职称英语考试理工类阅读理解练习（7）

>>职称英语考试理工类：职称英语考试理工类阅读理解练习（7）

>>职称英语理工类阅读理解指导课程

Can Buildings Be Designed to Resist Terrorist Attack? 

In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, structural engineers are trying bard to solve a question that a month ago would have been completely unthinkable：Can building be designed to withstand catastrophic blasts inflict4ed by terrorists? 

Ten days after the terrorist attacks on the twin towers, structural engineers from the University at Buffalo and the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) headquartered at UB traveled to ground zero as part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation. Visiting the site as part of an MCEER reconnaissance visit, they spent two days beginning the task of formulating ideas about how to design such structures and to search for clues on how to do so in buildings that were damaged, but still are standing. 

“Our objective in visiting ground zero was to go and look at the buildings surrounding the World Trade Center, those buildings that are still standing, but that sustained damage,” said M. Bruneau, Ph.D. “Our immediate hope is that we can develop a better understanding as to why those buildings remain standing, while our long-term goal is to see whether earthquake engineering technologies can be married to existing technologies to achieve enhanced performance of buildings in the event of terrorist attacks,” he added. 

Photographs taken by the investigators demonstrate in startling detail the monumental damage inflicted on the World Trade Center towers and buildings in the vicinity. One building a block away from the towers remains standing, but was badly damaged. “This building is many meters away from the World Trade Center and yet we see a column there that used to be part of that building,” explained A Whittaker, Ph. D. “The column became a missile that shot across the road, through the window and through the floor.” 

The visit to the area also revealed some surprises, according to the engineers. For example, the floor framing system in one of the adjacent buildings was quite rugged, allowing floors that were pierced by tons of falling debris to remain intact. “Highly redundant ductile framing systems may provide a simple, but robust strategy for blast resistance,” he added. Other strategies may include providing alternate paths for gravity loads in the event that a load-bearing column fails. “We also need a better understanding of the mechanism of collapse,” said A Whittaker. “We need to find out what causes a building to collapse and how you can predict it.” 

A Reinhorn, Ph. D. noted that “Earthquake shaking has led to the collapse of many buildings in the past. It induces dynamic response and extremely high stresses and deformations in structural components. Solutions developed for earthquake-resistant design may be directly applicable to blast engineering and terrorist-resistant design. Part of our mission now at UB is to transfer these solutions and to develop new ones where none exist at present.” 

31The question raised in the first paragraph is one __________. 

Athat was asked by structural engineers a month ago 

Bthat is too difficult for structural engineers to answer even now 

Cthat was never difficult for before the terrorist attack 

Dthat terrorists are eager to find a solution to 

32The project funded by the National Science Foundation __________. 

Awas first proposed by some engineers at UB 

Btook about two days to complete 

Cwas to investigate the damage caused by the terrorist attack 

Dwas to find out why some buildings could survive the blasts

33The column mentioned by Dr. Whittaker _________. 

Awas part of the building close to the World Trade Center 

Bwas part of the World Trade Center 

Cwas shot through the window and the floor of the World Trade Center 

Ddamaged many buildings in the vicinity of the World Trade Center 

34A surprising discovery made by the investigators during their visit to ground zero is that __________. 

Afloors in the adjacent building remain undamaged 

Bsome floor framing systems demonstrate resistance to explosion 

Csimple floor framing systems are more blast resistant 

Dfloors in one of the adjacent buildings were pierced by tons of debris 

35What Dr. Reinhorn said in the last paragraph may imply all the following EXCEPT that __________. 

Ablast engineers should develop new solutions for terror-resistant design 

Bblast engineering can borrow technologies developed for terror-resistant design 

C solutions developed for earthquake-resistant design may apply to terrorist-resistant design 

Dslast engineering emerges as a new branch of science 

答案：31C建筑设计是否能使建筑具有抵御恐怖袭击的性能，是一个月前世界贸易中心受到袭击之前人们从未想过的一个问题。这是第一段的主要内容。所以，只有C是正确答案。 

32D A不是正确选项，因为文章没有提及谁首先提出这个项目。B或C都不是文章所述的内容。答案可以在第三段中找到。 

33B有关本题的句子是第四段的第三句，“This building is many meters away from the World Trade Center and yet we see a column there that used to be Part of that building."这里的this buildin9指的是the building many meters away from the World Trade Center，而that buildin9指的是World Trade Center。 

34B选项A不是答案，因为文章说，the floor framing system in one of the adjacent buildings…remain intact.C不是文章表达的内容。D在文中提到，但不是a surprising discovery .只有B是正确答案。 

35D选项A的内容是正确的，根据是本段最后一句(“…develop new ones”)。选项B和C的内容也是正确的，根据是本段最后两句(关键词是applicable和transfer)。只有D是答案。因为Reinhorn没有说：blast engineering emerges as a new branch of science。

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