綜合類考試：閱讀理解great buildings
Think of a modem 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 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 cities，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 building upwards.
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 us the lift-or elevator，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 ifthe cords that hold it up are broken.It was this that did the most to gain public confidence in the new invention1.In fact，he spent a number of years exhibiting lifts at fairgrounds，giving people the chance to try them out 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 an everyday thing that it would just be boring.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 that with humans is in observing them in lifts2.
“It breaks all the usual conventions about the bubble of personal space3 we carry around with us-and you just can’t choose to move away，”says workplace psychologist，Gary 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 comers.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 comer taking notes.
Don’t worry about them.They fire probably from a university.
詞匯：
skyline/5skaIlaIn/n.空中輪廓線
pulley/5pulI/n.滑輪
fairground/5feE^raJnd/n.集市場地
bubble/5bQbl/n.幻想、妄想
tension/5tenFEn/n.緊張
習題
1. “。。。these are cities concerned with the past”in the first paragraph refer to cities that
A) are worried about their past.
B) have a glorious past to be proud of.
C) want to maintain their traditional image.
D) are very interested in their own history.
2. The difficulty in constructing tall buildings in the 19th century lies in
A) the shortage of money.
B) the lack ora device to carry people upward.
C) backward technology.
D) mountains taking up land space.
3. When Otis came up with the idea of a lift，
A) he sold it to the architects and builders immediately.
B) the Egyptians used it to build the Pyramids.
C) it was accepted favorably by the public.
D) most people had doubt about its safety.
4. Which of the tbllowing best describes the experience of going in a lift now？
A) Fascinating.
B) Uninteresting.
C) Frightening.
D) Exciting.
5. Psychologists find the lift a good place where they can study human behaviour because
A) here humans behave the way animals do.
B) people in a lift are all scared.
C) here some people take notes.
D) in a lift the bubble of personal space breaks.
答案與題解：1. C 2. B 3. D 4. B 5. D