Question

More and more people take part in marathons these days – over 30,000 people will run the London Marathon this weekend, for instance. But it’s not just the 26 miles and 385 yards that could be a daunting prospect. “I have to admit to being completely frustrated by the blocking and for 18-19 miles was just keeping away from people and being held up,” one participant grumbled after the 2012 London Marathon. “I had to overtake a lot of people and ended up with bruised（淤腫的）forearms from all the elbows,” said another.
How do such crowding problems arise, and could they be reduced? Some researchers believe that we can find the answers through a more familiar system in which jams appear – road traffic flow. Martin Treiber, of the Technical University of Dresden in Germany, has previously developed models for traffic flow. One of the first attempts to model traffic flow was made in the 1950s by James Lighthill and his collaborator Gerard Whitham of Manchester University. They considered the traffic as a kind of liquid flowing down a pipe, and looked at how the flow changes as the fluid gets denser(濃稠). At first the flow rate increases as the density increases, since you simply get more stuff through in the same period of time. But if the density becomes too high, there’s a risk of jams, and the flow rate drops sharply.
Treiber’s model of a marathon uses this same principle that the flow rate first increases and then decreases as the density of runners increases, thanks to an sudden switch from free to crowded flow. He assumes that there is a range of different preferred speeds for different runners, which each maintains throughout the race. With just these factors, Treiber can calculate the flow rate of runners, knowing the “carrying capacity”(承載能力)at each point on the route.
This allows Treiber to figure out how blocking might depend on the race conditions – for example, for different starting procedures. Some marathons start by letting all the runners set off at once (which means those at the back have to wait until those in front have moved forward). Others assign runners to various groups according to ability, and let them start in a series of waves.
Treiber has applied the model to the annual Rennsteig half-marathon in central Germany, which attracts around 6,000 participants. The traditional route had to be changed in 2013, because the police were no longer willing to close a road to ensure that runners could cross safely. It could pass either over a 60m wooden bridge or through a tunnel. Treiber used his model to predict the likely blocking caused in the various options. The model predicted that a mass start would risk an overload of runners if the bridge were to be used. Only by moving the starting point further back from the bridge could the danger be avoided – and even then, if some of the numbers assumed in the model were only slightly inaccurate, there was still a risk of jams at the bridge. On the other hand, no dangerous blocking seemed likely for the tunnel route. The run organizers consulted Treiber’s team, and eventually chose this option.
【小題1】What is the worst thing while running a marathon?

A．The long distance.	B．Too many participants.
C．The dangerous blocking.	D．Serious injuries in forearms.

【小題2】Which of the following statements is true?

A．James Lighthill is the first expert trying to model traffic flow.

B．The denser the flow is, the faster the flow rate becomes.

C．The flow rate increases in the beginning because fewer people passed together.

D．The flow rate increases first and then decreases later when the flow is too denser.

【小題3】What is NOT true about the Rennsteig?

A．It has much less participants than the London Marathon in 2014.

B．It has a shorter distance than the London Marathon.

C．The route was changed because the traditional one is not safe any longer.

D．The participants running this marathon will pass a tunnel because this choice is safer.

【小題4】What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Make a comparison between marathon and road traffic.

B．Running a marathon is somewhat dangerous if it is not well organized.

C．Introduce a new technology to solve the blocking problem in marathon.

D．Some advice for people who are to run a marathon.

Answer 1

【小題1】C
【小題2】D
【小題3】C
【小題4】C

解析試題分析: 如今雖然越來(lái)越多的人喜歡參加馬拉松長(zhǎng)跑，但是讓許多人望而卻步的不是26.38英里的路程，而是長(zhǎng)達(dá)18、9英里的擁堵問題。對(duì)此德國(guó)大學(xué)的Martin Treibe教授進(jìn)行了實(shí)驗(yàn)，提出了一種新式的方法來(lái)避免這一問題。
【小題1】C細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第一段But it’s not just the 26 miles and 385 yards …… “I have to admit to being completely frustrated by the blocking可知當(dāng)人們跑馬拉松長(zhǎng)跑的時(shí)候最惱人的是擁堵問題，這種擁堵會(huì)造成人與人之間身體的碰撞，給人帶來(lái)身體的傷害，故答案選C。
【小題2】D細(xì)節(jié)理解題。從文章第二段內(nèi)容At first the flow rate increases as the density increases, ……But if the density becomes too high, there’s a risk of jams, and the flow rate drops sharply.可知在實(shí)驗(yàn)中當(dāng)這種液體變得太稠的時(shí)候開始會(huì)流動(dòng)的快，然后會(huì)緩慢下來(lái)，故答案選D。
【小題3】C細(xì)節(jié)理解題。由文章末段內(nèi)容The traditional route had to be changed in 2013, because the police were no longer willing to close a road to ensure that runners could cross safely.可知路線的改變是由于警察不愿意去封閉道路來(lái)確保參賽者的安全，所以C選項(xiàng)內(nèi)容錯(cuò)誤。
【小題4】C主旨大意題。文章在開頭提出在跑馬拉松長(zhǎng)跑時(shí)出現(xiàn)的擁堵問題，然后通過(guò)實(shí)驗(yàn)來(lái)分析這種現(xiàn)象出現(xiàn)的原因，最后提出解決的方法，由此判斷本文中心內(nèi)容是介紹一種解決馬拉松長(zhǎng)跑問題的新技術(shù)，故答案選C。
考點(diǎn)：考查社會(huì)生活類短文閱讀。