When a group of children politely stop a conversation with you, saying: "We have to go to work now," you' re left feeling surprised and certainly uneasy. After all, this is the 1990s and the idea of children working is just unthinkable. That is, until you are told that they are all pupils of stage schools, and that the "work" they go off to is to go on the stage in a theatre.
Stage schools often act as agencies (代理机构) to supply children for stage and television work. More worthy of the name "stage school" are those few places where children attend full time, with a training for the theatre and a general education.
A visit to such schools will leave you in no doubt that the children enjoy themselves. After all , what lively children wouldn't settle for spending only half the day doing ordinary school work, and acting, singing or dancing their way through the other half of the day?
Then of course there are times for the children to make a name and make a little money in some big shows. Some stage schools give their children too much professional work at such a young age. But the law is very tight on the amount they can do. Those under 13 are limited to 40 days in the year; those over 13 to 80 days.
The schools themselves admit that not all children will be successful in the profession for which they are being trained. So what happens to those who don' t make it? While all the leading schools say they place great importance on children getting good study results, the facts seem to suggest this is not always the case.In the writer' s opinion, a good stage school should _________ .
| A．produce star performers |
| B．help pupils improve their study skills |
| C．train pupils in language and performing arts |
| D．provide a general education and stage training. |
"Professional work" as used in the text means _________ .
| A．ordinary school work | B．money-making performances |
| C．stage training at school | D．acting, singing or dancing after class |
Which of the following best describes how the writer feels about stage schools?
| A．He thinks highly of what they have to offer . |
| B．He favours an early start in the training of performing arts. |
| C．He feels uncomfortable about children putting on night shows. |
| D．He doubts the standard of ordinary education they have reached. |
When newspapers and radio describe the damage caused by a hurricane named Hazel,girls named Hazel are probably teased by their friends.To keep out of trouble,the Weather Bureau says,“Any resemblance between hurricane names and the names of particular girls is purely accidental.”
Some women became angry because hurricanes are given their names,but many other women are proud to see their names make headlines.They don’t even care that they are the names of destructive storms.Because more women seem to like it than dislike it,the Weather Bureau has decided to continue using girl’s names for hurricanes.
In some ways a hurricane is like a person.After it is born,it grows and develops,then becomes old and dies.Each hurricane has a character of its own.Each follows its own path through the world,and people remember it long after it gone.So it is natural to give hurricanes’ names,and to talk about them almost if they were alive.What happens to girls named Hazel according to the passage?
| A．They suffer from hurricanes. |
| B．The Weather Bureau look for them. |
| C．Others often make fun of them. |
| D．They can’t find boyfriend. |
The underlined word“resemblance”probably means ______.
| A．trouble | B．difference | C．sameness | D．success |
According to the passage,which is more reasonable?
| A．Some women feel unhappy because hurricanes are given their names. |
| B．A lot of women complain of the Weather Bureau. |
| C．Many women want to be known. |
| D．All the hurricanes are caused by women. |
Public opinions make the Weather Bureau ______.
| A．consider the disagreement of some women |
| B．go on naming hurricanes after women |
| C．name hurricanes after men |
| D．look for a new method to name hurricanes |
It is natural to give hurricane names because ______.
| A．they become old and die |
| B．all of them should be remembered |
| C．each hurricane has its own day to come |
| D．each hurricane has its own character |
I came to study in the United States a year ago .Yet I did not know the real American society until I was injured in a car accident because after the accident I had to see a doctor and go to court.
After the accident .my roommate called a doctor for me. I was very grateful and determined to repay him one day. But the next day, he asked me to pay him $200 for what he had done. I was astonished. He had good reason to charge me, he said. And if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible for my injury, I’d have to have a good lawyer. And only a good doctor can help me get a good lawyer .Now that he had helped me find a good doctor, it was only fair that I should pay him.
But every day I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes. He would see two or three patients at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another. Yet he charged me $115 each time .The final examination report consisted of ten lines, and it cost me $215.
My lawyer was all smiles the first time we met. But after that he avoided seeing me at all. He knew very well the other party was responsible for the accident, yet he hardly did anything. He simply waited to collect his money. He was so irresponsible that I decided to dismiss him. And he made me pay him $770.
Now I had to act as my own lawyer. Due to my inexperience, I told the insurance company the date I was leaving America. Knowing that, they played for time…and I left without getting a cent.
My experiences taught me two things about America: firstly, in a country like America money is everything. It is more important than friendship, honor or professional morality (道德). Secondly, foreigners are still being unfairly treated. So when we talk about America, we should see both its good and bad sides.The author’s roommate offered to help him because________.
| A．he felt sorry for the author |
| B．he thought it was a chance to make some money |
| C．he knew the doctor was a very good one |
| D．he wanted the author to have a good lawyer |
A good doctor is essential for the author to __________.
| A．be properly treated |
| B．talk with the person responsible for the accident |
| C．recover before he leaves America |
| D．eventually get the responsible party to pay for his injury |
The word“charge”in the third paragraph means_________ .
| A．be responsible | B．accuse | C．ask as a price | D．claim |
Both the doctor and the lawyer in this passage are very__________.
| A．friendly | B．selfish | C．professional | D．busy |
What conclusion can you draw from the story?
| A．Going to court is something very common in America. |
| B．One must be very careful while driving a car. |
| C．There are more bad sides in America than good sides. |
| D．Money is more important than other things in the US. |
This year some twenty-three hundred teen-agers (young people aged from 13-19)from all over the world will spend about ten months in U. S. homes. They will attend U. S. schools, meet U. S. teen-agers, and form impressions of the real America. At the same time, about thirteen hundred American teen-agers will go to other countries to learn new languages and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world.
Here is a two-way student exchange in action. Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George's family. In turn, George's son Mike spent a year in Fred's home in America.
Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived, but after two months' study, the language began to come to him. School was completely different from what he had expected --much harder. Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States. There were almost no outside activities.
Family life, too, was different. The father's word was law, and all activities were around the family rather than the individual(个人). Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he missed having a car.
"Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you soon learn to like it."
At the same time, in America, Mike, a friendly German boy, was also forming his idea. "I suppose I should criticize American schools", he says. "It is far too easy by our level. But I have to say that I like it very much. In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe your schools are better in training for citizens(公民). There ought to be some middle ground between the two. " This year _____ teen-agers will take part in the exchange programme between America and other countries.
| A．twenty three hundred | B．thirteen hundred |
| C．over three thousand | D．less than two thousand |
The whole exchange programme is mainly to _____ .
| A．help teen-agers in other countries know the real America. |
| B．send students in America to travel in Germany |
| C．let students learn something about other countries |
| D．have teen-agers learn new languages |
Fred and Mike agreed that _____ .
| A．American food tasted better than German food |
| B．German schools were harder than American schools |
| C．Americans and Germans were both friendly |
| D．There were more cars on the streets in America |
What is particular in American schools is that _____ .
| A．there is some middle ground between the two teaching buildings |
| B．there are a lot of after-school activities |
| C．students usually take fourteen subjects in all |
| D．students go outside to enjoy themselves in a car |
After experiencing the American school life, Mike thought _____ .
| A．a better education should include something good from both America and Germany |
| B．German schools trained students to be better citizens |
| C．American schools were not as good as German schools |
| D．the easy life in the American school was more helpful to students |
Today anyone will accept money in exchange for goods and services. People use money to buy food, furniture, books, bicycles and hundreds of other things we need or want. When they work, they usually get paid in money.
Lots of the money today is made of paper. But people used to use all kinds of things as money. One of the first kinds of money was shells. Shells were not the only things used as money.
In China, cloth and knives were used. In the Philippine Islands, rice was used as money for a long time. Some Africans once used elephant tusks, monkey tails, and salt as money.
The first metal coins were made in China. They were round and had a square hole in the center. Different countries have used different metals and designs for their money. Later, countries began to make coins of gold and silver.
But even gold and silver were inconvenient if you had to buy something expensive. Again the Chinese thought of a way to improve money. They began to use paper money. The first paper money looked more like a note from one person to another than the paper money used today.
Money has had an interesting history, from the days of shell money until today. In the Philippines Islands ______ was once used as money.
| A．rice | B．knife | C．cloth | D．wheat |
What was first used as money? ______.
| A．Elephants tusks | B．Cloth | C．Salt | D．Shells |
The first metal coins looked like ______.
| A．square-shaped with some designs on them |
| B．square-shaped with a round hole in the center |
| C．round-shaped with a square hole in the middle |
| D．round-shaped with a round hole in the middle |
The first paper money ______.
| A．was passed from west Asia to China | B．looked like a note used today |
| C．was first used in Europe | D．looked like a piece of fur |
We can infer from the passage that ______.
| A．paper money isn’t difficult to make |
| B．money must be suited to carry |
| C．people need money to exchange goods with each other |
| D．people prefer metal coins to paper notes |
“Mobile phone killed my man,” screamed one headline last year. Also came claims that an unpublished study had found that mobile phones could cause memory loss. And a British newspaper devoted its front page to a picture supposedly showing how mobile phones could heat the brain.
F
or anyone who uses a mobile phone, these are worrying times. But speak to the scientists whose work is the focus of these scares and you hear a different story.
One of the oddest effects comes from the now famous “memory loss” s
tudy. Alan Preece and his colleagues at the University of Bristol placed a device that imitated the microwave radiation of mobile phones to the left ear of volunteers. The volunteers were good at recalling words and pictures they had been shown on a computer screen. Preece says he still can’t comment on the effects of using a mobile phone for years on end. But he rules out the suggestion that mobile phones have an immediate effect on our cognitive（认识的）abilities. “I’m pretty sure there is no effect on short-term memory,” he says.
Another expert, Tattersall, remarked that his latest findings have removed fears about memory loss. One result, for instance, suggests that nerve cell synapses（神经元突触） exposed to microwaves become more — rather than less — receptive to undergoing changes linked to memory formation.
An even happier outcome would be that microwaves turned out to be good for you. It sounds crazy, but a couple of years ago a
team led by William Adey at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in California found that mice exposed to microwaves for two hours a day were less likely to develop brain tumours when given a cancer-causing chemical.
“If it doesn’t certainly cause cancer in animals and cells, then it probably isn’t going to cause cancer in humans,” says William. And while there’s still no absolute evidence that mobile phone use does damage your memories or give you cancer, the conclusion is: don’t be afraid. Mobile phone users are worried because ______.
| A．they are not sure whether mobile phones can cause memory loss |
| B．it’s said that mobile phones have a lot of side effects |
| C．one headline reported “Mobile phone killed my man” |
D．a British newspaper s howed mobile phones could heat the brain |
According to this passage, we can know that _____.
| A．the mobile phone is a most wonderful invention |
| B．there’s no need to worry about the radiation from mobile phones |
| C．something must be done to stop people using mobile phones |
| D．mobile phone companies shouldn’t cheat customers |
What would be the best title for this passage? ______.
| A．New Mobile Phones. | B．Special Mobile Phones. |
| C．New Special Investigation: Mobile Phones. | D．New Investigation. |
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