Question

The extraordinary Eastgate Building in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital city, is said to be the only one in the world to use the same cooling and heating principles as the termite mound(白蟻堆).

Architect Mick Pearce used precisely the same strategy when designing the Eastgate Building, which has no air-conditioning and almost no heating. The building—the country’s largest commercial and shopping complex—uses less than 10% of the energy of a conventional building of its size. The Eastgate’s owners saved $3.5 million on a $36 million building because an air-conditioning equipment didn’t have to be imported.

The complex is actually two buildings linked by bridges across a shady, glass-roofed atrium(天井) open to the air. Fans suck fresh air in from the atrium, blow it upstairs through hollow spaces under the floors and from there into each office through baseboard vents(通風口). As it rises and warms, it is drawn out via ceiling vents and finally exists through forty-eight brick chimneys.

During summer’s cool nights, big fans blow air through the building seven times an hour to cool the empty floors. By day, smaller fans blow two changes of air an hour through the building, to circulate the air which has been in contact with the cool floors. For winter days, there are small heaters in the vents.

This is all possible only because Harare is 1600 feet above sea level, has cloudless skies, little dampness and rapid temperature changes—days as warm as 31℃ commonly drop to 14℃ at night. “You couldn’t do this in New York, with its hot summers and cold winters,” Pearce said.

The engineering firm of Ove Arup&Partners monitors daily temperatures. It is found that the temperature of the building has generally stayed between 23℃ and 25℃, with the exception of the annual hot period just before the summer rains in October and three days in November, when a doorkeeper accidentally switched off the fans at night. And the air is fresh—far more so than in air-conditioned buildings, where up to 30% of the air is recycled.

1.Why was Eastgate cheaper to be built than a conventional building?

A. No air conditioners were fixed in.

B. It was designed in a smaller size.

C. Its heating system was less advanced.

D. It used rather different building materials.

2.What does “it” refer to in Paragraph 3?

A. Baseboard vent. B. Heat in the building.

C. Hollow space. D. Fresh air from outside.

3.Why would a building like Eastgate Not work efficiently in New York?

A. Its temperature changes seasonally rather than daily.

B. New York has less clear skies as Harare.

C. Its dampness affects the circulation of air.

D. New York covers a larger area than Harare.

4.The data in the last paragraph suggests Eastgate’s temperature control system_____.

A. allows a wide range of temperatures

B. can recycle up to 30% of the air

C. functions well for most of the year

D. works better in hot seasons

Answer 1

1.A

2.D

3.A

4.C

【解析】

試題解析：這篇文章講解了津巴布韋首都哈拉雷一座特別的樓房東門大廈，它利用了和白蟻堆一樣冷熱交替的原則，整棟樓房沒有安裝一架空調(diào)，給它的建造者節(jié)省了3.5百萬的美金。接著作者簡單地闡述了這棟樓房溫控系統(tǒng)工作的原理。但是同樣的方式在紐約卻行不通，這與當?shù)氐臍夂蜃兓�息息相關。

1. 考查細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段最后一句話“The Eastgate’s owners saved $3.5 million on a $36 million building because an air-conditioning equipment didn’t have to be imported.”東門大廈的所有者節(jié)省了3.5百萬美金在一個價值36百萬美金的樓房上，因為這棟樓房不需要引入空調(diào)。故選A。

2. 考查推理判斷題。根據(jù)第三段第二句話“ Fans suck fresh air in from the atrium, blow it upstairs through hollow spaces under the floors and from there into each office through baseboard vents(通風口).”風扇將新鮮空氣從天井下沉，通過通風口將這股空氣從地下向樓上吹到每一個辦公室。可以推測這里指這股新鮮空氣的上升和下降。故選D。

3. 考查細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)倒數(shù)第二段最后一句話““You couldn’t do this in New York, with its hot summers and cold winters,” Pearce said. ”你不能在紐約這樣做，因為紐約有很熱的夏天和很冷的冬天�？芍�，紐約的溫度四季變化較大，不適合這樣的建筑。故選A。

4. 考查細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)最后一段第二句話“ It is found that the temperature of the building has generally stayed between 23℃ and 25℃, with the exception of the annual hot period just before the summer rains in October and three days in November, when a doorkeeper accidentally switched off the fans at night. ”據(jù)觀察，這棟樓房的溫度通常能保持在23到25攝氏度，除了每年十月份夏雨之前的一段熱天以及十一月的三天，這幾天看門者會在夜間關掉風扇。據(jù)此可知這棟樓房的溫控系統(tǒng)在全年的大部分時間都可以很好的工作。故選C。

考點：考查說明文閱讀。