Some
houses are designed to be smart. Others have smart designs. An example of the
second type of house won the Award of Excellence from the American Institute of
Architects.
Located
on the shore of Sullivan’s Island off the coast of South Carolina, the
award-winning cube-shaped beach house was built to replace one damaged by
Hurricane Hugo years ago. In September 1989, Hugo struck South Carolina,
killing 18 people and damaging or destroying 36,000 homes in the state.
Before
Hugo, many new houses built along South Carolina’s shoreline were poorly
constructed, according to architect Ray Huff, who created the cleverly-designed
beach house. Now all new shoreline houses are required to meet stricter,
better-enforced codes. The new beach house on Sullivan’s Island should be
strong enough not to be damaged by a Category 3 hurricane with peak winds of 179
to 209 kilometres per hour.
At first
sight, the house on Sullivan’s Island looks anything but(根本不) hurricane-proof. Its
redwood shell makes it look like “a large party lantern” at night. But looks
can be deceiving. The house’s wooden frame is strengthened with long steel
rods(杆) to give it
extra strength.
To
further protect the house from hurricane damage, Huff raised it 2.7 meters off
the ground on timber pilings(木桩) buried deep in the sand. Pilings might appear insecure, but they
are strong enough to support the weight of the house. They also raise the house
above storm waves. The pilings allow the waves to run under the house instead
of running into it. “The waves of water come ashore at tremendous speeds and
cause most of the damage done to beach-front buildings,” said Huff.
Huff
designed the timber pilings to be partially concealed(隐藏) by the house’s
ground-to-roof shell. “The shell masks the pilings so that the house doesn’t
look like it’s standing with its legs pulled up,” said Huff. In the event of storm,
the shell should break apart and let the waves rush under the house, the
architect explained.
1.After Hurricane Hugo, new houses built along South Carolina’s
shore line are required
to
.
A. be
easily pulled
down
B. look smarter in design
C. meet
stricter building standards D. be
designed to be cube-shaped
2.The
award-winning beach house is quite strong because .
A. it is strengthened by steel
rods B. it is made of redwood
C. it is
in the shape of a shell D. it
is built with timber and concrete
3.Huff
raised the house 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings in order to .
A. avoid
peak winds of about 200 km/h
B. bury
stronger pilings deep in the sand
C. break
huge sea waves into smaller ones
D.
prevent the waves from running into it
4.It can
be inferred from the passage that the house’s shell should be .
A.
smooth B. waterproof C. easily
broken D. extremely hard
