Question

    In its early history, Chicago had floods frequently, especially in the spring, making the streets so muddy that people, horses, and carts got stuck. An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this: A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street. Asked if he needs help, he replies, “No, thanks. I’ve got a good horse under me.”

The city planner decided to build an underground drainage (排水) system, but there simply wasn’t enough difference between the height of the ground level and the water level. The only two options were to lower the Chicago River or raise the city. An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt. This raised the level of the city’s streets by as much as 12 feet.

This of course created a new problem: dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago. Building owners were faced with a choice: either change the first floors of their buildings into basements or lift the entire buildings to meet the new street level. Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily. But what about large, heavy structures like the Tremont Hotel, which was a six-story brick building?

That’s where George Pullman came in. He had developed some house-moving skills successfully. To lift a big structure like the Tremont Hotel, Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews (千斤顶) beneath the building’s foundation and turn the jackscrews the same amount at the same time, thus raising the building slowly and evenly. Astonishingly, the Tremont Hotel stay open during the entire operation, and many of its guests didn’t even notice anything was happening.

Some people like to say that every problem has a solution. But in Chicago’s early history, every engineering solution seemed to create a new problem.

1.Why was the joke about Chicago mentioned in Paragraph 1?

A.To explain why horses were widely used.

B.To show the terrible road condition.

C.To prove Chicagoan were humorous.

D.To describe the lifestyle in the past.

2.What did Ellis advise to do?

A.Lower the Chicago River.

B.Build pipes above ground.

C.Fight against heavy floods.

D.Raise the level of streets.

3.What was the problem in moving Tremont Hotel?

A.It was hard to move its basement.

B.It was mainly made of wood.

C.It was too heavy to move easily.

D.There was no equipment to use.

4.What can be inferred from the text?

A.Tremont Hotel was the biggest building in Chicago.

B.George became famous for moving Tremont Hotel.

C.It took great efforts to move Tremont Hotel.

D.Guests left Tremont Hotel before the move.

Answer

1.B

2.B

3.D

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。作者通过这篇文章主要向我们描述了芝加哥城的问题和改造方案，他们因为洪水的经常泛滥导致大街上总是泥泞不堪，但也已经出台了各种应对政策。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段第一句In its early history, Chicago had floods frequently, especially in the spring, making the streets so muddy that people, horses, and carts got stuck.可知芝加哥因为洪水的经常泛滥导致大街上总是泥泞不堪，行人，马和车全部都堵在路上。后文就举出了关于芝加哥的笑话，由此可推知，第一段提到了关于芝加哥的笑话，是为了说明芝加哥糟糕的路况。故选B。

2.细节理解题。根据第二段中An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt.可知一位名叫Ellis Chesbrough的工程师让市政当局相信，他们别无选择，只能把管道建在地面上，然后用泥土覆盖。由此可知，Ellis建议在地面上建管道。故选B。

3.推理判断题。根据第三段中Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily. But what about large, heavy structures like the Tremont Hotel, which was a six-story brick building?可知小的木结构建筑物可以相当容易地吊起。但是像Tremont酒店这样的大型、重型建筑呢？它是一座六层的砖结构建筑。由此可知，搬动Tremont酒店的问题在于没有设备可以使用。故选D。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段中To lift a big structure like the Tremont Hotel, Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews beneath the building’s foundation and turn the jackscrews the same amount at the same time, thus raising the building slowly and evenly.可知为了抬起像Tremont酒店这样的大型建筑，Pullman会在建筑的基础下放置数千个千斤顶，同时旋转相同数量的千斤顶，从而缓慢而均匀地提升建筑。由此可推知，搬动Tremont酒店花了很大的力气。故选C。