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 ， and the second stories into main floors ， or hoist 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 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 （螺旋千斤顶） beneath the building's foundation ． One man was assigned to operate each section of roughly 10 jackscrews ． At Pullman's signal each man turned his jackscrew the same amount at the same time ， thereby 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 ． Now that Chicago's waste water was draining efficiently into the Chicago River ， the city's next step was to clean the polluted river ．

1 ． The author mentions the joke to show________ ．

A ． horses were fairly useful in Chicago B ． Chicago was very dangerous in the spring

C ． Chicago's streets were extremely muddy D ． the Chicago people were particularly humorous

2 ． The underlined word "hoist" in Paragraph 4 means________ ．

A ． change B ． lift C ． repair D ． decorate

3 ． What can we conclude about the moving operation of the Tremont Hotel ？

A ． It went on smoothly as intended ． B ． It interrupted the business of the hotel ．

C ． It involved Pullman turning ten jackscrews ． D ． It separated the building from its foundation ．

4 ． What is the best title for the passage?

A ． The early Chicago's popular life styles and their influences

B ． The early Chicago's environmental disasters and their causes.

C ． The early Chicago's engineering problems and their solutions.

D ． The early Chicago's successful businessmen and their achievements ．

答案

1 ． C

2 ． B

3 ． A

4 ． C

【分析】

本文是一篇说明文。文章主要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 ．

细节理解题。根据第一段 “In its early history ， Chicago had floods frequently ， especially in the spring ， making the streets so muddy that people ， horses, and carts got stuck ． ” （在它的早期历史中，尤其是在春天，芝加哥经常发生洪水，街道变得如此的泥泞不堪以至于于人们、马和车经常被困住。）所以作者提到的笑话是为了突出这一点即道路的泥泞。 故选 C 项。

2 ．

词义猜测题。根据第四段划线词后文 “Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily ． ” （小的木结构的建筑会相当容易地举起来。）可知另一种方法就是将建筑升高。 A. change 改变； B. lift 升高； C. repair 维修； D. decorate 装修。故选 B 项。

3 ．

推理判断题。根据最后一段 “At Pullman's signal each man turned his jackscrew the same amount at the same time ， thereby raising the building slowly and evenly ． ” （在普尔曼的信号下，每个人在同一时间转动起重螺旋相同的量，从而使建筑物缓慢而均匀地升起。）可知我们可以得出这样的结论：特雷蒙酒店的搬迁运营按照预期顺利进行。故选 A 项。

4 ．

主旨大意题。本题为总结概括全文的主旨大意题，第一段提到芝加哥城所存在的问题，接下来讨论了解决这个问题的一些方法，最后一段讲到虽然解决了当前的问题，但随之而来又会产生一些新的有待解决的问题。故文章主要讲述的是建造的问题与解决的办法。故选 C 项。