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Câu hỏi: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer for each of the questions from 30 to 34.
Sod houses are an almost vanished part of America's past. Yet in Nebraska and some other states a century ago they were very common. Sod houses were built, as the name suggests, from sod - the top, grassy layer of the ground. The ground of the Nebraskalains was particularly suitable for this, because it was held together by the thick wiry roots of the grass that grows there.
To make a house, the settlers used a sod-cutter, drawn by horses, that cut through the top layer of the grassland. This had the additional benefit that the land cleared of grass in this way was suitable for planting corn. The builders would then cut the top layer they had ploughed into sections of about 50kg each, clearing about two acres of grass in the process. These sections were stacked on top of each other to make a thick-walled house that was cool in summer and warm in winter. Because many were built into the side of hills for extra stability, they were even useful shelters
from tornadoes.
Sod houses spread across Nebraska, Kansas and North and South Dakota. They were common there, because all these areas had the same problem - there were no trees on the great plains, and so no wood to build with. Wood which was needed for the roofs was by far the most expensive part of each house, as it had to be painfully transported by wagon. The problem of building materials was solved by the arrival of the railways which could transport wood and other materials quickly and cheaply. Sod houses were abandoned for more modern buildings, and began to disappear. Now less than 100 remain, but they are carefully preserved as relics of pioneer life on the prairie.
The houses were ____________
A. rather fragile.
B. the wrong temperature.
C. only temporary.
D. very strong.
Sod houses are an almost vanished part of America's past. Yet in Nebraska and some other states a century ago they were very common. Sod houses were built, as the name suggests, from sod - the top, grassy layer of the ground. The ground of the Nebraskalains was particularly suitable for this, because it was held together by the thick wiry roots of the grass that grows there.
To make a house, the settlers used a sod-cutter, drawn by horses, that cut through the top layer of the grassland. This had the additional benefit that the land cleared of grass in this way was suitable for planting corn. The builders would then cut the top layer they had ploughed into sections of about 50kg each, clearing about two acres of grass in the process. These sections were stacked on top of each other to make a thick-walled house that was cool in summer and warm in winter. Because many were built into the side of hills for extra stability, they were even useful shelters
from tornadoes.
Sod houses spread across Nebraska, Kansas and North and South Dakota. They were common there, because all these areas had the same problem - there were no trees on the great plains, and so no wood to build with. Wood which was needed for the roofs was by far the most expensive part of each house, as it had to be painfully transported by wagon. The problem of building materials was solved by the arrival of the railways which could transport wood and other materials quickly and cheaply. Sod houses were abandoned for more modern buildings, and began to disappear. Now less than 100 remain, but they are carefully preserved as relics of pioneer life on the prairie.
The houses were ____________
A. rather fragile.
B. the wrong temperature.
C. only temporary.
D. very strong.
Câu trả lời này dựa vào thông tin "...they were even useful shelters from tornadoes..
Đáp án D.