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The Ailing "Grande Dame" of France
This passage is about the world famous Eiffel Tower which is popularly
associated with France and the Paris skyline.
Henry Ford tried to buy her. Maurice Utrillo painted her portrait. Poet
Vladimir Mayakovsky dreamed of transporting her to Moscow. Hitler was
photographed with her. More tourists visit her than the Statue of Liberty.
Alas, that "grande dame" of the Paris skyline, the 1052 ft. (320 m) tall
Eiffel Tower, is ailing. Parisians fretted as the French press disclosed that
their cherished 88-year-old monument was in need of $10.5 million worth of
repairs. Most alarming is the condition of one of her antique hydraulic
elevators that take visitors from the second to the third observation platform.
The tower's chief engineer reported that the lift was suffering from "serious
fatigue". A cylinder might burst, he contended, causing the cage to make
"a rapid and uncontrollable descent" with its 80-passenger load.
The tower's infirmities came to light just as the Societe de la Tour Eiffel, a private and profitable management company. made a bid to negotiate a
loan for the repairs, that would be guaranteed by the city of Paris. The
resulting outcry in the press appalled the Societe. Scare headlines like
WILL THE EIFFEL TOWER DIE ? were termed "excessive and exaggerated". Still, tourism went down by about 10% while visitors scanned
the struts with nervous attention.
Actually, the structure has been notably accident-free, apart from about
380 suicides. But there have been fears about the tower from the start. It
was designed by Bridge Builder Gustave Eiffel in a competition for the Paris
Exposition of 1889, which celebrated the 100th
anniversary of the French Revolution. There were dire
predictions that the structure would attract lightning
and somehow kill all the fish in the Seine. Builder
Eiffel displayed his disdain for doomsayers by working
and entertaining guests in an apartment he had constructed at the top. He was right: heavy storms scarcely
sway the tower, and winds pass through the lacy ironwork, budging it no
more than four inches (10 cm).
Philosopher Roland Barthes believes a large part of the tower's fascination
is its "fully useless" quality: "It achieved absolute zero as a monument."
In a 1975 book, Author Joseph Harriss makes the same point: "Parisians
have always recognized the human need for the superfluous." The late
playwright Jean Giraudoux, who was horn around the time of the tower's
conception, came to its defence. It has reached an age, he observed, "when
one likes to have children -- and American girls -- crawling all over one". |
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1. |
The first paragraph illustrates |
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(A) |
that all men desire the Eiffel Tower. |
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(B) |
that the Eiffel Tower is a painter's and a poet's delight. |
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(C) |
the universal appeal of the Eiffel Tower. |
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(D) |
that tourists love to visit the Eiffel Tower. |
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2. |
Parisians were ______ when they learned that the Eiffel Tower was in a
poor condition. |
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(A) |
indifferent |
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(B) |
annoyed |
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(C) |
amused |
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(D) |
worried and distressed |
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3. |
The greatest cause for concern of the Eiffel Tower was |
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(A) |
a weak lift. |
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(B) |
the many ailments it had. |
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(C) |
the high cost of repairs. |
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(D) |
a burst cylinder. |
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4. |
One of the lifts was suffering from "serious fatigue". This was the result of |
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(A) |
mismanagement. |
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(B) |
poor maintenance. |
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(C) |
long use. |
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(D) |
overloading. |
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5. |
"Scare headlines" are headlines that |
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(A) |
are shocking. |
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(B) |
can cause alarm. |
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(C) |
are exaggerated. |
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(D) |
contain elements of all the above answers. |
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6. |
That tourism went down by about 10% shows
that |
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(A) |
tourists were losing interest in the Eiffel Tower. |
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(B) |
the scare headlines did frighten people. |
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(C) |
tourists came only to scan the struts. |
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(D) |
the press had achieved its objective. |
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7. |
"Actually" is used to introduce |
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(A) |
an account of the origin of the Eiffel Tower. |
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(B) |
a reasoned defence of the safety of the Eiffel Tower. |
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(C) |
an estimate of the number of suicides committed at the
Eiffel Tower. |
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(D) |
a fact about the Eiffel Tower. |
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8. |
In the beginning the Eiffel Tower |
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(A) |
attracted lightning. |
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(B) |
killed all the fish in the Seine. |
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(C) |
was looked upon with suspicion and distrust by some
people. |
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(D) |
was an instant success. |
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9. |
"It achieved absolute zero as a monument."
This means that the Eiffel Tower |
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(A) |
was a poor landmark. |
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(B) |
did not live up to expectations. |
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(C) |
failed as a tourist attraction. |
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(D) |
was not what a monument is supposed to be. |
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10. |
In making his observation, quoted in the
last paragraph, Jean Giraudoux was being |
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(A) |
humorous. |
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(B) |
critical. |
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(C) |
cynical. |
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(D) |
sarcastic. |
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