英语四级备考：快速阅读全真题(2)_大学英语阅读

英语四级备考：快速阅读全真题(2)

　　A government study recommended a national highway system of 33,920 miles,and congress soon passed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944,which called for strict,centrally controlled design criteria.

　　The interstate highway system was finally launched in 1956 and has been hailed as one of the greatest public works projects of the century.To build its 44,000-mile web of highways,bridge,and tunnels,hundreds of unique engineering designs and solutions had to be worked out.Consider the many geographic features of the country:mountains,steep grades,wetlands,rivers,deserts and plains.Variables included the slope of the land,the ability of the pavement to support the load,the intensity of road use,and the nature of the underlying soil.Urban areas were another problem.Innovative designs of roadways,tunnels,bridges,overpasses,and interchanges that could run through or bypass urban areas soon began to weave their way across the country,forever altering the face of America.

　　Today,the interstate system links every major city in the U.S.,and the U.S.with Canada and Mexico.Built with safety in mind,the highways have wide lanes and shoulders,dividing medians,or barriers,long entry and exit lanes,curves engineered for safe turns,and limited access.The death rate on highways is half that of all other U.S.roads .

　　By opening the North American continent,highways have enabled consumer goods and services to reach people in remote and rural areas of the country,spurred the growth of suburbs,and provided people with greater options in term of jobs,access to cultural programs,health care,and other benefits.Above all,the interstate system provides individuals with what they cherish most:personal freedom of mobility.