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.

　People would stop feeling uneasy when realizing that the children they’re talking to________.

　　  A. attend a stage school　　　　  B. are going to the theatre

　　  C. have got some work to do 　　  D. love singing and dancing

　　 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.

The United States is well?known for its network of major highways designed to help a driver get from one place to another in the shortest possible time.?　36　? these wide modern roads are generally ?　37　? and well maintained, with ?　38　? sharp curves and many straight ?　39　?,a direct route is not always the most ?　40　? one. Large highways often pass ?　41　? scenic areas and interesting small towns. Furthermore, these highways generally ?　42　? large urban centers which means that they become crowded with ?　43　? traffic during rush hours,?　44　? the “fast, direct” way becomes a very slow route. However, there is ?　45　? always another route to take ?　46　? you are not in a hurry. Not far from the ?　47　? new “superhighways”,there are often older,?　48　? heavily traveled roads which go through the countryside.?　49　? of these are good two lane roads; others are uneven roads ?　50　? through the country. These secondary routes may go up steep slopes, along hilly ?　51　? or down frightening hillsides to towns ?　52　? in deep valleys. Though these are less direct routes, longer and slower, they generally go to places ?　53　? the air is clear and the scenery is beautiful, and the driver may have a ?　54　? to get a fresh, clean ?　55　? of the world.

36. A. Although     B. Since  C. Because      D. Therefore

37. A. rough   B. splendid     C. smooth       D. complicated

38. A. little     B. few     C. much  D. many

39. A. selections     B. separations C. divisions    D. sections

40. A. terrible B. Possible     C. enjoyable   D. reasonable

41. A. to B. Into    C. over    D. by

42. A. lead     B. connect      C. collect D. provide

43. A. large    B. fast     C. light   D. heavy

44. A. when    B. for      C. but     D. that

45. A. yet       B. still     C. almost D. quite

46. A. unless   B. if C. as       D. since

47. A. relatively     B. regularly    C. reasonably  D. respectively

48. A. and      B. Less    C. more   D. or

49. A. All       B. Several      C. Lots    D. Some

50. A. driving B. crossing     C. curving      D. traveling

51. A. rocks    B. cliffs   C. roads  D. paths

52. A. lying    B. laying C. laid     D. lied

53. A. there    B. when  C. which D. where

54. A. space    B. period C. chance       D. spot

55. A. view    B. variety       C. visit    D. Virtue

Tokyo is one of those places that you can love and hate at the same time.

In Tokyo there are always too many people in the places where I want to be. Of course there are too many cars. The Japanese drive very fast， but in Tokyo they often spend a long time in traffic jams. Tokyo is not different from London， Paris and New York in that. It is different when one wants to walk.

At certain times of the day there are a lot of people on foot in London’s Oxford Street. But the streets near the Ginze in Tokyo always have a lot of people on foot， and sometimes it is really difficult to walk. People are very polite； there are just too many of them.

The worst time to be in the street is at 11：30 at night. That is when the nightclubs are closing and everybody wants to go home. There are 35,000 nightclubs in Tokyo， and you do not often see one that is empty.

During the day， most people travel to and from work by train. Tokyo people buy six million train tickets every day. At most stations， trains arrive every two or three minutes， but at certain hours there do not seem to be enough trains. Although they are usually crowded， Japanese trains are very good. They always leave and arrive on time. On a London train you would see everybody reading a newspaper. In Tokyo trains everybody in a seat seems to be asleep， whether his journey is long or short.

In Tokyo， I stood outside the station for five minutes. Three fire-engines raced past on the way to one of the many fires that Tokyo has every day. Tokyo has so many surprises that none of them can really surprise me now.

1.Tokyo is different from London in that　　　　.

A. there are many traffic jams        

B. nightclubs are sometimes empty

C. wherever I want to be， it’s too crowded       

D. it is more difficult to go somewhere on foot

2. According to the passage， Japanese trains 　　　　.

A. are always punctual

B. often delay at most situations

C. are crowded because they are often late

D. are the last means people use to travel to and from work

3.What is the story mainly about？

A. The writer’s impression of Tokyo.

B. The reasons why the writer loves Tokyo.

C. Different means of transportation in Tokyo.

D. Many surprises that Tokyo has brought to the writer.

4.Fires break out 　　　　 in Tokyo according to the writer.

A. very seldom                              B. quite frequently

C. three times a day                              D. the most often in the world

5.Which of the following is NOT true about Tokyo？

A. Tokyo people are friendly.

B. There are more trains than cars.

C. Fire-engines are very busy in the city.

D. The streets become more crowded at 11：30 at night.