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 Internet will open up new vistas (前景), create the global village——you can make new friends all around the world. That, at least, is what it promised us. The difficulty is that it did not take the human mind into account. The reality is that we cannot keep relationships with more than a limited number of people. No matter how hard the Internet tries to put you in communication, its best efforts will be defeated by your mind.

The problem is twofold（双重的）. First, there is a limit on the number of people we can hold in mind and have a meaningful relationship with. That number is about 150 and is set by the size of our brain. Second, the quality of your relationships depends on the amount of time you invest in then. We invest a lot in a small number of people and then distribute what’s left among as many others as we can. The problem is that if we invest little time in a person, our engagement with that person will decline until eventually it dies into “someone I once knew”.

This is not, of course, to say that the Internet doesn’t serve a socially valuable function. Of course it does. But the question is not that it allows you to increase the size of your social circle to include the rest of the world, but that you can keep your relationships with your existing friends going even though you have to move to the other side of the world.

In one sense, that’s a good thing. But it also has a disadvantage. If you continue to invest in your old friends even though you can no longer see them, then certainly you aren’t using your time to make new friends where you now live. And I suspect that probably isn’t the best use of your time. Meaningful relationships are about being able to communicate with each other, face to face. The Internet will slow down the rate with which relationships end, but it won’t stop that happening eventually.

1.The number of friends we can keep relationships with is decided by______.

A. the Internet   B. the time we have  C. the place we live  D. the mind

2.The underlined word “engagement” in the second paragraph probably means “_____”.

　A. appointment   B. connection   C. interview    D. agreement

3.The author holds the view that___________.

  A. the Internet helps to keep in touch with friends far away

B. the Internet determines the quality of social relationships

C. the Internet greatly increases the size of social circles

D. the Internet is of no value in social communication

4.What will the author encourage us to do?

　A. To keep in touch with old friends when we have moved away.

　B. To chat with friends often on the Internet.

　C. To make more new friends face to face.

　D. To stop using the Internet to make new friends.

5.What is the author’s attitude towards the use of the Internet to strengthen relationships?

　A. He thinks it useless           B. He is hopeful of it.

　C. He approves of it.            D. He doubts it.

The Internet will open up new vistas (前景), create the global village——you can make new friends all around the world. That, at least, is what it promised us. The difficulty is that it did not take the human mind into account. The reality is that we cannot keep relationships with more than a limited number of people. No matter how hard the Internet tries to put you in communication, its best efforts will be defeated by your mind.

The problem is twofold（双重的）. First, there is a limit on the number of people we can hold in mind and have a meaningful relationship with. That number is about 150 and is set by the size of our brain. Second, the quality of your relationships depends on the amount of time you invest in then. We invest a lot in a small number of people and then distribute what’s left among as many others as we can. The problem is that if we invest little time in a person, our engagement with that person will decline until eventually it dies into “someone I once knew”.

This is not, of course, to say that the Internet doesn’t serve a socially valuable function. Of course it does. But the question is not that it allows you to increase the size of your social circle to include the rest of the world, but that you can keep your relationships with your existing friends going even though you have to move to the other side of the world.

In one sense, that’s a good thing. But it also has a disadvantage. If you continue to invest in your old friends even though you can no longer see them, then certainly you aren’t using your time to make new friends where you now live. And I suspect that probably isn’t the best use of your time. Meaningful relationships are about being able to communicate with each other, face to face. The Internet will slow down the rate with which relationships end, but it won’t stop that happening eventually.

1.The number of friends we can keep relationships with is decided by__________.

A. the Internet   B. the time we have  C. the place we live  D. the mind

2.The underlined word “engagement” in the second paragraph probably means “__________”.

　A. appointment   B. connection   C. interview    D. agreement

3.The author holds the view that___________.

  A. the Internet helps to keep in touch with friends far away

B. the Internet determines the quality of social relationships

C. the Internet greatly increases the size of social circles

D. the Internet is of no value in social communication

4.What will the author encourage us to do?

　A. To keep in touch with old friends when we have moved away.

　B. To chat with friends often on the Internet.

　C. To make more new friends face to face.

　D. To stop using the Internet to make new friends.

5.What is the author’s attitude towards the use of the Internet to strengthen relationships?

　A. He thinks it useless           B. He is hopeful of it.

　C. He approves of it.            D. He doubts it.

The flag, the most common symbol of a nation in the modern world, is also one of the most ancient. With a clear symbolic meaning, the flag in the traditional form is still used today to mark buildings, ships and other vehicles related to a country.

The national flag as we know it today is in no way a primitive artifact. It is, rather, the product of thousands of years’ development. Historians believe that it had two major ancestors, of which the earlier served to show wind direction.

Early human beings used very fragile houses and boats. Often strong winds would tear roofs from houses or cause high waves that endangered travelers. People’s food supplies were similarly vulnerable. Even after they had learned how to plant grains, they still needed help from nature to ensure good harvests. Therefore they feared and depended on the power of the wind, which could bring warmth from one direction and cold from another.

Using a simple piece of cloth tied to the top of a post to tell the direction of the wind was more dependable than earlier methods, such as watching the rising of smoke from a fire. The connection of the flag with heavenly power was therefore reasonable. Early human societies began to fix long pieces of cloth to the tops of totems (图腾) before carrying them into battle. They believed that the power of the wind would be added to the good wishes of the gods and ancestors represented by the totems themselves.

These flags developed very slowly into modern flags. The first known flag of a nation or a ruler was unmarked: The king of China around 1,000 B.C. was known to have a white flag carried ahead of him. This practice might have been learned from Egyptians even further in the past, but it was from China that it spread over trade routes through India, then across Arab lands, and finally to Europe, where it met up with the other ancestor of the national flag.

1. The underlined word “ vulnerable” in paragraph 3 means _______.

　　A. easy to damage　　                B. likely to be protected

　　C. impossible to make sure of　　       D. difficult to find

2.The earliest flags were connected with heavenly power because they _______.

　　A. could tell wind direction　　         B. could bring good luck to fighters

　　C. were believed to stand for natural forces D. were handed down by the ancestors

3.What does the author know of the first national flag?

　　A. He knows when it was sent to Europe.  B. He doubts where it started.

　　C. He thinks it came from China.   　　  D. He believes it was made in Egypt.

4.What will the author most probably talk about next?

　　A. The role of China in the spread of the national flag.

　　B. The importance of modern flags.

　　C. The use of modern flags in Europe.

　　D. The second ancestor of the national flag.