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 G. I. 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 postwar 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 Rohe, who like other people associated with the Bauhaus, a school of design, emigrated to the United States before World War II 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 impact than a lot. Elegance, he believed, did not derive from abundance. Like other modern architects, he employed metal, glass and laminated wood—materials that we take for granted today but that in the 1940s 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” was not entirely foreign. In the 1930s Frank Lloyd Wright started building more modest and efficient houses—usually around 1,200 square feet—than the spreading two-story ones he had designed in the 1890s and the early 20th century.
The “Case Study Houses” commissioned from talented modern architects by California Arts & Architecture magazine between 1945 and 1962 were yet another homegrown influence on the “less is more” trend. Aesthetic effect came from the landscape, new materials and forthright detailing. In his 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. (435 words)
1.The postwar American housing style largely reflected the Americans’( ) .
2.Which of the following can be inferred from Paragraph 3 about Bauhaus?
3.Mies held that elegance of architectural design ( ) .
4.What is true about the apartments Mies built on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive?
5.What can we learn about the design of the “Case Study House”?
问题1选项
A.prosperity and growth
B.efficiency and practicality
C.restraint and confidence
D.pride and faithfulness
问题2选项
A.It was founded by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
B.Its designing concept was affected by World War II.
C.Most American architects used to be associated with it.
D.It had a great influence upon American architecture.
问题3选项
A.was related to large space
B.was identified with emptiness
C.was not reliant on abundant decoration
D.was not associated with efficiency
问题4选项
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.
问题5选项
A.Mechanical devices were widely used.
B.Natural scenes were taken into consideration.
C.Details were sacrificed for the overall effect.
D.Eco-friendly materials were employed.
第1题:C
第2题:D
第3题:C
第4题:D
第5题:B
第1题:
【选项释义】
The postwar American housing style largely reflected the Americans’______. 战后美国的住房风格在很大程度上反映了美国人的______。
A. prosperity and growth A. 繁荣和发展
B. efficiency and practicality B. 效率和实用性
C. restraint and confidence C. 克制和信心
D. ride and faithfulness D. 骄傲和诚实
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】根据题干The postwar American housing style可定位到第二段尾句Americans had learned to live with less, and that restraint, in combination with the postwar confidence in the future, made small, efficient housing positively stylish.(美国人已经学会了用更少的钱生活,而这种克制,再加上战后对未来的信心,使小型、高效的住房变得非常时尚。)关键词restraint、confidence推出C项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、D不能在定位段找到细节支撑。
第2题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following can be inferred from Paragraph 3 about Bauhaus? 从第三段中可以推断出关于Bauhaus的下列哪项?
A. It was founded by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe A. 它是由路德维希·密斯·凡德罗创立的
B. Its designing concept was affected by World War II B. 它的设计理念受到了二战的影响
C. Most American architects used to be associated with it C. 大多数美国建筑师过去都与它有联系
D. It had a great influence upon American architecture D. 它对美国建筑产生了很大的影响
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】根据题干Bauhaus可回文定位到第三段第三句These designers came to exert enormous influence on the course of American architecture...(这些设计师对美国建筑的发展产生了巨大的影响……)可推理出Bauhaus对美国的建筑有很大的影响,所以D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项,根据第三段第二句The phrase “less is more” 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 II and took up posts at American architecture schools.(“少即是多”这句话实际上最早是由德国建筑师路德维希·密斯·凡德罗普及开来的。他和其他与Bauhaus设计学院有关的人一样,在第二次世界大战前移民到了美国,并在美国的建筑学院任职。)根据who引导的定语从句,可知Ludwig Mies van der Rohe与Bauhaus有交集,而非创建者,A选项属于曲解原文;
B选项,本句提到与Bauhaus相关的人是在第二次世界大战前移民到美国的,并未提及它的设计理念受到第二次世界大战影响,B选项属于无中生有;
C选项,在第三段第二句who引导的定语从句部分,提到“其他与Bauhaus设计学院有关的人”,但并不等于“大多数美国建筑师都曾和它有联系”,C选项属于偷换概念。
第3题:
【选项释义】
What is true about the apartments Mies built on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive? 密斯认为建筑设计的优雅_____。
A. was related to large space A. 和大空间有关
B. was identified with emptiness B. 被认为是空虚的
C. was not reliant on abundant decoration C. 不是靠丰富的装饰
D. was not associated with efficiency D. 与效率无关
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】根据题干Mies held that与elegance of architectural design可定位到第四段第二句:Elegance, he believed, did not derive from abundance.(他相信,优雅并非来自富足)所以C项正确。
【干扰项排除】
根据第四段尾句…the spaces he designed were small and efficient, rather than big and often empty (他设计的空间小而高效,而不是大而空旷)可知,A、B、D项与原文相反,属于反向干扰。
第4题:
【选项释义】
What is true about the apartments Mies built on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive? 密斯在芝加哥湖岸大道上建造的公寓是怎么回事?
A. They ignored details and proportions. A. 它们忽略了细节和比例。
B. They were built with materials popular at that time. B. 它们是用当时流行的材料建造的。
C. They were more spacious than neighboring buildings. C. 它们比邻近的建筑更宽敞。
D. They shared some characteristics of abstract art. D. 它们有一些抽象艺术的共同特点。
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】根据题干the apartments Mies built on Chicago’ s Lake Shore Drive可定位到第五段首句和第二句:The apartments in the elegant towers Mies built on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive, for example, were smaller—two-bedroom units under 1000 square feet—than those in their older neighbors along the city’s Gold Coast.(例如,在芝加哥湖滨大道上建造的优雅的米斯塔里的公寓,比他们在黄金海岸的老邻居的公寓要小——不到1000平方英尺的两居室公寓。)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.(但它们之所以受欢迎,是因为它们通风的玻璃墙,它们提供的景色,以及建筑的布局和比例的优雅,这是当时非常流行的抽象艺术的建筑等价物。)D项‘它们具有抽象艺术的某些特征’完全一致,正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项与定位段第二句信息相反,属于反向干扰;
B选项与定位段第二句信息部分一致,部分信息偷换概念;
C选项与定位段首句信息相反,属于反向干扰。
第5题:
【选项释义】
What can we learn about the design of the “Case Study House”? 我们可以从“案例研究屋”的设计中了解到什么?
A. Mechanical devices were widely used A. 机械设备得到了广泛的应用
B. Natural scenes were taken into consideration B. 考虑到自然景观
C. Details were sacrificed for the overall effect C. 为了整体效果,细节被去掉了
D. Eco-friendly materials were employed
D. 采用环保材料
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】根据题干“Case Study Houses”可定位到尾段首句,再根据the design of可进一步定位到尾段第二句和第三句:Aesthetic effect came from the landscape, new materials and forthright detailing. In his Case Study Houses, 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. (美学效果来自于景观、新材料和直率的细节。在他的案例研究中,Ralph Rapson可能错误地预测了机械革命将如何影响日常生活——很少有美国家庭购买直升机,尽管大多数家庭最终都得到了烘干机——但他认为自给自足既是可取的,也是不可避免的,这一观点得到了广泛认同。)根据Aesthetic effect came from the landscape可知B项‘考虑到自然景观’正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项,根据mispredicted,would impact和eventually都表明机械革命的影响是在未来出现的,而非在当时“Case Study House”的设计中,所以A选项属于曲解原文;
C选项,根据forthright detailing可知C项‘为了整体效果,牺牲了细节’与原文信息相反,属于反向干扰;
D选项,根据new materials可知D项‘采用环保材料’偷换了概念,排除。