阅读理解

　　Passage One

　　Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.

　　My father’s reaction to the bank building at 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York city was immediate and definite: “You won’t catch me putting my money in there!” he declared, “Not in that glass box!”

　　Of course, my father is a gentleman of the old school, a member of the generation to whom a good deal of modern architecture is upsetting, but I am convinced that his negative response was not so much to the architecture as to a violation of his concept of the nature of money. In his generation money was thought of as a real commodity(实物) that could be carried, or stolen.

　　Consequently, to attract the custom of a sensible man, a bank had to have heavy walls, barred windows, and bronze doors, to affirm the fact, however untrue, that money would be safe inside. If a building’s design made it appear impenetrable, the institution was necessarily reliable, and the meaning of the heavy wall as an architecture symbol dwelt in the prevailing attitude toward money.

　　But the attitude toward money has, of course, changed. Excepting pocket money, cash of any kind is now rarely used; money as a tangible commodity has largely been replaced by credit. A deficit(赤字) economy, accompanied by huge expansion, has led us to think of money as product of the creative imagination. The banker no longer offers us a safe: he offers us a service in which the most valuable element is the creativity for the invention of large numbers. It is in no way surprising, in view of this change in attitude, that we are witnessing the disappearance of the heavy-walled bank.

　　Just as the older bank emphasized its strength, this bank by its architecture boasts of imaginative powers. From this point of view it is hard to say where architecture ends and human assertion(人们的说法) begins.

　　57.The main idea of this passage is that .

　　[A]money is not as valuable as it was in the past

　　[B]changes have taken place in both the appearance and the concept of banks

　　[C]the architectural style of the older bank is superior to that of the modern bank

　　[D]prejudice makes the older generation think that the modern bank is unreliable

　　58.How do the older generation and the younger one think about money?

　　[A]The former thinks more of money than the latter.

　　[B]The younger generation values money more than the older generation.

　　[C]Both generations rely on the imaginative power of bankers to make money.

　　[D]To the former money is a real commodity but to the latter is the means of producing more money.

　　59.The words “tangible commodity” (Line 2, Para. 4) refer to something .

　　[A]that is precious [B]that is usable

　　[C]that can be touched [D]that can be reproduced

　　60.According to this passage, a modern bank should be .

　　[A]ambitious and friendly [B]reliable and powerful

　　[C]sensible and impenetrable [D]imaginative and creative

　　61.It can be inferred from Para. 5 that the author’s attitude towards the new trend in banking is .

　　[A]cautious [B]regretful [C]positive [D]hostile

　　【全文翻译】

　　我父亲对位于纽约43大街和第五大街的银行大楼的反应是直接而明确的：“你骗不了，我不会把我的钱存在那里!”他说，“不会存在那个玻璃盒子里!”

　　当然，作为一名旧学校的绅士，我父亲属于厌烦大量现代建筑的那代人之一;但是，我确信，他的这种负面反应与其说是来自建筑，不如说是来自他对金钱本质概念的违背。在他那一代，金钱被认为是一种真正的实物，可以随身携带或者被偷走。

　　因此，为了吸引明智的顾客来存钱，银行的建筑必须装备厚重的墙、上闩的窗户、坚硬如铜的门，来印证一个事实：金钱存在这里是安全的;然而，这是不正确的。如果一栋建筑物的设计使它显得坚不可摧，那么这栋建筑物必然是可靠的，而且作为建筑物象征的厚重的墙，它的意义体现着对金钱的普遍态度。

　　但是，人们对金钱的态度发生了变化。除了零花钱外，现在很少使用任何其他形式的现金;作为一种有形的商品，钱在很大程度上已经被信用所代替。伴随有巨大扩张性的赤字经济，使得我们把钱看作是创造性想象的产物。银行给我们提供的不再是安全，而是一种服务，巨额财富的创造性发明是其中最有价值的要素。就(人们对金钱的)态度的这种改变而言，我们正在目睹拥有厚重墙的银行的消失绝对是不足为奇。

　　就像以前的银行注重实力一样，现在的银行通过其建筑物来强调想象的力量。从这个观点来看，很难说这种建筑于何地终结，人们的说法于何处开始。

　　【答案解析】

　　57.【解析】[B]主旨题。该题要求学生总结文章的主题。文章主要写了银行发展的两个方面:一是银行的外在建筑风格，过去的银行通常有heavy walls, barred windows 以及bronze doors，给人以非常可靠、放心踏实的感觉;二是银行的功能转变。选项B正是恰当的概括，所以应该是正确答案。文章并无涉及现在和过去对钱的价值比较，所以A项“钱不如过去值钱”不对。文章也没有对比哪种建筑风格更好，所以C项“过去的银行的建筑风格比现代银行的建筑风格更好”也不对。D项说“偏见使得老一辈人认为现代银行不可靠”，不符合文章意思。

　　58.【解析】[D]推断题。问题问老一代人与年轻一代人对钱的认识态度是什么?老一代人的看法可以从第三段最后一句看出:“In his generation money was thought of as a real commodity that...”年轻一代对钱的看法可以从第四段第四行至第六行，尤其是“... he offers us a service in which the most valuable element is the creativity for the invention of large numbers.”从上可以归纳出D项为该题的正确答案。

　　59.【解析】[C]词汇题。该题较容易，只要参阅第二段“commodity”后的定语从句“that could be carried, or stolen.”这实际上就是解释老一代人对钱的看法，他们认为钱是可以被携带或被偷走，也就是可以摸得到的实实在在的东西，C项正确。

　　60.【解析】[D]细节题。问题问现代银行应该具有什么功能?四选项的意思分别是:A“充满雄心且友好”，B“可靠且威力无穷”，C“明智且不可穿越”，D“富有想象力且有创造性”。要回答这个问题，应定位在文章第四段“...in which the most valuable element is the creativity”和第五段“... boasts of imaginative powers.”从中不难看出现代银行应该是富有想象力并且有创造力。

　　61.【解析】[C]推断题。该题要求学生判断作者对银行的外在风格和功能的转变这一趋势的态度。最明确的提示应该是第四段开头“But the attitude toward money has, of course, changed.”随后进一步分析了现代银行不同于过去银行的功能，作者用了“creative imagination”, 可以看出其态度是肯定的。C项正确。