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Some houses are designed to be smart. Others have smart designs. An example of the second type of house won an Award of Excellence from the American Institute of Architects.

Located on the shore of Sullivan’s Island off the coast of South Carolina, the award-winning cube-shaped beach house was built to replace one smashed to pieces by Hurricane (飓风) Hugo 10 years ago. In September1989, Hugo struck South Carolina, killing 18 people and damaging or destroying 36,000 homes in the state.

Before Hugo, many new houses built along South Carolina’s shoreline were poorly constructed, and enforcement of building codes wasn’t strict, according to architect Ray Huff, who created the cleverly-designed beach house. In Hugo’s wake, all new shoreline houses are required to meet stricter, better-enforced codes.The new beach house on Sullivan’s Island should be able to withstand a Category 3 hurricane with peak winds of 179 to 209 kilometers per hour.

At first sight, the house on Sullivan’s Island looks anything but hurricane-proof. Its redwood shell makes it resemble “a large party lantern (灯笼)” at night, according to one observer. But looks can be deceiving. The house’s wooden frame is reinforced with long steel rods to give it extra strength.

To further protect the house from hurricane damage, Huff raised it 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings—long, slender columns of wood anchored deep in the sand. Pilings might appear insecure, but they arestrong enough to support the weight of the house. They also elevate the house above storm surges. The pilings allow the surges to run under the house instead of running into it. “These swells of water come ashore at tremendous speeds and cause most of the damage done to beach-front buildings,” said Huff.

Huff designed the timber pilings to be partially concealed by the house’s ground-to-roof shell. “ The shell masks the pilings so that the house doesn’t look like it’s standing with its pant legs pulled up,” said Huff. In the event of a storm surge, the shell should break apart and let the waves rush under the house, the architect explained.

Choose correct answers to the question:

1. After the tragedy caused by Hurricane Hugo, new houses built along South Carolina’s shore line are required ________.

A. to be easily reinforced

B. to look smarter in design

C. to meet stricter building standards

D. to be designed in the shape of cubes

2. The award-winning beach house is quite strong because ________.

A. it is strengthened by steel rods

B. it is made of redwood

C. it is in the shape of a shell

D. it is built with timber and concrete

3. Huff raised the house 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings in order to ________.

A. withstand peak winds of about 200 km/hr

B. anchor stronger pilings deep in the sand

C. break huge sea waves into smaller ones

D. prevent water from rushing into the house

4. The main function of the shell is ________.

A. to strengthen the pilings of the house

B. to give the house a better appearance

C. to protect the wooden frame of the house

D. to slow down the speed of the swelling water

5. It can be inferred from the passage that the shell should be ________.

A. fancy-looking

B. waterproof

C. easily breakable

D. extremely strong

参考答案

1.[C] 根据题目中的专有名词Hugo查找到文中第3段第2句。句中的In Hugo’s wake相当于题目中的after Hugo，由该句是的stricter，better-enforced codes可知C正确。

2.[A] 第4段开始具体介绍the house，根据该段最后一句可知，这幢房子的木制结构用长钢筋加固了，因而特别结实，故选A。

3.[D] 根据题干的数字可迅速定位至第5段首，第2、3句阐述这样做的目的是“将房屋抬髙到暴风雨巨浪之上，及让巨浪能在屋下流过。”其中running into it与D中的rushing into the house同义，故D正确。

4.[B] 最后一段第2句提出，外壳可以把木桩遮盖住，所以它主要起“粉饰”作用。

5.[C] 根据最后一句可知，如果暴风雨巨浪涌来，外壳就会裂开，让巨浪在房屋下面奔涌而过，因此外壳应该是“易碎的”。