Frederick Law Olmsted （1822 - 1903）, a Connecticut farm boy, saw his first public park in Liverpool, England, as he accompanied his brother on a walking tour. He was impressed by the park’s winding paths, open fields, lakes and bridges. Perhaps the most wonderful things of all was that the park was open to everyone.
A moment beginning in 1840 to set aside park land on New York City’s Manhattan Island has successful result in 1856 with the purchase of 840 acres of rocky and swampy （沼泽） land, bought with about $ 5 million in state funds. Olmsted’s chance meeting with a project organizer led to his applying for the job of park manager. In 1857 Olmsted was appointed manager of the proposed park, and the clearing of the site began.
Calvert Vaux, a British architect, asked Olmsted to collaborate with him on a park design, and Olmsted agreed. Vaux saw the park as a work of art, while Olmsted saw the park as a place for people to escape the noise of the city. Together they invented a plan that would give the persons and animals living in the city a quiet, green park and would also preserve and increase the good qualities of the natural features of the land. The commissioners voted in favor of Vaux and Olmsted’s plan, and in 1858, the two became the official designers of New York City’s Central Park.
It took millions of cartloads of topsoil to build Central park’s gentle slopes, shady glens, and steep, rocky ravines. Five million trees were planted, a water – supply system was laid, and bridges, arches, roads and paths were constructed. The park officially opened in 1876, and today, well over a century later, people still escape the noise of the city in Olmsted and Vaux’s great work of art.
53．What is the text mainly about?
A．A history of the planning of Central park.
B．An engineering plan for Central Park.
C．A biography of Frederick Law Olmsted.
D．A guided walking tour of Central park.
54．Olmsted became manager of Central Park because of         .
A．his friendship with Calvert Vaux
B．his hard work in clearing the land
C．his winning a design competition
D．a chance meeting with one of the park’s organizers
55．The underlined word “collaborate” in the third paragraph means         .
A．disagree    B．comment   C．vote   D．work together
56．Which of the following is true about Central Park?
A．It is out of date nowadays.       
B．The designers came from the same country.
C．It is an old park in America.      
D．It is only for people who can well afford it.