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 In 1947 a group of famous people from the art world headed by an Austrian conductor decided to hold an international festival of mu?sic,dance and theatre in Edinburgh. The idea was to reunite Europe after the Second World War.

  It quickly attracted famous names such as Alec Guinness,Richard Burton,Dame Margot Fonteyn and Marlene Dietrich as well as the big symphony orchestras (交口向乐团) . It became a fixed event every August and now attracts 400,000 people yearly.

  At the same time,the "Fringe" appeared as a challenge to the official festival. Eight theatre groups turned up uninvited in 1947,in the belief that everyone should have the right to perform,and they did so in a public house disused for years.

  Soon,groups of students firstly from Edinburgh University,and later from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge,Durham and Birmingham were making the journey to the Scottish capital each summer to perform theatre by littleknown writ?ers of plays in small church halls to the people of Edinburgh.

  Today the "Fringe", once less recognized,has far outgrown the festival with around 1,500 performances of theatre,music and dance on every one of the 21 days it lasts. And yet as early as 1959,with only 19 theatre groups performing,some said it was getting too big.

  A paid administrator was first employed only in 1971,and today there are eight administrators working all year round and the number rises to 150 during Au?gust itself. In 2004 there were 200 places housing 1,695 shows by over 600 differ?ent groups from 50 different countries. More than 1. 25 million tickets were sold.

1. What was the purpose of Edinburgh Festival at the beginning?

   A. To bring Europe together again.

   B. To honour heroes of World War [[.

   C. To introduce young theatre groups,

   D. To attract great artists from Europe.

2. Why did some uninvited theatre groups come to Edinburgh in 1947?

   A. They owned a public house there.

   B. They came to take up a challenge.

   C. They thought they were also famous.

   D. They wanted to take part in the festival.

3. Who joined the "Fringe" after it appeared?

   A. Popular writers.

   B. University students.

   C. Artists from around the world.

   D. Performers of music and dance.

4. We may J earn from the text that Edinburgh Festival         .

   A. has become a nonofficial event

   B. has gone beyond an art festival

   C. gives shows all year round

   D. keeps growing rapidly

  When her five daughters were young,Helene An always told them that there was strength in unity (团结) .To show this,she held up one chopstick,representing one per?son. Then she easily broke it into two pieces. Next,she tied several chopsticks together,representing a family. She showed the girls it was hard to break the tied chop?sticks. This lesson about family unity stayed with the daughters as they grew up.

  Helene An and her family own a large restaurant bus?iness in California. However,when Helene and her hus?band Danny left their home in Vietnam in 1975,they didn't have much money. They moved their family to San Francisco. There they joined Danny's mother,Diana,who owned a small Italian sandwich shop. Soon after?wards,Helene and Diana changed the sandwich shop into a small Vietnamese restaurant. The five daughters helped in the restaurant when they were young. However,Helene did not want her daughters to always work in the family business because she thought it was too hard.

  Eventually the girls all graduated from college and went away to work for themselves,but one by one,the daughters returned to work in the family business. They opened new restaurants in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Even though family members sometimes disagreed with each other,they worked together to make the business successful. Daughter Elizabeth explains , " Our mother taught us that to succeed we must have unity,and to have unity we must have peace. Without the strength of the family,there is no business."

  Their expanding business became a large corporation in 1996,with three generations of Ans working together. Now the Ans' corporation makes more than $20 million each year. Although they began with a smaJJ restaurant,they had big dreams,and they worked together. Now they are a big success.

15. Helene tied several chopsticks together to show      

   A. the strength of family unity

   B. the difficulty of growing up

   C. the advantage of chopsticks

   D. the best way of giving a lesson

16. We can learn from Paragraph 2 that the An family      

   A. started a business in 1975

   B. left Vietnam without much money

   C. bought a restaurant in San Francisco

   D. opened a sandwich shop in Los Angeles

17. What can we infer about the An daughters?

   A. They did not finish their college education.

   B. They could not bear to work in the family business.

   C. They were influenced by what Helene taught them.

   D. They were troubled by disagreement among family members.

18. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

   A. How to run a corporation

   B. Strength comes from peace

   C. How to achieve a big dream

   D. Family unity builds success

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