The invention of steel frames in the late 1800s meant that the walls did not carry the weight of a structure. This development meant that suddenly much taller buildings were possible, and they could be built quickly. Skyscrapers had been born, and they were about to change the face of our cities.
Since 1901 the world’s tallest building had always been a skyscraper and until 1974 this was always in New York. Only after the end of the century did the tallest building appear outside North America, with the opening of the first building to be more than half a kilometer tall, Taipei 101.
Tall building are seen as a symbol of success and status by many but they are not always popular with local residents. The construction of the Shard, the tallest building in London and in the entire European Union, has been highly controversial. It is only a few hundred meters across the River Thames from the Tower of London--one of the oldest and most famous landmarks in London.Many feel that such modern constructions should not be built near to historic sites.
London residents should hope that the opening of the Shard doesn’t lead to a major downtown in their economy. The Empire State Building was finished in 1931, very soon after Wall Street crashed. The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur were built in 1988, just after the Asian financial crisis. The Burj Khalifa in Dubai was opened in early 2010, and shortly afterwards the emirate’s（酋长国的）investment company collapsed.
The Burj Khalifa might be the tallest structure in the world currently but its status is under threat from numerous planned buildings around the world. One tower which will probably never be built is the 4km high X-Seed 4000 in Tokyo. It was designed in 1995 to attract publicity rather than as a serious proposal, but who knows when such fanciful ideas could become a reality? The Burj Khalifa is more that double the height of the Empire State Building, and surely no one in 1931 would have imagined that.
【小题1】What make the building of skyscrapers possible?| A．The using of the steel frames. |
| B．The improvement of the wall material. |
| C．The changing of the city face. |
| D．'The increase of the building height. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Uncooperative. |
| C．Acceptable. | D．Critical. |
| A．By analyzing possible reasons. | B．By stating general characters. |
| C．By providing typical examples. | D．By listing practical proposals. |
| A．Skyscrapers: symbol of success | B．Skyscrapers: ideal buildings |
| C．The sky's fanciful ideas and reality | D．The sky's the limit |
