第2篇

1. C. 细节题。 问题问“第一段中提到的‘这些是关注过去的城市’指的是什么城市？ ”。 首先找到出现在问题句引号中的这个句子：

Think of a modern city and the first image that come to mind is the skyline. It is full of great buildings, pointing like fingers to heaven. It is true（真实的， 忠诚的） that some cities don’t permit（允许） buildings（建筑物） to go above（超出， 在...之上） a certain（一定的） height（高度）.But these some cities are cities concerned with the past. The first thing any city does when it wants to tell(告诉) the world（世界） that it has arrived is to build skyscrapers.

从以上的答案相关句可知关注过去的城市不允许建筑物超出一定得高度， 由此可以推断出这样的城市希望保持其传统的城市形象。

2.B． 细节题。 利用问题句中的特征结构the 19th century作为答案线索，同时利用被选项中出现的细节信息结构（A：money, C: backward technology, D: mountains）共同作为答案线索，  在文章中查找答案相关句：顺着上一题的答案位置往下查找：

Think of a modern city and the first image that come to mind is the skyline. It is full of great buildings, pointing like fingers to heaven.（第一题答案相关句） 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 cites, 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（意味着） building（修建） upwards（向上）.

The technology existed（存在） to do this as early as（早在...） the 19th century. But the height（高度， 海拔） of buildings was limited by（被...限制） one important （重要的）factor（因素）. They had to be small（小的） enough（足够） for people on the top floors（顶层） to climb（爬， 攀登） stairs（楼梯）. People could not be expected（被期望） to climb a mountain at the end of （在...结束的时候）their journey（旅程） to work, or home.

第3段中的答案相关句说：早在19世纪建造高楼的技术已经存在，限制楼高的因素只有一个，那就是人们下班后不想像爬山那样去爬楼梯， 这说明当时还没有找到把人送往高处的办法。

3．D. 细节题。 利用问题句中的特征词Otis及被选项中的细节信息词及特征词（A：architects, builders; B: Egyptians, Pyramids）共同作为答案线索， 在文章中查找答案相关句：

（第2题答案相关句）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（带来， 引起） us the lift �C or elevator, as he preferred to call it. However, most of the technology is very old. Lifts work  using the same pulley(滑轮) system（系统） the Egyptians used to create（创造， 造成） 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（指代Otis）  spent（花（时间，金钱）） a number of（大量的） years exhibiting（展出） lifts at fairgrounds（露天市场， 游乐场）, giving people the chance（机会） to try them before selling（卖） the idea to architects （建造师）and builders（营造商）.

答案相关句说：Otis在游乐场里让大家试乘了几年后才把这个想法出售给建筑师和营运商。这说明刚开始人们还是对电梯的安全性心存顾虑。

4．B． 细节题。 顺着上一题的答案位置往下查找答案相关句：

Elisha Otis, a US inventor, was the man who brought us the lift �C or elecator, 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.(第3题答案相关句) In fact, he spent a number of years exhibiting lifts at fairgrounds, giving people the chance to try them 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（如此的） an everyday（日常的，平常的） thing that it would just（仅仅，非常， 恰好） be boring（令人感到厌倦的）. 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 the that with humans is in observing them in lifts.
答案相关句说“乘电梯也成了再普遍不过的事情， 以至于乘坐电梯也变得有些令人感到厌倦”。

5. D. 细节题。利用问题句中的细节信息词（psychologists, human behavior）及备选项中的细节信息共同作为答案线索， 在文章中查找答案相关句：

A lift would not be a very good theme park attraction now.（第4题答案相关句）Going in a lift is such an everyday thing that it would juts be boring. Yet （然而）psychologists and others who study human behavior find（发现） lifts fascinating（迷人的） . The reason is simple（简单的）. Scientists have always studied animals in zoos（动物园）. The nearest they can get to（开始， 到达） that with humans is in observing（观察， 遵守） them in lifts.

“It breaks（打破） all the usual（通常的） conventions（规定，习俗） about the bubble （幻想）of personal space we carry（携带）around with us �C and you just can’t choose to（决定） move away（离开）. ”says workplace（工作场所） psychologist, Gray Fitzgibbon. Being trapped in this setting can create different types of tensions, he says. Some people are scared of them. Others use them as an opportunity to get close to the boss. Some stand close to the door. Others hide in the corners. Most people try and shrink into the background. But some behave in a way that makes others notice them. There are a few people who just stand in a corner taking notes.
答案相关句说：人们想要享有私人空间的要求在电梯里成了幻想，这为心理学家提供了一个研究在这种情况下人的行为的难得的机会。