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.

There was a small boy living on a farm which seemed like so far away from everywhere. He needed to get up before sunrise every morning to start his everyday jobs and go out again later in the evening to do the same 　36　.
During sunrise he would 　37　a break and climb up the fence so that he could see the house with golden windows 　38　 the distance. He thought 　39　 great it would be to live there and his 　40　 would wander to imagine the modern equipment and electric devices that might 　41　 in the house. “If they could 　42　 the golden windows, they 　43　 have other nice things.” He then 　44　 himself, “Some day I will go there and see that wonderful place.”
Then one morning his father told him to stay at home and he would do the everyday jobs. 　45　 that this was his chance, he packed a sandwich and　46　 the field towards the house with golden windows.
He walked and walked. As the afternoon went on, he began to realize how he misjudged the long 　47　 and something else was very wrong. As he 　48　 the house, he saw no golden windows but instead a place in bad 　49　 of a painting surrounded by a broken-down fence. He went to the tattered (破烂的) door and 　50　. A small boy very 　51　 his age opened the door.
He asked him if he had seen the house with 　52　 windows. The boy said “Sure, I know” and 　53　 him to sit on the porch (门廊). As he sat there, he looked back from 　54　 he just came; the sunset 　55　 the windows of his house to gold there.

完形填空

　　Computers have done a lot since they turned up. In the future they will play a more important part in many 1 , such as education, transport, personal lives, scientific research and 2 Nowadays computers are being 3 in agriculture and industry 4 can help the farmers to 5 the conditions of the plants.

　　More and more computers will come into our daily life with the 6 of science and technology. If you want to change money or pay your electricity bills, you won’t have to go to the 7 . A computer and a telephone will help you. It can also help you to do the housework and it can even 8 human voices and carry out the instructions. It is  9   10  the majority of the labour force will work at home. People will be able to use the videophone 11 conferences. This can help us to save a lot of energy and 12 .It is said that trains in Japan will have 13 , because they’ll be well 14 by computers, which can also tell the best 15 between trains.

　　Computer programmes for 16 whole texts are already will be developed. You can 17 the name of a certain subject and a 18 list of book titles, then they will 19 on your screen. You may choose 20 you want.

The way people hold to the belief that a fun - filled, pain free life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true: more often than not things that lead to happiness involve some pain.

As a result, many people avoid the very attempts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment （预担的义务）, self - improvement.

Ask a bachelor（单身汉） why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he is honest he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure, excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.  

Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three - day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children. But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.

Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.

According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because ________ .

A. he is reluctant to take on family responsibilities

B. he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single

C. he finds more fun in dating than in marriage

D. he fears it will put an end to all his fun adventure and excitement

Raising children, in the author’s opinion is ________ .

A. a moral duty               B. a thankless job

C. a rewarding task            D. a source of inevitable pain

From the last paragraph, we learn that envy sometimes stems from ________ .

A. hatred　　B. misunderstanding　 C. prejudice　　　　　D. ignorance

To understand what true happiness is one must ________ .

A. have as much fun as possible during one’s lifetime

B. make every effort to liberate oneself from pain

C. put up with pain under all circumstances

D. be able to distinguish happiness from fun

What is the author trying to tell us?

A. Happiness often goes hand in hand with pain．

B. One must know how to attain happiness.

C. It is important to make commitments.

D. It is pain that leads to happiness.

阅读理解

　　In America many children act in TV shows. They work several hours every day, so they cannot go to a regular school. How do they get an education?

　　In Hollywood(好莱坞) where many TV shows are made, about forty teachers give lessons for the children in the shows. They teach wherever their pupils are working.

　　The teacher’s job is very important. She is responsible for(对……负责)making sure that the child works only in the permitted hours each week. She is also responsible for making sure that the child learns the required subjects. She makes sure, too, that the child gets enough rest and play, along with his education.

　　Child actors(儿童演员)are required to attend classes twenty hours each week. California law says that they must be taught from September to the middle of June. If they do not get good marks, they are not permitted to continue working in TV shows.

　　TV children are usually good pupils, and most of their teachers like this special kind of work. Their classes are held in many interesting places. Sometimes the “classroom” is a Mississippi riverboat. Something it is the inside of a spaceship. Often the pupils become famous stars.

1．What does “TV children” means here?

They are children ________.

[　　]

A．who like watching TV very much

B．who watch TV a lot every day

C．who are taught by TV

D．who play the children in TV shows

2．In America TV children ________.

[　　]

A．are too busy to go to school

B．have no chance to receive an education

C．can’t go to a regular school

D．can’t have enough time to be taught

3．TV children are taught ________.

[　　]

A．on the evening and Sunday,

B．on a Mississippi riverboat or in a spaceship

C．only in the permitted hours every week

D．wherever they are working

4．”If they do not get good marks, they are not permitted to continue working in TV shows”.

________

[　　]

A．which shows great attention has been paid to TV children’s education

B．which shows child actors are very good students

C．which is because they will have to become famous stars

D．which is because their teachers have played an important part

5．Which shouldn’t the teachers do? The teachers in Hollywood must make sure ________.

[　　]

A．their students must be good at working in TV shows

B．the children there work only in permitted hours

C．the child actors must finish the required subjects

D．the TV children must get enough rest and play