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考研英语阅读理解有一部分是截取自报刊文章，因此考生在复习备考的过程中要注意提高报刊文章的阅读能力，把握时事阅读。下面新东方在线小编分享历年真题同源的30篇报刊文章，附有注释和解析，希望考生认真阅读，提高对此类文章的阅读能力和增加相关词汇量。
考研英语阅读真题同源报刊文章30篇（23）
Buildings with minds of their own
What if architects could build living systems rather than static
buildings-dynamic structures that modify their internal and external forms in
response to changes in their environment? This provocative idea is making waves
in the field of architecture. Houses, for example, might shrink in the winter to
reduce surface area and volume, thus cutting heating costs. They could cover
themselves to escape the heat of the summer sun or shake snow off the roof in
winter. Skyscrapers could alter their aerodynamic profiles, swaying slightly to
distribute increased loads during hurricanes. Office buildings could reconfigure
themselves to improve ventilation.
Such "responsive architecture" would depend on two sorts of technology:
control systems capable of deciding what to do, and structural components able
to change the building’s shape as required. Architects have been working to
improve the control systems in buildings for many years, but shape shifting
technology is at a much earlier stage of development.
One approach being pursued by researchers is to imitate nature. Many
natural constructions, including spiders’ webs and cell membranes, are
"tensegrity systems"-robust structures made up of many interconnected elements
which can be manipulated to change shape without losing their structural
integrity. "These structures can bend and twist, but no element in the structure
bends and twists," says Robert Skelton of the Structural Systems and Control
Laboratory at the University of California in San Diego. "It’s the architecture
of life."
While Dr Skelton is working on solving the engineering equations associated
with tensegrity systems, Tristan d’Estrée Sterk at the Office for Robotic
Architectural Media & the Bureau for Responsive Architecture, an
architectural practice based in Vancouver, Canada, has begun to construct
prototypes of shapechanging "building envelopes" based on tensegrity
structures. Lightweight skeletal frameworks, composed of rods and wires and
controlled by pneumatic "muscles", serve as the walls of a building; adjusting
their configuration changes the building’s shape. Mr Sterk is also developing
the "brain" needed to control such a building based on information from internal
and external sensors.
Cars are already capable of monitoring their own performance and acting
with a certain degree of autonomy, from cruisecontrol systems to airbag
sensors. Such responsive behaviour is considered normal for a car; architects
argue that the same sort of ideas should be incorporated into buildings,
too.
And just as the performance of a car can be simulated in advance to choose
the best design for a range of driving conditions, the same should be done for
buildings, argues Gian Carlo Magnoli, an architect and the codirector of the
Kinetic Design Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is
devising blueprints for responsive houses. "We need to evolve designs for the
best performing responsivebuilding models," he says.
So will we end up with cities of skyscrapers that wave in the breeze? It
sounds crazy. But, says Mr Sterk, many ideas that were once considered crazy are
now commonplace. "Electricity was a batty idea, but now it’s universal," he
says. The same was true of suspension bridges and elevators. Dynamic,
intelligent, adaptable buildings are "the logical next step", he claims.
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发表于 2017-8-6 15:51:15
