首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
"’Building with Arches" Round Arch and Vault → Although the round arch was used by the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia
"’Building with Arches" Round Arch and Vault → Although the round arch was used by the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia
admin
2012-01-14
99
问题
"’Building with Arches"
Round Arch and Vault
→ Although the round arch was used by the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia several centuries before our common era, it was most fully developed by the Romans, who perfected the form in the 2nd century B.C.E. The arch has many virtues. In addition to being an attractive form, it enables the architect to open up fairly large spaces in a wall without risking the building’s structural soundness. These spaces admit light, reduce the weight of the walls, and decrease the amount of material needed. As utilized by the Romans, the arch is a perfect semicircle, although it may seem elongated if it rests on columns. It is constructed from wedge-shaped pieces of stone that meet at an angle always perpendicular to the curve of the arch. Because of tensions and compressions
inherent
in the form, the arch is stable only when it is complete, when the topmost stone, the keystone, has been set in place. For this reason an arch under construction must be supported from below, usually by a wooden framework.
→ Among the most elegant and enduring of Roman structures based on the arch is the Pont du Gard at Nimes, France, built about 15 C.E. when the empire was nearing its farthest expansion. At this time, industry, commerce, and agriculture were at their peak. Roman engineering was applied to an ambitious system of public-works projects, not just in Italy but in the outlying areas as well. The Pont du Gard functioned as an aqueduct, a structure meant to transport water, and its lower level served as a footbridge across the river. That it stands today virtually intact after nearly two thousand years (and is crossed by cyclists on the route of the famous Tour de France bicycle race) testifies to the Romans’ brilliant engineering skills. Visually, the Pont du Gard exemplifies the best qualities of arch construction. Solid and heavy, obviously durable, it is shot through with open spaces that make it seem light and its weight-bearing capabilities effortless.
→ When the arch is extended in depth—when it is, in reality, many arches placed flush one behind the other—the result is called a barrel vault. This vault construction makes it possible to create large interior spaces. The Romans made great use of the barrel vault, but for its finest expression we look many hundreds of years later, to the churches of the Middle Ages.
→ The church of Sainte-Foy, in the French city of Conques, is an example of the style prevalent throughout Western Europe from about 1050 to 1200—a style known as Romanesque. Romanesque builders adopted the old Roman forms of round arch and barrel vault so as to add height to their churches.
Until this period most churches had beamed wooden roofs, which not only posed a threat of fire but also limited the height to which architects could aspire.
With the stone barrel vault, they could achieve the soaring, majestic space we see in the
nave
of Sainte-Foy.
Pointed Arch and Vault
→ While the round arch and vault of the Romanesque era solved many problems and made many things possible, they nevertheless had certain drawbacks. For one thing, a round arch, to be stable, must be a semicircle; therefore, the height of the arch is limited by its width. Two other difficulties were weight and darkness. Barrel vaults are both literally and visually heavy, calling for huge masses of stone to maintain their structural stability. Also, the builders who constructed them dared not make light-admitting openings in or around them, for fear the arches and vaults would collapse, and so the interiors of Romanesque buildings tend to be dark. The Gothic period in Europe, which followed the Romanesque, solved these problems with the pointed arch. A
The pointed arch, while seemingly not very different from the round one, offers many advantages.B Because the sides arc up to a point, weight is channeled down to the ground at a steeper angle, and therefore the arch can be taller. The vault constructed from such an arch also can be much taller than a barrel vault.C Architects of the Gothic period found they did not need heavy masses of material throughout the curve of the vault, as long as the major points of intersection were reinforced. D
Glossary
nave: the long central area in a church with aisles on each side
The word virtually in the passage is closest in meaning to
选项
A、obviously
B、accurately
C、routinely
D、practically
答案
D
解析
In this passage, practically is a synonym for"virtually."
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/OPyO777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
DothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeinformationgiveninReadingPassage1?Inboxes5-13onyouranswersheet,writeT
Completethesummaryusingthelistofwords,A-l,below.Writethecorrectletter,A-l,inboxes37-40onyouranswersheet.Re
Youshouldspendabout20minutesonQuestions27-40,whicharebasedonReadingPassage3below.Thegr
AccidentalScientistsAAparadoxliesclosetotheheartofscientificdiscovery.Ifyouknowjustwhatyouarelookingfor,fi
Lookatthefollowingstatements(Questions18-23)andthelistofpeoplebelow.Matcheachstatementwiththecorrectperson,A,
Youshouldspendabout20minutesonQuestions14-26,whicharebasedonReadingPassage2below.TasmanianTigerAlthoughitwa
WhatisthepurposeofJaneandRick’smeetingwiththetutor?
Completethesentencesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSforeachanswer.EffectsofweatheronmoodTheyexpecttofindth
Whichofthefollowingquestionsdoesthepassageanswer?Itcanbeinferredfromthepassagethatlichensuselessenergyand
随机试题
能诱发或加重溃疡的因素是
既能消食化积,又能行气散瘀的药物是()
根据《建设工程工程量清单计价规范》,暂列金额可用于支付()。
一般存款账户可以办理现金缴存和现金支取。()
按照全球通行的方法,金融业务的划分不包括( )。
北京市区的某大型百货商场为增值税一般纳税人,2009年9月发生如下几项业务(如果没有特别说明的,题中的收入均为零售收入):(1)销售散装啤酒400吨,每吨不含税售价2800元。另外,该商场内部设立的“酒坊”生产一种新研制的粮食白酒,广告样品使用0.
“美丽中国.河南功夫之旅”推介会在多伦多举行为进一步加强中加旅游交流与合作,提升河南旅游产品国际知名度,中国河南省旅游局代表团21日在多伦多举办“美丽中国•河南功夫之旅”推广活动。加拿大安大略省旅游文化和体育厅厅长陈国治、大多伦多地区多名市议员和
道德建设的核心决定并体现着社会道德建设的根本性质和发展方向,道德建设的原则体现着社会道德建设的根本要求。下列关于我国社会主义道德建设的核心和原则的说法中,正确的是
在数据库系统出现系统故障后进行恢复时,对于事务T,如果在日志文件中有BEGINTRANSACTION记录,也有COMMIT记录,但其对数据的修改没有写到数据库中,则数据库管理系统处理这种事务时应执行的操作是_________。
It’sHardtoCleanBigDataA)KarimKeshayjee,aTorontophysiciananddigitalhealthconsultant,crunchesmountainsofdatafro
最新回复
(
0
)