首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
"’Building with Arches" Round Arch and Vault → Although the round arch was used by the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia
"’Building with Arches" Round Arch and Vault → Although the round arch was used by the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia
admin
2012-01-14
40
问题
"’Building with Arches"
Round Arch and Vault
→ Although the round arch was used by the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia several centuries before our common era, it was most fully developed by the Romans, who perfected the form in the 2nd century B.C.E. The arch has many virtues. In addition to being an attractive form, it enables the architect to open up fairly large spaces in a wall without risking the building’s structural soundness. These spaces admit light, reduce the weight of the walls, and decrease the amount of material needed. As utilized by the Romans, the arch is a perfect semicircle, although it may seem elongated if it rests on columns. It is constructed from wedge-shaped pieces of stone that meet at an angle always perpendicular to the curve of the arch. Because of tensions and compressions
inherent
in the form, the arch is stable only when it is complete, when the topmost stone, the keystone, has been set in place. For this reason an arch under construction must be supported from below, usually by a wooden framework.
→ Among the most elegant and enduring of Roman structures based on the arch is the Pont du Gard at Nimes, France, built about 15 C.E. when the empire was nearing its farthest expansion. At this time, industry, commerce, and agriculture were at their peak. Roman engineering was applied to an ambitious system of public-works projects, not just in Italy but in the outlying areas as well. The Pont du Gard functioned as an aqueduct, a structure meant to transport water, and its lower level served as a footbridge across the river. That it stands today virtually intact after nearly two thousand years (and is crossed by cyclists on the route of the famous Tour de France bicycle race) testifies to the Romans’ brilliant engineering skills. Visually, the Pont du Gard exemplifies the best qualities of arch construction. Solid and heavy, obviously durable, it is shot through with open spaces that make it seem light and its weight-bearing capabilities effortless.
→ When the arch is extended in depth—when it is, in reality, many arches placed flush one behind the other—the result is called a barrel vault. This vault construction makes it possible to create large interior spaces. The Romans made great use of the barrel vault, but for its finest expression we look many hundreds of years later, to the churches of the Middle Ages.
→ The church of Sainte-Foy, in the French city of Conques, is an example of the style prevalent throughout Western Europe from about 1050 to 1200—a style known as Romanesque. Romanesque builders adopted the old Roman forms of round arch and barrel vault so as to add height to their churches.
Until this period most churches had beamed wooden roofs, which not only posed a threat of fire but also limited the height to which architects could aspire.
With the stone barrel vault, they could achieve the soaring, majestic space we see in the
nave
of Sainte-Foy.
Pointed Arch and Vault
→ While the round arch and vault of the Romanesque era solved many problems and made many things possible, they nevertheless had certain drawbacks. For one thing, a round arch, to be stable, must be a semicircle; therefore, the height of the arch is limited by its width. Two other difficulties were weight and darkness. Barrel vaults are both literally and visually heavy, calling for huge masses of stone to maintain their structural stability. Also, the builders who constructed them dared not make light-admitting openings in or around them, for fear the arches and vaults would collapse, and so the interiors of Romanesque buildings tend to be dark. The Gothic period in Europe, which followed the Romanesque, solved these problems with the pointed arch. A
The pointed arch, while seemingly not very different from the round one, offers many advantages.B Because the sides arc up to a point, weight is channeled down to the ground at a steeper angle, and therefore the arch can be taller. The vault constructed from such an arch also can be much taller than a barrel vault.C Architects of the Gothic period found they did not need heavy masses of material throughout the curve of the vault, as long as the major points of intersection were reinforced. D
Glossary
nave: the long central area in a church with aisles on each side
Which of the sentences below best expresses the information in the highlighted statement in the passage? The other choices change the meaning or leave out important information.
选项
A、Architects wanted to build higher ceilings in churches, but they were limited because of the fire hazard caused by wooden beams in the roofs.
B、The majority of the churches prior to this time were constructed with wooden roofs that caused a considerable fire hazard because of their height.
C、The wood beams in the roofs of most churches before this period were a concern because of fire and the constraints they imposed on the height of the ceiling.
D、The limitations on the architecture of the churches were a result of the construction materials and the limited vision of the architects.
答案
C
解析
... a concern because of fire paraphrases "a threat of fire" and constraints they imposed on the height of the ceiling paraphrases "limited the height to which architects could aspire."
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/0BlYFFFM
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
DothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeviewsofthewriterinReadingPassage3?Inboxes31-36onyouranswersheet,write
DothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeviewsofthewriterinReadingPassage3?Inboxes31-36onyouranswersheet,write
Youshouldspendabout20minutesonQuestions14-26,whicharebasedonReadingPassage2below.Questions14-18ReadingPassag
Lookatthefollowingopinionsordeeds(Questions9-13)andthelistofpeoplebelow.Matcheachopinionordeedwiththecorre
Lookatthefollowingpeople(Questions20-23)andthelistofideasbelow.Matcheachpersonwiththecorrectidea,A-E.Write
AccidentalScientistsAAparadoxliesclosetotheheartofscientificdiscovery.Ifyouknowjustwhatyouarelookingfor,fi
Howdidthestudentgettheuniversityprospectus?scholarships
Howdidthestudentgettheuniversityprospectus?WhatA-levelsisthestudenttaking?
Thelecturersaysthatanessayislike______toaspecificquestion.Assesstheviewsofsociologists.
CompletethenotesinNOMORETHANTHREEWORDS.ThesubjectstakenInthefirstsemesterinthiscoursearepsychology,sociolog
随机试题
从理论上讲,定量研究的数据资料应包括所要研究的问题的_________及其各个基本方面。
28岁女会计,手颤、心悸、多汗1年,近5天发热,咳嗽,今日突然恶心、呕吐、大汗淋漓来诊,应想到的诊断是
下列不属于心脏传导系统的是
醛固酮的保Na+排K+作用部位是
出现尿频症状的疾病不包括
《中华人民共和国环境影响评价法》规定,建设项目可能造成轻度环境影响的,应当编制()。
军人贾某在参加武器装备试验中死亡被批准为烈士,发放其遗属20万元一次性死亡抚恤金,该军人生前没有遗嘱。抚恤金在其近亲属中的分配方法是( )。
已知在25℃下,101kPa下,1gC8H18(辛烷)燃烧生成二氧化碳和液态水时放出48.40kJ热量.表示上述的热化学方程式正确的是()。
法律是传播道德、保障道德实施的有效手段,主要表现在()
AD0对象模型层次中可以打开RecordSet对象的是()。
最新回复
(
0
)