第三篇Giant Structures

It is an impossible task to select the most amazing wonders of the modem world since every year more __1__ constructions appear. Here are three giant structures which are worthy of our __2__ although they may have been surpassed by some more recent wonders.

The Petronas Twin Towers

The Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world when they were completed in 1999. With a __3__ of 452 metres, the tall twin towers, like two thin pencils, dominate the city of Kuala Lumpur. At the 41st floor, the towers are linked by a bridge, symbolizing a gateway to the city. The American __4__ Cesar Pelli designed the skyscrapers.

Constructed of high-strength concrete, the building provides around 1，800 square metres of office space __5__ every floor. And it has a shopping centre and a concert hall at the base. Other __6__ of this impressive building include double-decker lifts, and glass and steel sunshades.

The MiUau Bridge

The Millau Bridge was opened in 2004 in the Tam Valley，in southern France. __7__ the time it was built，it was the world's highest bridge, __8__ over 340m at the highest point. The bridge is described as one of the most amazingly beautiful bridges in the world. It was built to __9__ Millau's congestion problems. The congestion was then caused by traffic passing from Paris to Barcelona in Spain. The bridge was built to withstand the __10__ extreme seismic and climatic conditions. Besides, it is guaranteed for 120 years!

The Itaipu Dam

The Itaipu hydroelectric power plant is one of the largest constructions of its kind in the world. It consists of a series of dams across the River Parana, __11__ forms a natural border between Brazil and Paraguay. Started in 1975 and taking 16 years to complete, the construction was carried out as a joint project between the two __12__. The dam is well-known for both its electricity output and its size. In 1995 it produced 78% of Paraguay's and 25% of Brazil's __13__ needs. In its construction, the __14__ of iron and steel used was equivalent to over 300 Eiffel Towers. It is a __15__ amazing wonder of engineering.

詞匯：

worthy adj.值得的

surpass v.超過，勝過

symbolize v.象征

congestion n.擁擠

withstand v. 經(jīng)受住

seismic 地震的

dam n. 堤，壩

hydroelectric adj. 水電的

注釋：

1.The Petronas Twin Towers: 國油雙峰塔，又稱吉隆坡雙子塔。建于1997年，共有88層，高達452公尺，曾是世界上最高的摩天樓。國油雙峰塔由兩幢大樓組成，兩幢樓的第41層由58公尺長的天橋連接。這座設(shè)計新穎的、大量使用了木銹鋼與玻璃等建材的雙峰塔是吉隆坡市的象征。不論你在吉隆坡的哪一個角落都可以看到這座十分現(xiàn)代化的建筑物。

2.Kuala Lumpur:吉隆坡（馬來西亞首都)

3.The Millau Bridge: 米約高架橋。位于法國西南部的米約市，橫跨在塔恩河仙境般的河谷之上，是通住法國南部地中海地區(qū)75號高速公路段上的樞紐工程。建造這座斜拉索式橋梁共花費了3年多的時間，總耗資3.94億歐元。這座大橋全長2.46公里，總重29萬噸，大橋距地面270米，大橋斜拉索的最高點距離地面343米，髙出埃菲爾鐵塔23米，是當時世界上最高的橋梁。

4.The Itaipu Dam: 伊泰普水電站。伊泰普水電站是目前世界上最大的水電站之一，由巴西和巴拉圭斥資共建，兩國電力公司分別擁有水電站的一半產(chǎn)權(quán)。整個壩長7 853米，水位落差118.4米。水庫面積1 350平方公里(其中巴西側(cè)750平方公里，巴拉圭側(cè)600平方公里），容量290億立方米。自1991年起，伊泰普水電站每年發(fā)電收益約23億美元。

5.the River Parana: 巴拉那河。南美洲第二大河。

6.Brazil: 巴西(南美洲一國名）

7.Paraguay: 巴拉圭(南美洲一國名）

8.Eiffel Towers: 埃菲爾鐵塔。埃菲爾鐵塔是法國巴黎著名建筑，也是巴黎的象征。塔高985 英尺，于1889年為世界博覽會而建造，其塔身幾乎完全由開放晶格的熟鐵制成。

練習

A. delightfulB. usefulC. wonderfulD. careful

A. admirationB. passionC. expressionD. detection

A. lengthB. widthC. heightD. volume

A. inventorB. architectC. scientistD. merchant

A. belowB. inC. aboveD. on

A. typesB. partsC. rolesD. features

A. A.tB. withinC. fromD. upon

A. developingB. expandingC. stretchingD. reaching

A. restrictB. reserveC. relieveD. relax

A. mostB. muchC. moreD. less

A. whatB. whichC. whoD. that

A. countriesB. provincesC. areasD. regions

A. waterB. oilC. energyD. food

A. amountB. numberC. qualityD. ratio

A. mainlyB. totallyC. rarelyD. truly

答案與題解

1.C第二句的前半句說的是"要選定當世最令人嘆為觀止的奇跡是一個無法完成的差事"，后半句解釋"做不到"的原因在于每年都有新的更令人嘆為觀止的建筑出現(xiàn)。本題要選的詞應(yīng)該是與描述constructions極好性狀有關(guān)的形容詞。四個選項中wonderful符合這個要求，而delightful, useful和careful均與constructions極好性狀無關(guān)，因此不可能是答案。

2.A be worthy of 意為"值得"。Three giant, structures 值得什么呢？值得我們 passion (熱情）、expression(表達)或detection(發(fā)現(xiàn)）？這三個選項顯然不會是答案。Admiration(贊嘆)才是答案。

3.C "the tall twin towers"給出了尋找答案的線索。tall towers意為"高樓"，所以452米指的是高度。

4.B本段敘述馬來西亞吉隆坡的國油雙峰塔。四個選項中只有architect(建筑師)與設(shè)計國油雙峰塔最相關(guān)。其他三個選項與architect相比，相關(guān)性就差多了。

5.D floor之前搭配的介詞是on。

6.D本段前面的句子描述了國油雙峰塔的建筑特色，本句進而介紹塔的其他兩個特色，即double-decker lifts (雙層電梯）和glass and steel sunshades(建材為玻璃和鋼的遮陽篷）。根據(jù)上下文判斷，features是答案。

7.A at the time(在那時，那時候)是固定搭配，后接從句。

8.D從詞組搭配和上下文意思上判斷，reaching over 340m at the highest point是最合適的。 reach a height意為"達到某個高度"，而develop a height(發(fā)展某個高度），expand a height (擴展某個髙度）和stretch a height(延伸某個高度)都不合理。

9.C congestion是解題的關(guān)鍵詞。建造髙架大橋的目的是為了緩解交通擁擠，所以選擇relieve是理所當然的。

10.A本句是說米約高架橋的堅固程度，它能經(jīng)受住最極端的地震和氣候條件而不會倒塌。本題的答案是most。the most extreme是形容詞extreme的最高級形式。

11.B很明顯，the River Parana之后是個非限制性定語從句，連接詞只能用which。what不能指代the River Parana。that用于限制性定語從句。Who不能指代非生命的the River Parana.

12.A the Itaipu Dam由巴西和巴拉圭兩國斥資共建，所以答案不可能是provinces(?。?areas (區(qū)域)或regions(地區(qū)）。countries是理所當然的選擇。

13.C建造水電站的目的是利用水能發(fā)電，獲得電能。Energy是答案。本句的下半句 breaking previous records for energy production 中的"energy"也為答案的選擇提供了依據(jù)。

14.A iron和steel是物質(zhì)名詞，是不可數(shù)的，用the amount of iron and steel是對的。

15.D mainly amazing(主要嘆為觀止的），totally amazing(全部嘆為觀止的）或 rarely amazing (很少嘆為觀止的)都與句子的意思接不上。只有truly amazing (真正嘆為觀止的）才符合上下文的意思。

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（責任編輯：vstara）