In the late 1960's, many people in North America turned their attention to envir

In the late 1960's, many people in North America turned their attention to environmental problems, and new steel-and-glass skyscrapers were widely criticized. Ecologists pointed out that a forest of tall buildings in a city often overburdens public transportation and parking lots.

Skyscrapers are also consumers and wasters of electric power. In one recent year, the addition of 17 million square feet of skyscrapers office space in New York City raised the peak daily demand for electricity by 120,000 kilowatts--enough to supply the entire city of Albany, New York, for a day.

Glass-walled skyscrapers can be especially wasteful. The heat loss ( or gain) through a wall of half-inch plate glass is more than ten times that through a typical brick wall filled with insulation (绝缘) board. To lessen the strain on heating and air-conditioning equipment, builders of skyscrapers have begun to use double-glazed panels of glass, and reflective glasses coated with silver or gold mirror films that reduce glare(眩目的光) as well as heat gain.

However, mirror-walled skyscrapers raise the temperature of the surrounding air and affect neighboring buildings.               

Skyscrapers put a strain on a city's sanitation facilities(卫生设备),too. If fully occupied, the two World Trade Center towers in New York City would alone produce 2.25 million gallons of wastes each year-as much a city the size of Stanford, Connecticut, which has a population of more than 109,000.

Skyscrapers also affect television reception, block bird flyways and air traffic, In Boston in the late 1960's, some people even feared that shadows from skyscrapers would kill the grass on Boston Common. Still ,people continue to build skyscrapers for all the reasons that they have always built them-personal pride and the desire of owners to have the largest possible amount of space to rent.

36. The main purpose of the passage is to __

A. compare skyscrapers with other modern structures

B. describe some architectural designs of skyscrapers

C. describe skyscrapers and their effect on the environment

D. encourage using bricks in the construction of skyscrapers

37. According to the passage, what is one disadvantage of skyscrapers that have mirrored walls?

A. The surrounding air is heated.

B. Construction time is increased.

C. The windows must be cleaned daily.

D. Extra air-conditioning equipment is needed.

38. According to the passage, in the late 1960's some residents of Boston were concerned with which aspect of skyscrapers?

A. The noise from their construction.

B. The high cost of renting an office.

C. The harmful effects on the city's grass.

D. The removal of trees from building sites.

39. The author raises problems that would most concern which of the following groups?

A. Pilots                            B. Electricians.

C. Environmentalists.         D. Construction workers

试题答案

36．C

解析：本文主要记叙摩天大楼及其对环境的影响。

37．A

解析：从第三段最后一句话中的raise the temperature可以推出。

38．C

解析：本题是个细节理解题。从第五段最后一句话可知。

39．C