大学英语四级2006年6月真题精讲：快速阅读
Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning） (15 minutes)Directions: In
this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer
the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, mark Y(for YES)if the
statement agrees with the information given in the passage; N(for NO）if
the statement contradicts the information given in the passage; NG(for NOT
GIVEN）if the information is
not given in the passage. For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the
information given in the passage.
Highways
Early in the 20th
century, most of the streets and roads in the U.S. were made of dirt, brick, and
cedar wood blocks. Built for horse, carriage, and foot traffic, they were
usually poorly cared for and too narrow to accommodate (容纳）automobiles.
With the increase in
auto production, private turnpike (收费公路）companies
under local authorities began to spring up, and by 1921 there were 387,000
miles of paved roads. Many were built using specifications of 19th century
Scottish engineers Thomas Telford and John Macadam (for whom the macadam
surface is named), whose specifications stressed the importance of adequate
drainage. Beyond that, there were no national standards for size, weight
restrictions, or commercial signs. During World War I, roads throughout the
country were nearly destroyed by the weight of trucks. When General Eisenhower
returned from Germany in 1919, after serving in the U.S. Army's first
transcontinental motor convoy (车队), he noted: "The old
convoy had started me thinking about good, two-lane highways, but Germany's
Autobahn or motorway had made me see the wisdom of broader ribbons across the
land".
It would take another
war before the federal government would act on a national highway system. During
World War II, a tremendous increase in trucks and new roads were required. The
war demonstrated how critical highways were to the defense effort: thirteen per
cent of defense plants received all their supplies by truck, and almost all
other plants shipped more than half of their products by vehicle. The war also
revealed that local control of highways had led to a confusing variety of
design standards. Even federal and state highways did not follow basic
standards. Some states allowed trucks up to 36,000 pounds, while others
restricted anything over 7,000 pounds. A government study recommended a
national highway system of 33,920 miles, and congress passed the Federal-Aid
Highway Act of 1944, which called for strict contract-controlled design
criteria.
The interstate highway
system was finally launched in 1956 and has been hailed as one of the greatest
public projects of the century. To build its 44,000 mile web of highways, bridges,
and tunnels, hundreds of unique engineering designs and solutions had to be
worked out. Consider the many geographic features of the country: mountains, steep
grades, wetlands, rivers, deserts and plains. Variables included the slope of
the land, and the ability of the pavement to support the load. Innovative
designs of roadways, tunnels, bridges, overpasses, and interchanges that could
run through or bypass urban areas soon began to weave their way across the
country, forever altering the face of America.
Long-span,
segmented-concrete, cable-stayed bridges such as Hale Boggs in Louisiana and
the Sunshine Skyway in Florida, and remarkable tunnels like Fort MC Henry in
Maryland and Mr. Baker in Washington developed under the nation's physical
challenges. Traffic control systems and methods of construction developed under
the interstate program soon influenced highway construction around the world, and
were invaluable in improving the condition of urban streets and traffic
patterns.
Today, the interstate
system links every major city in the U.S.
and the U.S. with Canada and Mexico. Built with safety in mind
the highways have wide lanes and shoulders, dividing medians, or barriers, long
entry and exit lanes, curves engineered for safe turns, and limited access. The
death rate on highways is half that of all other U.S. roads (0.86 deaths per 100
million passenger miles compared to 1.99 deaths per 100 million on all other
roads).
By opening the North
American continent, highways have enabled consumer goods and services to reach
people in remote and rural areas of the country, spurred the growth of suburbs,
and provided people with greater options in terms of jobs, access to cultural
programs, health care, and other benefits. Above all, the interstate system
provides individuals with what they enrich most: personal freedom of mobility.
The interstate system
has been an essential element of the nation's economic growth in terms of
shipping and job creation: more than 75 percent of the nation's freight
deliveries arrive by truck. And most products that arrive by rail or air use
interstates for the last leg of the journey by vehicle.
Not only has the
highway system affected the American economy by providing shipping routes, it
has led to the growth of spin-off industries like service stations, motels, restaurants,
and shopping centres. It has allowed the relocation of manufacturing plants and
other industries from urban areas to rural.
By the end of the century
there was an immense network of paved roads, residential streets, expressways, and
freeways built to support millions of vehicles, the high way system was
officially renamed for Eisenhower to honor his vision and leadership. The year
construction began he said: "Together, the united forces of our communication
and transportation systems are dynamic elements in the very name we bear United States.
Without them, we would be a mere alliance of many separate parts."
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
1.
National
standards for paved roads were in place by 1921.
2.
General
Eisenhower felt that the broad German motorways made more sense than the two-Lane
highways of America.
3.
It
was in the 1950s that the American government finally took action to build a
national highway system.
4.
Many
of the problems presented by the country's geographical features found
solutions in innovative engineering projects.
5.
In
spite of safety considerations, the death rate on interstate highways is still
higher than that of other American roads.
6.
The
interstate highway system provides access between major military installations
in America.
7.
Service
stations, motels and restaurants promoted the development of the inter-state
highway system.
8.
The
greatest benefit brought about by the interstate system was_______.
9.
Trucks
using the interstate highways deliver more than_______.
10.
The
interstate system was renamed after Eisenhower in recognition_______.
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