题目内容
12.In its early history,Chicago had floods frequently,especially in the spring,making the streets so muddy that people,horses,and carts got stuck.An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this:A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street.Asked if he needs help,he replies,"No,thanks.I've got a good horse under me."The city planner decided to build an underground drainage (排水) system,but there simply wasn't enough difference between the height of the ground level and the water level.The only two options were to lower the Chicago River or raise the city.
An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt.This raised the level of the city's streets by as much as 12feet.
This of course created a new problem:dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago.Building owners were faced with a choice:either change the first floors of their buildings into basements,and the second stories into main floors,or hoist the entire buildings to meet the new street level.Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily.But what about large,heavy structures like Tremont Hotel,which was a six-story brick building?
That's where George Pullman came in.He had developed some house-moving skills successfully.To lift a big structure like the Tremont Hotel,Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews (螺旋千斤顶) beneath the building's foundation.One man was assigned to operate each section of roughly 10jackscrews.At Pullman's signal each man tured his jackscrew the same amount at the same time,thereby raising the building slowly and evenly.Astonishingly,the Tremont Hotel stay open during the entire operation,and many of its guests didn't even notice anything was happening.
Some people like to say that every problem has a solution.But in Chicago's early history,every engineering solution seemed to create a new problem.Now that Chicago's waste water was draining efficiently into the Chicago River,the city's next step was to clean the polluted river.
28.The author mentions the joke to showB.
A.horses were fairly useful in Chicago
B.Chicago's streets were extremely muddy
C.Chicago was very dangerous in the spring
D.the Chicago people were particularly humorous
29.The city planners were convinced by Ellis Chesbrough toA.
A.build the pipes above ground B.lower the Chicago River
C.fight against heavy floods D.get rid of the street dirt
30.The underlined word"hoist"in Paragraph 4 means"B".
A.change B.lift C.repair D.decorate
31.The passage is mainly about the early Chicago'sC.
A.popular life styles and their influences
B.environmental disasters and their causes
C.engineering problems and their solutions
D.successful businessmen and their achievements.
分析 在早期的历史中,芝加哥经常发生洪水,尤其是在春天,街道变得如此的泥泞不堪以致于人们,马和车经常被困住.当时流行这样一个古老的笑话:在芝加哥泥泞的街上,一个人的腰被困住了.问他是否需要帮助,他回答说:"不,谢谢.我还有一匹好马在下面."
城市规划者决定建造一套地下排水系统,但只不过没有地面与水平面之间足够的高度差,只有两个选择即降低芝加哥河的水位或者抬高城市的高度.一个叫埃利斯切斯布罗的工程师说服我该城市除了将管道建在地面上,然后用泥土覆盖上之外别无选择,这会使城市的街道提高12英尺之多.
当然这样会产生一个新的问题:事实上,泥土埋掉了芝加哥几乎每一栋大楼的第一层.建筑业主们面临着一个选择:要么将建筑物的一楼改到地下室,把第二层改到主楼层,或将整个建筑提升到新的街水平.小的木结构的建筑会相当容易地举起来.但对于像特里蒙特酒店那样大而重的六层砖混结构的建筑怎么办呢?
这里乔治普尔曼派上了用场.他已经成功地开发了一些搬家技巧.提升一个像特里蒙特酒店那样大的结构,铂尔曼将成千上万的置于建筑物的地基部.一个人被分配到操作每一段大致10个螺旋千斤顶.在铂尔曼的指导下,每个人同时抬起同样数量的螺旋千斤顶,从而缓慢、均匀地抬起建筑物.令人惊讶的是,在整个运作过程中特里蒙特酒店仍然在营业,很多客人甚至没有注意到有什么事情发生.有些人喜欢说,每个问题都有解决的方法.但在芝加哥的早期历史,每一个工程的解决方案似乎创造着一个新的问题.现在芝加哥的废水被有效地排放到芝加哥的河里,该城市的下一步就是治理污染的河流.
解答 28.B.细节推理题选.D 芝加哥的人们尤其的幽默.根据第一段的第一句话 In its early history,Chicago…and carts got stuck.(尤其是在春天,芝加哥经常发生洪水,街道变得如此的泥泞不堪以致于人们,马和车经常被困住.所以作者提到的笑话是为了突出这一点即道路的泥泞.) 故选B
29.A.细节推理题选.根据第三段的第一句话An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced…then cover them with dirt.(一个叫埃利斯切斯布罗的工程师说服我该城市除了将管道建在地面上,然后用泥土覆盖上之外别无选择)可知,埃利斯切斯布罗的工程师认为应该在地上埋下排水管道.故选 A
30.B.细节推理题 根据后文Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily.(小的木结构的建筑会相当容易地举起来.)可知另一种方法就是将建筑升高.故选 B
60.C.主旨大意题 本题为总结概括全文的主旨大意题,第一段提到芝加哥城所存在的问题,接下来讨论了解决这个问题的一些方法,最后一段讲到虽然解决了当前的问题,但随之而来又会产生一些新的有待解决的问题.故文章大致上讲述的是建造的问题与解决的办法.故选C.
点评 考察学生的细节理解和推理判断能力,做细节理解题时一定要找到文章中的原句,和题干进行比较,再做出正确的选择.在做推理判断题不要以个人的主观想象代替文章的事实,要根据文章事实进行合乎逻辑的推理判断.
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