The idea of building super headquarters is still relatively new to Japanese corporations. Senior managers in some of the worlds best-known companies have to put up with dull, crowded and smoky open-plan offices in the kind of buildings that architects do not put their names on. All this is changing thanks to Japans booming economy and the realization that head offices can be good showcases for new technology.
From the outside, the most distinctive thing about NECs skyscraper is the hole, 42 meters wide and 15 meters high, at the level of the 12th floor. This is a wind avenue which reduces the familiar phenomenon of the urban wind-tunnel , in which tall buildings create surrounding winds.
Inside, the panel controls the lights, and air conditioning, but it also contains an office directory showing visitors where each person sits and which members of staff are at their desks at that time.
These wall panels communicate with a control room in the basement, where central computers control everything from roof, which opens in fine weather, to the earthquake alarm. From two computer terminals on a control console, it is possible to check the temperature and humidity in any one of the 110-square meter blocks in the building.
Predictably, the new technology is at its most elegant in the boardroom, which NEC calls decision rooms , on the marble-paneled 38th floor. In the largest, 42 decision-makers each have their own monitor, which can show computer graphics or television programmes. A sound system almost unnoticeably amplifies each board member. Even a whisper is clearly audible across the 22-metre room and there is no way to switch off the concealed microphones. Everyone has to be heard, even if they are snoring, one employee said.
26. Architects do not put their names on the kind of buildings mentioned in the passage because_______.
A. they do not wanfpeople to know their names
B. they feel ashamed of designing such bad buildings
C. the buildings are not impressive or have nothing special
D. it is prohibited to let the public know about their names
27. Japanese companies are thinking of building impressive buildings because _______.
A. they think it a good way to show their technology
B. they are worried about their economy
C. they cant put up with the smoky offices
D. they pay especial attention to how the new buildings can withstand earthquakes
28. The NECs skyscraper and its gadgetry are controlled_______.
A. in the boardroom B. on the roof
C. by two computer terminals D. in the basement
29. The hole is built in NECs new building in order to_______.
A. add to the buildings balance B. hold a new avenue
C. reduce the effect of the wind-tunnel D. create surrounding winds
30. It is impossible for the board members to turn off the microphones in their offices as
A. they do not know how to do so B. they never think of doing so
C. they are unwilling to do so D. they are told not to do so
答案：26. C 27. A 28. D 29. C 30. A
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