题目解析：
【题目翻译】：下面哪个句子最能表达段落中突出显示的句子中的基本信息？ 不正确的选择会在重要方面改变含义或遗漏重要信息。
A：铁路网络的私人投资始于19世纪50年代铁路网络的急剧扩张，这是由地方政府资助的
B：铁路与地方政府的关系在19世纪50年代变得紧张，当时铁路向私人投资者寻求融资以扩大其产能
C：地方政府为铁路扩张提供资金的能力有限是铁路在19世纪50年代通过转向私人投资解决的一个长期问题
D：当地方政府无法为19世纪50年代铁路的大规模扩张提供充足的资金时，私人投资变得越来越重要
【判定题型】：根据题目问法，题目要求选择和所选句子意思逻辑都最为接近的句子，故判断本题为句子简化题。
【句子分析】：句子的意思是“然而，1850年铁路网络的急剧扩张，给当地政府的融资能力造成了不小的压力，铁路资金的需求转向了私人投资方向，而私人投资一直以来都是铁路资金来源的一部分。这与选项D句子的意思基本一致。
【选项分析】：
A选项说“Private investment in railroads began in the 1850s following……”，认为私人投资是从19世纪50年代开始的，但是原句中说“……which had never been absent from the picture.”说明私人投资一直存在，所以A选项在语义上与原文矛盾，故排除。
B选项说“Railroads' relations with local governments became strained in the 1850s”，但是原文中并没有说铁路公司和政府的关系开始变得紧张，文中说的是“The dramatic expansion of the railroad network in the 1850s, however, strained the financing capacity of local governments”，意思是1850年铁路网络的急剧扩张，给当地政府的融资能力造成了不小的压力，所以B选项的这部分内容在文中并未提及，B选项可以排除。
C选项说政府融资的局限性是一个长久以来的问题，在50年代通过转向私人投资的方式得到解决。但文中说是因为经济危机，才使政府融资困难，C选项中的“long-standing problem”与原文矛盾；此外，原文并没有说私人投资就解决了融资问题，故C选项排除。
D选项说对于50年代的铁路扩张，地方政府的融资并不能完全满足铁路建设需求，因此私人投资就显得更加重要。符合原文，逻辑正确，主干完整，故为正确答案。
The dramatic expansion of the railroad network in the 1850s, however, strained the financing capacity of local governments and required a turn toward private investment, which had never been absent from the picture. Well aware of the economic benefits of railroads, individuals living near them had long purchased railroad stock issued by governments and had directly bought stock in railroads, often paying by contributing their labor to building the railroads. But the large railroads of the 1850s needed more capital than such small investors could generate. Gradually, the center of railroad financing shifted to New York City, and in fact, it was the railroad boom of the 1850s that helped make Wall Street in New York City the nation's greatest capital market. The stocks of all the leading railroads were traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during the 1850s. In addition, the growth of railroads turned New York City into the center of modern investment firms. The investment firms evaluated the stock of railroads in the smaller American cities and then found purchasers for these stocks in New York City, Philadelphia, Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Hamburg. Controlling the flow of funds to railroads, the investment bankers began to exert influence over the railroads' internal affairs by supervising administrative reorganizations in times of trouble.
