阅读试题

Last summer, two nineteenth-century cottages were rescued from remote farm fields in Montana, to be moved to an Art Deco building in San Francisco. The houses were made of wood. These cottages once housed early settlers as they worked the dry Montana soil; now they hold Twitter engineers.

The cottages could be an example of the industry's odd love affair with "low technology," a concept associated with the natural world, and with old-school craftsmanship (手艺) that exists long before the Internetera. Low technology is not virtual (虚拟的) —so, to take advantage of it, Internet companies have had to get creative. The rescued wood cottages, fitted by hand in the late eighteen-hundreds, are an obvious example, but Twitter's designs lie on the extreme end. Other companies are using a broader interpretation (阐释) of low technology that focuses on nature.

Amazon is building three glass spheres filled with trees, so that employees can "work and socialize in a more natural, park-like setting." At Google's office, an entire floor is carpeted in glass. Facebook's second Menlo Park campus will have a rooftop park with a walking trail.

Olle Lundberg, the founder of Lundberg Design, has worked with many tech companies over the years. "We have lost the connection to the maker in our lives, and our tech engineers are the ones who feel impoverished(贫乏的) , because they're surrounded by the digital world," he says. "They're looking for a way to regaintheir individual identity, and we've found that introducing real crafts is one way to do that."

This craft based theory is rooted in history, William Morris, the English artist and writer, turned back to pre-industrial arts in the eighteen-sixties, just after the Industrial Revolution. The Arts and Crafts movement defined itself against machines. "Without creative human occupation, people became disconnected from life," Morris said.

Research has shown that natural environments can restore(恢复) our mental capacities. In Japan, patients are encouraged to "forest-bathe," taking walks through woods to lower their blood pressure.

These health benefits apply to the workplace as well. Rachel Kaplvin, a professor of environmental psychology, has spent years researching the restorative effects of natural environment. Her research found that workers with access to nature at the office—even simple views of trees and flowers—felt their jobs were less stressful and more satisfying. If low-tech offices can potentially nourish the brains and improve the mental health of employees then, fine, bring on the cottages.

阅读试题

50. The writer mentions the two nineteenth-century cottages to show that ________.

A. Twitter is having a hard time

B. old cottages are in need of protection

C. early settlers once suffered from a dry climate in Montana

D. Internet companies have rediscovered the benefits of low technology

51. Low technology is regarded as something that _______.

A. is related to nature 　　　

B. is out of date today

C. consumes too much energy

D. exists in the virtual world

52. The main idea of Paragraph 5 is that human beings ________.

A. have destroyed many pre-industrial arts

B. have a tradition of valuing arts and crafts

C. can become intelligent by learning history

D. can regain their individual identity by using machines

53. The writer's attitude to "low technology" can best be described as ________.

A. positive

B. defensive

C. cautious

D. doubtful

54. What might be the best title for the passage?

A. Past Glories, Future Dreams 　　

B. The Virtual World, the Real Challenge

C. High-tech Companies, Low-tech Offices

D. The More Craftsmanship, the Less Creativity

参考译文

去年夏天，蒙大拿州的两所19世纪的农舍得以保住，并迁到了旧金山艺术装饰风格建筑区。农舍是木制的。这些农舍曾是那些早期耕作在蒙大拿干涸土地上的定居者们的，而现在他们的所有人是Twitter的工程师。

农舍是“低技术”行业奇怪嗜好的一个典型，“低技术”是一种与自然界休息相关的概念，是一种在互联网存在之前就已经存在的传统工艺。“低技术”不是虚拟的，所以要充分利用它，而互联网公司已经有所创意。18世纪后期手工整修遗留下来的农舍就是一个明显的例子，但Twitter的设计过于极端。其他公司则使用一种更加广泛的解释，那就是低技术专注于自然。

亚马逊正在建设三个栽满树的玻璃球状建筑，以便员工能在一个更加自然的公园式背景下工作和社交。在谷歌办公室，整个地板都铺成了玻璃状。Facebook的第二个门洛帕克公园小区将在屋顶开设一条人行道。

Lundberg 设计的创始人兰德伯格曾在一些高科技公司工作过数年。他说：“我们与我们生活中的制造商失去了联系，而我们的技术工程师是那些感觉贫乏的人，因为他们一直被数字世界环绕着。他们正在找寻一种方法来重新获取他们的个人感觉，而我们发现引入真正的工艺就是一个好办法。”

建立在理论基础之上的工艺植根于历史，就在工业革命之后，英国艺术家兼作家的威廉•莫里斯回顾了18世纪60年代工业化之前的工艺。工艺美术运动表明了工艺本身是与机械相悖的。莫里斯说：“如果没有富于创新的人类职业，那么我们将与生活完全脱节。”

研究表明自然环境能够帮助我们恢复精神力。在日本，医生鼓励病人去森林，因为森林漫步有助于降低血压。

这些健康益处同样适用于工作场所。环境心理学教授瑞秋•开普文花了数年时间研究自然环境的恢复效果。她的研究发现，进入自然环境，哪怕只是简单地看到树木和花朵，也能减少工人的工作压力，而使他们更满意。如果低技术含量的办公室可以滋养大脑，提高员工的心理健康，那么，好，我们可以将农舍引进办公室。

答案解析

50. D 细节理解题。根据第二段中的"... Internet companies have had to get creative...low technology that focuses on nature."可知网络公司重新发现了低技术的益处。

51. A 细节理解题。根据第二段中的"...with 'low technology,' a concept associated with the natural world"可知低技术主要指的是与自然有关的东西。故答案为A项。

52. B 段落大意题。根据第五段中的"...is rooted in history... the English artist and writer..."可知人类有珍惜艺术和工艺的传统。故答案为B项。

53. A 观点态度题。根据文章最后一段中"If low-tech offices can potentially nourish the brains and improve the mental health of employees then, fine, bring on the cottages."可知作者是支持低技术办公室的。故答案为A项。

54. C 主旨大意题。本文主要讲为了给一些高科技公司的职员减压，建议使用接近自然的办公环境。故答案为C项。