Waiting for Dr. Dirkson  
                                                                    (A play)
THE SCENE: A classroom in a high school.
        (场景) Summer is over. This is the first day of school. The students arrive one by one or in small
                   groups. Everyone stops to read the sign on the door. It says: 
                   PHYSICS 1, DR.F. DIRKSON.
THE CHARACTERS: Five students (Linda, Ben, Rudy, Tony, Molly) and Dr. Dirkson. 
        (人物)
Linda: Dirkson? Dirkson? I don't know that name. Who is he?
Rudy: Don't ask me. He must be a new teacher. I don't remember him teaching in this school last year.
         Do you, Ben?
Ben: No, but here comes Tony. If anyone can tell you about Dr. What's-His-Name, Tony can. He knows
        everything.
Tony: (laughs.) I don't know everything. I only know almost everything. What is your question, please?
Molly: What do you know about this new teacher?
Tony: I don't really know much about Dr. Dirkson. I do hear things, though. I hear lots of things.
Rudy: What do you hear? Is he a good teacher? I'm hoping to go to college. This class is important to me.
Tony: I have a friend who goes to Central High School. I'm almost sure that's where Dr. Dirkson comes 
         from. If it's the same teacher, he is rough. Believe me, he is rough and tough.
Linda: What do you mean 'rough and tough'? I plan to go to college, too. I have to do well in this class.
Tony: What I hear is that Dirkson's exams are very hard. He usually fails about half the class. All the girls.
Linda: (angry) That can't be true. You're making it up, Tony.
Molly: He's just talking like that to make us angry, Linda. Tony, What does Dr. Dirkson look like? Is he
          married?
Tony: I don't think so. But don't get excited, Molly. He isn't going to interest you. He's about seventy-seven
          years old and he uses a walking stick.
Molly: (she is angry) Tony, why do you say that this teacher fails all the girls? Do you think physics is too
          hard for girls? Do you think we can't do it?
Tony: All I'm saying, Molly, is that girls don't make it in Dr. Dirkson's class. Physics is very difficult. It's
          not like art or music or history. It's a science. How many famous women scientists are there? Hardly
          any. You can count them on the fingers of one hand.
Ben: That's not fair(公平), Tony. There are many women who are doctors and engineers and scientists. And
        there are more of them all the time.
Rudy: That's right, Tony. I agree with Ben. Girls can do anything we can do.
Tony: I don't care what anybody says. I'm telling you the truth, Molly. I'm not saying that girls are not
          intelligent (有智力的). They just don't have the right kind of intelligence to understand physics.
          Dr. Dirskson must know that. Take my advice (忠告) and get out of his class before he walks in.
          (A very pretty young woman hurries into the classroom.)
Dr. Dirkson: Good morning. I'm sorry I'm late. I am Dr. Dirkson. 
         (The whole class starts to laugh. Everyone laughs hard. Everyone except Tony.)

A. Tony is able to know about anyone that he doesn't know his name
B. nobody knows more than Tony about a man called What's-His-Name
C. only Tony can know what the man's name is instead of anyone
D. no one can remember people's names as many as Tony can

2. What kind of a boy is Tony? He is the boy that _______.

A. has an unusual memory
B. believes in himself
C. takes pity on the girls
D. likes making up stories

3. Which statement is right?

A. The boys are all for Tony's idea.
B. The girls like to have a man teacher.
C. Dr. Dirkson is rough and tough.
D. Tony has to face the fact.

     All over the planet, they are disappearing. Scientists are worried. It may mean the end of the world. I'm
not talking about disappearing frogs. I'm talking about absent vowels (元音). I got a message the other day
that said," Mt@ 3rd st crnr@ 12", signed (签字) "BT". What did it mean? A young man in the office told
me that BT meant" beauty" and translated:" A beautiful young woman wants to meet you at the corner of
Third Street at noon."  
     The following week I was at a private dining club when a Hong Kong banker named David told me he
had met with a man who pronounced his name Choong,but spelt C - H - N - G." There can't be many names
with no vowels in them," he said. It turned out he was sitting next to a Singaporean doctor named Ng. Vowels
are disappearing at high speed among businesses, too. Ever wondered what happened to Reebok, the
sportswear company? It's still around but has renamed itself Rbk. Kentucky Fried Chicken became KFC.
      I've read articles saying that the no-vowels trend (趋向) is caused by companies trying to give their
products the shorthand spelling liked by young people. But a research finds that the real reason is often more
uninteresting. Flickr,one of the busiest websites on the Internet, was set up by people who wanted the name
Flicker but were too careless to register (注册) that word.
     Have any readers ever been to a small town in the mountains of California called Zzyzx? A man named
Curtis Howe Springer founded it as a health club and called it Zzyzx because he thought it sounded different.
The business failed. People who looked through lists for somewhere to go never reached it.
     Older readers may remember the computer game Zzyzzyzz that appeared in 1982. Fans did not know
how to ask for it. James Gleick's book Faster has been re-titled FSTR. But the revision is half-hearted with
the main text of the book still having vowels. Why not write the whole book in the simpler way? U cn stll rd
the wtht vwls. On the other hand,just know that vowel-free words can be explained in different ways. One
day I'll get a message from a BT  who may be a beauty. But I'm afraid a bat (蝙蝠) will be out there.

1. The writer's purpose in the passage is _______.

A. to introduce a new trend
B. to study a new language
C. to correct a new mistake 
D. to show a new method

2. The word "around" in the third paragraph means _______.

A. on every side
B. here and there
C. present in a place
D. without special purposes

3. What's the result of the use of vowel-free words,according to the passage?

A. It makes communication easier.
B. It helps us write more quickly.
C. It bringsa lot of fun to people.
D. It causes some trouble in life.

4. What does the writer think of the use of vowel-free words?

A. He doubts the idea a little.
B. He doesn't mind the matter.
C. He doesn't think it's good to do so.
D. He accepts the idea at last.