COMPREHENSION

CO

                 COMPREHENSION1  Read the text quickly and check () the sentences True (T) or False (F).

1 Shanghai became a very big city quite slowly.                                  T            F

2 The buildings in Shanghai are too heavy.                                           T            F

3 Shanghai now has the tallest building in the world.                          T            F

4 There are problem in Shanghai because the land isn’t hard.          T            F

5 All the construction is good for Shanghai’s subway.                      T            F

6 Some parts of Shanghai are sinking faster than other parts.         T            F

7 The problems started in 1921.                                                             T            F

8 Shanghai is the only city in the world that is sinking.                      T            F

COMPREHENSION 2 Read the text again an d answer the questions.

1 In line 2, reduce the construction means…

    a build more.

    b build less.

    c stop building.

2 In line 2, high-rise buildings are…

    a very tall.

    b very small.

    c very old.

3 In the 4, more refers to…

    a officials.

    b years.

    c buildings.

4 In the 5,in history means…

    a in the world now.

    b During all time.

    c in the rest of china.

5 in line 10, the rock bed is…

     a rock under the ground.

b an area of the city.

c a place  where people sleep.   

6 In line 11, below the surface means…

    a in the sky.

    b to the side of.

    c under the ground.

7 In line 15, an example of a busy financial center is…

    a Buckingham palace.

    b Wall street.

    c Mount Fuji.

8 In line22 slow down means…

    a stop

    b happen faster.

    c not happen so fast.

9 In line 23, however is like…

    a and.

    b because.

   c but.

COMPREHENSION 3 these key word from the text  are  used in a new context. Underline the correct word or phrase in each sentence.

1 In a soccer game, the referee and his assistants are official / tunnels

2 You really should reduce / record the number of cigarettes you smoke.

3 I don’t want a cake. I really need to watch my construction / weight.

4 Knives and forks are usually  made of concrete / steel.

5 I  couldn’t see Alice. She was swimming below the surface /subway of the water.

6 I  can’t believe  your dog is so big. He’s absolutely soft / huge.

7 My brother isn’t very good with  money. In fact, he is having a lot of financial / construction problems.

8 My uncle is rich . He wants to buy some land / swamp in Spain and build a hotel.

9 When  I travel, I forget / record everything  I do in my diary.

10 You  need to go up / slow down. You’re driving much too fast.

SHANGHAI IS SINKING

Shanghai is sinking

Officials in Shanghai, the second biggest city in China, say they must reduce the construction of new high-rise building .Over the last ten years ,about 3,000 new buildings have gone up ,and there are plans for 2,000 more .Shanghai is growing faster than any other city in history .It looks good ,but now the weight of the concrete and steel is making the city sink .Many parts are sinking more than a centimeter every year.

The tallest building in china is in Shanghai, and a building that will be the tallest in the world is going up .It seems that planners are forgetting that the area was once a swamp .The rock bed is about 300 meters below the surface and the land is very soft .Officials are worried about what will happen to buildings that are already up and the city’s subway if construction continues .Some of the subway tunnels are already changing shape.

The problem is the worst in the busy financial center ,where there are huge skyscrapers on what was farmland not long ago .A report says that land there sank nearly four centimeters last year .Land around the tallest building sank nearly six centimeters.  

Officials started to record changes in 1921,and they believe the city has sunk nearly two meters since then .There are similar problem in Bangkok and Mexico City ,and the people of Shanghai need to understand that construction must slow down  .The officials hope to show them how bad the problem is .However ,with so many building 

already up it may be too late.