单选题 Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.
A few years back, the decision to move the Barnes, a respected American art institution, from itscurrent location in the suburban town ofMerion, Pa., to a site in Philadelphia's museum district caused anargument—not only because it shamelessly went against the will of the founder, Albert C. Barnes, butalso because it threatened to dismantle (拆开) a relationship among art, architecture and landscape criticalto the Barnes's success as a museum.
For any architect taking on the challenge of the new space, the confusion of moral and designquestions might seem overwhelming. What is an architect's responsibility to Barnes's vision of amarvelous but odd collection of early Modem artworks housed in a rambling (布局凌乱的) 1920sBeaux-Arts pile? Is it possible to reproduce its spirit in such a changed setting? Or does trying to replicate(复制) the Bames's unique atmosphere only doom you to failure? The answers of the New York architectstaking the commission are not reassuring.
The new Barnes will include many of the features that have become virtually mandatory (强制性的) in the museum world today—conservation and education departments, temporary exhibition space,auditorium, bookstore, cafe—making it four times the size of the old Barnes. The architects have triedto compensate for this by laying out these spaces in an elaborate architectural procession that is clearlyintended to replicate the peacefulness, if not the fantastic charm, of the old museum.
But the result is a complicated design. Almost every detail seems to ache from the strain of trying topreserve the spirit of the original building in a very different context. The failure to do so, despite such anearnest effort, is the strongest argument yet for why the Barnes should not be moved in the first place.
The old Barnes is by no means an obvious model for a great museum. Inside the lighting is far fromperfect, and the collection itself, mixing masterpieces by Crzanne, Picasso and Soutine with second-ratepaintings by lesser-known artists, has a distinctly odd flavor. But these apparent flaws are also what havemade the Barnes one of the country's most charming exhibition spaces.
But today the new Barnes is after a different kind of audience. Although museum officials say theexisting limits on crowd size will be kept, it is clearly meant to draw bigger numbers and more touristdollars. For most visitors the relationship to the art will feel less immediate.
单选题 The Old Barnes becomes a successful museum mainly because of______.
  • A. the beneficial geographical position in a suburban town B. its unique design and orderly collection of arts
  • C. the influence of its founder Albert
  • C. Barnes
  • D. the perfect connection among art, architecture and landscape
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 首段末说到，这预示着要破坏艺术、建筑和风景之间的关系，这一关系对巴恩斯成为一个成功的博物馆是至关重要的。题干中主句对应该句末尾介词to的宾语the Barnes's success as a museum，[D]中the perfect connection是对文中a relationship的同义转述，故答案为[D]。[A]中geographical position是根据文中的location所设的干扰项，首段只讲巴恩斯博物馆成功的关键在于所在郊区小城的风景与艺术、建筑完美地结合在一起，并非说仅仅因其地理位置就成为一所成功的博物馆，故排除[A]。第二段第二句中提到旧的巴恩斯布局凌乱(rambling)，[B]中的orderly(井然有序的)显然与此矛盾。文章谈到迁移新址时只是说这一决定无耻地违背了建立者阿尔伯特·C·巴恩斯的意愿，并没有提及他的影响力，故排除[C]。 [设题分析] 隐性原因处设题。文中的critical to前后为隐性的因果关系。
单选题 The biggest challenge architects face in building the new Barnes is______.
  • A. the ethical and design problems
  • B. the difficulty to retain its original peacefulness
  • C. the lack of confidence in undertaking the task
  • D. the difficulty to put all the artworks in a smaller space
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 第二段首句提到，对任何一个接受建立新址挑战的建筑师来说，道德困惑和设计问题看起来可能是令人无法承受的。题干中的The…challenge就是指文中的the confusion of moral and design questions，最高级biggest是seem overwhelming的同义转述，故答案为[A]。同时，可以看出，建筑师们感到困惑，而非缺乏足够的自信，故排除[C]：第三段末句中that引导的定语从句说到，这一建筑队列旨在复制旧博物馆的宁静，这说明保持与旧址一样的宁静是可以实现的，算不上最大的挑战，故排除[B]；第三段首句结尾提到，这使得它(新的巴恩斯)的面积是旧的巴恩斯的四倍，很明显[D]中的smaller与此矛盾，故排除。 [设题分析] 最高级处设题。第二段首句是主题句，且该句末尾的overwhelming含有最高级含义。
单选题 According to the passage, the new Barnes will______.
  • A. be completely the same as the old one
  • B. take up more space than the old one
  • C. be changed into an art education center
  • D. be forced to be modem in appearance
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 第三段首句第二个破折号后提到，这使得它的面积是旧的巴恩斯的四倍，[B]“(新的巴恩斯)比旧的占地面积要大”表述与此一致，故为答案。第三段首句说到新的巴恩斯的构成部分，可以看出新旧巴恩斯在结构和面积上都存在差别，并非完全相同，故排除[A]。由第三段首句可知，新的巴恩斯具有教育的功能(education departnents)，[C]是对其的过度推断，故排除。新的巴恩斯包含很多现代博物馆的特征，但是文章没有说新的巴恩斯在外观上就是现代化的，故[D]的表述不正确。 [设题分析] 特殊标点符号处设题。两个破折号之间的内容起解释说明的作用。
单选题 Why does the author oppose to relocate the Barnes?
  • A. The relocation means disrespect to the person who runs it.
  • B. Architectures' complicated design will make the museum charmless.
  • C. The spirit of the old Barnes will be gone in a different place.
  • D. The multiple functions of the new Barnes will destroy the collection.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 第四段末句中的The failure to do so正是作者极力反对巴恩斯迁址的原因，其中的so指上句中的to preserve the spirit of the original building，[C]是对此的同义转述，故为答案。首段中关于巴恩斯迁移新址所引发的是社会上的争议，且说的是对创立者的不尊重，而非现在的经营者，故排除选项[A]；新的巴恩斯变得没有魅力不是因为其复杂的设计，相反，复杂的设计和庞大面积的结合能够复制旧巴恩斯的宁静，而是因为新的巴恩斯无论如何都无法复制旧址的灵魂，故排除[B]。[D]是根据文章第五段设的干扰项。 [设题分析] 原因处设题。本题难点在于理解第四段第二、三两句话之间的关系，明确第三句中so指代的
单选题 What do we know about the old Barnes from the fifth paragraph?
  • A. It is a good example of the great modem museums.
  • B. It is downgraded by the mixture of different paintings.
  • C. The world-famous painters' works make it a charming place.
  • D. It is the seeming imperfection that makes it attractive.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 第五段末句提到，正是这些表面上的缺点使巴恩斯成为最迷人的博物馆之一，[D]是对此句话的同义转述，其中seeming imperfection与apparent flaws同义，故答案为[D]。由第五段第二句可知appartent flaws指的就是知名画家和名不见经传画家的画作同挂一室，但这些并没有使巴恩斯降格，而是其更富魅力的关键，故[B]不正确，同时也排除[C]；第五段说明旧的巴恩斯不是现代伟大博物馆的典范，故排除[A]。 [设题分析] 转折处设题。本题需对原文进行同义转化并理解apparent flaws的指代。