My father’s reaction to the bank building at 43rd Street and Fifth Avenues 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 that 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 Excepting pocket money, cash of any kind is now rarely used; money as a tangible commodity has largely been replaced by credit.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 a product of the creative imagination. The banker no longer offers us a safe: he offers us a service
-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 hank.
Just as the older bank emphasized its strength, this bank by its architecture boasts of its imaginative powers. From this point of view it is hard to say where architecture ends and human assertion (人们的说法) begins.
36. 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 or 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
37. What are the attitudes of the older generation and the younger generation toward money?
A) The former thinks more of it 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) The former regards it as a real commodity while the latter considers it to be a means to produce more money.
38. The word “tangible” (Para. 4 Line 3) refers to something ________.
A) that is precious
B) that is usable
C) that can be touched
D) that can be reproduced
39. According to this passage, a modern banker should be ________.
A) ambitious and friendly
B) reliable and powerful
C) sensible and impenetrable
D) imaginative and creative
40. It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s attitude towards the new trend in banking is ________.
A) cautious
B) regretful
C) positive
D) hostile
