四级阅读单词讲练系列（三）
在新四级的阅读题目中增加了快速阅读题目。这类题目的特点是文章篇幅比较长，但是词汇比较简单，即便有个别词汇不能确定，也不会对判断答案有过多影响。同学们在阅读时要注意正确理解句子中的关键词，这样才能正确的把握文章的整体。下面的文章是近年的题目，请大家注意对重点词汇的理解和记忆。
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 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.”
[词汇解析]
accommodate /E5kCmEdeIt/ v. 供给，容纳，适应，迎合
[例] Wherever he goes, he readily accommodates to new circumstances. 不管到哪儿,他都能迅速适应新环境。
authority /C:5WCriti/ n. 权威, 威信。当局在某一特定领域具有行政权力的公共机构或组织
[例] a city transit authority. 城市运输当局
specification / 7spesifi5keiFEn / n. 详述, 规格, 说明书, 规范
[例] cabling specification 电缆布线规范
adequate / 5Adikwit / adj. 适当的, 足够的
[例] An adequate water supply for city people is already a problem no government can take lightly. 给城市供给充足的水源已经成为所有政府不能掉以轻心的问题。She has adequate grounds for a divorce. 她离婚有充分的理由.
drainage / 5dreinidV / n. 排水, 排泄, 排水装置
[例] The drainage of the city is not good, some of the pipes are broken. 这个城市的排水系统不好, 有些排水管都破裂了。
restriction /ris5trikFEn/ n. 限制, 约束
[例] a restriction against smoking in schools 禁止在学校吸烟 There are currency restrictions on the sums allowed for foreign travel. 到国外旅行允许携带的款额有所限制..
convoy /5kCnvCi/ n.护送, 护卫 vt. 护航, 护送
[例] He convoyed her home 他护送她回家。
[段落译文]
20世纪早期， 美国的大多数街道和公路是用泥土、 砖块和杉木板铺设的。这种为骑马、 赶车和步行设计的道路通常养护不佳且过于狭窄， 并不适合汽车行驶。
随着汽车产量的增加， 私营的收费公路公司在地方政府的支持下如雨后春笋般涌现出来。截止到1921年， 一共铺设了38.7万公里的公路。其中， 大多数公路沿用了19世纪苏格兰工程师Thomas Telford和John MacAdam（碎石路面就是用他的名字命名的）提出的规范， 注重道路充分排水的能力。此外， 当时并没有针对道路规格、 限重和商业标牌的全国性标准。一战期间， 货车几乎把全国的公路都破坏掉了。当艾森豪威尔将军1919年从德国回来， 到美军第一个跨大陆机动车队任职时指出： “这些破旧的车队让我想起了良好的双车道公路， 而德国的机动车道让我见识了当地人的智慧。”
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.
[词汇解析]
tremendous /tri5mendEs/ adj. 极大的, 巨大的
[例] We went to a tremendous party. 我们参加了一个盛大的聚会。
demonstrate /5demEnstreit/ vt. 示范, 证明, 论证 vi. 示威
[例] He demonstrated how to use the new machine. 他演示怎样使用这台新机器。 demonstrate a proposition. 证明一个命题
intensity /in5tensiti/ n. 强烈, 剧烈, 强度，亮度
[例] labour intensity 劳动强度 critical stress intensity 临界应力强度
innovative / 5InEveItI/ adj. 革新的，创新的
[例] an innovative firm 革故鼎新的商行
[段落译文]
联邦政府真正开始建立国家公路系统是在另一次战争之后。二战时期， 对货车和新道路数量的需求大幅度上升。战争证明了道路对于防御工作的重要性。13%生产防御设备的工厂靠卡车运送原材料， 而几乎其他所有工厂半数以上的产品都由汽车运送。战争同样也暴露了各地建设的公路因设计标准的差异所带来的问题。就连联邦和各州的公路都没有一个基本标准。一些州允许卡车载重量高达3.6万磅， 但另一些却限制载重不可以超过7,000磅。政府的一项调查为此提出了一套33,920公里的公路标准体系， 国会通过了相关法案， 提出要建立严格的、 由中央控制的道路建设规范。
美国国家公路系统最终于1956年动工， 它被誉为那个世纪最伟大的公共建设项目。为建设其4.4万公里长的公路—桥梁—隧道网， 数以百计的独特设计和解决方案涌现出来。要考虑到各地的地理特征： 山地、 陡坡、 湿地、 河流、 沙漠和平原。道路的各种变化包括地面的倾斜程度， 公路的载重负荷能力、 道路的使用强度、 地表土壤的种类。城市区域有另外的问题。能够穿过或绕过城市区域的道路、 隧道、 桥梁、 天桥和立交等创新设计在全国各地涌现出来， 彻底改变了美国的面貌。