剑桥雅思7Test4阅读Passage1真题解析
剑桥雅思7，第四套试题，阅读部分Passage1，阅读真题原文部分：
READINGPASSAGE1
Youshouldspendabout20minutesonQuestions1-13,whicharebasedonReadingPassage1below.
vertical怎么读Pullingstingstobuildpyramids
Nooneknowsexactlyhowthepyramidswerebuilt.MarcusChownreckonstheanswercouldbehangingintheair.
ThepyramidsofEgyptwerebuiltmorethanthreethousandyearsago,andnooneknowshow.Theconventionalpictureisthattensofthousandsofslavesdraggedstonesonsledges.Butthereisnoevidencetobackthisup.NowaCaliforniansoftwareconsultantcalledMaureenClemmonshassuggestedthatkitesmighthavebeeninvolved.WhileperusingabookonthemonumentsofEgypt,shenoticedahieroglyphthatshowedarowofmenstandinginoddpostures.Theywereholdingwhatlookedlikeropesthatled,viasomekindofmechanicalsystem,toagiantbirdinthesky.Shewonderedifperhapsthebirdwasactuallyagiantkite,andthemenwereusingittoliftaheavyobject.
Intrigued,ClemmonscontactedMortezaGharib,aeronauticsprofessorattheCaliforniaInstituteofTechnology.Hewasfascinatedbytheidea.ComingfromIran,IhaveakeeninterestinMiddleEasternscience,hesays.HetoowaspuzzledbythepicturethathadsparkedClemmonssinterest.Theobjectintheskyapparentlyhadwingsfartooshortandwideforabird.Thepossibilitycertainlyexistedthatitwasakite,hesays.AndsinceheneededasummerprojectforhisstudentEmilioGraff,investigatingthepossibilityofusingkitesasheavyliftersseemedlikeagoodidea.
GharibandGraffsetthemselvesthetaskofraisinga4.5-metrestonecolumnfromhorizontaltovertical,usingnosourceofenergyexceptthewind.Theirinitialcalculationsandscale-modelwind-tunnelexperimentsconvincedthemtheywouldn’tneedastrongwindtoliftthe33.5-tonne
column.Evenamodestforce,ifsustainedoveralongtime,woulddo.Thekeywastouseapulleysystemthatwouldmagnifytheappliedforce.Sotheyriggedupatent-shapedscaffolddirectlyabovethetipofthehorizontalcolumn,withpulleyssuspendedfromthescaffoldsapex.Theideawasthatasoneendofthecolumnrose,thebasewouldrollacrossthegroundonatrolley.Earlierthisyear,theteamputClemmonssunlikelytheorytothetest,usinga40-square-metrerectangularnylonsail.Thekiteliftedthecolumncleanofftheground.Wewereabsolutelystunned,Gharibsays.Theinstantthesailopenedintothewind,ahugeforcewasgeneratedandthecolumnwasraisedtotheverticalinamere40seconds.
Thewindwasblowingatagentle16to20kilometresanhour,littlemorethanhalfwhattheythoughtwouldbeneeded.Whattheyhadfailedtoreckonwithwaswhathappenedwhenthekitewasopened.Therewasahugeinitialforce-fivetimeslargerthanthesteadystateforce,Gharibsays.Thisjerkmeantthatkitescouldlifthugeweights,Gharibrealised.Evena300-tonnecolumncouldhavebeenliftedtotheverticalwith40orsomenandfourorfivesails.SoClemmonswasright:thepyramidbuilderscouldhaveusedkitestoliftmassivestonesintoplace.Whethertheyactuallydidisanothermatter,Gharibsays.Therearenopicturesshowingtheconstructionofthepyramids,sothereisnowaytotellwhatreallyhappened.Theevidenceforusingkitestomovelargestonesisnobetterorworsethantheevidenceforthebruteforcemethod,Gharibsays.
Indeed,theexperimentshaveleftmanyspecialistsunconvinced.Theevidenceforkite-liftingisnon-existent,saysWillekeWendrich,anassociateprofessorofEgyptologyattheUniversityofCalifornia,Los Angeles.
Othersfeelthereismoreofacaseforthetheory.HarnessingthewindwouldnothavebeenaproblemforaccomplishedsailorsliketheEgyptians.Andtheyareknowntohaveusedwoodenpulleys,whichcouldhavebeenmadestrongenoughtobeartheweightofmassiveblocksofstone.Inaddition,thereissomephysicalevidencethattheancientEgyptianswereinterestedinflight.AwoodenartefactfoundonthesteppyramidatSaqqaralooksuncannilylikeamodernglider.Althoughitdatesfromseveralhundredyearsafterthebuildingofthepyramids,itssophisticationsuggeststhattheEgyptiansmighthavebeendevelopingideasofflightforalongtime.Andotherancientcivilisationscertainlyknewaboutkites;asearlyas1250BC,theChinesewereusingthemtodelivermessagesanddumpflamingdebrisontheirfoes.
Theexperimentsmightevenhavepracticalusesnowadays.Thereareplentyofplacesaroundtheglobewherepeoplehavenoaccesstoheavymachinery,butdoknowhowtodealwithwind,sailingandbasicmechanicalprinciples.GharibhasalreadybeencontactedbyacivilengineerinNicaragua,whowantstoputupbuildingswithadoberoofssupportedbyconcretearchesonasitethatheavyequipmentcantreach.Hisideaistobuildthearcheshorizontally,thenliftthemintoplaceusingkites.Wevegivenhimsomedesignhints,saysGharib.Werejustwaitingforhimtoreportback.Sowhethertheywereactuallyusedtobuildthepyramidsornot,itseemsthatkitesmaymakesensibleconstructiontoolsinthe21stcenturyAD.
Questions1-7
DothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeinformationgiveninReadingPassage1?
Inboxes 1-7onyouranswersheet,write
TRUEifthestatementagreeswiththeinformation
FALSEifthestatementcontradictstheinformation
NOTGIVENifthereisnoinformationonthis
1Itisgenerallybelievedthatlargenumbersofpeoplewereneededtobuildthepyramids.
2ClemmonsfoundastrangehieroglyphonthewallofanEgyptianmonument.
3Gharibhadpreviouslydoneexperimentsonbirdflight.
4GharibandGrafftestedtheirtheorybeforeapplyingit.
5Thesuccessoftheactualexperimentwasduetothehighspeedofthewind.
6Theyfoundthat,asthekiteflewhigher,thewindforcegotstronger.
7Theteamdecidedthatitwaspossibletousekitestoraiseveryheavystones.
Questions8-13
Completethesummarybelow.
ChooseNOMORETHANTWOWORDSfromthepassageforeachanswer
Writeyouranswersinboxes 8-13onyouranswersheet.
Additionalevidencefortheoryofkite-lifting

版权声明：本站内容均来自互联网，仅供演示用，请勿用于商业和其他非法用途。如果侵犯了您的权益请与我们联系QQ:729038198，我们将在24小时内删除。