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
23
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.
The greatest benefit brought about by the interstate system was ______.
选项
答案
personal freedom of mobility
解析
题目问的是州际公路网带来的最大益处是什么。文章的主要篇幅讲的都是州际公路网,范围似乎很广,做本题的关键点是要将题干中的信号词“The greatest benefit”在文中定位。通过查读,第7段最后一句中有“Above all(最重要的是)”,对应题目信息,答案在本句。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/Uiu7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
Alotofpeoplenowadayshavemuscularproblemsintheneck,theshouldersandtheback______(主要是由于工作中的压力和紧张造成的).
TherecessionistakingaserioustollonAmericanretail,bute-commercecouldemergeasawinner.Accordingtoanewrepor
Whileitseemsprettyobviousthatgratitudeisapositiveemotion,psychologistsfordecadesrarelydelved(探究)intothescienc
Formorethanacenturytheroadwasthe【C1】______formoflandtransportationinmuchoftheworld.Itwas,and【C2】______,theo
Formorethanacenturytheroadwasthe【C1】______formoflandtransportationinmuchoftheworld.Itwas,and【C2】______,theo
Formorethanacenturytheroadwasthe【C1】______formoflandtransportationinmuchoftheworld.Itwas,and【C2】______,theo
Whenhetriedtomakea______,hefoundthatthehotelwascompletelyfilledbecauseofameeting.
Ifyou’replanningtotraveloverseas,themostcommonformof【B1】______isbyairplane.Knowingtheentire【B2】______frombuying
A、Exercisingtheentirebody.B、Havingyourbloodpressuretakendaily.C、Losingweightpriortoexercising.D、Weighinginbefor
A、Hiscarturnedoverinanaccident.B、Hehadaslighttrafficaccident.C、Hiscarwasentirelydamaged.D、Hegotinjuredinan
随机试题
Eatinghealthilycostsabout$1.50moreperpersondaily,accordingtothemostthoroughreviewyetoftheaffordabilityofahe
已知二次型f(x1,x2,x3)=5x12+5x22+Cx32一2x1x2+6x1x3—6x2x3的秩为2,求参数C及此二次型对应矩阵的特征值.
患者,男,38岁。包皮溃破伴疼痛5天。既往无类似发作史。体格检查:包皮内板见多个针帽大小的浅溃疡,呈群集排列。关于该患者的处理下列不正确的是
A.氯化钡试剂B.硝酸银试剂C.硫代乙酰胺试剂D.锌与盐酸E.硫化钠试剂药物中硫酸盐的检查可用()。
某一非单向流洁净室等级为4级,房间高为3m,面积为80m2,所需换气次数在400次/h以下,房间断面风速为0.6m/s,则洁净室送风量为()。
商业银行应当对客户风险承受能力进行评估,确定客户风险承受能力评级,由低到高至少包括(),并可根据实际情况进一步细分。
满足效用最大化的商品组合()。
房地产保险的保险金额一般根据保险房地产的()确定。
练习曲线是练习进程与——之间函数关系的曲线图。
吴大成教授:各国的国情和传统不同,但是对于谋杀和其他严重刑事犯罪实施死刑,至少是大多数人可以接受的。公开宣判和执行死刑可以有效地阻止恶性刑事案件的发生,它所带来的正面影响比可能存在的负面影响肯定要大得多,这是社会自我保护的一种必要机制。史密斯教授
最新回复
(
0
)