TEXT E Nearly 515 blocks of San
Francisco, including almost all of Nob Hill, were destroyed by the 1906
earthquake and fires. Many of San Francisco’s "painted ladies"—its gaudy,
nineteenth century Victorian houses—were lost in the disaster. Today, some
14,000 surviving houses have been preserved, particularly in the Cow Hollow,
Mission, Pacific Heights, and Alamo Square districts.
Distinguished by their design characteristics, three styles of San
Franciscan Victorians can be found today. The Italianate, which flourished in
the 1970’s, is characterized by a flat roof, slim pillars flanking the front
door, and bays with windows that slant inward. The ornamentation of these narrow
row houses was patterned after features of the Roman Classical styles. The Stick
style, which peaked in popularity during the 1880s, added ornate woodwork
outlines to the doors and windows. Other additions included the French
cap, gables, and three-sided bays. Designs changed dramatically when the Queen
Anne style became the rage in the 1890s. Turrets, towers, steep gabled roofs,
and glass art windows distinguished Queen Anne houses from their
predecessors. In the period after the earthquake, the Victorians
came to be regarded as impossibly oldfashioned, but beginning around 1960,
owners began peeling off stucco, tearing off false fronts, reapplying custom
woodwork, and commissioning multi-hued paint jobs. Before long, many of these
houses had been restored to their former splendor. Which of the following is NOT one of the author’s purposes in writing the passage
A．To talk about the restoration of Victorian houses in San Francisco in the 1960s. B．To discuss housing problems in San Francisco today. C．To briefly trace the history of Victorian houses in San Francisco. D．To categorize the three types of Victorian houses found in San Francisco.