontory, Utah, after great fanfare, a railroad worker heaved a large sledgehammer and drove the final spike of the railroad.
C
The strike literally was heard all around the country, as operators of the railroad companies had wired the spike into the transcontinental telegraph line.
D
The land and peoples of the United States would never be the same.
