2024届高考英语阅读理解五步法专项带练(28)讲义

（素材来源：广东省华附、省实、广雅、深中2024届高三四校联考英语试题） Unusual shapes, ambitious designs, new materials and new different styles have come with the modern architecture into construction today. And the world owes some of its strangest buildings to the masterminds of unconventional architects. Here are some of them. Cubic Houses, Rotterdam, Netherlands The Cubic Houses are an architectural wonder located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. They were designed and constructed by architect Piet Blom in the 1970s. Blom was asked by Rotterdam town planners to solve the dilemma of building houses on top of a pedestrian bridge. They are cubes situated in different angles over hexagonal poles, so they look like trees and altogether make a forest. There are 38 small cubes and they are all attached to each other. National Centre for the Performing Arts, China The National Center for the Performing Arts （NCPA）, described as the Giant Egg, is an arts center in Beijing, China. The construction started in December 2001 and it took almost 6 years to complete. The building is surrounded by an artificial lake, seats 5, 452 people in three halls and is almost 12, 000 m2 in size. As one of the strangest buildings, it was designed by French architect Paul Andreu. Forest Spiral, Germany The Forest Spiral is a residential building complex in Darmstadt, Germany. It was designed by Australian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, and constructed by the Bauverein Darmstadt company. The building was completed in 2000. It’s a really amazing building with a green roof, resembling a spiral (螺旋) Habitat 67, Montreal, Canada Habitat 67, a housing complex in Montreal, Canada, was designed by Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie. Habitat 67 is shaped like a very interesting arrangement of cubes that kids play with. It looks so original and is a building completely stable and comfortable for living. 21. What makes the four buildings special? A. Their sizes. B. Their functions. C. Their appearances. D. Their building mat