Keep a watchful eye on the bridges Reading Answers

For your understanding and practice, Keep a watchful eye on the bridges reading answers practice test, and answers with explanations are given here in this article. The reading passage is given along with eight paragraphs and 13 questions. The questions are divided into three categories: multiple choice questions, diagram labelling, and locating information. 

Table of contents:

• Solution for Keep a watchful eye on the bridges
• Keep a watchful eye on the bridges IELTS Reading Practice Test
• Passage
• Questions
• Answers with Explanations

Solution for Keep a watchful eye on the bridges

We have provided the Keep a watchful eye on the bridges reading answers in the table given below for your knowledge.

Answer Table

1. D	5. MICROWAVE DISH	9. C	13. E
2. C	6. ACCELEROMETER	10. H
3. C	7. STEEL GIRDERS	11. G
4. B	8. FLANGE	12. B

Keep a watchful eye on the bridges IELTS Reading Practice Test - Exam Review

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Keep a watchful eye on the bridges Reading Answers are provided here, which will help you to develop your reading comprehension and logical thinking skills. To solve the questions, read each paragraph attentively, and remember the keywords and important details given in the passage. With useful tips and practice, you can easily crack your IELTS reading module.

Passage

We have provided a Keep a watchful eye on the bridges Reading reading passage. Read carefully and answer the questions in 20 minutes.

Keep a watchful eye on the bridges

1. Most road and rail bridges are only inspected visually, if at all. Every few months, engineers have to clamber over the structure in an attempt to find problems before the bridge shows obvious signs of damage. Technologies developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, and Texas A&M University may replace these surveys with microwave sensors that constantly monitor the condition of bridges.
   
   
2. “The device uses microwaves to measure the distance between the sensor and the bridge, much like radar does,” says Albert Migliori, a Los Alamos physicist “Any load on the bridge – such as traffic-induced displacements, which change that distance as the bridge moves up and down.” By monitoring these movements over several minutes, the researchers can find out how the bridge resonates. Changes in its behavior can give an early warning of damage.
   
   
3. The Interstate 40 bridge over the Rio Grande River in Albuquerque provided the researchers with a rare opportunity to test their ideas. Chuck Farrar, an engineer at Los Alamos, explains: “The New Mexico authorities decided to raze this bridge and replace it. We were able to mount instruments on it, test it under various load conditions, and even inflict damage just before it was demolished.” In the 1960s and 1970s, 2500 similar bridges were built in the US. They have two steel girders supporting the load in each section. Highway experts know that this design is “fracture critical” because a failure in either girder would cause the bridge to fail.
   
   
4. After setting up the microwave dish on the ground below the bridge, the Los Alamos team installed conventional accelerometers at several points along the span to measure its motion. They then tested the bridge while traffic roared across it and while subjecting it to pounding from a “shaker”, which delivered precise punches to a specific point on the road.
   
   
5. “We then created damage that we hoped would simulate fatigue cracks that can occur in steel girders,” says Farrar. They first cut a slot about 60 centimeters long in the middle of one girder. They then extended the cut until it reached the bottom of the girder and finally, they cut across the flange – the bottom of the girder’s “I” shape.
   
   
6. The initial, crude analysis of the bridge’s behavior, based on the frequency at which the bridge resonates, did not indicate that anything was wrong until the flange was damaged. But later the data were reanalyzed with algorithms that took into account changes in the mode shapes of the structure – shapes that the structure takes on when excited at a particular frequency. These more sophisticated algorithms, which were developed by Norris Stubbs at Texas A&M University, successfully identified and located the damage caused by the initial cut.
   
   
7. “When any structure vibrates, the energy is distributed throughout with some points not moving, while others vibrate strongly at various frequencies,” says Stubbs. “My algorithms use pattern recognition to detect changes in the distribution of this energy.” NASA already uses Stubbs’ method to check the behavior of the body flap that slows space shuttles down after they land.
   
   
8. A commercial system based on the Los Alamos hardware is now available, complete with the Stubbs algorithms, from the Quatro Corporation in Albuquerque for about $100,000. Tim Darling, another Los Alamos physicist working on the microwave interferometer with Migliori, says that as the electronics become cheaper, a microwave inspection system will eventually be applied to most large bridges in the US. “In a decade I would like to see a battery or solar-powered package mounted under each bridge, scanning it every day to detect changes,” he says.

Questions

Questions 1-4

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.
Write your answers in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

1. How did the traditional way to prevent damage to the bridges before the invention of the new monitoring system

1. Bridges have to be tested in every movement on two points.
2. Bridges have to be closely monitored by microwave devices.
3. Bridges have already been monitored by sensors.
4. Bridges have to be frequently inspected by professional workers with naked eyes.

2. How do the new microwave monitors find out the problems of bridges?

1. by changeling the distance between the positions of the devices
2. by controlling the traffic flow on the bridges
3. by monitoring the distance caused by traffic between two points
4. by displacement of several critical parts in the bridges

3. Why did the expert believe there is a problem with the design called “fracture critical”

1. Engineers failed to apply the newly developed construction materials.
2. There was not enough finance to repair the bridges.
3. The supporting parts of the bridges may crack and cause the bridge to fail.
4. There were bigger traffic load conditions than the designers had anticipated.

4. The defect was not recognized by a basic method in the beginning

1. until the mid of the faces of bridges fractured.
2. until the damage appears along and down to the flanges.
3. until the points on the road have been punched.
4. until the frequency of resonates appears disordered.

Questions 5-8

Filling the blanks in the diagram labels.
Write the correct answer in boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet.

5. _____________________

6. _____________________

7. _____________________

8. _____________________

Questions 9-13

The reading Passage has eight paragraphs, A–H.
Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A–H, in boxes 9–13 on your answer sheet.

9. how is the pressure that they have many a great chance to test bridges - ____

10.  a ten-year positive change for microwave device - ____

11. the chance they get an honorable contract - ____

12. explanation of the mechanism for the new microwave monitoring to work - ____

13. how is the damage deliberately created by the researchers - ____

Answers for Keep a watchful eye on the bridges with Explanations

Keep a watchful eye on the bridges Reading Answers with explanation are given below for your reference and understanding.

(Note: The text in Bold mentions the location and referring lines written in the reading passage. The lines in italics show the explanatory lines for the correct answer.)

Solution for 1: D

Explanation: 1st and 2nd line of paragraph A depicts that Most road and rail bridges are only inspected visually, if at all. Every few months, engineers have to clamber over the structure in an attempt to find problems before the bridge shows obvious signs of damage. As the technologies were not well developed during the traditional times. Therefore, the engineers back in the old system used to check & repair any damage with the available tools.

Solution for 2: C

Explanation: 2nd and 3rd line of paragraph B shows that By monitoring these movements over several minutes, the researchers can find out how the bridge resonates. Changes in its behavior can give an early warning of damage. Similar to how radar works, the technology employs microwaves to detect the distance between a sensor and a bridge.

Solution for 3: C

Explanation: 5th and 6th line of paragraph C explains that They have two steel girders supporting the load in each section. Highway experts know that this design is “fracture critical” because a failure in either girder would cause the bridge to fail. There were steel girders supporting the load in each section. The design is “fracture critical” because a failure in either girder would cause the bridge to fail as one girder is not strong enough to bare the load of the whole bridge.

Solution for 4: B

Explanation: 1st line of paragraph F states that The initial, crude analysis of the bridge’s behavior, based on the frequency at which the bridge resonates, did not indicate that anything was wrong until the flange was damaged. It means that the early damages were not recognized in the bridge until the parts further got injured the flanges. But later the data were reanalyzed with algorithms that took into account changes in the mode shapes of the structure.

Solution for 5: Microwave dish

Explanation: 1st line in paragraph D represents that After setting up the microwave dish on the ground below the bridge, the Los Alamos team installed conventional accelerometers at several points along the span to measure its motion. Highway experts set up the microwave dish below the bridge on the ground with accelerometers to measure the motion.

Solution for 6: Accelerometers

Explanation: 1st line in paragraph D narrates that After setting up the microwave dish on the ground below the bridge, the Los Alamos team installed conventional accelerometers at several points along the span to measure its motion. The bridge was tested with a lot of traffic after the traditional accelerometers were fitted to measure the motion. This justifies the given question’s perspective.

Solution for 7: Steel Girders

Explanation: 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th lines of paragraph C indicate that Chuck Farrar, an engineer at Los Alamos, explains: “The New Mexico authorities decided to raze this bridge and replace it. We were able to mount instruments on it, test it under various load conditions, and even inflict damage just before it was demolished.” In the 1960s and 1970s, 2500 similar bridges were built in the US. They have two steel girders supporting the load in each section. Each part of them has two steel girders sustaining the weight.

Solution for 8: Flange

Explanation: 2nd and 3rd line of paragraph E proves that They first cut a slot about 60 centimeters long in the middle of one girder. They then extended the cut until it reached the bottom of the girder and finally, they cut across the flange – the bottom of the girder’s “I” shape. The cut was prolonged by the engineers until it reached the girder's bottom, at which point they made a crosscut across the flange, the "I"-shaped bottom of the girder.

Solution for 9: C 

Explanation: 4th, 5th, and 6th line of paragraph C justifies that In the 1960s and 1970s, 2500 similar bridges were built in the US. They have two steel girders supporting the load in each section. Highway experts know that this design is “fracture critical” because a failure in either girder would cause the bridge to fail. The government of New Mexico made the decision to demolish and rebuild this bridge. Before it was destroyed, we were able to install instruments on it, test it under various stressful circumstances, and even cause damage.

Solution for 10: H

Explanation: 1st and 3rd line of paragraph H suggests that A commercial system based on the Los Alamos hardware is now available, complete with the Stubbs algorithms, from the Quatro Corporation in Albuquerque for about $100,000. “In a decade I would like to see a battery or solar-powered package mounted under each bridge, scanning it every day to detect changes,” he says. Most significant bridges in the US will eventually use a microwave inspection system when the electronics become more affordable. 

Solution for 11: G

Explanation: 1st and 2nd line of paragraph G says that “When any structure vibrates, the energy is distributed throughout with some points not moving, while others vibrate strongly at various frequencies,” says Stubbs. “My algorithms use pattern recognition to detect changes in the distribution of this energy.” It can be concluded from the reading passage that Stubbs’ method is adopted by NASA in order to keep a check on the behavior of the body flap that is portrayed by the space shuttles after the space shuttles. 

Solution for 12: B

Explanation: 2nd and 3rd line of paragraph B tells that By monitoring these movements over several minutes, the researchers can find out how the bridge resonates. Changes in its behavior can give an early warning of damage. As mentioned in the reading passage that any form of load on the bridge can be in the form of traffic-induced displacements. These are responsible for changing the distance as the bridge functions in an up-and-down manner.

Solution for 13: E

Explanation: The whole paragraph E notifies that “We then created damage that we hoped would simulate fatigue cracks that can occur in steel girders,” says Farrar. They first cut a slot about 60 centimeters long in the middle of one girder. They then extended the cut until it reached the bottom of the girder and finally, they cut across the flange – the bottom of the girder’s “I” shape. First, the engineers made a 60 cm-long slot in the middle of one girder. Finally, they cut through the flange after extending the cut until it reaches the bottom of the girder.

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