8 When men and women built on the prairies, however, this tremendous
spaciousness was needlessly sacrificed, all cut up crosswise or lengthwise
into twenty-five- or fifty-foot lots; space was reduced to a money matter,
with salesmanship parceling out the ground and selling it with no restric-
tions. Everywhere in a great, new, free country, I could see only this
mean tendency to tip every structure up edgewise instead of letting it lie
comfortably flat on the ground, where spaciousness was a virtue.
9 I had an idea that the planes parallel to the earth in buildings
identify themselves with the ground, making the buildings belong to the
earth; I felt that every house in a low region should begin on the ground,
rather that in it. Putting these ideas to work, I devised a house at
ground level, eliminating the damp basement. Another idea, that shelter
should be the essential look of any dwelling, was responsible for my adding
the low spreading roof with generously projecting eaves. These various
feelings, all taking the same direction, make it apparent that I was born
an American child of the ground and of space, welcoming spaciousness as a
modern human need; the farm had no negligible share in developing this sense
of things in me, I am sure.
10 Taliesin, my home, has received architectural pilgrims from all
over the world; the pilgrims have gone home and written in their newspapers
and magazines and books about America as they discovered it hidden away in
a rural nook in southwestern Wisconsin. In this nook is our busy workshop,
out of which have come plans for buildings that have established new ideals
in architecture and carried new principles of engineering into effect. The
American people need only to know that they can build real buildings. We
would like to hold and consolidate all these gains for Wisconsin; we are
trying to do this by establishing a larger industrial workshop near here for
young people who want to be American artists. Students are awakening to a
lively interest in this matter. Perhaps the state university itself might
take an interest-but that interest might, after all, stultify our own enjoy-
ment in a fresh endeavor and get us mixed up with senators and assemblymen
and committees and regents, and wear us all away with nothing done. Our
social system is like that, unfortunately; yes, even in Wisconsin.
11 Why does any real progress have to overcome so much resistance?
Why do we need so many first-class funerals to get anything sensible done,
if it is “unusual”? Some day Wisconsin will be so progressive that she
will consider the fine arts not only as essential as politics, science,
or farming, but even more fundamental to any state that would live “above
the belt.”
12 Getting back to why I love Wisconsin…
13 I love Wisconsin because of every sincere, forward-looking experi-
ment the state itself has ever made, whether it succeeded or not; because
of her courage, her love of independence, her true belief in individuality.
I love Wisconsin because I am by birth and nature a Wisconsin radical.
Radical is a fine word meaning “roots”; being radical, I must strike root
somewhere, and Wisconsin is my somewhere; I feel my roots in these hillsides
as I know those of the oak that have struck in here beside me—and that
oak and I understand each other. Wisconsin soil has put sap into my veins,
and I should love her as I love my forebears, and as I love my work.
1)The author writes as if he were
a. seeking precise words to convey a subtle meaning
b. making an orderly outline of ideas
c. primarily concerned with imparting information
d. thinking random thoughts aloud
2)The author’s style of writing resembles his architectural style; it is
a. radical yet pleasing
b. natural and functional
c. not at all decorative
d. overly ornate
3) Wright’s description of Wisconsin scenery can best be characterized as
a. frankly sentimental
b. objective yet sensitive
c. professionally critical
d. humorless
4)Wright’s reservation about his state was that it
a. is picturesque rather than dramatic
b. is too far from the architectural centers of the world
c. has not been progressive enough
d. does not offer much opportunity for young people
5) Wright’s major criticism of the architecture of a Chicago suburb was its
a. lack of harmony with natural surroundings
b. failure to recognize need for height
c. inability to utilize small lots
d. faulty physical construction
6) “First-class funerals” in paragraph 11 refers to
a. old, proven ideas that were abandoned
b. failures of traditionalists
c. expensive but meritless projects
d. progressive experiments that failed
the other four question in part three http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?…
Loading ...