When John Jacob Raskob purchased a site for the skyscraper, he ______.A．began to build a m

What could be said about Paragraph 3 of the passage?

A．It is a flashback of the tall buildings.

B．It is about the history of skyscrapers.

C．It is a comparison of skyscrapers.

D．It is a description of a skyscraper race.

The Empire State Building

Ever since it was built, the Empire State Building has captured the attention of young and old alike: every year, millions of tourists flock to the Empire State Building to get a glimpse from its 86th and 102nd floor observatories; the image of the Empire State Building has appeared in hundreds of ads and movies, not to mention the countless toys, models, postcards, ashtrays, thimbles, etc. that bear the image.

Yet, why does the Empire State Building appeal to so many? When the Empire State Building opened on May 1, 1931, it was the tallest building in the world -- standing at 1,250 feet tall. This building not only became an icon of New York City, it became a symbol of twentieth century man's attempts to achieve the impossible.

When the Eiffel Tower (984 feet) was built in 1889 in Paris it, in a way, taunted American architects to build something taller. By the early twentieth century, a skyscraper race was on. By 1909 the Metropolitan Life Tower rose 700 feet (50 stories), quickly followed by the Woolworth Building in 1913 at 792 feet (57 stories), and soon surpassed by the Bank of Manhattan Building in 1929 at 927 feet (71 stories).

When John Jacob Raskob (previously a vice president of General Motors) decided to join in the skyscraper race, Walter Chrysler (founder of the Chrysler Corporation) was constructing a monumental building, the height of which he was keeping secret until the building's completion. Not knowing exactly what height he had to beat, Raskob started construction on his own building.

In 1929, Raskob and his partners bought a parcel of property at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue for their new skyscraper. Raskob was able to purchase the site for approximately ＄16 million.

After deciding on and obtaining a site for the skyscraper, Raskob needed a plan. Raskob hired Shreve, Lamb & Harmon to be the architects for his new building. The logic of the plan is very simple. A certain amount of space in the center, arranged as compactly as possible, contains the vertical circulation, mail chutes, toilets, shafts and corridors. Surrounding this is a perimeter of office space 28 feet deep.

The race was getting very competitive. With the thought of wanting to make the Empire State Building higher, Raskob himself came up with the solution. After examining a scale model of the proposed building, Raskob said, "It needs a hat!" Looking toward the future, Raskob decided that the "hat" would be used as a docking station for dirigibles. The new design for the Empire State Building, including the dirigible mooring mast, would make the building 1,250 tall (the Chrysler Building was completed at 1,046 feet with 77 stories).

What is NOT true of the Empire State Building, according to the passage?

A．It has become the image of New York City.

B．It has several floor conservatories for tourists.

C．It has attracted many tourists, old and young.

D．It has appeared in many advertisements.

When the statue of the David was finished, Michelangelo Buonarroti was almost

A．25 years old

B．26 years old

C．28 years old

D．30 years old

What can be inferred from the last paragraph of the passage?

A．Even though the David is still censored somewhere, it is very popular.

B．The author believes that it is not appropriate to display it everywhere.

C．The statue of the David itself has become more iconic than obscene.

D．The statue of the David is not welcome in schools, dorms and churches.

According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．In 1882, the statue was replaced by a copy in the plaza.

B．In 1504, the statue was erected in the Piazza della Signoria, Florence.

C．In 1873, the statue moved to some place to be better protected for posterity.

D．In 1939, a copy of the statue was installed in Glendale, CA, U. S. A．

What is the meaning of the Word disegno in Paragraph 2?

A．It means "designing".

B．It means "an artistic discipline".

C．It means "knowledge of the male human form"

D．. It means "sculpture".

Michelangelo's Masterpiece: David

In 1501, 25-year-old Michelangelo Buonarroti began working on his colossal masterpiece, the 17-foot-tall marble David. From a huge block of marble that had been abandoned decades earlier by another sculptor, Michelangelo took on the challenge of living up to Donatello and other precursors who had sculpted the same heroic figure. The David, portrayed in the Bible as a young shepherd who slew the giant Goliath and went on to become a valiant and just Hebrew king, was a fit symbol of courage and civic duty to guard the city of Florence.

Michelangelo is a painter, sculptor, and architect. In this era, all three forms of art were thought to be based on disegno, an artistic discipline built on knowledge of the male human form. Sculpture is considered the finest art form. because it mimics divine creation: The sculptural image is found within the block of stone much as the human soul is found within the physical body.

The David is considered a masterpiece, an ideal male form. combining heroic strength and human uncertainty. It was erected in 1504 in the public plaza of Florence, the Piazza della Signoria. In 1873, the original was moved to the Accademia delle Belle Arti, where it is better protected for posterity, and a copy of the work was erected in the plaza in 1882.

In 1939, a copy of Michelangelo's masterpiece was installed at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, CA, with one addition: A fig leaf was added to cover the genitals and pubic hair of the statue. The leaf was removed in 1969, and the statue remained in its original state until toppled by an earthquake in 1987.

In November 1969, a poster image of the statue was confiscated by a vice squad in Sydney, Australia, and the manager of the store was charged with obscenity. Daniel Thomas, curator of the New South Wales Art Museum, called the action "incredible, utterly ridiculous." The charges were ultimately dropped.

Debates about the appropriateness of displaying reproductions or photographs of the David in such places as schools, dormitory rooms, and churches continue. Today, the image has become iconic in popular reproductions on T-shirts, refrigerator magnets, and in advertising.

25-year-old Michelangelo Buonarroti ______

A．did better than Donatello and other precursors had done

B．did as well as Donatello and other precursors had done

C．did not live as long as Donatello and other precursors

D．didn't fail to produce another sculpture of the same figure

The first half of the film seems ______

A．to be too challenging to be interesting

B．to be voiced by many new characters

C．to be rendered as if in a monologue

D．to be narrated in too many voices

Which of the following statements is true, according to the author of the passage?

A．The sequence of the film is reasonably smooth in itself.

B．The film has many challenges from beginning to end.

C．The film is confusing at the beginning but clearer later.

D．The film is filed with the hearings in its court scenes.

Which of the following is NOT true, according to the author of the passage?

A．Generally the South is seen as the depths of racism.

B．The three white Canadians themselves are not racists.

C．The letters between Lesra and Hurricane help Rubin.

D．The book exonerates Rubin from his imprisonment.