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, Brain 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 (放弃) 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 (机械的) 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 |
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 |
Since 1989, Dave Thomas, who died at the age of 69, was one of the most recognizable faces on TV. He appeared in more than 800 commercials for the hamburger chain named for his daughter. “As long as it works”, he said in 1991, “I’ll continue to do those commercials.”
Even though he was successful, Thomas remained troubled by his childhood. “He still won’t let anyone see his feet, which are out of shape because he never had proper fitting shoes,” Wendy said in 1993. Born to a single mother, he was adopted as a baby by Rex and Auleva Thomas of Kalamazoo in Michigan. After Auleva died when he was 5, Thomas spent years on the road as Rex traveled around seeking construction work. “He fed me,” Thomas said, “and if I got out of line, he’d beat me.”
Moving out on his own at 15, Thomas worked, first as a waiter, in many restaurants. But he had something much better in mind. “I thought if I owned a restaurant,” he said, “I could eat for free.” A 1956 meeting with Harland Sanders led Thomas to a career as the manager of a Kentucky Chicken restaurant that made him a millionaire in 1968.
In 1969, after breaking with Sanders, Thomas started the first Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers, in Columbus, Ohio, which set itself apart by serving made-to-order burgers. With 6,000 restaurants worldwide, the chain now makes $ 6 billion a year in sales.
Although troubled by his own experience with adoption, Thomas, married since 1954 to Lorraine, 66, and with four grown kids besides Wendy, felt it could offer a future for other children. He started the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption in 1992.
In 1993, Thomas, who had left school at 15, graduated from Coconut Creek High School in Florida. He even took Lorraine to the graduation dance party. The kids voted him Most Likely to Succeed.
“The Dave you saw on TV was the real Dave,” says friend Pat Williams. “He wasn’t a great actor or a great speaker .He was just Joe Everybody.”What is the article mainly about?
| A．The life of Dave Thomas. |
| B．The dream of Dave Thomas . |
| C．The schooling of Dave Thomas. |
| D．The growth of Dave Thomas’s business |
What do we know about his childhood?
| A．He lived a poor life | B．He had caring parents. |
| C．He stayed in one place | D．He didn’t go to school |
Choose the right time order of the following events in Thomas’s life.
a. graduated from high school b. started his own business
c. became a millionaire d. started a foundation
e. met Harland Sanders
| A．e, b, c, d, a | B．a, e, c, b, d |
| C．e, c, b, d, a | D．a, e, b, c, d |
. “He was just Joe Everybody”. (in the last paragraph) means_________.
| A．Dave was famous | B．Dave was ordinary |
| C．Dave was showy | D．Dave was shy |
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出适合填入
对应空白处的最佳选项。并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
I was a ten-year-old girl living with my parents and four-year-old brother in Madrid, Spain. We had our country Cuba just a few months before. The Christmas season arrived.
The Corte Ingles Department store had a shiny red that circled the town, its horn (喇叭) at every turn. My younger brother, Santiago, had never seen it. However, were considered a luxury(奢侈)then for my family and were very hard to . My brother fell in love with it. Every day he would push his nose the glass in the window. My parents’ pain was as they looked at their son’s face. But I didn’t want to the innocence of a four-year-old. So next time, I pulled him aside.
“Santiago, you know that we left our country and we are in a strange land” I said. “35 we are only here in Madrid for a little while, Santa probably doesn’t have our .”
I also told him that once we in the United States, Santa would find us once again. Much to my surprise, he accepted my without question. A year later, we lived in Union City, New Jersey. Both my parents were working in factories to make ends meet. Santiago and I were a new school and quickly learning English.
That Christmas was , but my parents bought a silver-colored Christmas tree. On Christmas Day, I woke up early, and to my surprise and , I found several presents under the tree. My brother
a square box. Inside was a shiny, brand-new train! It the one that had so attracted my brother a year before. Santiago’s face like the Christmas tree. He looked at my parents and me, happy and surprised.
“You were !” my brother told me eagerly, “Santa found our address.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
An 11-year-old boy who has been compared to Spanish Impressionist (印象派画家), the great Pablo Picasso, is holding his first exhibition at Llangollen’s Gardening Show this weekend.
Hamad al-Humaidhan, who was born in Kuwait but now lives in Bath, Britain, had no previous knowledge of art history when he first picked up a brush.
But he began to paint his favourite football player, Cristiano Ronaldo, using Picasso’s trademarks (标志) —bright colours and impressionistic forms.
His father said, "I’ve got lots of books about Picasso and I showed them to Hamad but he didn’t know anything about Picasso —it’s just naturally the way he sees it and he just loves to paint."
His first painting of Ronaldo, done when he was just nine, was sold at auction (拍卖) in Bath for ￡650, which drew the attention of local art businessman Steve Turner. "A colleague sent me some pictures of Hamad’s work and I just couldn’t believe the size of it and how the colours blended (融合) together," he said. "He had talent and I thought Picasso had been reborn.""I’ve shown his work to private art collectors. They liked them very much and everyone was eager to buy, so the first six paintings have been snapped up. I bought two of them myself. The next set of his works will go on show for the first time at Llangollen, which will be the first opportunity for the public to see his amazing talent."
Hamad enjoys maths at school but ranks painting higher. "I think I prefer painting! It makes me relaxed and when I feel tired I just pick up a paint brush," he said. "I just close my eyes and see how it’s going to look and then I just paint it —I paint every day. I just love the colours and I want people to enjoy my paintings."
Now Hamad is nervously waiting for the opening of his exhibition.What is the text mainly about?
| A．Hamad’s painting exhibition. |
| B．Hamad and his talent for painting. |
| C．The popularity of Hamad’s works. |
| D．The similarities between Hamad and Picasso. |
From the text, we can learn that Hamad ________.
| A．began to learn painting when he was a boy |
| B．has read many books about art history |
| C．likes Cristiano Ronaldo very much |
| D．knows a lot about Picasso |
According to the text, Hamad’s first painting of Ronal-do ________.
| A．has bright colours and impressionistic forms |
| B．was bought by Steve Turner |
| C．was completed five years ago |
| D．is his favourite work |
What does the underlined phrase "snapped up"in the fifth paragraph probably mean?
| A．Shown to the public. | B．Bought very quickly. |
| C．Cleaned up. | D．Hung up. |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Steve Turner speaks very highly of Hamad. |
| B．Hamad prefers maths to painting. |
| C．Hamad’s works will be sold after the show. |
| D．The public can see all Hamad’s paintings at the show. |
My first full-time job after high school was selling vacation packages via the telephone for a well-known company. One day, I was put through to a man who sounded a bit out of breath. I started with my normal pitch (音高), expecting to hear the normal reply —"I don’t want any."
Instead, he spoke in a faint, weak voice and told me how he wished to take a vacation I was offering, but he couldn’t because he was dying of illness. He explained how he was lacking in oxygen then, and it took almost all his energy to answer the call. He asked if I smoked, which I did, and begged me to stop. He told me smoking was what was killing him. He told me to spend every day with my loved ones, and tell them how much I love them. At this point, I couldn’t control myself. We ended the call, but I held on my phone to prevent another call coming in so I could collect myself.
I wrote down his name and address, and sent him a card appreciating his advice and praying for him and his family. Shortly after, I received a letter from Frank, along with a picture of him and his wife. We continued to write back and forth over the next few months, and became very fond of each other. He was old enough to be my grandfather, and in many ways, I felt as if he was.
About a year later I received a letter from his wife. When I started to read, tears came to my eyes. She told me how Frank’s battle with the disease had finally come to an end, and he passed away shortly before the Christmas. She wanted to thank me for the letters to Frank, and explained how Frank touched many lives over the years. At his funeral, to show just that, they read the 1st letter I had written to Frank to show how he affected a 19-year-old he’d never met. The author was then probably working for ______.
| A．a travel agency | B．a cigarette company |
| C．an e-shopping store | D．a vacation school |
The underlined part "collect myself" in the second paragraph probably means "_______".
| A．gather together | B．comfort myself |
| C．relax myself | D．calm down |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．Frank was in hospital while answering the phone. |
| B．Frank is actually the author’s grandfather. |
| C．There was something wrong with Frank’s lung. |
| D．The author asked Frank to travel and he took his advice. |
We can learn from the text that the author ________.
| A．took down Frank’s name and address to visit him in person |
| B．was warmly welcomed by her customers when she called them |
| C．didn’t stop smoking even though Frank asked him to |
| D．kept in touch with Frank through letters until he died |
At Frank’s funeral the author’s 1st letter to Frank was read in order to ____.
| A．encourage people to fight against disease and live bravely |
| B．indicate that Frank touched many people’s hearts |
| C．show the good relationship between Frank and the author |
| D．praise Frank and give thanks to the author |
When 18th-century scientists first came across Australia’s platypus(鸭嘴兽), they thought it was a trick. It is not surprising that the platypus made people confused. This funny-looking animal has feet and is a kind of warm-blooded mammal.
While other mammals usually keep their blood at around 37 degrees, the platypus has a lower body temperature of 32 degrees. As to its appearance, the platypus’mouth is not really like ducks’at all; its mouth actually looks a bit soft. The platypus closes its eyes when swimming. It uses its mouth to pick up outside information made by the creatures underwater.
Strangest of all, the platypus is a mammal that can lay eggs. And there is only one other kind of mammal that can lay eggs, the echidna (针鼹鼠) of Australia. Both the platy-pus and the echidna lay soft-shelled eggs, and both feed their young with their own milk that comes out of their skin. These animals also walk in a way that is similar to crocodiles(鳄鱼), with legs on the sides of their bodies rather than under them.
Though pretty, in a special way, the platypus is actually one of the few mammals that are poisonous. A male platypus has knife-like bones on its back legs which have enough poison to kill a dog.
The platypus has the honor of being one of the oldest mammals in the world. Until the early 20th century, it was hunted for its fur, but the situation has changed. Although the platypus is easily affected by pollution, it is not under any immediate threat. What can we learn about the platypus according to the text?
| A．It has a lower body temperature than other mammals. |
| B．It only closes its eyes when underwater. |
| C．It’s the only poisonous mammal in the world. |
| D．It feeds its young on wild animal meat. |
Which of the following is NOT used as a comparison with the platypus in the text?
| A．The crocodile. | B．The echidna. |
| C．The duck. | D．The dog. |
The following characteristics of the platypus have been described in the text EXCEPT ________.
| A．its natural enemy | B．its appearance |
| C．its walking pose | D．its daily diet |
We can infer from the last paragraph that the platypus _______.
| A．is hunted for its meat | B．is in danger of extinction |
| C．is endangered by air pollution | D．is well-protected now |
Which of the following would be the best title for this text?
| A．Platypus, a Trick? |
| B．Platypus, the Only Warm-Blooded Mammal |
| C．The Characteristics of Platypus |
| D．The Strange Mammal —Platypus。 |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号