2 . In the story of the three little pigs, the one who built his house of straw did not do well; the big bad wolf blew it down. But builder Michael Furbish, who made his own home from bales (捆) of straw, and an elementary school from the same material, says that in reality straw houses are not only strong, but also good for the environment. Straw — the stalks (杆, 茎) of plants like wheat, oats, and barley — is considered a waste material and is commonly used on farms as animal bedding. But more and more people are discovering that straw baled into rectangular blocks is an excellent and inexpensive building material.
There are two ways to make a straw-bale structure. You can build load-bearing walls with them, which means the walls support the roof. Or you can build a post-and-beam wooden frame that supports the roof and fill in the walls with the bales. Either way, the walls are there to stay. And they provide great insulation (绝缘), helping keep straw houses in cold climates warm in winter and those built in hot places like the desert cool in summer. Straw is considered a “green” building material because it is a renewable resource: a whole new crop can be grown and harvested every year, easily “renewing” the supply. Also, planting and harvesting straw uses relatively little energy. “Most other building materials require a lot of energy to be produced,” explains Furbish. “With straw-bale construction, you are getting a building product without using much energy at all.”
Furbish used about 900 straw bales in his family’s two-story, three-bedroom house. His company also provided straw-bale walls for the Friends Community School of College Park in Maryland. That project used about 4,000 bales. When asked if there are any problems with living in a straw house, like mice nibbling (咬, 啃) on the walls, Furbish points out that the straw is completely covered with plaster and stucco (灰泥). Besides, he has a couple of cats on mouse watch, just in case. “It would be hard to find a wall system that will wear better than straw,” he says. The big bad wolf is just out of luck.
1. The author wrote the passage in order to ________.
A.prove that the tale of the three pigs and the wolf is wrong |
B.teach readers how to build straw houses |
C.introduce an environmentally-friendly building material |
D.advertise Furbish’s special houses |
2. What do we learn about straw houses from the passage?
A.It costs little to make such special houses. |
B.The outsides of the houses are green. |
C.They are mostly built in the desert. |
D.Plaster and stucco help make the houses strong. |
3. The writer mentions the wolf at the beginning and the end of this passage to suggest ________.
A.straw houses are in fact nice and strong |
B.the big bad wolf can’t blow straw houses down |
C.the big bad wolf is very unlucky |
D.people in straw houses needn’t worry about wolves |
4. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A.Straw is a waste of material as animal bedding. |
B.Furbish built his own home with only bales of straw. |
C.Building straw houses requires no energy at all. |
D.The roof of a straw house can be supported by a wooden frame. |
5. We can infer from the passage that ________.
A.living in a straw house, one has to keep several cats |
B.the walls of a straw house help keep heat inside in cold climates |
C.it is best to build a straw house at harvest time |
D.we need 900 straw bales to build one straw house |