2020年军队职称英语考试综合类B级阅读材料汇总

　　建筑设计能使建筑抵御恐怖袭击吗?

　　在世贸中心遭受恐怖袭击后一段时间内，建筑工程师们试图解决一个在一个月前人们从未想过的问题：建筑设计能使建筑具有抵御恐怖袭击的性能吗?(环球网校2017年职称英语考试综合类B级阅读材料汇总)

　　恐怖分子袭击世贸中心10天后，布法罗大学的建筑工程师和总部设在UB多学科中心的地震工程研究所作为国家科学基金出资的一个项目的一部分来到了世贸中心被毁现场。参观了地震研究所部分人员考察的地点，他们用了2天时间开始将如何设计抵抗袭击的建筑的想法系统化并且在那些已损坏但未倒塌的建筑中寻找如何设计的线索。

　　“我们考察被毁现场的目的是去看看世贸中心周围的建筑，那些被损坏但没倒塌的建筑。” M. Brunean博士说。“我们当前的愿望是能对那些建筑没倒塌的原因有更好的认识，而我们的长远目标是看能否将抗震技术与现有建筑技术结合以提高在恐怖袭击事件中建筑的性能。”他补充说。

　　研究者拍摄的照片以惊人的细节展示了恐怖袭击使世贸中心及其附近建筑造成的严重损坏，一幢离世贸中心一街区远的建筑虽被严重损坏但未倒塌。“这幢建筑离世贸中心数英里远，然而我们在被毁现场还看到过去曾是其一部分的一个圆柱。”A. Whittaker博士说，“这个圆柱充当了一枚发射物，跨过了道路，穿过了窗户和楼层。”(环球网校2017年职称英语考试综合类B级阅读材料汇总)

　　据工程师们说，在被毁现场的考察也发现了一些令人惊奇的事。例如，附近一幢建筑的楼板骨架系统非常坚固，这使那些被成吨的残片击穿的楼板得以完整无缺。“高度的，充分的伸展的骨架系统可以为具有抵爆炸性能提供简单而有效的方法他补充说。其他方法可以包括在承重部分失去作用时为重力的下落提供多种途径。“我们也需要更好地认识倒塌的过程。”A. Whittaker说，“我们需要找到是什么引起建筑倒塌和如何对其进行预测。”

　　A. Reinhorn博士特别提到“在过去，地震造成的震动使许多建筑物倒塌。它引起动力的反应、极强的压力和建筑结构部分的变形。抗震性能设计的发展也许可直接适用于爆炸工程和抗袭击性能的设计，我们在UB任务的一部分是吸收这些解决方法并找到未知的新方法。

　　Can Buildings Be Designed to Resist Terrorist Attack?

　　In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, structural engineers are trying hard to solve a question that a month ago would have been completely unthinkable: Can building be designed to withstand catastrophic blasts inflicted by terrorists?

　　Ten days after the terrorist attacks on the twin towers, structural engineers from the University at Buffalo and the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) headquartered at UB traveled to ground zero as part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation. Visiting the site as part of an MCEER reconnaissance visit, they spent two days beginning the task of formulating ideas about how to design such structures and to search for clues on how to do so in buildings that were damaged, but still are standing.

　　“Our objective in visiting ground zero was to go and look at the buildings surrounding the World Trade Center, those buildings that are still standing, but that sustained damage4,” said M. Bruneau, Ph. D. “Our immediate hope is that we can develop a better understanding as to why those buildings remain standing, while our long-term goal is to see whether earthquake engineering technologies can be married to existing technologies to achieve enhanced performance of buildings in the event of terrorist attacks,” he added.

　　Photographs taken by the investigators demonstrate in startling detail the monumental damage inflicted on the World Trade Center towers and buildings in the vicinity. One building a block away from the towers remains standing, but was badly damaged. “This building is many meters away from the World Trade Center and yet we see a column there that used to be part of that building,” explained A. Whittaker, Ph. D. “The column became a missile that shot across the road, through the window and through the floor.”(环球网校2017年职称英语考试综合类B级阅读材料汇总)

　　The visit to the area also revealed some surprises, according to the engineers. For example, the floor framing system in one of the adjacent buildings was quite rugged, allowing floors that were pierced by tons of falling debris to remain intact. “Highly redundant ductile framing systems may provide a simple, but robust strategy for blast resistance,” he added. Other strategies may include providing alternate paths for gravity loads in the event that a load-bearing column fails. “We also need a better understanding of the mechanism of collapse,” said A. Whittaker. “We need to find out what causes a building to collapse and how you can predict it. ”

　　越来越爱肢体接触的美国人

　　《纽约时报》最近报道，美国的青少年现在几乎见到每一个人都会拥抱。与过去见面时的握手问候到分别时的 击 掌 再见不同的是，如今的青少年选择拥抱为他们最新的问候方式。

　　女孩子和男孩子之间都互相相拥抱。并且，最新的潮流是，拥抱的形式有了多种多样的变化。

　　有古典式的、全身式的、手臂的拥抱或是随意的搭肩，群体拥抱和后身拥抱。握手逐渐转变成拥抱，而拥抱又将简化为背后的轻轻一拍。

　　表面看起来这股流行思潮很简单。然而，一些父母，老师和学校管理人员对青少年越来举多地以拥抱的方式打招呼这一趋势表示关切。包括担心有一些人纯粹因为来自同伴的压力而不得不接受这样一种方式，担心那些不接受拥抱这种打招呼方式的人有被边缘化的感觉，甚至担心见面拥抱会成为性骚扰的保护外衣。

　　为了回应社会的这些质疑，一些学校已经建立了一些新的规章来限制和减少拥抱。一位学校的领导提出了将拥抱限制在三秒钟之内的倡议。一些学校甚至在此方面实施了更为严格的规定，甚至严禁任何形式的学生之间的拥抱。

　　这场社会大讨论忽视掉了一些重要的方面。比如，美国从传统来讲在拥抱和亲戚间、恋人间、朋友间、互相拥吻方面就很保守，然而，在世界的一些其他国家，人们世世代代都这样互相问候。

　　在拉丁美洲或西欧，如西班牙、法国、意大利，男女之间甚至不很熟悉的人们互相亲吻面面颊都是很常见的。面颊亲吻有着地域的不同。有时仅仅是擦过脸颊的一吻。在其他地方，最正确的问候是在脸颊两侧各吻一下，甚至有时会再重复亲吻第一次吻过的面颊。

　　拉丁美洲的人们更倾向于问候时候互相握手。但是在一些其他国家，如土耳其，熟人之间互相亲吻面颊是非常正常的。而新西兰的毛利人一种名为”洪基”的问候方式是互相碰触鼻子。

　　所以，从全球角度来讲，美国青少年的互相拥抱毕竟不算是什么新鲜事。全世界的人们都拉近了问候的距离，美国人仅仅是才加入而已。(环球网校2017年职称英语考试综合类B级阅读材料汇总)

　　Americans Get Touchy

　　The New York Times recently reported that American teens are hugging practically everyone they see. Say goodbye to the greetings of the past, from the hands-off “What’s up!” to the handshake or high-five. For young people across the country, hugging is the new “Hello”

　　Girls are hugging girls. Boys are hugging boys. Girls and boys are hugging each other. And, like every major trend, there are lots of variations on the form. There’s the classic, full-body, arms-around-the-person bear hug, the casual one-armed side hug, the group hug and the hug from behind. There’s the handshake that turns into a hug and the hug that turns into a pat on the back.

　　As trends go, this one seems pretty innocent. But some parents, teachers and school administrators are worried nonetheless. Will young people who aren’t as comfortable with physical contact feel peer pressured into hugging? Will kids who don’t receive hugs feel left out? Could an extra-long hug slide into the more ominous territory of sexual harassment?

　　In response to some of these concerns, some schools have set up new rules to limit or eliminate hugging. One school head has created a three-second limitation4 for hugs at her school.

　　A few schools have taken even more drastic measures, placing a ban on all forms of touching between students.

　　A few important points are being left out of the discussion. While the US has traditionally been reserved about touching-saving hugs and kisses for relatives, romantic partners and very close friends - people in many other parts of the world have been greeting each other this way for ages.

　　In Latin America or Western Europe, in countries like Spain, France, and Italy, a kiss on the cheek is common among women, as well as among women and men who are not romantically involved. The cheek-kiss varies by region. Sometimes it is just an air kiss blown past the face. In other places, the proper way of greeting is to deliver a kiss upon both cheeks, or sometimes even a triplet of kisses performed by kissing one cheek, then the other, then back to the first. Latin American men are more likely to shake hands when greeting other men, but in some countries like Turkey, it’s not unusual for men who know each other well to exchange kisses on the cheek. Meanwhile, for the Maori people of New Zealand, a traditional greeting called the “hongi” involves pressing noses together.

　　女性在迷你裙上逗留的时间更长

　　根据Debenhams公司的调查，英国女性在40岁之前钟情于穿超短裙。

　　可就在20年前，只有很少数的女性在33岁以后还敢穿超短裙。Debenhams公司透露，这些表明现代女性对自己身材的信心与日俱增，并在一份声明中补充到现代女性也很喜欢穿衣打扮，如果这个趋势继续下去的话，那么在下个十年的时间里40岁到50岁的英国女性的衣橱无疑将被超短裙占据。

　　商店调查在过去6个月购买超短的，36厘米长的裙子的妇女的最新年龄分布时，出现了新的数字。他们的研究结果表明，在新千年开始之际，平均年龄已由36岁上升到40岁。 从1980年的数字显示，平均起来，当达到33岁时妇女就停止购买迷你裙了――这一数字从60年代中期一直没有改变。(环球网校2017年职称英语考试综合类B级阅读材料汇总)

　　商店注意到，专家相信高密度的健身文化的流行，给女性更加长时间的保持身体健康提供了理据。英国生活独立的妇女越来越多也是其中一个因素。

　　16岁到19岁之间裙子变得越来越短，从46厘米减少到36厘米，23岁时达到32厘米，达到最短。23岁到27岁迷你裙长度又逐渐增长，增加到37厘米，可能是由于女孩感情第一次稳定下来，没有再去吸引人的必要。商店报道说。

　　然而，由于女孩的第一次感情的破裂，新的关系正在形成，从27岁到34岁迷你裙又突然流行起来。40岁时迷你裙又开始变长，46厘米，稍稍在膝盖上面是标准的流行模式。从那时起，迷你裙的长度急剧增长，在42岁时又达到膝盖以下，这是自从离开校门后首次达到膝盖以下。

　　Women Staying in Mini-Skirts for Longer

　　British women are happy nowadays to wear mini-skirts up until the age of 40, according to research by Debenhams.

　　Just 20 years ago, few women would dare to wear a mini-skirt after the age of 33, the store said. “It shows that women now have an increasing confidence in their bodies and are happy to dress accordingly,” it added in a statement. “If this trend continues, there’s no doubt that, within the next decade, women in their mid 40s and early 50s will rightly regard a mini-skirt as an essential pan of their everyday wardrobe.”

　　The figures emerged when the store examined the latest age profile of women buying short, 36-cm skirts over the past six months. Their results show that it has jumped from an average age of 36-years-old at the start of millennium to 40 today. Figures from 1980 showed that on average women stopped buying minis when they reached 33 years old -- a figure unchanged from the mid-1960s.

　　The store noted that experts believe that the popularity of intensive gym culture, providing women with well toned bodies for longer may be the reason The increasing number of British women living on their own may also be a factor.

　　The Debenhams’ study showed that a modern woman’s love affair with a mini-skin begins at the age of 14 but that she doesn’t buy her first one until the age of 16 Instead, she flouts school roles by rolling up the waistband of the school uniform to give the impression of wearing a mini skirt.

　　Skirts get shorter between the ages of 16 and 19, reducing in size from 46 to 36 cm before reaching their shortest, a mere 32 cm, at the age of 23. Skirt .length increases slightly between the ages of 23 and 27, rising to 37 cm, possibly due to girls being in their first stable relationship, with no desire to attract attention, the store said.

　　However, it found short skirt suddenly zoom in popularity between the ages of 27 and 34, as those early relationships break down, and new relationships are formed. The move into longer skins begins irreversibly at 40 years old, when 46-cm skins, still slightly above the knee are the norm. From then on, skirt length increases dramatically, falling below the knee for the very first time since school days at the age of 42.

　　Family History

　　In an age when technology is developing faster than ever before, many people are being attracted(吸引) to the idea of looking back into the past. One way they can do this is by investigating(调查，研究) their own family history. They can try to find(找出) out more about where their families came from and what they did, This is now a fast-growing hobby, especially in countries with a fairly(相当) short history, like Australia and the United States.

　　It is one(一方面) thing to spend some time going(探究) through a book on family history and to take the decision(决心) to investigate your own family's past. It is quite(的确) another to carry out(完成) the research work successfully. It is easy to set about(开始做(某事)) it in a disorganized(扰乱,瓦解) way and cause(引起) yourself many problems which could have been avoided(避免) with a little forward planning.(环球网校2017年职称英语考试综合类B级阅读材料汇总)

　　If your own family stories tell you that you are connected(有关系) with a famous character, whether hero or criminal(罪犯), do not let this idea take over(接管) your research. Just treat(当作) it as an interesting possibility(可能的事). A simple system for(用) collecting and storing your information will be adequate(充足的，适当的) to start with; a more complex(错综复杂的) one may only get in your way(道路). The most important thing, though, is to get(被) started. Who knows what you might(可能) find ?

　　家族史

　　在科技空前发展的时代，当下很多人对回首往事沉迷不已。回首过去的一种方法是研究各自的家族历史。人们试图查明更多的历史，例如，他们的家族来自哪里，他们以什么为生。这已经成为一种快速增长的业余爱好，特别是有相当短历史的国家，如澳大利亚、美国。

　　花费时间去查阅一本有关家族史的书，并促使你去探究家族的过去是一方面，成功地实施这项研究工作却是另一方面。杂乱无序地开始很容易。但如果开始有一点点计划，就能避免引起那么多麻烦。

　　如果你家族的故事写着你与某个名人有着一定的关系，不论是英雄或者罪人，都不要让这个话题替代了你的研究。把它当成一个有趣的可能事件再好不过。用一个简单的系统来搜集和存储信息足以让你有个好的开头，越复杂的方式可能只会扰乱你的方寸。尽管开头是最重要的事情，但谁知道你会发现什么呢?

　　Helen and Martin

　　With a thoughtful sigh(长叹一声), Helen turned away from the window and walked back to her favourite armchair(扶手椅). Would(将要) her brother never arrive? For a brief moment, she wondered if she really cared that much.

　　Over the years Helen had given up (放弃)_ waiting for Martin to take an interest in her. Her feelings for him had gradually weakened(变淡)_ until now, as she sat waiting for him, she experienced no more than a sister's. curiosity(好奇心) to see what had become(发生…事) of her brother.

　　Almost without warning(预兆) , Martin had lost his job with a busy publishing company after spending the last eight years in New York as a key figure in the US office. Somehow the two of them hadn't bothered(烦扰) to keep in touch and, left alone, Helen had slowly found her confidence(对…有信心) in her own judgment growing. Ignoring(不顾) the wishes of her parents, she had left university halfway through(过程中) her course and now, to the astonishment(惊讶;令人惊讶的事物) of the whole family, she was gaining(获得) a fast-growing reputation(名声，名誉;声望) in the pages of respected art magazines and was actually earning enough to live on(靠) from her paintings.

　　Of course, she took(对) no pleasure in Martin's sudden misfortune(不幸;灾祸，灾难), but she couldn't help(忍不住) looking forward to her brother's arrival with quiet(暗暗地) satisfaction(满意，满足) at what she had achieved.

　　海伦和马丁

　　海伦若有所思地叹了口气，转身离开了窗户，向她最喜欢的扶手椅走去坐了下来。哥哥将永远不再回来了吗?这种想法在她脑海里迅速闪过后，她又想自己是否真的很在意他的到来。(环球网校2017年职称英语考试综合类B级阅读材料汇总)

　　这些年来，海伦已经放弃了等待马丁对她产生兴趣。她一直坐那等他，对他的感觉到现在已经渐渐地变淡了。她所有的不过是一个妹妹的好奇心，想知道她的哥哥到底发生了什么事。

　　几乎没有任何预兆的，马丁就失去了工作。他是一家出版社美国办事处的重要人物，那里非常忙碌，他在纽约最后的八年是为其工作的。在某种程度上，他俩不会因为彼此的联系或不联系而烦扰。渐渐地，海伦发现她对自己的判断越来越有信心了。她不顾父母的期望，大学学业未念完就辍了学。现在让全家人吃惊的是，她很快地在一个很受业内认可的艺术杂志上成了名，而且她的画作足以维持生活。

　　当然，她也对马丁所遭遇的突然不幸感到难过。但是她还是忍不住期望他哥哥的到来，并暗暗地对自己所取得的成就感到欣慰。