Tens of thousands of theatre tickets will be given away to young people next year as part of a government campaign to inspire a lifelong love for theatre.
The plan to offer free seats to people aged between 18 to 26—funded with £2.5 million of taxpayers’ money—was announced yesterday by Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary. It received a cautious welcome from some in the arts world, who expressed concern that the tickets may not reach the most underprivileged.
The plan comes as West End theatres are enjoying record audiences, thanks largely to musicals teaming up with television talent shows. Attendances reached. 13.6 million in 2007, up 10 percent on 2006, itself a record year. Total sales were up 18 percent on 2006 to almost £470 million.
One theatre source criticised the Government’s priorities(优先考虑的事) in funding free tickets when pensioners were struggling to buy food and fuel, saying: “I don’t know why the Government’s wasting money on this. The Yong Vic, as The Times reported today, offers excellent performances at cheap prices.”
There was praise for the Government’s plan from Dominic Cooke of the Royal Court Theatre, who said: “I support any move to get young people into theatre, and especially one that aims to do it all over England, not just in London.”
Ninety-five publicly funded theatres could apply for funding under the two-year plan. In return, they will offer free tickets on at least one day each week to 18 to 26-year-olds, first-come, first-served. It is likely to be on Mondays, traditionally a quiet night for the theatre.
Mr. Burnham said: “A young person attending the theatre can find it an exciting experience, and be inspired to explore a new world. But sometimes people miss out on it because they fear it’s ‘not for them’. It’s time to change this perception.”
Jeremy Hunt, the Shadow Culture Secretary, said: “The real issue is not getting enthusiastic children into the theatre, but improving arts education so that more young people want to go in the first place. For too many children theatres are a no-go area.”
1.Critics of the plan argued that ______.
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A．the theatres would be overcrowded |
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B．it would be a waste of money |
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C．pensioners wouldn’t get free tickets |
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D．the government wouldn’t be able to afford it |
2.According to the supporters, the plan should ______.
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A．benefit the television industry |
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B．focus on producing better plays |
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C．help increase the sales of tickets |
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D．involve all the young people in England |
3.Which of the following is TRUE about the plan?
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A．Ninety-five theatres have received funding. |
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B．Everyone will get at least one free ticket. |
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C．It may not benefit all the young people. |
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D．Free tickets are offered once every day. |
4.We can infer from the passage that in England ______.
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A．many plays are not for young people |
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B．many young people don’t like theatre |
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C．people know little about the plan |
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D．children used to receive good arts education |
5.According to the passage, the issue to offer free tickets to young people seems ______.
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A．controversial |
B．inspiring |
C．exciting |
D．unreasonable |
I am a writer. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language—the way it can evoke(唤起) an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all—all the Englishes I grew up with.
Born into a Chinese family that had recently arrived in California, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” English. But feel embarrassed to say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than “broken”, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness. I’ve heard other terms used, “limited English,” for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions(认识)of the limited English speaker.
I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s “limited” English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is ,because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect. And I had plenty of evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.
I started writing fiction in 1985. And for reasons I won’t get into today, I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with: the English she used with me, which for lack of a better term might be described as “broken”, and what I imagine to be her translation of her Chinese, her internal(内在的) language, and for that I sought to preserve the essence, but neither an English nor a Chinese structure: I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show; her intention, her feelings, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts.
1.By saying “Language is the tool of my trade”, the author means that ______.
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A．she uses English in foreign trade |
B．she is fascinated by languages |
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C．she works as a translator |
D．she is a writer by profession |
2.The author used to think of her mother’s English as ______.
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A．impolite |
B．amusing |
C．imperfect |
D．practical |
3.Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?
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A．Americans do not understand broken English. |
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B．The author’s mother was not respected sometimes. |
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C．The author’ mother had positive influence on her. |
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D．Broken English always reflects imperfect thoughts. |
4.The author gradually realizes her mother’s English is _____.
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A．well structured |
B．in the old style |
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C．easy to translate |
D．rich in meaning |
5.What is the passage mainly about?
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A．The changes of the author’s attitude to her mother’s English. |
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B．The limitation of the author’s perception of her mother. |
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C．The author’s misunderstanding of “limited” English. |
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D．The author’s experiences of using broken English. |
Societies all over the world name places in similar ways. Quite often there is no official naming ceremony but places tend to be called names as points of reference by people. Then an organized body steps in and gives the place a name. Frequently it happens that a place has two names: One is named by the people and the other by the government. As in many areas, old habitsdied hard, and the place continues to be called by its unofficial name long after the meaning is lost.
Many roads and places in Singapore(新加坡) are named in order that the pioneers will be remembered by future generations. Thus we have names such as Stamford Road and Raffles Place. This is in keeping with traditions in many countries ---- in both the West and the East.
Another way of naming places is naming them after other places. Perhaps they were named to promote friendships between the two places or it could be that the people who used to live there were originally from the places that the roads were named after. The mystery is clearer when we see some of the roads named in former British bases. If you step into Selector Airbase you will see Piccadilly Circus ----obviously named by some homesick Royal Air Force personnel.
Sine places were named after the activities that used to go on at those places. Bras Basah Road is an interesting example, “Base Basah” means “wet rice” in Malay(马来语). Now why would anyone want to name a road “Wet Rice Road”? The reason is simple. During the pioneering days, wet rice was laid out to dry along this road.
A few roads in Singapore are named by their shapes. There is “Circular Road” for one. Other roads may have part of their names to describe their shapes, like “Paya Lebar Crescent”. This road is called a crescent(月牙) because it begins on the main road, makes a crescent and comes back to join the main road again.
1.We learn from Paragraph 1 that _____.
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A．the government is usually the first to name a place |
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B．many places tend to have more than one name |
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C．a ceremony will be held when a place is named |
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D．people prefer the place names given by the government |
2.What does the underlined phrase “die hard” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
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A．Change suddenly. |
B．Change significantly. |
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C．Disappear mysteriously. |
D．Disappear very slowly. |
3.Which of the following places is named after a person?
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A．Raffles Place. |
B．Selector Airbase. |
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C．Piccadilly Circus. |
D．Paya Lebar Crescent. |
4. Bras Basah Road is named _______.
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A．after a person |
B．after a place |
C．after an activity |
D．by its shape |
5.What can be inferred from the passage?
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A．Some place names in Singapore are the same as in Britain. |
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B．Some places in Singapore are named for military purposes. |
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C．The way Singaporeans name their places is unique. |
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D．Young Singaporeans have forgotten the pioneers. |
假设你是晨光中学的学生会主席李华。学生会将举办每年一度的英语演讲比赛，本年度的主题为“The English Novel I Like Best”。作为组织者，你将在演讲比赛开幕时发言，请你根据以下提示用英语写一篇发言稿。
1. 说明比赛的意义，如提高英语听说能力，养成读书的习惯等；
2. 说明比赛的注意事项，如每人演讲不超过5分钟，语言流利，发音准确等；
3. 预祝比赛圆满成功。
注意：
1. 词数：不少于100词；
2. 可适当加入细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 发言稿的开头和结尾已为你写好，不计入词数。
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,
Welcome to this year’s English speech competition._________________________
Thank you!
_____ by the advances in technology, many farmers have set up wind farms on their land.
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A．Being encouraged |
B．Encouraging |
C．Encouraged |
D．Having encouraged |
The art show was _______ being a failure; it was a great success.
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A．far from |
B．along with |
C．next to |
D．regardless of |
