The World's Longest Bridge

Rumor has it that1 a legendary six-headed monster lurks in the deep waters of the Tyrrhenian

Sea between Italy and the island of Sicily.(1) When completed in 2010, theworld's longest bridge will weigh nearly 300,000 tons 一 equivalent to the iceberg that sank the Titanic — and stretch 5 kilometers long. “ That's nearly 50 percent longer than any other bridge ever built. ’，says structural engineer Shane Rixon.

(2) They're suspension bridges, massive structures built to span vast water channels or gorges. A suspension bridge needs just two towers to shoulder the structure's mammoth weight, thanks to hefty supporting cables slung between the towers and anchored firmly in deep pools of cement at each end of the bridge. The Messina Strait Bridge will have two 54，100-ton towers, which will support most of the bridge's load. The beefy cables of the bridge, each 1. 2 meter in diameter, will hold up the longest and widest bridge deck ever built.

When construction begins on the Messina Strait Bridge in 2005, the first job will be to erect two 370 meter-tall steel towers. (3 ) Getting these cables up will be something2. It's not just their length — totally 5. 3 kilometers — but their weight. '—— (4)

After lowering vertical “suspender’，cables from the main cables, builders will erect a 60 meter-wide 54,630-ton steel roadway, or deck— wide enough to accommodate 12 lanes of traffic. The deck's weight will pull down on the cables with a force of 70,500 tons. In return, the cables yank up against their firmly rooted anchors with a force of 139，000 tons — equivalent to the weight of about 100,000 cars. Those anchors are essential. (5)

詞匯：

legendary 傳說中的 gorge 峽谷

monster 怪物，妖怪 mammoth 巨大的

lurk 潛伏 hefty 高強度的

Sicily 西西里島(意大利南部) sling 用懸?guī)У鯍?

Tyrrhenian Sea 第勒尼安海 beefy 結實的

Messina Strait 墨西拿海峽 yank 拽

注釋：

1.Rumor has it that:有傳言說…………rumor has it that是一種固定結構。it是賓語，that引導的從句具體說明it的內(nèi)容。

2.something:值得重視的人或事

練習：

A Some environmentalists are against the project on biological grounds.

B What do the world's longest bridges have in common?

C If true, one day you might spy the beast while zipping (呼晡而過)across the Messina Strait Bridge.

D They're what will keep the bridge from going anywhere.

E The second job will be to pull two sets of steel cables across the strait, each set being a bundle of 44,352 individual steel wires.

F They will tip up the scales at 166,500 tons — more than half the bridge's total

答案與題解：

1.C選項C中有一個關鍵詞beast,與第一句的monster相呼應。所以，C是答案。

2.B第二段第二.句的主語是They。由于表語是suspension bridges, They替代的一定是前面句子出現(xiàn)過的bridges。六個選項中，只有B含有bridges，且填在第二段段首意思 連貫。

3.E “空3”前面的句子有the first job這幾個詞。有first,必有second/then。六個選項中，只 有E含有The second job。所以，E是答案。

4.F “空4”前面的句子說的是，把這些吊索吊高定位是有難度的，不僅僅由于它們很長，還由于它們很重。F介紹了它們的重量，應該是“空4”前面的句子的后續(xù)句。

5.D “空5”前面的句子說的是，橋樁很重要。為什么很重要呢? D解釋了橋樁的作用，意思 連貫，所以是答案。

譯文：世界上最長的橋

據(jù)傳說，在意大利和西西里島間的第勒尼安海的深處，潛伏著一頭神奇的六頭怪獸。如果這是真的，你有可能在飛駛過墨西拿海峽橋時窺視到這怪物。到2010年該橋竣工的時候，它將是一座世界上最長且重達30萬噸的大橋，這個重量近似于撞沉泰坦尼克號巨輪的冰山的重量。這座橋長約5千米，橋的結構工程師雪恩·里克森說：“|它比有史以來最長的橋還長出約50%?！?

那么，世界上最長的這些橋之間有什么共同點呢?它們都是吊橋，有著巨大的橋的構架，橫跨航道或峽谷間的巨大水域。一座吊橋只需要兩個塔身來支撐繩索。墨西拿海峽橋的兩座塔將分別重54100噸，它們將支撐住橋的大部分重量。橋的繩索很結實，每條直徑1.2米，它們將支起建橋史上最長最寬的橋板。

墨西拿海峽橋的建造將于2005年開始，那時要做的第一項工作將是樹立起兩座370米高的鐵塔。第二項工作將是在海峽兩端支起兩套鋼索，每一套繩索由44352根單獨的鋼纜組成。把這些鋼纜舉起來是很不容易地。這不僅僅體現(xiàn)在鋼纜很長(共有5.3千米)，而且也由于它們的重量，它們將重達166500噸，這個重量已超過類橋總重量的一半。

在從主繩索上降下垂直的懸索后，建造者將造起一條60米寬、54630噸重的公路，或者說是橋板，這個寬度的路將可容納12條交通車道。橋板的重量將使兩端的鋼索負重70500噸。反過來，相應的鋼索將以139000噸的力度拽著牢牢扎根了的固定物，這個力度近似于10萬輛轎車的總重量。這些橋樁是很必要的，正是這些橋樁防止了橋的隨便移動。

報考選擇：職稱英語報考科目|級別選擇|報名條件及相關問題解答

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