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.

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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 art gallery

5. 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

    “Who questions much, shall learn much, and remember much．”---- Francis Bacon （1561-1626）

    It seems obvious now how we acquire knowledge and understanding．To start with, you need questions．Then, to find answers, you observe the world around you and study the facts．After that you consider possible answers and test each to find the right ones．Although today we are more accustomed to typing a few key words into a search engine and waiting for the Internet to spit the answer out for us, modern scientists and thinkers are still solving the world’s problems with this type of analysis---- luckily for us．

    However, in the 17^th century when Francis Bacon suggested that this type of thinking was the way to gain knowledge, he was going against the views of the day．At that time, people believed more in religion than in facts, and people like Galileo Galilei, who proved scientific ideas such as “ the Earth is not the centre of the universe”, were often punished by the church with no one coming to their defence．The church and many people tended to ignore the facts and were unwilling to challenge that they had always comfortably believed．They preferred to make assumptions about the world based on the experience of others．In fact, when Galilei proved that the Earth was not the centre of the universe, instead of believing him, people chose to believe ancient views put forward by the great philosopher Aristotle （384-322BC）．

    This also shows how people didn’t want to search for their own understanding or educate themselves．And this is still often true today．People feel that if someone important and respected says that something is right, then it must be so．But even though Aristotle was a great man who inspired many great scientists and philosophers after him, he was wrong at times．And Galilei too made mistakes．He is now known as the father of astronomy but he believed that the earth moved round the sun in a perfect circle．He was wrong．Therefore our understanding of the world around us is constantly growing and changing．In other words, we learn more every day and none of us can ever sit back and say “We know it all．”

    We need to thank the great men of the past for the wisdom to know that we don’t know it all and probably never will, for that would mean a world without questions．So much of our knowledge and understanding of the world today is due to people like Bacon and Galilei, who were brave enough to step out from the shadows of old thoughts in order to find the kingdom of knowledge that today’s civilization is built upon．These men knew that knowledge and understanding are things to fight for; more vital to a man, and more beneficial to mankind, some might say, than all the money in the world．

    “All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them．”----Galileo Galilei （1564-1642）

8．In Bacon and Galileo’s times, people would prefer to ________．

    A．learn new things by observing the world around themselves

    B．acquire knowledge from church or experience of great ancestors

    C．seek answers to their puzzles from contemporary scientists

    D．explore knowledge out of facts they saw with their own eyes

9．In this passage Bacon and Galileo are mentioned as examples for ________．

A．their great achievements in science

    B．their ambition to doubt great ancestors

    C．their revolutionary way of acquiring knowledge

    D．their preference to believe in themselves rather than others

10．What is the main purpose of the passage?

    A．To help the readers learn more about great thinkers in history．

    B．To convince the readers of the importance of thinking and discovering．

    C．To persuade the readers to thank the great men of the past for their wisdom．

    D．To encourage the readers to go against the views of their day．

11．Which of the following is the process the writer suggests to acquire knowledge?

    A．asking questions→searching the Internet→ waiting the results→ finding answers

    B．acquiring knowledge and understanding→ asking questions→ answering questions

C．observing the world→ asking questions→ studying facts→ finding answers→ considering possibilities

    D．asking questions→ observing the world→ studying facts→ considering possibilities→ testing and finding answers

I grew up poor – living with six brothers, my father and a wonderful mother. We had   36  money and few worldly goods, but plenty of love and attention. I was   37   and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, they could   38   afford a dream.

My dream was to be a   39  . When I was sixteen, I could crush a baseball, throw a ninety – mile – per – hour fastball. I was also   40  : my high – school coach was Ollie Jarvis, who   41  me the difference between having a dream and showing strong belief. One particular   42  with him changed my life forever.

It was a summer and a friend recommended me for a summer   43  . This meant a chance for my first income – cash for a new bike and new clothes, and the   44  of savings for a house for my mother. The opportunity was attracting, and I wanted to   45   at it.

Then I realized I would have to   46   summer baseball to handle the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell Coach Jarvis I wouldn’t be playing. I was   47   about this.

When I told Coach Jarvis, he was as   48  as I expected him to be. “You have your whole life to work,” he said. “Your   49  days are limited. You can’t afford to waste them.”

I stood before him with my head   50  , trying to think of how to explain to him why my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth   51   his disappointment in me.

“How much are you going to make at this job?” he demanded.

“$ 3.25 an hour,” I replied.

“Well, is $ 3.25 an hour the price of a   52  ?” he asked.

That   53  laid bare for me the difference between wanting something right now and having a goal. I devoted myself to   54   that summer, and within the year I was offered a $ 20,000 contract. I signed with the Denver Broncos in 1984 for $ 1.7 million, and bought my mother the   55  of my dreams.

36．A．some     B．little       C．no            D．much

37．A．happy    B．lovely   C．Angry         D．noisy

38．A．only     B．ever     C．still             D．almost

39．A．teacher  B．coach        C．doctor        D．sportsman

40．A．lucky   B．satisfied    C．hopeful       D．surprised

41．A．taught   B．asked   C．told          D．trained

42．A．match    B．Story    C．moment        D．incident

43．A．job      B．camp     C．holiday       D．course

44．A．cause        B．start    C．need      D．amount

45．A．stand   B．call     C．look      D．jump

46．A．take out B．cut off  C．put on        D．give up

47．A．excited  B．curious  C．anxious       D．disappointed

48．A．mad      B．puzzled  C．regretful         D．discouraged

49．A．working  B．playing  C．learning      D．shining

50．A．shaking  B．hanging  C．holding     D．nodding

51．A．feeling  B．suffering    C．facing      D．expressing

52．A．dream    B．game     C．chance      D．life

53．A．offer   B．price    C．question    D．order

54．A．study        B．sports   C．homework    D．business

55．A．clothes  B．bike     C．house       D．goods