学位英语

Can Buildings Be Designed to Resist Terrorist Attack

In the aftermath of1 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 zero2 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 standing3.

“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 damage4," 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 technologies5 to achieve enhanced performance of buildings6 in the event of terrorist attacks. ” he added.

Photographs taken by the investigators demonstrate in startling detail7 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 framing8 systems in one of the adjacent buildings was quite rugged,allowing floors that were pierced by tons of falling debris to remain intact9. “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. ”

词汇：

aftermath 后果，结果 withstand 经受住

inflict 使遭受，施加 reconnaissance 勘察；侦察

in the vicinity 附近 debris 碎片

intact 未受损伤的，完整无缺的

ductile 可伸展的，易变形的

注释：

1.in the aftermath of…：在……（灾难性的事件发生)后的一段时间内。例如： in the aftermath of the Second World War:第二次世界大战结束后的时期

2.ground zero：世界贸易中心（双子塔)被毁现场

3.buildings that were damaged,but still are standing:那些已损坏但未倒塌的建筑

4.but that sustained damage:但遭到了损坏。sustain:蒙受，遭受(伤害或损失）。

5.whether earthquake engineering technologies can be married to existing technologies:抗震技术 能否与现有的建筑技术相结合。be married to:与……相结合。

6.to achieve enhanced performance of buildings:以提高建筑的性仓旨

7.in startling detail:以令人吃惊的细节

8.the floor framing:楼板骨架

9.allowing floors that were pierced by tons of falling debris to remain intact:那些被成吨的残片击穿的楼板得以完整无缺

练习：

1.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

2.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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

答案与题解：

1.C建筑设计是否能使建筑具有抵御恐怖袭击的性能，是在一个月前世界贸易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。所以，只有C是正确答案。

2.D A不是正确选项，因为文章没有提及谁首先提出这个项目。B或C都不是文章所述的内容。答案可以在第三段中找到。

3. A we see a column there that used to be part of that building ...这里的 that building 指的是 the building many meters away from the World Trade Center.

4.B 选项 A 不是正确答案，因为文章说，the floor framing systems in one of the adjacent buildings ... remain intact。C不是文章表述的内容。D在文中提到，但不悬a surprising discovery。只有B是正确答案。

5.D选项A的内容是正确的，根据是本段最后一句（“...develop new ones”）。选项B和C 的内容也是正确的，根据是本段最后两句（关键词是applicable和transfer)。只有D是答案， 因为 Reinhorn 没有说：Blast engineering emerges as a new branch of science.

译文：建筑设计能使建筑抵御恐怖袭击吗

在世贸中心遭受恐怖袭击后一段时间内，建筑工程师们试图解决一个在一个月前人们从未想过的问题：建筑设计能使建筑具有抵御恐怖袭击的性能吗？

恐怖分子袭击双子塔10天后，布法罗大学的建筑工程师和总部设在布法罗大学多学科中心的地震工程研究所作为国家科学基金出资的一个项目的一部分来到了世贸中心被毁现场。参观了地震研究所部分人员考察的地点，他们用了 2天时间开始将如何设计抵抗袭击的建筑的想法系统化并且在那些已损坏但未倒塌的建筑中寻找如何设计的线索。

“我们考察被毁现场的目的是去看看世贸中心周围的建筑，那些被损坏但没倒塌的建筑。” M. Brunean博士说。“我们当前的愿望是能对那些建筑没倒塌的原因有更好的认识，而我们的长远目标是看能否将抗震技术与现有建筑技术结合以提高在恐怖袭击事件中建筑的性能。”他补充说。

研究者拍摄的照片以惊人的细节展示了恐怖袭击对世贸中心及其附近建筑造成的严重损坏。一幢离世贸中心一街区远的建筑虽被严重损坏但未倒塌。 “这幢建筑离世贸中心数英米远，然而我们在被毁现场还看到过去曾是其一部分的一个圆柱”，A. Whittaker博士说，“这个圆柱充当了一枚发射物，跨过了道路，穿过了窗户和楼层。”

据工程师们说，在被毁现场的考察也发现了一些令人惊奇的事。例如，附近一幢建筑的楼板 骨架系统非常坚固，这使那些被成吨的残片击穿的楼板得以完整无缺。“高度充分的伸展的骨架 系统可以为具有抗爆炸性能提供简单而有效的方法。”他补充说。其他方法可以包括在承重部分 失去作用时为重力的下落提供多种途径。“我们也需要更好地认识倒塌的过程”，A. Whittaker说， “我们需要找到是什么引起建筑倒塌和如何对其进行预测。”

A. Reinhorn博士特别提到“在过去，地震造成的震动使许多建筑物倒塌。它引起动力 的反应、极强的压力和建筑结构部分变形。抗震性能设计的发展也许可直接适用于爆炸工程 和抗袭击性能的设计，我们在布法罗大学任务的一部分是吸收这些解决方法并找到未知的新方法。”

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