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
Highways Early in the 20th century, most of the streets and roads in the U.S. were made of dirt, brick, and cedar wood block
Highways Early in the 20th century, most of the streets and roads in the U.S. were made of dirt, brick, and cedar wood block
admin
2013-03-11
18
问题
Highways
Early in the 20th century, most of the streets and roads in the U.S. were made of dirt, brick, and cedar wood blocks. Built for horse, carriage, and foot traffic, they were usually poorly cared for and too narrow to accommodate(容纳)automobiles.
With the increase in auto production, private turnpike(收费公路)companies under local authorities began to spring up, and by 1921 there were 387,000 miles of paved roads. Many were built using specifications of 19th century Scottish engineers Thomas Telford and John MacAdam(for whom the macadam surface is named), whose specifications stressed the importance of adequate drainage. Beyond that, there were no national standards for size, weight restrictions, or commercial signs. During World War I, roads throughout the country were nearly destroyed by the weight of trucks. When General Eisenhower returned from Germany in 1919, after serving in the U. S. Army’s first transcontinental motor convoy(车队), he noted: "The old convoy had started me thinking about good, two-lane highways, but Germany’s Autobahn or motorway had made me see the wisdom of broader ribbons across the land."
It would take another war before the federal government would act on a national highway system. During World War II, a tremendous increase in trucks and new roads were required. The war demonstrated how critical highways were to the defense effort. Thirteen per cent of defense plants received all their supplies by truck, and almost all other plants shipped more than half of their products by vehicle. The war also revealed that local control of highways had led to a confusing variety of design standards. Even federal and state highways did not follow basic standards. Some states allowed trucks up to 36,000 pounds, while others restricted anything over 7,000 pounds. A government study recommended a national highway system of 33,920 miles, and Congress soon passed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944, which called for strict, centrally controlled design criteria.
The interstate highway system was finally launched in 1956 and has been hailed as one of the greatest public works projects of the century. To build its 44,000-mile web of highways, bridges, and tunnels, hundreds of unique engineering designs and solutions had to be worked out. Consider the many geographic features of the country: mountains, steep grades, wetlands, rivers, deserts and plains. Variables included the slope of the land, the ability of the pavement to support the load, the intensity of road use, and the nature of the underlying soil. Urban areas were another problem. Innovative designs of roadways, tunnels, bridges, overpasses, and interchanges that could run through or bypass urban areas soon began to weave their way across the country, forever altering the face of America.
Long-span, segmented-concrete, cable-stayed bridges such as Hale Boggs in Louisiana and the Sunshine Skyway in Florida, and remarkable tunnels like Fort McHenry in Maryland and Mt. Baker in Washington, met many of the nation’s physical challenges. Traffic control systems and methods of construction developed under the interstate program soon influenced highway construction around the world, and were invaluable in improving the condition of urban streets and traffic patterns.
Today, the interstate system links every major city in the U. S. , and the U. S. with Canada and Mexico. Built with safety in mind, the highways have wide lanes and shoulders, dividing medians or barriers, long entry and exit lanes, curves engineered for safe turns, and limited access. The death rate on highways is half that of all other U. S. roads(0.86 deaths per 100 million passenger miles compared to 1.99 deaths per 100 million on all other roads).
By opening the North American continent, highways have enabled consumer goods and services to reach people in remote and rural areas of the country, spurred the growth of suburbs, and provided people with greater options in terms of jobs, access to cultural programs, health care, and other benefits. Above all, the interstate system provides individuals with what they cherish most: personal freedom of mobility.
The interstate system has been an essential element of the nation’s economic growth in terms of shipping and job creation: more than 75 per cent of the nation’s freight deliveries arrive by truck; and most products that arrive by rail or air use interstates for the last leg of the journey by vehicle. Not only has the highway system affected the American economy by providing shipping routes, it has led to the growth of spin-off industries like service stations, motels, restaurants, and shopping centers. It has allowed the relocation of manufacturing plants and other industries from urban areas to rural.
By the end of the century there was an immense network of paved roads, residential streets, expressways, and freeways built to support millions of vehicles. The highway system was officially renamed for Eisenhower to honor his vision and leadership. The year construction began he said: "Together the united forces of our communication and transportation systems are dynamic elements in the very name we bear--United States. Without them, we would be a mere alliance of many separate parts.
Service stations, motels and restaurants promoted the development of the interstate highway system.
选项
A、Y
B、N
C、NG
答案
B
解析
题干大意:“服务站、汽车旅馆和饭店促进了州际公路网的发展”,其信号词是“Service stations,motels and restaurants”,通过查找,定位于第8段倒数第2句,该句提到“…it has led to the growth of spin-off industries like service stations,motels,restaurants,and shopping centers(…州际公路网也使得诸如服务站、汽车旅馆、饭店和购物中心这样的派生产业得到发展)”,本题因果颠倒,错误。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/Tiu7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
A、Shortageoffunding.B、Lackofresources.C、Transportproblems.D、Poormanagement.C女士说该地区存在地理问题(geographicalproblems),并对此进行了
StressPainsinManyCollegeMoststudentsinUScollegesarejustplainstressedout,fromeverydayworriesaboutgradesan
Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteashortessayentitledOnSelf-helpTraveling.Youshouldwriteatleast150
A、Childrenhavelearnedalotfromwatchingit.B、Itisverypopulararoundtheworldbecauseitisfunny.C、OnlyAmericanchild
ThispassageisareportonthegrowingnumberofAmericanswhoadoptchildrenfromothercountries.Somechildpsychologistss
Asthemanagerwasawayonabusinesstrip,Iwasaskedto______theweeklystaffmeeting.
Whenhetriedtomakea______,hefoundthatthehotelwascompletelyfilledbecauseofameeting.
Ifyou’replanningtotraveloverseas,themostcommonformof【B1】______isbyairplane.Knowingtheentire【B2】______frombuying
Ifyou’replanningtotraveloverseas,themostcommonformof【B1】______isbyairplane.Knowingtheentire【B2】______frombuying
Theimpactofglobalwarmingcouldbetwiceassevereastheworstsituationfeared【C1】______theUnitedNations’scientists,t
随机试题
在asp.net中有两种配置文件,数据库连接属于站点级连接,一般存放在()配置文件中.
Raji细胞是由Burkitt淋巴瘤患者分离下列哪种细胞而建株的
A.阴囊湿疹,瘙痒难忍,小便短赤B.尿频尿急,尿道灼痛,尿黄短少C.面目发黄,腹部痞闷,纳呆便溏D.腹痛下痢,赤白粘冻,里急后重E.急躁易怒,头痛目赤,胁痛便秘肝胆湿热证的临床表现有
患者,男,30岁。因进食油腻食物后4小时,感右上腹及剑突下钻顶样疼痛急诊入院。对该病人治疗原则不当的是
在劳动力市场发育比较成熟的情况下,企业支付的工资水平,应等于职工对企业所创造价值的()。
(用户名:22;账套:502;操作日期:20l2年1月31日)输入付款单据。2012年1月12日,以转账支票支付本月从A钢铁厂采购的不锈钢价税款及运费460500元。
远达化工厂急需一笔资金购买设备,该工厂与甲银行签订了借款合同,并请市医院出面担保。按照法律规定,该医院()。
下列法律责任形式中,属于行政责任的是()。
企业年金方案的主要内容包括()。(2008年5月二级真题)
对文中画线的句子说法不正确的一项是:下面对“我真也迷惑了”的原因概括正确的一项是:
最新回复
(
0
)