单选题 On the night of September 2,1600, a fire broke out in a baker's shop near Fish Street Hill in London. Before the flames were finally put out, nearly the entire city had been reduced to ashes. Over thirteen thousand homes, fifty churches, and numerous public buildings and hospitals were lost in the blaze. For all practical purposes, London was destroyed.
The Great Fire was not seen as a total tragedy, however. The miserable conditions of the city had been attacked by physicians and humanitarians for years before the fare, thus, with the opportunity clearly presented to create a shining new city, artists and craftsmen from all over England hurried to submit their designs for the rebuilding of London.
Among those who submitted plans was Sir Christopher Wren, one of England's leading architects and the Surveyor General of London. The task of rebuilding the city was given to him. Wren realized that the Great Fire would not have been so damaging if the city had been better laid out: broader streets wore needed to replace the crooked, narrow lanes overhung with old wooden houses and shops. He also felt that redesigning the main streets of London would result in increased and more effective transportation within the city.
Shortly after Wren began working on his first drafts for the rebuilding, King Charles I made an announcement prohibiting the construction of any house or shop within the city limits until after the plans were completed. When the plans were revealed to the citizens of London, however, they were overwhelmingly rejected. The most active leaders of the opposition were the landlords, who feared that such a complete widening of the streets would reduce the amount of land available for development.
Winter was approaching; consequently, it was necessary for the rebuilding to proceed at once. Permission was therefore, granted for the town people and landlords to commence reconstruction of their houses and shops at the sites where they had been before the fare. Had the need for immediate action not been so pressing, some kind of compromise could likely have been reached. This was not to be, however, and the ideas that could have made London one of the world's most beautiful cities never came to pass.

单选题 Who was the head of the British government at the time of the Great Fire of London?
A. Elizabeth the First. B. General Surveyor.
C. Sir Christopher Wren. D. Charles the First.

单选题 What became of the plans for the rebuilding of London?
A. Nothing--they wee never finished.
B. They were adopted in modified form.
C. They were followed and London was rebuilt at once.
D. Nothing--London was rebuilt as it had been before the fire.

单选题 Why was it necessary to rebuild London quickly?
A. Sir Christopher Wren was an influential man.
B. People came from all over England to help with the project.
C. England was a very wealthy country.
D. None of the above.

单选题 Which of the following describes the author's probable attitude toward Sir Christopher Wren's plans?
A. He feels it would have been a mistake to rebuild London according to Wren's designs.
B. He feels it was a mistake for London not to have been rebuilt according to Wren's designs.
C. He feels that someone other than Wren should have been chosen to plan the rebuilding.
D. He feels that Wren's ideas had much more influence than is commonly acknowledged.

单选题 Which of the following would be an appropriate title for the passage?
A. The Life and Times of Sir Christopher Wren.
B. The Rebuilding of London.
C. The Destruction of Fish Street Hill.
D. The London That Might Have Been.