Section B
Passage One
[26]At first, most Americans didn't think there was anything particularly special about the White House. Few had ever seen it or had any idea what it looked like, and even the families who lived there found it completely inadequate. When it was built, the White House was the largest house in the country and it remained so until after the Civil War. But it served so many different purposes that little of it was available for First Family to actually live in. The first floor, or "State Floor," was made up entirely of public rooms; and the president's offices, which were staffed by as many as 30 employees, took half of the second floor. The First Family had to get by with the eight or fewer second-floor rooms that were left. [27]By Lincoln's time, the situation was intolerable. The White House was open to visitors; office seekers, cranks, and the merely curious had no difficulty making their way upstairs to the official rooms from the first floor. Lincoln was so uncomfortable with the situation that he had a private corridor constructed. He also received a $20,000 appropriation to improve the furnishings of the White House. [28]The new furnishings did not last for more than a few years. When Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, the White House fell into disarray. No one really supervised the White House during the first five weeks. Mrs. Lincoln laid mourning in her room, and vandals helped themselves.

Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. How did Americans feel towards the White House in the beginning?
正確答案：A
解析：短文談到，一開始，大部分美國人認為白宮并沒有什么特別之處，很少人見過白宮或者知道白宮是什么樣子的，也就是說，美國人一開始對白宮并不太在意，故選A。
27. Why was the situation intolerable during Lincoln's time?
正確答案：C
解析：短文談到，在林肯時期，白宮對外開放，各種各樣的人都可以很輕易地從一樓上到樓上的官員室去，也就是說沒有對參觀者進行監管，所以白宮的情況很糟糕，故選C。
28. What happened after the White House was refurbished according to the speaker?
正確答案：D
解析：短文談到，白宮的新裝修并沒有持續幾年，林肯遇刺之后，白宮陷入了混亂，故選D。