The Only Way Is Up
Think of a modern city and the first image that comes to mind is the skyline. It is full of great buildings, pointing like fingers to heaven. It is true that some cities don’t permit buildings to go above a certain height. But these are cities concerned with the past. The first thing any city does when it wants to tell the world that it has arrived is to build skyscrapers.
When people gather together in cities, they create a demand for land. Since cities are places where money is made, that demand can be met. And the best way to make money out of city land is to put as many people as possible in a space that covers the smallest amount of ground. That means building upwards.
The technology existed to do this as early as the 19th century. But the height of buildings was limited by one important factor. They had to be small enough for people on the top floors to climb stairs. People could not be expected to climb a mountain at the end of their journey to work, or home.
Elisha Otis, a US inventor, was the man who brought us the lift—or elevator, as he preferred to call it. However, most of the technology is very old. Lifts work using the same pulley system the Egyptians used to create the Pyramids. What Otis did was attach the system to a steam engine and develop the elevator brake, which stops the lift falling if the cords that hold it up are broken. It was this that did the most to gain public confidence in the new invention. In fact, he spent a number of years exhibiting lifts at fairgrounds, giving people the chance to try them out before selling the idea to architects and builders.
A lift would not be a very good theme park attraction now. Going in a lift is such an everyday thing that it would just be boring. Yet psychologists and others who study human behavior find lifts fascinating. The reason is simple. Scientists have always studied animals in zoos. The nearest they can get to that with humans is in observing them in lifts.
【文章大意】本文主要介绍了在大城市里有了摩天大楼, 然后就出现了电梯。
1. The underlined words “cities concerned with the past” in the first paragraph refer to cities that .
A. are worried about their past
B. have a glorious past to be proud of
C. want to maintain their traditional image
D. are very interested in their own history
【解析】选C。句意理解题。 be concerned with是“关心, 关注”的意思, 根据前面一句话可知, 这里指那些不允许建筑物超出一定高度的城市, 即不愿意改变固有形象的城市。故选C。
2. The difficulty in constructing tall buildings in the 19th century lies in .
A. the shortage of money
B. the lack of a device to carry people upward
C. backward technology
D. mountains taking up land space
【解析】选B。细节理解题。 第三段中提到早在19世纪建造高楼的技术已经存在, 限制楼高的一个重要因素就是人们下班回家后不想像爬山那样去爬楼梯, 说明当时还没有找到把人往高处送的办法或设备。故选B。
3. What do we know about the lift Otis invented?
A. He sold it to the architects and builders immediately.
B. He used it to build the Pyramids.
C. It was accepted favorably by the public.
D. Most people had doubt about its safety.
【解析】选D。细节理解题。根据第四段可知, Otis通过做实验, 使人们对他发明的电梯增加了信心, 他在露天游乐场里让大家试乘了几年才把这个电梯想法出售给建筑师和营造商。这说明人们对电梯还是持怀疑态度。故选D。
4. Which of the following best describes the experience of going in a lift now?
A. Fascinating. B. Uninteresting.
C. Frightening. D. Exciting.
【解析】选B。细节理解题。根据最后一段的A lift would not be a very good theme park attraction now. Going in a lift is such an everyday thing that it would just be boring. 可知, 现在乘坐电梯已经十分普通, 是一件无聊的事情。故选B。
【知识拓展】佳词积累
1. skyline n. 空中轮廓线
2. pulley n. 滑轮
3. fairground n. 露天游乐场; 展销会场地
4. as early as 早在
5. try out 尝试
