The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, completed in 1436, is the most important landmark in Florence, Italy, and the fourth largest church in the world.

The most famous part of the church is the dome (穹顶). It was created by the genius of the Renaissance (文艺复兴), Filippo Brunelleschi, who showed a great mastery of technical knowledge. Interestingly, Brunelleschi had been a trained goldsmith (金匠) and had never built anything in his life before building the masterpiece. This may sound crazy, but in many ways we look at the relation between Brunelleschi and the church, it seemed that he was “the chosen one” to complete the construction.

When he was born in 1377, the church had been under construction for 80 years with no solution to the dome-shaped roof. The building of the church had grown so larger and grander than the original plans that no one had any idea how it would or could be done. In 1418 a public competition was announced for the construction of the dome. Of course, there was the possibility of building the dome with a wooden structure to support it, but that would end up being costly requiring over 400 trees, lots of manpower and time. When Brunelleschi entered the competition, he was the only one with an idea that did not use wood, which caught the attention of the judges. Brunelleschi did many mathematical calculations and invented a lot of new tools and machines for the project, which was started two years after he won the competition. He finished the dome in only sixteen years, which was shockingly fast back in his time.

Always known as a secretive person, Brunelleschi didn’t leave a single building plan, drawing, or even a letter behind on how he managed to come up with such an amazing design. For years, the structure was a huge mystery about how the dome was built.

【小题1】Why did the church remain unfinished for a long time?

A．It was waiting for the chosen one for the task.	B．It went too far away from the original plan.
C．The wood, labor and time were not enough.	D．The tools and machines had not been invented.

【小题2】Why did Brunelleschi get the judges’ attention?

A．He was a trained goldsmith.	B．He had a gift for invention.
C．He raised a different design.	D．He was good at calculation.

【小题3】In which year was the dome completed?

A．1418.

B．1420.

C．1434.

D．1436.

【小题4】What does the underlined “secretive” mean in the last paragraph?

A．Not outgoing in personality.	B．Creative in imagination.
C．Not afraid when making decisions.	D．Energetic when working.