Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. story (n.) [stawr-ee, stohr-ee] – a floor or level of a building
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. story (n.) [stawr-ee, stohr-ee] – a floor or level of a building
Example: Mori Tower is a 54-story building in Roppongi Hills.
2. base (n.) [beys] – the bottom or lowest part of an object
Example: The base of a pyramid is larger than its
tip.
3. full-scale (adj.) [fool-skeyl] – having the same size as the original or real thing
Example: A full-scale model of the Eiffel Tower can be seen in Las Vegas.
4. mock (adj.) [mok] – something that looks like or works like the real thing
Example: Engineers performed mock crash tests on new
cars to find out the cars’ strength.
5. superficial (adj.) [soo-per-fish-uhl] – very minor, affecting only the surface
Example: The bike that
scratched the car caused only superficial
damage to the car’s paint.
Article
Read the text below.
In California,
engineers have tested a 5-story hospital
on top of a giant “shake table” in order to see how well buildings with
rubber bearings can survive against earthquakes.
Rubber bearings are
placed in the base of a building and
act like roller skates, separating the building from the shaking ground
during an earthquake. Because of this
action, rubber bearings are also called “base isolators”. In Japan, where
earthquakes happen frequently, buildings are commonly fitted with these
rubber bearings.
The test is the
first in the US to place a full-scale building
on a shake table, which is a large structure that can imitate the movements
of earthquakes. The inside of the building is also just like a real hospital,
with medical machinery, an elevator, stairs, computers, and other electrical
devices.
During the test, the
mock hospital was subject to motions
similar to Los Angeles’ 6.7-magnitude earthquake in 1994 and Chile’s 8.8-magnitude
earthquake in 2010.
Results of the
first test showed that the contents of the building remained complete and functional. Damages were also
mostly superficial.
Engineering
professor Tara Hutchinson said the machines inside the building kept working
even after the test. According to her, if the machines were actual life-support
systems connected to patients, many lives would have been saved thanks to the
bearings.
The test will be
repeated over the next weeks, but without base isolators. The results will
then be directly compared to determine if there is a difference in the amount
and kind of damage between buildings with and without rubber bearings.
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Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.
Discussion A
·
Would you say that your country is
well-prepared for earthquakes? Why or why not?
·
How can the government and the people improve
on their ability to deal with disasters?
Discussion B
·
What are the benefits of conducting mock tests
like one mentioned in the article?
·
Can you think of other mock tests that would personally
benefit you or other people?