Can Buildings Be Designed to Resist Terrorist
Attack
In the aftermath of the terrorist attack
on the World Trade Center, structural engineers are trying hard to solve a
question that a month ago would have been completely unthinkable: Can building
be designed to withstand catastrophic blasts inflicted by terrorists?
Ten days after the terrorist attacks on the twin towers, structural
engineers from the University at Buffalo and the Multidisciplinary Center for
Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) headquartered at UB traveled to ground
zero as part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation. Visiting
the site as part of an MCEER reconnaissance visit, they spent two days beginning
the task of formulating ideas about how to design such structures and searching
for clues on how to do so in buildings that were damaged, but still are
standing. "Our objective in visiting ground zero was to go and
look at the buildings surrounding the World Trade Center, those buildings that
are still standing, but that sustained damage," said M. Bruneau, Ph. D. "Our
immediate hope is that we can develop a better understanding as to why those
buildings remain standing, while our long-term goal is to see whether earthquake
engineering technologies can be married to existing technologies to achieve
enhanced performance of buildings in the event of terrorist attacks," he
added. Photographs taken by the investigators demonstrate in
startling detail the monumental damage inflicted on the World Trade Center
towers and buildings in the vicinity. One building a block away from the towers
remains standing, but was badly damaged. "This building is many meters away from
the World Trade Center and yet we see a column there that used to be part of
that building," explained A. Whittaker, Ph. D. "The column became a missile that
shot across the road, through the window and through the floor."
The visit to the area also revealed some surprises, according to the
engineers. For example, the floor framing systems in one of the adjacent
buildings was quite rugged, allowing floors that were pierced by tons of falling
debris to remain intact. "Highly redundant ductile framing systems may provide a
simple, but robust strategy for blast resistance," he added. Other strategies
may include providing alternate paths for gravity loads in the event that a
load-bearing column fails. "We also need a better understanding of the mechanism
of collapse," said A. Whittaker. "We need to find out what causes a building to
collapse and how you can predict it." A. Reinhorn, Ph. D. noted
that "earthquake shaking has led to the collapse of many buildings in the past.
It induces dynamic response and extremely high stresses and deformations in
structural components. Solutions developed for earthquake-resistant design may
be directly applicable to blast engineering and terrorist-resistant design. Part
of our mission now at UB is to transfer these solutions and to develop new ones
where none exist at present."
单选题
The question raised in the first paragraph is one ______.
A. that was asked by structural engineers a month ago
B. that is too difficult for structural engineers to answer even now
C. that was never thought of before the terrorist attack
D. that terrorists are eager to find a solution to
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 第一段中“would have been completely unthinkable”表明在遭恐怖袭击之前这是不可想象的。建筑设计能否让建筑具有抵御恐怖袭击的性能，是在一个月前世贸中心受到袭击之前人们从未想过的一个问题。这是第一段的主要内容。C是正确答案。
单选题
The project funded by the National Science Foundation ______.
A. was first proposed by some engineers at UB
B. took about two days to complete
C. was to investigate the damage caused by the terrorist attack
D. was to find out why some buildings could survive the blasts
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 文章没有提及谁首先提出了这个项目，所以选项A排除。如此大的项目不可能在两天之内完成，第二段最后一句中“they spent two days beginning the task of formulating ideas...”说的是他们花了两天时间开始构思怎样设计出能承受恐怖袭击的建筑结构……而不是完成了此项目，因此B项错误。对遗址的勘察是手段，目的是找出那些遗留的建筑物虽然遭袭却没有倒塌的线索。C、D两项相比较，D项正确。
单选题
The column mentioned by Dr. Whittaker ______.
A. was part of the building close to the World Trade Center
B. was part of the World Trade Center
C. was shot through the window and the floor of the World Trade Center
D. damaged many buildings in the vicinity of the World Trade
Center
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据关键词column和Dr. Whittaker找到第四段倒数第二句，由“...and yet we see a column there that used to be part of that building”可知，the column是世贸中心附近建筑物上的组成部分，故A为正确答案。
单选题
A surprising discovery made by the investigators during their visit to
ground zero is that ______.
A. floors in the adjacent buildings remain undamaged
B. some floor framing systems demonstrate resistance to explosion
C. simple floor framing systems are more blast resistant
D. floors in one of the adjacent buildings were pierced by tons of
debris
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 根据A surprising discovery可以定位在第五段。A中undamaged与第二句中quite rugged相反。B项“某些楼板骨架结构抗爆”与文中“the floor framing systems...allowing floors that were pierced by tons of falling debris to remain intact”表述的意思相符。根据第五段第三句，多余的柔软骨架结构设计是简单且强有力的抗爆方案，C项“简单的楼板骨架结构”显然是错误的。D项文章没有提及。故选B。
单选题
What Dr. Reinhorn said in the last paragraph may imply all the
following EXCEPT that ______.
A. blast engineers should develop new solutions for terror-resistant
design
B. blast engineering can borrow technologies developed for terror-resistant
design
C. solutions developed for earthquake-resistant design may apply to
terrorist-resistant design
D. blast engineering emerges as a new branch of science
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 第六段最后一句提到“and to develop new ones where none exist at present”，所以A是正确的。最后两句中两个关键词applicable和transfer也都能说明B和C是正确的。但文章并没有说爆炸工程上升为了一个新兴的学科。故选D。