Most young architects ----particularly those in big cities ----can only dream about working in a building of their own. And marking 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, Brain Bell. Their building is a former automobile electrical –parts firm in Atlanta. Form 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 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

From the dates__________on the gold coin, we decided that it was made five hundred years ago.

A. marking            B. marked    C. to be marked   D. having been marked

If you have been joining in chat room conversations, or trading email with web pals （网友） , you have become one of the millions who write in a peculiarly short form of English.

And you’ve got a sense of humor about short forms like SOHF （= sense of humor failure） to describe Internet newcomers who don’t understand you.

Across the globe, every night teenagers and their elders are “talking online”, many of them all talking at the same time.

It’s fast: try talking to six people at once．It’s brief: three or four words per exchange．It takes wit, concentration, and quick fingers.

And it requires tremendous linguistic economy （语言省略）．There’s neither time nor space for explanations．Why consume precious key-strokes （键盘敲击） telling six friends you have to leave for a moment to take care of your little brother when BRB（ = be right back） will do?

Want to enter a conversation? Just type PMFJI （= pardon me for jumping in）.

Interested in whom you are talking to? Type A/S/L, the nearly universal request to know your pal’s age, sex and location．You may get 15/M/NY as a response from your pal.

If something makes you laugh, say you are OTF （= on the floor）, or LOL （= laughing out loud）, or combing the two into ROTFL （ = rolling on the floor laughing） .

And when it is time to get back to work or go to bed, you type GTG （= got to go） or TTYL （=talk to you later）.

People want to write as fast as possible, and they want to get their ideas across as quickly as they can．Capital letters are left in the dust, except when expressing emotion, as it takes, more time to hold down the “shift” key and capitals．Punctuation （标点） is going, too．

Many people talk on the Internet ______.

       A．by sending short emails                     

       B．by using a particular short form of English

       C．by using peculiar English words and expression   

       D．in a funny way

In order to talk to several people at the same time on the Internet ______.

       A．you have to speak fast and fluently

       B．you should speak with wit and humor

       C．you have to express your ideas in a brief way

       D．one should pay much attention to the accuracy of words

If you get 17/F/NY as an answer to your A/S/L, it means______.

       A．the person on the other end is 17 from New York and he is fine

       B．you are talking to a girl who is 17 and lives in New York

       C．you are talking to 17 girls who are from New York

       D．the person who you are talking to is a 17-foot tall New York girl

To save time on the Internet, __________.

       A．some people leave their letters in the dustbin  

       B．some people never use “shift” in their writing

       C．many people leave the capital and punctuation 

       D．people seldom use capital letters or punctuation

Pat O’Burke was a poor Irishman with a large family, and one morning, waking up very early from cold and hunger, he decided to go shooting in a wood near his cottage. The wood belonged to Lord Northwood, a rich gentleman, Pat had no right to go there, but in it there were swarms of rabbits and flocks of birds that were good to eat, and Pat determined to take the risk. Suddenly he saw the owner, with a group of friends, coming towards him in the wood. There was a look of anger on Lord Northwood's face as he caught sight of the gun in Pat's hands. Pat's heart sank with fear, but he saw there was no hope of escape, so he walked boldly (大胆) up to the group and said to Lord Northwood, “Good morning, sir, and what has brought you out so early this morning?” Lord Northwood, rather surprised, said he and his friends were taking a little exercise to get an appetite(食欲) for their breakfast. Then, looking at Pat with suspicion(怀疑), he said, “but why are you out so early in the morning?” “Well, sir” said Pat, “I just came out to see if I could get a breakfast for my appetite.” The whole crowed burst into laughter at Pat's ready wit(机智，风趣), and with a smile Lord Northwood walked on, leaving Pat to try his luck with the rabbits.

1.This is a story about _____.

2. There was a look of anger on Lord Northwood's face. Why?

3.Why was Lord Northwood surprised?

4. What made the whole crowd burst into laughter?

5. Guess the meaning of the underlined word “right”.

There’s a fascinating drive         out for tourists.