A home needs to be like a home, as it is a home of human body and soul. Furniture designer Rick Gilbert’s flat is a former curtain warehouse located near a railway in a small town in Great Britain。

通過對文章首段第一句以及全文的快速瀏覽，可以知道本文的主題是關(guān)于home(家居)，并可同時知道本文將通過Rick Gilbert的這個例子來展開介紹。接下來順理成章的是對Rick家的介紹云云。可是，考生需注意接下來出現(xiàn)的一個句子：But Gilbert was so determined that he would change the brutally empty, open-plan space of his flat for the strong practical and aesthetic reasons.這個句子中的but表明Rick本人對他現(xiàn)在的家是不滿意的，原因在于工作需求及審美需求，這與首句提到的a home of human body and soul呼應(yīng)。至此，文章首段的目的全部達到，即一、揭示文章主題；二、引出下文的具體介紹。

In my last place in Nottingham, living and working spaces were integrated.

本段為文章第二段，細(xì)心的考生可以發(fā)現(xiàn)，這一段起到的主要作用是承上啟下。第三段的首句refusing to conform to the loft-dwelling convention of open-plan living… …表明，本段及第四段將對Rick對家居的具體改動做介紹。此外，文章末段的最后一句now he is totally satisfied with his flat… …體現(xiàn)了主人公Rick對“新”家的態(tài)度。
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