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。
通过对文章首段第一句以及全文的快速浏览，可以知道本文的主题是关于home(家居)，并可同时知道本文将通过Rick Gilbert的这个例子来展开介绍。接下来顺理成章的是对Rick家的介绍云云。可是，考生需注意接下来出现的一个句子：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.这个句子中的but表明Rick本人对他现在的家是不满意的，原因在于工作需求及审美需求，这与首句提到的a home of human body and soul呼应。至此，文章首段的目的全部达到，即一、揭示文章主题;二、引出下文的具体介绍。
In my last place in Nottingham, living and working spaces were integrated.
本段为文章第二段，细心的考生可以发现，这一段起到的主要作用是承上启下。第三段的首句refusing to conform to the loft-dwelling convention of open-plan living… …表明，本段及第四段将对Rick对家居的具体改动做介绍。此外，文章末段的最后一句now he is totally satisfied with his flat… …体现了主人公Rick对“新”家的态度。
