In the Middle Ages in Europe, theater was an important part of civic, economic and religious life. During this period after the fall of Roman civilization, many cities were destroyed. Southern and Western Europe, famous for its agriculture, became increasingly more agricultural. After several hundred years, many towns appeared again. The Roman Catholic Church took over religion, education and politics. What remained of theater was mostly on the Greek and Roman performing arts.

Theater was reborn as liturgical(礼拜式的)dramas. It was written in Latin and dealing with biblical(圣经)stories which would be performed by church members. Then there came local dramas spoken in common language not Latin. They were more wonderful one-act dramas taking place in town squares or other parts of the city. There were three types of local dramas. Mystery or cycle plays were short dramas based on biblical stories organized into historical cycles. Miracle plays dealt with the lives of the great. Morality(道德的)plays taught a lesson through characters standing for good or bad qualities. Secular plays in this period existed, but religious drama in the Middle Ages is mostly remembered today. As the Middle Ages ended, the number of religious theatres became small as the church weakened and more secular qualities won over religious theaters.

1.According to the passage, what does "secular plays" mean here?

A. Plays that deal with the lives of the great.

B. Plays that taught a lesson.

C. Plays based on biblical stories.

D. Plays that are not connected with the church.

2.Why did religious theatres become less important as the Middle Ages came to an end?

A. People were not interested in them any longer.

B. The church was not as important as what it had been.

C. People liked new plays.

D. The stories of religious theatres were outdated.

3.According to the passage, why did religious theatres take over in the Middle Ages?

A. People preferred religious theatres to other ones.

B. There were no other types of theatres.

C. The church played an important part in people’s life.

D. The quality of religious theatres was better than that of other theatres.

4.What would be the best title for the passage?

A. European dramas

B. Religious dramas

C. Religious theatres in the Middle Ages

D. Secular dramas in the Middle Ages

Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be. Places of business that used to keep daytime“business hours” are now open late into the night. And on the Internet, the hour of the day and the day of the week have become irrelevant(不相关的). A half century ago in the United States, most people experienced strong and precise dividing lines between days of rest and days of work, school time and summer time. Today the boundaries still exist, but they seem not clear.

The law in almost all states used to require stores to close on Sunday; in most, it no longer does. It used to keep the schools open in all seasons except summer; in most, it still does. And whether the work week should strengthen its legal limits, or whether it should become more “flexible,” is often debated. How should we, as a society, organize our time? Should we go even further in relaxing the boundaries of time until we live in a world in which every minute is much like every other?

These are not easy questions even to ask. Part of the difficulty is that we rarely recognize the “law of time” even when we meet it face to face. We know as children that we have to attend school a certain number of hours, a certain number of days, a certain number of years — but unless we meet the truant officer (学监), we may well think that we should go to school due to social custom and parents’ demand rather than to the law. As adults we are familiar with “extra pay for overtime working,” but less familiar with the fact that what constitutes(构成)“overtime” is a matter of legal definition. When we turn the clock forward to start daylight-saving time, have we ever thought to ourselves: “Here is the law in action”? As we shall see, there is a lot of law that has great influence on how we organize and use time: compulsory education law, overtime law, and daylight-saving law — as well as law about Sunday closing, holidays, being late to work, time zones, and so on. Once we begin to look for it, we will have no trouble finding a law of time to examine and assess.

1. By saying “Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be”, the writer means that_______.

A. work time is equal to rest times

B. many people have a day off on Mondays

C. it is hard for people to decide when to rest

D. the line between work time and rest time is unclear

2. The author raises the questions in Paragraph 2 to introduce the fact that people __________.

A. fail to make full use of their time

B. enjoy working overtime for extra pay

C. are unaware of the law of time

D. welcome flexible working hours

3.According to the passage, most children tend to believe that they go to school because they ______.

A. need to acquire knowledge B. have to obey their parents

C. need to find companions D. have to observe the law

31. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Our life is governed by the law of time.

B. How to organize time is not worth debating.

C. New ways of using time change our society.

D. Our time schedule is decided by social customs.

阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

CHICAGO ---- For working parents and heavily scheduled school kids, family mealtime is out of fashion. But supermarkets are trying to attract families back to the dinner table.

There is a cost if family members have meals apart: research shows that teenagers who don’t eat with their parents face a greater risk of drug and alcohol problems.

“The more often kids have dinner with their parents, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs,” said Joseph Califano Jr., head of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, which did the research.

Stores are familiar with the idea and will start telling shoppers about the findings and encouraging them to share meals together at home, instead of separately or at restaurants.

The food marketing Institute will give $25,000 to the center and help stores promote the center’s Family Day in September.

Many stores have grab-and-go dinners and recipe cards. Some have kiosks where people can taste a main dish, then pick out side dishes.

“Our members have worked hard to try to have easily prepared food either ready to eat or ready to take home,” said Tim Hammonds, the institute’s president and chief executive.

Los Angeles-based Contessa Premium Foods makes frozen delicious meals, which a family can heat in 10 minutes to 12 minutes. “That’s nearly as fast as a TV dinner,” said president and chief executive John Z. Blazevich, “but is healthier and makes people feel like they actually cooked.”

“The preparation is the hardest part, so we try to combine a variety of tastes and flavours from around the world and make it fast and easy,” he said.

“Eating at home helps keep meals healthy and teaches kids how to eat right. If we can get people back to having family dinners, parents back to being engaged with their kids, it will have a surprising impact,” he said.

1.The reasons why family mealtime is out of fashion are the following EXCEPT __________.

A. the parents are busy with work

B. the children have a little spare time

C. the children are not fond of family meal

D. it will take much time to cook and eat at home

2.The underlined word “cost” in paragraph 2 can be explained as ___________.

A. gains B. a sum of money

C. advantage D. something you lose

3.According to the passage, stores are trying to attract families back to the dinner table by the following ways EXCEPT ________.

A. telling the parents the disadvantages of having dinner separately.

B. offering various prepared food to make family cooking fast and easy.

C. taking part in Family Day activities in September.

D. helping housewives prepare their meals at home.

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A. The efforts that are being made to get people back to having family dinners

B. The benefits of having family dinners together.

C. The changes in American family dinners.

D. A research done by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.

5.What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Family Mealtime is out of Fashion

B. Family Day is Promoted in September

C. Parents should Cook Meals for Kids

D. Supermarkets Urges Families to Dinner Table

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