Most young architects ----particularly those in big cities ----can only dream about working in a building of their own. And marking that dream come true often means finding a building no one else seems to want, which is exactly what happened to David Yocum and his partner, Brain Bell. Their building is a former automobile electrical –parts firm in Atlanta. Form the outside, it looks too old, even something horrible, but open the door and you are in a wide, open courtyard, lined on three sides with rusting(生锈的) walls.
In 2000, Yocum and Bell found this building in the city’s West End. Built in 1947, the structure had been abandoned years earlier and the roof of the main building had fallen down. But the price was right, so Yocum bought it. He spent eight months of his off-hours on demolition(拆除), pulling rubbish out through the roof, because it was too dangerous to go inside the building, The demolition was hard work, but it gave him time to think about what he wanted to do, and “to treasure what was there – the walls, the rust, the light,” Yocum said.” Every season, more paint falls off the walls and more rust develops. It’s like an art installation(装置) in there-a slow-motion show.”
 Since the back building had been constructed without windows, an all-glass front was added to the building to give it a view of the courtyard, and skylights were installed in the roof. The back of the building is a working area and a living room for Yocum and his wife. A sort of buffer(缓冲) zone between the front and the back contains a bathroom, a kitchen and a mechanical room, and the walls that separate these zones have openings that allow views through to the front of the studio and the courtyard beyond.
Yocum and Bell, who have just completed an art gallery for the city, feel that the experience from deoration of their building, focusing on the inside rather than the outside, has influenced their work. It has also given these architects a chance to show how they can make more out of less.

60. According to the passage, it is       for most young architects in big cities to work in a building of their own.
A. easy            B. unnecessary          C. unrealistic      D. common

61．Yocum bought the old building because  __.
A. it was a bargain to him
B. it was still in good condition
C. it was located in the city center
D. it looked attractive from the outside

62. Working on the old building, Yocum and bell＿.
A. pulled rubbish out through the roof
B. removed the skylights from the bathroom
C. presented a slow–motion show in an art gallery
D. built a kitchen at the back part of the old building

63. It can be inferred from the passage that Yocum and Bell __.
A. benefited a lot from pulling down the roof
B. turned more old buildings into art galleries
C. got inspiration from decorating their old building
D. paid more attention to the outside of the gallery

64. The main idea of the passage is that __.
A. people can learn a lot from their failures
B. it is worthwhile to spend money on an old building
C. people should not judge things by their appearance
D. creative people can make the best of what they have
C
You're sitting on the train home and the person opposite you yawns(打哈欠). Suddenly, you're yawning with him, thought you're not tired.
This phenomenon confused scientists for years until a recent study found that people tend to sympathize with fellow humans. Supporting this claim was discovery that those children who were unable to from normal emotional ties with others did not experience contagions(有感染力的) yawning, which showed that humans communicate regularly without words.
Hogo Critchley, a neuroscientist, has conducted an experiment recently, which will prove that happiness and sadness can spread like the common cold. According to Critchley, our mind and body are in constant exchange about how we're feeling. “Emotions are closed linked with states of internal(内部的)responses, ”he explained. “There are also more visible changes in our gesture and facial expressions. When we're in a group, these signals an spread to another person. For example, there're the obvious tendency to smile when smiled at and there are less obvious changes that reflect emotions of surprise, anger or sadness such as a change in our heart rate and blood pressure. ”
Hugo Critchley further explained, “Our bodies synchronise and when we like the other Person, we even copy his behivour. Next time you chat with a friend, take note of how you’re sitting-it's pretty likely that you will be the same. Scientists believe it’s our way of telling each other that you’re parents. Through body language, humans give each other very subtle (微妙的) but clear signals that show emotions. ”
 So, what lessons can we learn from this? “spend time with happy people—otherwise your health could suffer, ” said Critchley. “When we’re sad, our body goes into fight or flight mode. But when we’re happy, our body works normally and we feel relaxed and positive. So we look bright, our skin glows, we feel healthy and it affects everyone around us. ”

65. According to Hugo Critchley, _________.
A. emotions are as visible as facial expressions
B. we yawn more frequently when we have a cold
C. emotions are connected with states of internal responses
D. the change of blood pressure is not linked with the change of emotions

66. The underlined word “synchronise” in paragraph 4 means “_________”.
A. move slowly     B. change rapidly  
C. relax temporarily      D. respond accordingly

67. From the passage we can learn ______.
A. sadness is as contagious as happiness
B. anger is less contagious than friendliness
C. surprise is more contagious than smile
D. surprise is the most contagious among emotions

68. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. Emotions have delicate influence on fellow humans.
B. Children like copying the actions of the fellow humans.
C. Scientists are still confused about contagious yawning.
D. People tend to communicate more with body language.

D
   Celebrity(名人) has become one of the most important representative of popular culture. Fans used to be crazy about a specific film, but now the public tends to base its consumption(消费) on the interest of celebrity attached to any given product. Besides, fashion magazines have almost abandoned the practise of putting models on the cover because they don’t sell nearly as well as famous faces. As a result, celebrities have realized their unbelievably powerful market potential, moving from advertising for others’ products to developing their own.
   Celebrity clthing lines aren’t a completely new phenomenon, but in the past they were typically aimed at the ordinary consumers, and limited to a few TV actresses. Today they are started by first-class stars whose products enjoy equal fame with some world top brands. The most sucessful start-ups have been those by celebrities with specific personal style. As celebrities become more and more experienced at the market, they expand their production scale rapidly, covering almost all the products of daily life.
   However, for every success story, there’s related worning tale of a celebrity who overvalued his consumer appeal. No matter how famous the product’s origin is,  if it fails to impress consumers with its own qualities it begins to resemble an exercise in self-promotional marketing. And once the initial(最初的) attention dies down, consumer interest might fade, loyalty(忠诚) returning to tired-and-true labels.
Today, celebrities face even more severe embarrassment. The pop-cultural circle might be bigger than ever, but its rate of turnover has speeded up as well. Each misstep threatens to reduce a celebrity’s shelf life, and the same newspaper or magazine that once brought him fame has no problem picking him to pieces when the opportunity appears. Still, the ego’s（自我的）potential for expansion is limitless. Having already achieved great wealth and public recognition, many celebrities see fashion as the next frontier to be conquered. As the saying goes, success and failure always go hand in hand. Their success as designers might last only a short time, but fashion—like celebrity—has always been temporary.

69. Fashion magazines today        .
   A. seldom put models on the cover
   B. no longer put models on the cover
   C. need not worry about celebrities’ market potential
   D. judge the market potential of every celebrity correctly

70. A change in the consumer market can be found today that        .
A. price rather than brand name is more concerned
   B. producers prefer models to celebrities for advertisements
   C. producers prefer TV actresses to film stars for advertisements
D. quality rather than the outside of products is more concerned

71. The underlined sentence in paragraph 4 indicates that any wrong step will possibly        .
   A. decrease the popularity of a celebrity and the sales of his products
   B. damage the image of a celebrity in the eyes of the general public
   C. cut short the artistic career of a celebrity in show business
   D. influence the price of a celebrity’s products

72. The passage is mainly about         .
   A. celebrity and personal style
   B. celebrity and markets potential
   C. celebrity and fashion design
   D. celebrity and clothing industry

第二节 简答题(共3小题, 每小题2分, 满分6分)
阅读下面短文, 根据第73至第75小题的具体要求, 简要回答问题, 并将答案转写到答题卡上.

Every January, Breckenridge hosts the International Snow Sculpture Championships. Fourteen teams travel from all over the world to Switzerland to compete. Teams sculpt for sixty-five hours over five days. Each team hopes that when the time is up, its sculpture will be judged the best.
  As the championship begins, the fourteen teams are faced with huge blocks of snow that weigh twenty tons each. The sculptors bring out their favorite tools that work best on the hard iced snow, but they are not allowed to employ tools that use electricity.
   Most teams are inspired by what they have seen in daily life. For example, one team carved a teapot with tea pouring out. Another team sculpted a little cat on its hind feet(后脚)reaching into a fish bowl complete with water ripples(涟漪) and a crab(螃蟹) trying to attack the cat. In 2006, Team USA sculpted a golden dog looking at its image reflected in a mirror. To create the effect that the little dog saw its reflection in the glass, the artists carved two dogs facing each other with their paws(脚爪)touching.
  As the final hours of the competition tick by, exhausted team members add last-minute detail. They use small brooms to brush off snow caught in tiny holes. One team member counts down the last five minutes while others are busy cleaning up the tools. If they leave any tools behind, they will be out. When the whistle bows, everyone must step away from the sculpture. The judges then vote on creativity, technical skills, and visual impact (视觉效果)of the designs.
  In 200, Team USA took first place for their golden dog sculpture titled “Discovery”. But the competition is not just about medals and ribbons. “It’s not about the prize,” said Rob Neyland, Team USA’s captain. “It’s about touching the audience. ”
  Every year, as the championship ends, each team is already dreaming of the next masterpiece it will design.
73. What kind of tools are the sculptors Not permitted to use?(回答词数不超过6个)
                                                                              
74. What gives the sculptors ideas for their creative work? (回答词数不超过9个)
                                                                              
75. Why did Team USA win the competition in 2006? (回答词数不超过15个)
                                                                              
第四部分：书面表达（共两节，满分35分）
第一节 填空（共10小题：每小题1分，满分10分）
阅读下面短文，根据所读内容在文后第76至第85小题的空格里填上适当的单词或短语，并将答案转写到答题卡上。
注意：每空不超过3个单词。
The best thing you can say about the roofs of most city buildings is that you don’t have to look at them. That’s very good, since an urban landscape viewed from above can be an unlovely thing ---block after block of tarred (铺有沥青的)black rooftops, sticky in summer, ugly year-round. Or at least that’s the way it used to be.
But urban roofs are going green. Environmental designers have begun to realize that the tops of buildings don’t have to be wastelands. Indeed, they can be gardens, planted with grasses, flowers and bushes.
A planted roof usually comes in one of two varieties: extensive or intensive. The extensive type is wide and shallow, with a soil depth of less than 8 inches, able to support smaller plants. The intensive type may be smaller, but it’s relatively deeper and home to larger plants.
Whatever the design, green roofs are not so simple as ordinary gardens. The have multiple layers beneath the soil, including a drainage layer, waterproofing, structural support, and so on.
But this system can do a great deal of good. A recent paper in the journal Bio Science tells that green roofs can control temperature, contain water and clean the air. And most impressively, they can cut heat loss from a building by 50%, lower air-conditioning costs by 25%, and reduce the urban-heated-island effect by 2℃.
Of course, apart from the square feet greened and heat reduced, green roofs are even more valued since people can gain some psychological comfort simply by having a quiet place to go . as so often happens, what’s good for the planet can also be good for the spirit.

第二节 写作（满分25分）
请从下列任务中选择你 最喜欢的一位，用英语谢一篇120词左右的短文。要求很具所给信息做适当发挥，且需包括一下三部分内容：
1. 对该任务的简单介绍；
2. 喜欢该任务的理由；
3. 从该任务身上得到的启示。
 

2008年湖南高考题答案

上一页  [1] [2] [3] 下一页