Priscilla Ouchida’s “energy-efficient” house turned out to be a horrible dream. When she and her engineer husband married a few years ago, they built a $100,000, three-bedroom home in California. Tightly sealed to prevent air leaks, the house was equipped with small double-paned(雙層玻璃的)windows and several other energy-saving features. Problems began as soon as the couple moved in, however. Priscilla’s eyes burned. Her throat was constantly dry. She suffered from headaches and could hardly sleep. It was as though she had suddenly developed a strange illness.

　　Experts finally traced the cause of her illness. The level of formaldehyde(甲醛)gas in her kitchen was twice the maximum allowed by federal standards for chemical workers. The source of the gas is her new kitchen cabinets and wall-to-wall carpeting.

　　The Ouchidas are victims of indoor air pollution, which is not given sufficient attention partly because of the nation’s drive to save energy. The problem itself isn’t new. “The indoor environment was dirty long before energy conservation came along,” says Moschandreas, a pollution scientist at Geomet Technologies in Maryland. “Energy conservation has tended to accentuate the situation in some cases.”

　　The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes rather than old ones. Back in the days when energy was cheap, home builders didn’t worry much about unsealed cracks. Because of such leaks, the air in an average home was replaced by fresh outdoor air about once an hour. As a result, the pollutants generated in most households seldom build up to dangerous levels.

　　1. It can be learned from the passage that the Ouchidas’ house _______.

　　A) is well worth the money spent on its construction

　　B) is almost faultless from the point of energy conservation

　　C) failed to meet energy conservation standards

　　D) was designed and constructed in a scientific way

　　2. What made the Ouchidas’ new house a horrible dream?

　　A) Lack of fresh air. B) Poor quality of building materials.

　　C) Gas leakage in the kitchen. D) The newly painted walls

　　3. The word “accentuate” (Line 4, Para.3) most probably means “_______”.

　　A) relieve B) accelerate C) worsen D) improve

　　4. Why were cracks in old houses not a big concern?

　　A) Because indoor cleanliness was not emphasized.

　　B) Because energy used to be inexpensive.

　　C) Because environmental protection was given top priority.

　　D) Because they were technically unavoidable.

　　5. This passage is most probably taken from an article entitled “_______”.

　　A) Energy Conservation B) Houses Building Crisis

　　C) Air Pollution Indoors D) Traps in Building Construction

　　參考答案及解析

　　答案：BACBC

　　解析：本篇文章是2001年的四級閱讀的文章，主要是講室內空氣污染的問題。第一段通過一對夫妻的新房子引出問題。第二段分析空氣污染的來源。第三段講能源節約和室內空氣污染的內部聯系，第四段從能源價格上深層次的分析了室內空氣污染的原因。

　　提示：本篇文章從詞匯的角度以及語法的角度以及篇章的分析上都是一篇很簡單的文章，選這道題的目的是希望大家能夠從現在開始養成一種總結段落大義的習慣，對自己以后閱讀理解能力以及速度的提高有很大的幫助。

　　文章翻譯

　　Priscilla Ouchida’s的節能房事實證明是一個夢魘。當她和她的工程師老公一年前結婚的時候，他們在加利福尼亞蓋了一個三居小房，為了防止透氣，他們給房子裝了雙層玻璃，以及其他的節能設施。然而，問題也就是從他們搬進新家的時候開始的。Priscilla的眼睛熏的睜不開，喉嚨發干。經常頭疼想睡覺。直到后來生了一種很奇怪的病。

　　專家查詢她的病因的時候，發現他廚房的甲醛水平已經超過了政府為化工行業的工人定的最大標準的2倍。。這些氣體的來源就是她的櫥柜和他滿地板的地毯。

　　Ouchida夫婦是室內空氣污染的受害者。由于國家提倡節約能源，所以室內空氣污染的問題并沒有收到重視。而問題并不是剛剛發現。“室內空氣污染的問題在提倡能源保護之前就已經出現了”。Moschandrea說，“能源解約某種層度上加重了這個情況”

　　新建的房子要比舊房子看起來情況更麻煩。在能源還是很便宜的時候，房屋的建造者并不是很擔心不密封的縫隙。而正是因為這些裂縫，在平均每個房間里面的空氣一個小時就可以被外面的新鮮空氣替換。因此，房間里產生的污染物很少到影響健康的程度。

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