2017年12月英语四级阅读练习（七）
Here amid the steel and concrete canyons, green grass grows. A hawthorntree(山楂树) stands in new soil, and freshly dug plants bend in the wind. But
Chicago City Hall here seems an unlikely spot for a garden of any
variety—especially 20,000 square feet of gardens—on its roof. As one of a
handful of similar projects around the country, the garden is part of a $1.5
million demonstration projected by the city to reduce its "urban heat islands",
said William Abolt, the commissioner of the Department of Environment. Heat
islands-dark surfaces in the city, like rooftops-soak up heat. The retention can
bake a building, making it stubborn to cooling. The roof of City Hall, a
90-year-old gray stone landmark on LaSalle Street in the heart of downtown, has
been known to reach temperature substantially hotter than the actual temperature
on the street below. The garden will provide greenery and shade. "And that,"
said the city officials, "will save the city dollars on those blistering summer
days." The project savings from cooling is about $4,000 a year on a new roof
whose life span is about 50 percent longer than that of a traditional roof. The
sprawling open-air rooftop garden is being carefully built on a multi-tiered bed
of special soil, polystyrene, egg-carton-shaped cones and "waterproof membrane"
mall to keep the roof from leaking, or caving under the normal combined weight
of soil, rain and plant life. The design calls for soil depths of 4 inches to 18
inches. When the last plants and seedlings are buried and the last bit of
compost is laid, the garden will have circular brick stepping-stones winding up
to hills. "The primary focus of what we want to do was to establish this
laboratory on the top of City Hall to get people involved and understanding
their impact on the environment and how the little things can make an impact on
the quality of life", Mr. Abolt said, adding that the plants also help to clear
the air. Rooftop gardens, in places where concrete jungles have erased plants
and trees, are not new, not even in Chicago. Arms of greenery dangling over
terraces or sprouting from rooftops, common in Europe, are becoming more so in
the United States as people become increasingly conscious about the environment.
Richard M. Daley, who urged the environmental department to look into the
project after noticing rooftop gardens in Hamburg, Germany a few years ago, has
praised the garden as the first of its kind on a public building in the country.
It will hold thousands of plants in more than 150 species-wild onion and
butterfly weed, sky-blue aster and buffalo grass-to provide data on what species
adapt best. Small plants requiring shallow soil depths were chiefly
selected.
57. The rooftop garden project ________.
is common and popular in the country
is a demonstration project and costs the city government 1.5 million
dollars
will make the ordinary cooling down of the city in summer
unnecessary
aims at getting people involved and understanding their impact on the
environment
58. What can we learn about the City Hall?
It was built ninety years ago and is the most outstanding feature in
the center of the city.
It is originally proper to build a garden on the top of the City
Hall.
The temperature on its top is a little bit lower than that on the
street below.
It is the first building in America to have a garden on it.
59. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
Every year, Chicago spends about $ 4,000 on cooling the city.
The design of the garden on the City Hall specially takes into
consideration the weight the roof can stand.
The Mayor urged the environmental department to look into rooftop
gardens in Hamburg and build similar ones in America.
Heat islands mainly refer to those dark-colored rooftops which receive
and retain heat and will not easily release the heat.
60. Why should the rooftop garden be built on the top of City Hall other
than on any other buildings?
Because the City Hall is large.
Because the mayor had urged the environmental department to do so.
Because it can make people understand their impact on environment
better through a public building.
Because the experts just want to make the City Hall a convenient
laboratory.
61. The word "substantially" (Line 2, Para. 5) most likely means
________.
a little bit in fact materially considerably
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