The underwater bicycle parking garage

廣西 張 菊

主題語境：科技 篇幅：352詞 建議用時：6分鐘

1At Amsterdam's Central Station,a sizable underground bicycle parking garage recently opened.The building features 6,300 spaces for individual bicycles and 700 additional spaces for shared bikes.

2Statistics constantly show that 35% of Amsterdam people and 50% of Utrecht inhabitants use bicycles daily.Before constructing the garage floor and setting the massive columns that had been carried in by ship to support the roof that would eventually be flooded,workers had to first drain the water from the 19th-century station.

3Around half of the 200,000 daily visitors to Amsterdam's Central Station arrive by bicycle.The other half arrive by train,ferry,tram,bus,and subway.They used to park in many of the disorganized above-ground bike racks (架子) that were located around the station and were taken out now.Locals viewed these as annoying racks that frequently had no open spaces due to a high number of abandoned bicycles,despite the fact that the largest number of these is so enormous that they have become a tourist attraction.As a result,regular commuters ran the risk of having their bikes impounded by locking them to nearby trees,street lamps,and signposts or by placing them on any free slab (板子)of concrete,which raised the likelihood that they would be stolen.

4The brand-new underwater parking structure is spotless,at least for the time being.Several dozen OV-Fiets shared bikes and possibly a few hundred personal bicycles are available for rental inside the facility,which is staffed around the clock.The facility also has a daily cleaning crew hard at work and a few friendly staff members prepared to explain how everything operates.

5The first 24 hours of parking at the garage are free;after that,it costs$1.46 each day.That makes it handy for folks who commute every day and serves as a powerful way for people to swiftly remove their bicycles.

6The above-ground entrance of the underwater garage can be seen clearly through a sizable blue sign and a bicycle logo,making it obvious from a considerable distance.

Reading Check

Detail 1.What's the first step to build the bicycle parking garage?

A.Draining out the water.

B.Constructing the floor.

C.Setting massive columns.

D.Supporting the station's roof.

Gist 2.What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A.Reasons to build the bicycle parking garage.

B.People's means of transportation in Amsterdam.

C.Present condition of tourism in Amsterdam.

D.Effects brought by Amsterdam's random parking.

Detail 3.What can we know about the new parking garage?

A.It is operated automatically.

B.It is environmentally friendly.

C.It is free of charge for the locals.

D.It solves the problem of traffic jams.

Inference 4.What's the purpose of the text?

A.To show a fact.

B.To advertise.

C.To offer tips.

D.To comment.

Language Study

Ⅰ.Discover the useful structure in the text

Locals viewed these as annoying racks that frequently had no open spaces due to a high number of abandoned bicycles,despite the fact that the largest number of these is so enormous that they have become a tourist attraction.由于大量廢棄的自行車，經常沒有空地，當地人認為這些架子令人討厭。盡管事實上，自行車架的數量是如此之大，以至于它們已經成為一個旅游景點。

【點石成金】本句中，that frequently have no open spaces 為that 引導的定語從句；due to a high number of abandoned bicycles 為介詞短語作原因狀語；that the largest number of these is so enormous that they have become a tourist attraction 為that 引導的同位語從句，該部分包含了一個由so...that...引導的結果狀語從句。

Ⅱ.Complete the sentences with the proper words from the box.

1.It's a great film and it__________a Spanish actor who is going to be a world star within a year.

2.Snow forced many drivers to__________their vehicles.

3.Mr Leach is on holiday and is not__________for comment.

4.Many of these books are far__________from the reality of the children's lives.

5.The project wasted a(n)__________amount of time and money.