tailieunhanh - The complete guide to the toefl test part 112

But no matter how many test-taking tips you learn, you won't do well without a solid foundation of English-language study. The best way to increase your general knowledge of English is to use English as much as possible. | Reading Section 751 In 1833 while constructing houses in Fort Dearborn Illinois Augustine Taylor a builder from Hartford Connecticut invented a new method of building that utilized a framework of lightweight lumber. This was the birth of the balloonframe house. This type of house could be built in under a week by two or three careful workers who could saw in a straight line and hammer a nail. Almost overnight home construction changed from a specialized craft into an industry. Skeptics predicted that the first strong wind would send a balloon-frame house flying off its foundations and into the air and at first balloon-frame was a term of scorn. In fact these houses were more like woven baskets than like balloons. They were light flexible and yet very sturdy. Balloon-frame houses required huge amounts of machine-planed lumber. This demand was met by improved sawmill technology that could quickly cut boards to standard sizes. They also required enormous numbers of machine-made nails. These were provided by recently developed automated nail-making machines. After 1800 the cost of nails in the United States steadily dropped and by 1830 one could buy a five-pound bag of nails for pennies less than the tax alone on a bag of nails in Europe. The balloon-frame design first caught on in Chicago Illinois. In the 1830s that city established itself as a new gateway to the West. And with a mushrooming population came a soaring demand for housing. Because they could be built so quickly most new houses were balloon-frame houses. Another advantage of balloon-frame houses was their mobility. Today houses are seldom moved but Chicagoans in the 1830s 1840s and 1850s took advantage of the mobility of lightweight balloon-frame structures without utility connections. New arrivals could buy homes and then move them to more desirable locations. Chester Tupper Chicago s first house mover moved thousands of homes on rollers through Chicago s unpaved streets. The downside of balloon-frame .