1    Humans have built incredible structures, including the Great Wall of China and the pyramids of Egypt. But there’s one thing that even the world’s most amazing structures can’t do: alter their shapes. Well, that could change.

2    Someday, you could live in a shape-shifting skyscraper that never stays still. The first of these buildings, which are called Dynamic Towers, will be built in Dubai, a city in the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East. It will be about two-and-a-half times taller than the Washington Monument. Each floor will be in constant motion, rotating independently and at different speeds — like an 80-story Rubik’s Cube forever being twisted by invisible hands. “These buildings will never look the same,” according to David Fisher, the architect behind the idea.

Life in a Dynamic Tower

3    You’re in your kitchen eating breakfast more than a quarter mile above the ground and decide you want a different view. “Ocean view,” you call out. A voice-activated control system begins to rotate your luxury apartment. After breakfast you go for a quick swim before school. You dive into the indoor pool right next to your bedroom. Then you and your mom hop into the family car parked at the entrance to your apartment on the 77th floor. She drives it into a huge elevator, which descends to the ground floor. Off you go!

Greenest Skyscraper

4    Wind will power the tower’s motion, making it the first self-powered skyscraper in history. To generate electricity, the Dubai skyscraper will place windmill blades horizontally between each floor of the building. In addition, the roofs of each of the floors will have solar panels to capture the sun’s energy. Combined, this will generate enough electricity to power the entire tower — and several nearby skyscrapers as well. 

Skyscraper Factories

5    Skyscrapers are usually built one floor at a time — from the bottom up. But not the Dynamic Tower: It will be the world’s first skyscraper to be built in a factory. Only the enormous concrete core will be built on-site. This cylinder, weighing about 1.2 million pounds, will contain plumbing and elevators. While the core is being built, each floor will be made in segments at a factory. These will be shipped to the construction site ready to go. Even the furniture will be inside. The segments will be lifted up the side of the building and attached to the core from the top down, making construction safer, faster, and less expensive.

Ever-changing

6    This may sound like fantasy, but in a few years the Dynamic Tower is expected to become a reality. The first 35 floors will consist of offices and a luxury hotel. Floors 36 through 70 will house numerous apartments, but each of the top ten floors in the 80-story tower will be a single apartment. While the architect will control the movement of most of the floors, anyone who owns one of the top ten apartments will be able to move them however they like. Each luxury apartment, expected to cost about $36 million, will have more space inside than five average houses in the United States put together.

(516 words)

1. Off you go! 

接着你们就开走啦！

本句中，副词 off 前置表示强调，由于主语是代词 you，因此句子不用倒装语序。如果句子的主语是名词，那么需要用倒装语序，如：

Off goes the car. 

汽车开动了。

2. the first self-powered skyscraper: 

第一幢能源自给的摩天大楼

过去分词加前缀 self-，构成形容词，表示 done by oneself。又如：

a self-made man 

一个白手起家的人

a self-centered person 

一个自我中心的人

3. Combined, this will generate enough electricity to power the entire tower: 

将这两种方式结合起来，能为整幢大楼提供足够的电能。

此句中 combined 是省略结构，省略了状语从句的连词、主语和助动词，省略的部分可以从上下文推断出来，为 When they are combined。

4. These will be shipped to the construction site ready to go. 

这些部件完成后将被运到施工现场。

形容词短语 ready to go 作主语的补语，对主语起补充说明作用。

5. While the architect will control the movement of most of the floors, anyone who owns one of the top ten apartments will be able the move them however they like.

不但建筑师能控制大多数楼层的运动，这10套公寓套房的业主也能随心所欲地让这些楼层运动。

此句中 while 作连词，表示 at the same time as。句末的 however they like 是方式状语从句，表示 in whatever way they like，不同于 however + 形容词或副词引导的让步状语从句。比较：

I really want that car, however much it costs. (= I really want that car, no matter how much it costs.) 

无论多贵，我真的想要那辆车。

However you look at it, it was a stupid thing to do. (= In whatever way you look at it, it was a stupid thing to do.) 

无论从哪个角度看，这样做都是愚蠢的。

6. Each luxury apartment, expected to cost about $36 million, will have more space inside than five average houses in the United States put together. 

每一套豪华公寓的造价预计高达3 600万美元，室内面积超过5幢普通美国住房面积的总和。

插入成分 expected to cost about $36 million 对 each luxury apartment作解释说明，其实是非限定性定语从句 which is expected to cost about $36 million 的省略形式。过去分词短语 put together 位于名词短语 five average houses in the United States 之后，作后置定语。