MBA英语历年真题阅读理解及参考答案详解二

MBA英语历年真题阅读理解及参考答案详解二

We tend to think of the decades immediately following World War Ⅱ as a time of prosperity and growth, with soldiers returning home by the millions, going off to college on the Gl, Bill and lining up at the marriage bureaus.

But when it came to their houses, it was a time of common sense and a belief that less could truly be more, During the Depression and the war, Americans had learned to live with less. and that restraint, in combination with the post war confidence in the future, made small, efficient housing positively stylish.

Economic condition was only a stimulus for the trend toward efficient living. The phrase “less is more\was actually first popularized by a German, the architect Ludwig Mies van der Robe, who Like other people associated with the Bauhaus, a school of design, emigrated to the United States before World War 11 and took up posts at American architecture schools. These designers came to

exert enormous influence on the course of American architecture. but none more so than Mies.Mies's signature phrase means that less decoration, properly organized, has more impacts than a lot. Elegance, he believed, did not derive from abundance. Like other modem architects. he employed metal, glass and laminated wood - materials that we take for granted today but that in the

194Os symbolized the future. Mies's sophisticated presentation masked the fact that the spaces he designed were small and efficient, rather than big and often empty.

The apartments in the elegant towers Mies built on Chicago's Lake Shore Drive, for example,were smaller - two-bedroom units under 1,000 square feet - than those in their older neighbors along the city's Gold Coast. But they were popular because of their airy glass walls, the views they afforded and the elegance of the buildings' details and proportions, the architectural equivalent of the abstract art so popular at the time.

The trend toward “less\Frank Lloyd Wright started building more modest and efficient houses - usually around 1,200 square feet - than the spreading two-storey ones he had designed in the I 89Os and the early 20th century.

The \architects by California Arts & Architecture magazine between 1945 and 1962 were yet another home grown influence on the\is more\trend. Aesthetic effect came from the landscape, new materials and forthright detailing. In this Case Study House, Ralph Rapson may have mispredicted just how the mechanical revolution would impact everyday life - few American families acquired helicopters, though most eventually got clothes dryers - but his belief that self-sufficiency was both desirable and inevitable was widely shared.

31. The postwar American housing style largely reflected the American______.

A. prosperity and growth

B. efficiency and practicality

C. restraint and confidence

D. pride and faithfulness

32. Which of the following can be inferred from Paragraph 3 about the Bauhaus?

A. It was founded by Ludwig Mies van der Robe.

B. Its designing concept was affected by World War 11.

C. Most American architects used to be associated with it.

D. It had a great influence upon American architecture.

33. Mies held that elegance of architectural design

A. was related to large space

B. was identified with emptiness

C. was not reliant on abundant decoration

D. was not associated with efficiency

34. What is true about the apartments Mies built on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive?

A. They ignored details and proportions.

B. They were built with materials popular at that time.

C. They were more spacious than neighboring buildings.

D. They shared some characteristics of abstract art.

35. What can we learn about the design of the \Study Houses\

A. Mechanical devices were widely used.

B. Natural scenes were taken into consideration.

C. Details were sacrificed for the overall effects.

D. Eco-friendly materials were employed.

参考答案

31.答案 C。

解析 本题信息点是The postwar American housing style largely reflected，在文章中查阅该信息点时我们找到该信息点出现在第二段最后一句.. restraint，in combination with the post war confidence in the future，made small，efficient housing positively stylish， 其大意为： 克制加上对未来的信心造就了小而高效的房屋建筑风格。由此看出房屋建筑风格体现了restraint 和confidence，所以本题答案为C.

32.答案 D。

解析 本题信息点是Bauhaus，并且该信息点被限定在第三段。该信息点在第三段首次出现在第二句The phrase \”was actually first popularized by a German，the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who like other people associated with the Bauhaus, a school of design, emigrated to the United States before World war ll and took up posts at American architecture schools，其大意为：(少就是多”是由一位德国建筑师推广，这位建筑师像其他Bauhaus 有

关的人一样在二战之前迁到美国并在美国多所设计学院供职。Bauhaus 是一所设计院： 第三句 These designers came to exert enormous influence on the course of American architecture，but none more so than Mies 也包含Bauhaus 的信息，大意为： 这些设计人员对美国建筑设计道路带来了很大影响，但是影响最大的人当属Mies。再将这两句话表述的内容与四个选项比照，我们发现选项D. It had a great influence upon American architecture 符合第三句的内容，为本题答案.

33.答案 C。

解析 本题信息点是elegance of architectural design，并且限定了Mies 的观点。在文章中查阅该信息，我们找到该信息点出现在第四段第一句从Mies’s signature phrase means that less decoration，properly organized，has more impacts than a lot和第二句Elegance，he believed，did not derive from abundance， 大意为：Mies 的标志性言论意味着轻装饰，重安排，这对许多人产生了巨大的影响。并且，他认为富足并不带来优雅。根据上下文，这里abundance 显然指大量的decoration。由此可见选项C. was not reliant on abundant

decoration 符合文章语意，为本题答案。

34.答案 D。

解析 本题信息点是the apartments Mies built on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive。在文章中查找该信息点时我们发现第五段的两句话都与该信息点相关，第一句话是The apartments in the elegant towers Mies built on Chicago's Lake Shore Drive, for example, were smaller two-bedroom units under 1,000 square feet - than those in their older neighbors along the city's Gold Coast.大意为：Mies 建造在芝加哥的公寓比周围的旧房子更小： 第二句话是they were popular because or their airy glass walls, the views they afforded and the elegance or the buildings’details and proportions，the architectural equivalent of the abstract art so popular at the time ，大意为： 这些公寓之所以受欢迎是因为其轻薄的玻璃墙壁、周围的景致极其优美的细节比例，这些建筑风格相当于当时甚为流行的抽象艺术。将以上信息与四个选项比对，我们得知选项 D. They shared some characteristics of abstract art 符合第二句话后半部分的内容，为本题答案。

35.答案 B。

解析 本题信息点是the design of the case study Houses。该信息点分布在最后一段的各个句子中，第一句是The ”case Study Houses”commissioned from talented modern architects by California Arts ＆Architecture magazine between 1945 and 1962 were yet another home grown influence on the “less is more”trend，大意为：case study Houses 对 “少就是多” 趋势的影响产生于国内： 第二句是Aesthetic effect came from the landscape，new materials and forthright detailing，大意为： 审美效果来自于地形地貌、新材料和明了的细节设计，其中landscape符合选项 B 中的natural scene，由此可见，选项B 符合第二句的内容，为本题答案。

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