金门大桥

　　The orange towers of the Golden Gate Bridge--probably the most beautiful,certainly the most photographed bridge in the world--are visible from almost every point of elevation in San Francisco. The only crack in Northern Californias 600-mile continental wall,for years this mile-wide strait was considered unbridgeable. As much an architectural as an engineering feat, the Golden Gate took only 52 months to design and build, and was opened in 1937. Designed by Joseph Strauss, it was the first really massive suspension bridge,with a span of 4,200ft, and until 1959 ranked as the worlds longest. It connects the city at its northwesterly point on the peninsula to Marin County and Northern California, rendering the hitherto essential ferry crossing redundant, and was designed to withstand winds of up to a hundred miles an hour and to swing as much as 27 ft. Handsome on a clear day, the bridge takes on an eerie quality when the thick white fogs pour in and hide it almost completely.

　　You can either drive or walk across. The drive is the more thrilling of the two options as you race under the bridges towers, but the half-hour walk across it really gives you time to take in its enormous size and absorb the views of the city behind you and the headlands of Northern California straight ahead. Pause at the midway point and consider the seven or so suicides a month who choose this spot,260 ft up, as their jumping-off spot. Monitors of such events speculate that victims always face the city before they leap.In 1995, when the suicide toll from the bridge had reached almost 1,000,police kept the figures quiet to avoid a rush of would-be suicides going for the dubious distinction of being the thousandth person to leap.

　　Perhaps the best loved symbol of San Francisco, in 1987 the Golden Gate proved an auspicious place for a sunrise party when crowds gathered to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. Some quarter of a million people turned up ; the winds were strong and huge numbers caused the bridge to buckle, but fortunately not to break.

　　1. What is TURE of the Golden Gate Bridge?

　　A. It is certainly the worlds most beautiful bridge. B. It is far from San Francisco.

　　C. It is a feat neither architecturally nor engineeringly before 1960. D.It was the world longest bridge.

　　2. What do you know further about the Golden Gate Bridge?

　　A. It is over a strait where no bridge could have been built before the 1930s.

　　B. It is the first massive bridge designed by Joseph Strauss.

　　C. It appears while in the thick white fogs. D. It connects Marin Country with Northern California.

　　3. Of the two exercises, the drive over the bridge is more _________.

　　A. interesting B. fascinating C. inviting D. exciting

　　4. Those who attempt to suicide often jump from the midway point of the bridge probably because_________.

　　A. they want to die quietly B. they want to die quickly

　　C. they want to take a glance at the bridges towers D. they want to take a glance at San Francisco

　　5. What would be the best title for the text?

　　A. The Worlds Most Beautiful Bridge B. The Worlds Most Photographed Bridge

　　C. The Worlds First Suspension Bridge D.The Golden Gate Bridge

　　答案：DADDD