英语四级阅读模拟训练附答案:房屋建筑

　　At first sight, the house on Sullivan’s Island looks anything but hurricane-proof. Its redwoodshell makes it resemble “a large party lantern (灯笼)” at night, according to one observer. Butlooks can be deceiving. The house’s wooden frame is reinforced with long steel rods to give itextra strength.

　　To further protect the house from hurricane damage, Huff raised it 2.7 meters off the groundon timber pilings—long, slender columns of wood anchored deep in the sand. Pilings mightappear insecure, but they arestrong enough to support the weight of the house. They alsoelevate the house above storm surges. The pilings allow the surges to run under the houseinstead of running into it. “These swells of water come ashore at tremendous speeds and causemost of the damage done to beach-front buildings,” said Huff.

　　Huff designed the timber pilings to be partially concealed by the house’s ground-to-roofshell. “ The shell masks the pilings so that the house doesn’t look like it’s standing with itspant legs pulled up,” said Huff. In the event of a storm surge, the shell should break apart andlet the waves rush under the house, the architect explained.

　　练习题：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1. After the tragedy caused by Hurricane Hugo, new houses built along SouthCarolina’s shore line are required ________.

　　A. to be easily reinforced

　　B. to look smarter in design

　　C. to meet stricter building standards

　　D. to be designed in the shape of cubes

　　2. The award-winning beach house is quite strong because ________.

　　A. it is strengthened by steel rods

　　B. it is made of redwood

　　C. it is in the shape of a shell

　　D. it is built with timber and concrete

　　3. Huff raised the house 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings in order to________.

　　A. withstand peak winds of about 200 km/hr

　　B. anchor stronger pilings deep in the sand

　　C. break huge sea waves into smaller ones

　　D. prevent water from rushing into the house

　　4. The main function of the shell is ________.

　　A. to strengthen the pilings of the house

　　B. to give the house a better appearance

　　C. to protect the wooden frame of the house

　　D. to slow down the speed of the swelling water

　　5. It can be inferred from the passage that the shell should be ________.

　　A. fancy-looking

　　B. waterproof

　　C. easily breakable

　　D. extremely strong

　　1.[C] 根据题目中的专有名词Hugo查找到文中第3段第2句。句中的In Hugo’s wake相当于题目中的afterHugo,由该句是的stricter，better-enforced codes可知C正确。

　　2.[A] 第4段开始具体介绍the house,根据该段最后一句可知，这幢房子的木制结构用长钢筋加固了，因而特别结实,故选A。

　　3.[D] 根据题干的数字可迅速定位至第5段首，第2、3句阐述这样做的目的是“将房屋抬髙到暴风雨巨浪之上,及让巨浪能在屋下流过。”其中running into it与D中的rushing into the house同义,故D正确。

　　4.[B] 最后一段第2句提出，外壳可以把木桩遮盖住,所以它主要起“粉饰”作用。

　　5.[C] 根据最后一句可知，如果暴风雨巨浪涌来，外壳就会裂开，让巨浪在房屋下面奔涌而过，因此外壳应该是“易碎的”。