Question

In a land often shaken by earthquake, how have Japan's wooden pagodas（佛塔）remained standing for centuries? Japanese scholars have been confident for ages about their resilience（抗震性）.

For centuries, many believed the resilience of pagodas is caused by its big central columns known as shinbashira actually does not carry any weight at all but is hanging down loosely from the top of the pagoda through the middle of the building. The weight of the building is supported entirely by twelve outer and four inner columns.

And what is the role of the shinbashira, the central column? Mr. Ishida, known as ‘Professor Pagoda’ has built a series of models and tested them on a ‘shake-table’ in his laboratory. In short, the shinbashira was acting like a big pendulum(钟摆). Under pressure, a pagoda’s loose floors could be made to move back and forth independently. Viewed from the side, the pagoda seemed to be doing a snake dance—with each floor moving in the opposite direction to its neighbors above and below. The shinbashira, running up through a hole in the centre of the building, made it unlikely that individual floors moved too far because, after moving a certain distance, they banged into it, transmitting energy away along the column.

Another strange feature of the Japanese pagoda is its shape, with each floor being smaller than the one below. In other words, a five-storey pagoda contains not column that travels right up through the building. More surprising is the fact that the individual storeys of a Japanese pagoda are not actually connected to each other. They are simply put on top of another like a small hill of hats.

The extra-wide eaves（屋檐）also play a part. Think of them as a balancing pole of tightrope-walkers. The bigger the mass at each end of the pole, the easier it is for tightrope walker to maintain his or her balance. The same holds true for a pagoda.

1.Shuzo Ishida performs experiments in order to ________.

A. put the pendulum into practice

B. gain insight into the “shake-table” model

C. learn about the function of the shinbashira

D. locate shinbashira’s excat position in a pagoda

2.The underlined word “loose” in paragraph 3 can be replaced by ________?

A. lost B. relaxed

C. base D. shakable

3.Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE according to the article?

A. Some columns may extend from the bottom to the top of a pagoda.

B. The functions of extra eaves and balancing poles are similar.

C. The storeys of a Japanese pagoda aren’t built firmly.

D. Pagodas’s amazing resilience has long puzzled scholars.

4.What is the best title for the passage?

A. How Shinbashira Plays Its Role

B. Why Pagodas Do Not Fall Down

C. Distinct Features of Japanese Architecture

D. Shuzo Ishida, a Famous Engineer

Answer 1