2010年6月英語四級閱讀理解練習題及解析(10)

　　【閱讀練習】

　　After the violent earthquake that shook Los Angeles in 1994, earthquake scientists had good news to report: The damage and death toll(死亡人數(shù)) could have been much worse. More than 60 people died in this earthquake. By comparison, and earthquake of similar __1__ that shook America in 1998 claimed 25,000 victims.

　　Injuries and deaths were __2__ less in Los Angeles because the quake occurred at 4:31 a.m. On a holiday, when traffic was light on the city’s highway. In addition, __3__ made to the construction codes in Los Angeles during the last 20 years have strengthened the city’s buildings and highways, making them more __4__ to quakes.

　　In the past, making structures quake-resist-ant meant firm yet __5__ materials, such as steel and wood, that bend without breaking. Later, people tried to lift a building off its foundation, and insert rubber and steel between the building and its foundation to __6__ the impact of ground vibrations. The most __7__ designs give buildings brains as well as concrete and steel supports, called smart buildings, the structures respond like living organisms to an earthquake’s vibrations. When ground shakes and the building tips forward, the computer would __8__ the building to shift in the opposite direction. The new designs should offer even greater __9__ to cities where earthquakes ofen take place.

　　The new smart structures could be very __10__ to build. However, they would save many lives and would be less likely to be damaged during earthquakes.

　　[A]changes

　　[B]flexible

　　[C]decrease

　　[D]recent

　　[E]push

　　[F]reduce

　　[G]relatively

　　[H]safety

　　[I]resistant

　　[J]expensive

　　[K]force

　　[L]accordingly

　　[M]intensity

　　[N]security

　　[O]opposed

　　Answers：

　　1.選M)。此處應填名詞，作介詞of的賓語，作為后置定語修飾earthquake，說明該名詞是“地震”的自然屬性。選項中的名詞有changes，safety，intensity和security，只有intensity可以表示地震的強度，故選M)。

　　2.選G)。此處應填副詞，用來修飾形容詞less。選項中的副詞有relatively“相對的”和accordingly“相應的”，第一段說這次地震和1998年的那次地震程度一樣，但造成的損失卻小很多，再從后句中“高速路上的車輛不是很多”可以推斷：這次的地震造成的“死傷人數(shù)”與1998年比少很多，即少是相對的，故選G)relatively。

　　3.選A)。空格中要填的詞是本句話中的主語，應為名詞。這句話的主干是have strengthened the city’s buildings and highways,從第三段的內(nèi)容和注釋3的解析可知：建筑結(jié)構(gòu)發(fā)生了變化，故應選擇A)changes。

　　4.選I)。此處應填形容詞，和其前面的more構(gòu)成形容詞的比較級，描述新型建筑與地震有關的性能。them = the city’s buildings and highways, have strengthened "被加固"說明他們更有抵御風險的能力了。選項中的四個形容詞只有resistant符合這個意思，故選I)。

　　5.選B)。此處應填形容詞，修飾名詞materials。從后面的...bent without breaking "即使彎曲也不會折斷"，說明是有韌性的材料。選項中的四個形容詞只有flexible表示“柔韌的，可變形的”，故B)正確。

　　6.選F)。此處應填名詞。根據(jù)上下文insert rubber and steel between the building and its foundation“在建筑物和地基之間填充橡膠和鋼材”是為了減少the impact of ground vibrations"地面震動對建筑物的影響"。選項中decrease和reduce都可以表示“減少”的意思，前者指穩(wěn)定的逐步地減少，后者強調(diào)在大小、程度或強度方面下降或減少。故F)reduce更符合題意。

　　7.選D)。根據(jù)注釋3，可以推知，這里要填的詞是和前面的In the past, Laer相對應的，選項中的形容詞中只有recent可表示時間，the most recent desighs“最近的設計”，在原文中可以對應“過去，后來”，故D)為正確答案。

　　8.選K)。前面提到了智能建筑，這里說明當?shù)卣鹗惯@樣的建筑向前倒的時候，電腦會怎樣它，使它相反方向移動。在動詞push和force之間懸著。push強調(diào)的是外加的力量，而這里的拖力者是與智能建筑一體的計算機系統(tǒng)，故這里force符合文意。

　　9.選N)。此后應填名詞，做動詞offer的賓語。本句前面一直在描述新型建筑采取的抗震措施，本句是這些措施的結(jié)果。抗震型建筑為城市提供的應該是更多的安全保障，選項中表示“安全”的詞有safety和security，前者是處于安全狀態(tài)，不受傷害，沒有危險，多用于人身，貨物。后者常指國家社會的免遭戰(zhàn)爭，災難而安然無恙，故N)security更符合文意。

　　10.選J)。此處應填形容詞。從后面的However后的一句說明智能建筑的優(yōu)點而得知，However前所說的是智能建筑的缺點。既然智能建筑很聰明，又是新事物，那么建造起來肯定會耗費很多資金的，所以選J)expensive。

　　導讀：

　　After the violent earthquake that shook Los Angeles in 1994, earthquake scientists had good news to report: The damage and death toll(死亡人數(shù)) could have been much worse. More than 60 people died in this earthquake.(The damage and death toll could have been much worse.此句為虛擬語氣，“地震所造成的傷亡和損失本來應該更大�！闭f明實際上這次地震的損失并不大。)By comparison, an earthquake of similar M)intensity that shook America in 1998 claimed 25,000 victims.(這句的主干是an earthquake...claimed...

　　25,000 victims。)

　　Injuries and deaths were G)relatively less in Los Angeles because the quake occurred at 4:31 a.m. On a holiday, when traffic was light on the city’s highway. In addition, A)changes made to the construction codes in Los Angeles during the last 20 years have strengthened the city’s buildings and highways, making them more I)resistant to quakes.

　　In the past, making structures quake-resist-ant meant firm yet B)flexible materials, such as steel and wood, that bend without breaking. Later, people tried to lift a building off its foundation, and insert rubber and steel between the building and its foundation to F)reduce the impact of ground vibrations. The most D)recent designs give buildings brains as well as concrete and steel supports, called smart buildings, the structures respond like living organisms to an earthquake’s vibrations. When ground shakes and the building tips forward, the computer would K)force the building to shift in the opposite direction. The new designs should offer even greater N)security to cities where earthquakes ofen take place.(In the past...,Later...,The most...designs,這里是一個世間順序上的描述，說明了從以前到現(xiàn)在，建筑物的結(jié)構(gòu)一直在不斷變化。)

　　The new smart structures could be very J)expensive to build. However, they would save many lives and would be less likely to be damaged during earthquakes.

　　全文翻譯：

　　1994年洛杉磯發(fā)生強烈大地震后，地震學家報告了一個好消息：地震所造成的傷亡和損害并不大。此次地震有60多人喪生。相較而言，美國1998年發(fā)生的相似強度的地震造成的傷亡多達25，000人。

　　洛杉磯地震傷亡人數(shù)相對較少，是因為地震發(fā)生在凌晨4：31，而當天是個假日。當時城市公路上的車輛稀少。此外，在過去的20年中洛杉磯市對建筑法規(guī)所做的修訂使城市的建筑和道路系統(tǒng)更加堅固，增強了抗震能力。

　　在過去，防震建材指的是堅固并且有彈性的材料，如鋼材和木材，它們即使彎曲也不會折斷。后來，人們嘗試著將建筑物從地基上提起來，然后在建筑物和地基之間填充橡膠和鋼材，從而減少地面震動對建筑物的影響。最新的建筑設計不僅為建筑提供水泥和鋼筋支撐，而且還賦予它智能，從而成為智能建筑，讓建筑物能像生命有機體那樣對地震做出反應。當?shù)孛嬲饎佣鴮е陆ㄖ�物頂部向前傾斜時，計算機將會迫使建筑物向相反方向移動。這種新的建筑設計能夠使處于地震多發(fā)區(qū)的城市更為安全。

　　這種新型的智能型建筑造價高昂。然而，它可以挽救許多人的生命，而且在地震中不大可能受到損害。