The World’s Longest Bridge

Rumor has it that1 a legendary six-headed monster lurks in the deep waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea between Italy and the island of Sicily. 1

When completed in 2010, the world’s longest bridge will weigh nearly 300,000 tons equivalent to the iceberg that sank the Titanic — and stretch 5 kilomerers long. “that’s nearly 50 percent longer than any other bridge ever built,” says structural engineer Shane Rixon. 2

They’re suspension bridges, massive structures built to span vast water channels or gorges. A suspension bridge needs just two towers to shoulder the structure’s mammothweight, thanks to hefty supporting cables slung between the towers and anchored firmly in deep pools of cement at each end of the bridge. The Messina Strait Bridge will have two 54,00-ton towers, which will support most of the bridge’s load. The beefy cables of the bridge, each 1.2 meter in diameter, will hold up the longest and widest bridge deck ever built. When construction begins on the Messina Strait Bridge in 2005, the first job will be to erect two 370 meter-tall steel towers. 3

Getting these cables up will be something2. It’s not just their length — totally 5.3 kilometers — but their weight. 4

After lowering vertical “suspender” cables from the main cables, builders will erect a 60meter-wide 54,630-ton steel roadway, or deck — wide enough to accommodate 12 lanes of traffic. The deck’s weight will pull down on the cables with a force of 70,500 tons. In return, the cables yank up against their firmly rooted anchors with a force of 139,000 tons — equivalent to the weight of about 100,000 cars. Those anchors are essential. 5

A Some environmentalists are against the project on biological grounds.

B What do the world’s longest bridges have in common?

C If true, one day you might spy the beast while zipping (呼嘯而過) across the Messina Strait Bridge.

D They’re what will keep the bridge from going anywhere.

E The second job will be to pull two sets of steel cables across the strait, each set being a bundle of 44,352 individual steel wires.

F They will tip up the scales at 166,500 tons — more than-half the bridge’ s total mass.

答案與題解：

1. C 選項 C 中有一個關(guān)鍵詞 beast，與第一句的 monster 相呼應(yīng)。所以， C 是正確答 案。

2. B 第二段第二句的主語是 They。由于表語是 suspension bridges，They 替代的一 定是前面句子出現(xiàn)過的 bridges。六個選項中，只有 B 含有 bridges。填在第三段段首， 意思連貫。

3. E“空 3”前面的句子有 the first job 這幾個詞。有 first，必有 second/then。 六個選項中只有 E 含有 The second job。所以，E 是答案。

4. F “空 4”前面的句子說的是，把這些吊索吊高定位是有難度的，不僅僅由于它們 很長，還由于它們很重。 F 具體地介紹了它們的重量，應(yīng)該是“空 4”前面的句子的后續(xù) 句。

5. D “空 5”前面的句子說的是，橋樁很重要。為什么很重要呢? D 解釋了橋樁的作 用，意義連貫，所以是答案。

Avalanche and Its Safety

An avalanche is a sudden and rapid flow of snow, often mixed with air and water, down a mountainside. Avalanches are 1 the biggest dangers in the mountains for both life and property.

All avalanches are caused by an over-burden of material, typically snowpack, that is too massive and unstable for the slope 2 supports it. Determining the critical load, the amount of over-burden which is 3 an avalanche, 4 a complex task involving the evaluation of a number of factors.

Terrain slopes flatter than 25 degrees or steeper than 60 degrees typically have a low 5 of avalanche. Snow does not 6 significantly on steep slopes; also, snow does not 7 easily on fiat slopes. Human-triggered avalanches have the greatest incidence when the snow's angle of rest1 is 8 35 and 45 degrees; the critical angle, the angle at which the human incidence of avalanches is greatest, is 38 degrees. The rule of thumb2 is: A slope that is 9 enough to hold snow but steep enough to ski has the potential to generate an avalanche, regardless of the angle. Additionally3, avalanche risk increases with 10 ; that is, the more a slope is disturbed by skiers, the more likely it is that an avalanche will occur.

Due to the complexity of the subject, winter travelling in the backcountry4 is never 100% safe. Good avalanche safety is a continuous 11 , including route selection and examination to the snowpack, weather 12 , and human factors. Several well-known good habits can also 13 the risk. If local authorities issue avalanche risk reports, they should be considered and all warnings should be paid 14 to. Never follow in the tracks of others without your own evaluations; snow conditions are almost certain to have changed since they were made. Observe the terrain and note obvious avalanche paths where plants are 15 or damaged. Avoid traveling below others who might trigger an avalanche.

練習(xí):

1. A among B of C to D in

2. A when B that C who D whose

3. A mostly B likely C clearly D surely

4. A are B will be C is D was

5. A weight B form C risk D work

6. A fall B flow C roll D gather

7. A fall B flow C roll D gather

8. A among B between C with D for

9. A thick B thin C flat D rocky

10. A use B time C snow D rain

11. A journey B trip C fact D process

12. A conditions B reports C forecast D event

13. A increase B reduce C improve D remove

14. A price B effort C attention D money

15. A missing B grown C big D fresh

答案與題解：

1.A 表達“雪崩是山上可能發(fā)生的昀大危險之一 ”的意思，因此應(yīng)該選擇 among(在…… 之中)。

2.B 從該句的語法結(jié)構(gòu)上來看，此處需要一個關(guān)系代詞，代替 slope，所以 that 是昀 佳選擇。選項 A、C、D 均不符合語法。

3.B 選項 A 不符合語法， C 和 D 符合語法，但不符合常識：過度的雪的積壓可能導(dǎo)致 雪崩，而不是必定導(dǎo)致雪崩。所以， B 是昀佳答案。

4.C 該句的主語是 Determining the critical load，從上下文來看應(yīng)該使用一般現(xiàn)在 時，所以 C 是正確答案。

5.C 要確定本題答案的一個有效的方法是排除法。 a low weight/form work of avalanche 都不合邏輯，只有 a low risk of avalanche 符合上下文的意思。下面的句子解 釋了 low risk of avalanche 的道理，更證實了選 risk 是正確的。

6.D 第 6 和第 7 題可以一起考慮。整個句子的意思是：在坡度大的坡上，雪不會大量 堆積。在較為平坦的坡面，雪不會輕易滑動。

7.B(見 6)

8.B 理解了句子的意思就不難判斷選項：雪在靜止?fàn)顟B(tài)下，角度在 35——45 度之間，昀 可能發(fā)生人為觸發(fā)的雪崩。between：在……之間。

9.C 這個句子說明的是什么樣的山坡昀易發(fā)生雪崩，即，A slope that is flat enough to hold snow but steep enough to ski。flat 在此做 “平坦”解，與后面的 steep 形成 反義。

10.A 句中的 that is 表明，后半部分是對前半部分的進一步說明。所以，這里的選擇 要根據(jù)下文的意思判斷。use 是昀佳選擇，整個句子的意思是：山坡被滑雪者使用的越多， 雪崩就越可能發(fā)生。

11.D 盡管選項 A、B 和 D 都能和 continuous 搭配，從全段的內(nèi)容判斷，只有 process 是昀佳選擇，因為該段描寫的是如何防備雪崩，及如何做好安全措施等一系列問題。

12.A 選項 A、B、C 都可以與 weather 搭配，但是根據(jù)上下文，只有 A 昀為符合文章的 內(nèi)容。

13.B 選項 A 不符合句子的意思; C 不能和 risk 搭配;D 也不符合句子的意思，因為不 可能完全消除雪崩的隱患。

14.C 該句主句使用的是被動語態(tài)，第二個動詞是 pay attention to 的被動形式。選項 A、B、D 均不符合句子的意思。

15.A 該句是作者給出的一系列忠告之一，即，認(rèn)真觀察地形，注意明顯的雪崩路徑， 沒有植物或植物被毀壞的地方。選項 B、C、D 均不符合句義。

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（責(zé)任編輯：中大編輯）

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