Question

In the late 1960s, many people in North America turned their attention to environmental problems, and new steel-and-glass skyscrapers （摩天大楼） were widely blamed．Ecologists （生态学者） pointed out that many tall buildings in a city often cause transportation and parking problems．

Skyscrapers are also wasteful consumers of electricity．In one recent year, 17 million square feet of skyscraper office space in New York City raised the highest daily demand for electricity by 120,000 kilowatts—enough to supply the entire city of Albany for a day.

Glass-walled （玻璃幕墙） skyscrapers can be especially wasteful The heat loss （or gain） through a wall of half-inch glass is more than ten times that through a traditional wall filled with insulation board （隔热板）．To reduce the burden on heating and air-conditioning equipment, builders of skyscrapers have begun to use double-glazed panels of glass （双层玻璃板）, and reflective glasses covered with a layer of silver or gold mirror that reduce the unpleasant bright light as well as heat gain．However, glass-walled skyscrapers raise the temperature of the surrounding air and affect neighboring buildings．

Skyscrapers put a heavy burden on a city's public facilities, too．If fully occupied, the former two World Trade Center towers in New York City would alone produce 2．25 million gallons of waste water each year—as much as a city the size of Stamford, which has a population of more than 109,000．

Skyscrapers also influence television reception, block bird flyways, and affect air traffic． In Boston in the late 1960s, some people even feared that shadows from skyscrapers would kill the grass on Boston Common （波士顿公园）．

Still, people continue to build skyscrapers for all the reasons that they have always built them—personal ambition, a sense of pride, and the desire of owners to have the largest possible amount of space for rent．

71．The main purpose of the passage is to _____．

       A．explain various building structures

       B．compare skyscrapers with other modern buildings

       C．discuss the advantages and disadvantages of skyscrapers

       D．describe skyscrapers and their influence on the environment

72．According to the passage, what is one disadvantage of skyscrapers that have glass walls?

       A．Construction time is increased．

       B．The surrounding air is heated．

       C．The building materials are very expensive．

       D．Such buildings lead to climate change．

73．According to the passage, which aspect of skyscrapers were some residents of Boston worried about in the late 1960's?

       A．The influence on air traffic,

       B．The harmful effects on the city's plants．

       C．The poor reception of radio and TV signals．

       D．The removal of trees and grass from building sites．

74．Which of the following groups would the skyscraper issue concern most?

       A．College students．                      B．Television viewers.

       C．Environmentalists．                      D．Electrical engineers．

75．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

       A．The skyscrapers first appeared in the late 1960s．

       B．Where there are skyscrapers, television reception is poorer．

       C．The former two World Trade Center towers are skyscrapers．

       D．Skyscrapers provide more usable space than other buildings．

Answer 1

 DBBCA