Bài tập Reading về tòa nhà Empire State
Bài tập Reading về tòa nhà Empire State
Bài viết này tiếp tục giới thiệu tới bạn bài tập Reading về tòa nhà Empire State giúp bạn luyện kỹ năng đọc hiểu tiếng Anh hiệu quả. Để luyện kỹ năng đọc và trả lời câu hỏi, mời các bạn cùng thử sức với bài test ngắn sau đây.
Bài tập luyện đọc Tiếng Anh Flower Power
Đề bài yêu cầu người học đọc hiểu bài viết sau về tòa nhà Empire State ở thành phố New York, sau đó quyết định xem 5 câu bên dưới là True/False hay Not Given.
The Empire State Building
Ever since it was built, the Empire State Building in New York has captured the attention and imagination of young and old alike. Every year millions of tourists head to the building to admire the view of the city from its observation floors, and it has appeared in countless films and television programmes. When it opened in 1931, it was the tallest building in the world. More than 80 years later, no other construction in New York, with the exception of the Statue of Liberty, is as famous.
Its construction began during an American race to the sky. This was probably inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, which had been completed in 1889. However, while the Eiffel Tower was a remarkable construction, it did not serve any real purpose other than to impress. American architects wanted to not only go higher, but also give their towers a purpose. The idea of the practical skyscraper, with offices and apartments, was conceived, and by the early twentieth century, a skyscraper race was on. The Metropolitan Life Tower in 1909 was followed by the Woolworth Building in 1913 and then the Bank of Manhattan Building in 1929.
When John Raskob, one of New York's most competitive businessmen, decided to join in the race to the sky, Walter Chrysler (one of Raskob's biggest revals) was already building a skyscraper. Raskob was determined to build something higher. However, Chrysler was keeping the height of his building secret until it was complete, so Raskob had no idea how tall his own building would have to be in order to beat it. Risking everything, he hired an architect, William Lamb, to realize his dream. He gave him a very simple instruction: design a building that could be as tall as possible without collapsing.
Lamb drew up his plans. A certain amount of space in the centre, arranged as compactly as possible, would contain lifts and corridors. Surrounding this would be office spaces, which would become smaller the higher you went. It was simple but effective, and has remained the basic model for skyscrapers ever since. But was Lamb's plan high enough to make the Empire State Building the tallest in the world? Initially, the plan included eighty storeys, but then Chrysler went higher, so another five storeys were added, making it just over a metre higher than Chrysler's. Further alterations had to be made as Chrysler's building rose even higher.
The competition between Raskob and Chrysler was fierce. After a while, Lamb was unable to add more storeys to his construction, but Raskob came up with a brilliant solution. After examining a model of the proposed building, Raskob said, "It needs a hat!" The new design for the Empire State Building, which also included a mast, would make the building 381 metres tall. The Chrysler Building was completed at 318 metres.
Building work started immediately, beginning with the assembly of steel girders which would form the building's skeleton. At that time, different parts of buildings, such as girders, were made on the actual construction site before being put in place. This wasted valuable time, as construction workers had to wait for the parts to be made before they could start building with them. For Raskob's structure, it was decided that the girders would be made in factories, then moved to the site. This was a much more efficient method, and would probably have pleased the efficiency-obsessed Raskob. He was, after all, a businessman, and was probably desperate to his new building to start making money as quickly as possible.
It is easy to imagine the effect the building would have had on passers-by as it rose from the ground. This was architecture on a truly grand scale, and even the sophisticated New Yorkers must have marveled at the sheer height and size of this remarkable new construction.
Once the first stage was complete, construction began on both the outside and inside of the building's skeleton simultaneously. While bricks were being laid, electricians and decorators worked inside. The final part of the construction process was the installation of the lifts, which could travel and incredible 365 metres a minute.
The Empire State Building officially opened on 1 May, 1931. By today's standards, it is not particularly attractive or elegant, especially when compared with modern skyscrapers in cities like Dubai and Shanghai. However, for its time, it was a remarkable monument to technology and ambition, and would remain the world's tallest building for over 40 years.
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer? Choose from the drop-down lists.
Choose: YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer. NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer. NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.
1. The Empire State Building is not as famous as the Statue of Liberty.
YES
NO
NOT GIVEN
2. It took courage for Raskob to begin work on his building without knowing how tall it would be.
YES
NO
NOT GIVEN
3. Lamb's plan for the building was very complicated.
YES
NO
NOT GIVEN
4. Raskob saved a lot of money by having the steel girders of his building made on the site.
YES
NO
NOT GIVEN
5. The people of New York were impressed by Raskob's building.
YES
NO
NOT GIVEN
Answer keys:
1. YES
2. YES
3. NO
4. NOT GIVEN
5. YES
