Question

Most young architects – particularly those in big cities – can only dream about working in a building of their own. And making that dream come true often means finding a building no one else seems to want, which is exactly what happened to David Yocum and his partner, Brian Bell. Their building is a former automobile electrical-parts firm in Atlanta. From the outside, it looks too old, even something horrible, but open the door and you are in a wide, open courtyard, lined on three sides with rusting （生锈的） walls.

In 2000, Yocum and Bell found this building in the city’s West End. Built in 1947, the structure had been abandoned years earlier and the roof of the main building had fallen down. But the price was right, so Yocum bought it. He spent eight months of his off-hours on demolition （拆除）, pulling rubbish out through the roof, because it was too dangerous to go inside the building. The demolition was hard work, but it gave him time to think about what he wanted to do, and “to treasure what was there – the walls, the rust, the light,” Yocum said. “Every season, more paint falls off the walls and more rust develops. It’s like an art installation （装置） in there – a slow-motion show.”

Since the back building had been constructed without windows, an all-glass front was added to the building to give it a view of the courtyard, and skylights were installed in the roof. The back of the building is a working area and a living room for Yocum and his wife. A sort of buffer (缓冲) zone between the front and the back contains a bathroom, a kitchen and a mechanical room, and the walls that separate these zones have openings that allow views through to the front of the studio and the courtyard beyond.

Yocum and Bell, who have just completed an art gallery for the city, feel that the experience from the decoration of their building, focusing on the inside rather than the outside, has influenced their work. It has also given these architects a chance to show how they can make more out of less.

According to the passage, it is     for most young architects in big cities to work in a building of their own.

    A. easy            B. unnecessary          C. unrealistic      D. common

Yocum bought the old building because _________.

A. it was a bargain to him

B. it was still in good condition

C. it was located in the city center

D. it looked attractive from the outside

Working on the old building, Yocum and Bell＿.

A. pulled rubbish out through the roof

B. removed the skylights from the bathroom

C. presented a slow–motion show in an art gallery

D. built a kitchen at the back part of the old building

It can be inferred from the passage that Yocum and Bell __.

A. benefited a lot from pulling down the roof

B. turned more old buildings into art galleries

C. got inspiration from decorating their old building

D. paid more attention to the outside of the gallery

The main idea of the passage is that __.

A. people can learn a lot from their failures

B. it is worthwhile to spend money on an old building

C. people should not judge things by their appearance

D. creative people can make the best of what they have

Answer 1

【小题1】 C

【小题2】A

【小题3】A

【小题4】C

【小题5】D

解析:

本文是一篇记叙文，讲述的两位年轻建筑师在离城市中心较远的地方找到了一家工厂，并把它设计为自己的工作室，运用自己所学的知识，给工作室装修了一番。

【小题1】根据首句“Most young architects ----particularly those in big cities ----can only dream about working in a building of their own.”得知年轻的建筑师有自己的工作室只是梦想，不现实（unrealistic）。

【小题2】 根据第二段的“But the price was right, so Yocum bought it.”得知，是因为那个价格便宜（bargain）。

【小题3】 根据第二段的“He spent eight months of his off-hours on demolition, pulling rubbish out through the roof”（把垃圾清出屋顶）得知：A正确；而由第三段的第一句判断出B错，由第二段的倒数第一二句判断出C错，由第三段的倒数第一句判断出D错。

【小题4】 根据第四段的“Yocum and Bell, who have just completed an art gallery for the city, feel that the experience from the decoration of their building, focusing on the inside rather than the outside, has influenced their work.”（从装饰他们的房子获得的经验影响了他们的工作）得知： C正确、B错误；而由第二段的第三句判断A错，而B选项文章没有提及，也不可推断出。

【小题5】根据第四段的“It has also given these architects a chance to show how they can make more out of less.”得知：本文的主旨在于建造自己的工作室给这些年轻建筑师一个机会去展示他们怎样把少变得多，即有创造性的人可以很好的利用和享受他们所拥有的，故选D。而ABC是显然不符合文意的。

记叙文是高考的必考点，也是阅读文章中比较容易的一篇文章，本文难度不大。