Part II Reading comprehension (skimming and scanning ) (15 minute)
Directions: In this part,you will have 15 minute to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer sheet1
For questions 1-7,mark
Y(for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage;
N(for NO) if statement cintradicts the information given in the passage;
NG(for NOT CIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage.
for question 8-10 ,complete the sentenced with the information given in the passage.
Highway
A goverment study recommended a national highway systerm of33,920 miles,and congress passed the Federcal-Aid Highway Act of 1944,which called for strict,centrakky controlled desert criterra.
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 bulid its 44,000-mile web of highways,bridge.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,desorts and plains.Variables included the slope of the land,the ability of the pavement to support the load.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 American .
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 Mr.bakerin Washington developed under the nation's physical challenges,Traffic control systems and methods of construction developed uder the interstate program soon influenced highway construction around the world,ang 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,ourves 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 jobs,access to the growth options in terms of jobs access to cutural progreams health care ,and other benefits.Above all,the interstate system provides individuals with what they enerish 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 percent 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 vehiole.
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 centres.It has allower the rwlocation of manufacturing plants and other industries from urban areas to rural. |
