Read the following excerpt from "The City Without Us" by Alan Weisman

Question

In an abandoned city there would be no one like Paul Schuber and Peter Briffa to race from station to flooded station whenever more than two inches of rain falls as happens lately with disturbing frequency-sometimes snaking hoses up stairways to pump to a sewer down the street, sometimes navigating these tunnels in inflatable boats. With no people there would also be no power. The pumps will go off, and stay off. "When this pump facility shuts down," says Schuber, "in half an hour water maches a level where trains can't pass anymore" Briffa removes his safety goggles and rubs his eyes "A flood in one zone would push water into the others Within 36 hours, the whole thing could fill

What claim does Weisman make in "The City Without Us"? How does the text structure of this excerpt help support Weisman's claim? Be sure to refer to examples from the text to support your analysis

Answer 1

Weisman makes the claim in "The City Without Us" that without people in a city, essential infrastructure like pumping stations would fail, leading to dangerous consequences such as flooding. The text structure in this excerpt supports this claim by providing specific examples of how the absence of people would directly impact the functioning of the pumping stations. For instance, the excerpt mentions how without people like Paul Schuber and Peter Briffa to manage the pumps during heavy rainfall, the city could quickly become inundated with water, leading to widespread flooding. Additionally, the excerpt describes how the pumps would shut off without people to maintain them, further emphasizing the vulnerability of the city's infrastructure in the absence of human intervention. These specific examples help to illustrate the potential consequences of a city without people and strengthen Weisman's overall argument about the importance of human presence in maintaining urban infrastructure.