认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入最恰当的单词。注意：每空格只填一个单词。

Ticket tax fuels Indian cinema strike

Cinemas in Mumbai, Bollywood’s homeland are striking against high taxes on ticket sales.

Owners of Mumbai’s single-screen theatres will keep their shutters (百叶窗) down until Friday to protest about taxes, which they say are driving them out of business.

More than a third of single-screen cinemas in the state of Maharashtra have closed down in the last five years. According to the Cinema and Exhibitors Association of India, just 700 are still in operation. The association blames the closing down on Maharashtra’s high rate of entertainment tax. Its president, R V Vidhani, says that cinemas must pay a tax for every ticket sold, which is 45%, and this makes it hard to break even. It’s the highest of all states across India. The majority of the states in India pay zero entertainment tax. Mr Vidhani says his members had decided to go ahead with a one-week closure after getting no response from the state government on the matter.

It is not just a high tax rate contributing to the shrinking（收缩）number of traditional cinemas, however. Large costs and declining box office takings also make times tougher.

Mr Vidhani has run the New Excelsior Theatre in South Mumbai since 1974. Last week a screening of Bollywood movie Tanu Weds Manu sold just 71 tickets despite a capacity of more than 1,000. Whether it’s a full house or an empty screening, running costs are more or less the same. “Air conditioning, regular business — every expenditure (支出) is the same, but the income has stopped.”

The cricket (板球) World Cup is not helping matters, according to Mr Vidhani. “The World Cup is creating the biggest problem,” he says. “These people are crazy so far as the cricket is concerned. When India is playing, occupancy in the theatre is just 15%.”

Mumbai’s city centre is dotted with empty cinemas.

So after remaining empty for six years, the Novelty theatre is perhaps more fortunate than its neighbours: it is to be reborn as a four-screen multiplex cinema.

Over the last decade the number of multiplexes in India has risen sharply. Despite higher ticket prices, with more choice on offer and typically newer facilities they pose fierce competition to the traditional single-screen theatres.

“Competition from the multiplexes is really tough,” Mr Vidhani says. “Then there is competition from the movie window being narrow. Movies are being released much quicker on television than they used to be so people can pretty much watch movies for free at home.

“With rising incomes, everyone’s going out and buying DVD players or VCD players. Content is available for the asking whether it is official or pirated(盗版).”

Unless single-screen theatres can become special destinations in their own right, while also offering up-to-date facilities, Jehil Thakkar thinks the decline is a trend that will continue, especially as multiplex cinemas spread to smaller towns.

“They are large corporate chains,” he says. “They have the ability to spend money on branding and advertising, so to a large extent the small cinema guys are fighting a losing battle.”

Ticket tax fuels Indian cinema strike

“Dr.Papaderos,what is the meaning of life?”

The usual laughter followed,and people stirred(骚动)to go.Papaderos held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at me for a long time,asking with his eyes if I was serious and seeing from my eyes that I was.

“I will,answer your question.”

Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket,he fished into a leather billfold and brought out a very small round mirror,about the size of a quarter.And what he said went like this:

“When I was a small child,during the war,we were very poor and we lived in a remote village.One day,on the road,I found the broken pieces of a mirror.A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.

I tried to find all the pieces and put them together,but it was not possible,so I kept only the largest piece.This one,and,by scratching it on a stone.I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine——in deep holes and crevices(裂缝)and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find.

I kept the little mirror,and,as I went about my growing up,I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game.As I became a man,I grew to understand that this was not just a child’s game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life.I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light.But light——truth,understanding,knowledge——is there,and it will shine in many dark places only if I reflect it.

I am a fragment(碎片)of a mirror whose whole design and shape l do not know.Nevertheless,with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world——into the black places in the hearts of men—and change some things in some people.Perhaps others may see and do likewise.This is what I am about.This is the meaning of my life.”

1.On hearing the author’s question,Dr.Papedotes        at first.

A.laughed at his foolishness               B.wasn’t sure of the answer

C.doubted his seriousness                  D.wasn’t interested at all

2.How did Dr.Papaderos get the small round mirror when he was a child?

A.He found it on the road and made it round.

B.A dying German soldier gave him as a present.

C.He chanced to find it in the street while playing.

D.He put the broken pieces together and made it.

3.Why did Dr.Papaderos like the small round mirror so much as a child?

A.Because he was too poor to afford other toys.

B.Because it could shine the places where tke sun couldn’t reach.

C.Because he believed it would bring good luck to him.

D.Because it tofd him a lot about what life really meant to him.

4.The underlined“metaphor”in the 7th paragraph most probably means        .

A.symbol              B.source            C.light           D.purpose

5.Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A.A Special Game in the Childhood          B.A Broken Piece of Mirror

C.Dr.Papaderos’Experience                  D.The Meaning of Life

阅读下面对话，并根据所给字母提示，在橫线上写出一个英语单词的完整、正确形式，使对话通顺。

M：Now we have five-day (1) c___________ every week, so we have more spare time than before.

W：Yeah. How do you spend your spare time, Timmy?

M：I have an (2) i___________ in playing the violin and I’ll continue to (3) p ___________ playing it.

W：Do you often go to a concert?

M：Yes , I like (4) l___________ to music. At present my major objective is to learn from others.

W：Do you like classical (5) m___________ or pop?

M：I like both. How do you spend your spare time then, Lily?

W：(6) P___________ the piano is my favorite activity.

M：Our hobbies are (7) s___________ to each other. I hope we can often (8) e___________ experience together.

W：So do I, but I’m weak in the theory of music.

M：Me, too. Would you like to go with me to my uncle’s ? He’s a (9) p___________ at the Institute of Music.

W：I’d be glad to go with you. I will ask him for his (10) a___________.

“Dr.Papaderos,what is the meaning of life?”

The usual laughter followed,and people stirred(骚动)to go.Papaderos held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at me for a long time,asking with his eyes if I was serious and seeing from my eyes that I was.

“I will,answer your question.”

Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket,he fished into a leather billfold and brought out a very small round mirror,about the size of a quarter.And what he said went like this:

“When I was a small child,during the war,we were very poor and we lived in a remote village.One day,on the road,I found the broken pieces of a mirror.A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.

I tried to find all the pieces and put them together,but it was not possible,so I kept only the largest piece.This one,and,by scratching it on a stone.I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine——in deep holes and crevices(裂缝)and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find.

I kept the little mirror,and,as I went about my growing up,I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game.As I became a man,I grew to understand that this was not just a child’s game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life.I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light.But light——truth,understanding,knowledge——is there,and it will shine in many dark places only if I reflect it.

I am a fragment(碎片)of a mirror whose whole design and shape l do not know.Nevertheless,with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world——into the black places in the hearts of men—and change some things in some people.Perhaps others may see and do likewise.This is what I am about.This is the meaning of my life.”

On hearing the author’s question,Dr.Papedotes        at first.

A.laughed at his foolishness               B.wasn’t sure of the answer

C.doubted his seriousness                  D.wasn’t interested at all

How did Dr.Papaderos get the small round mirror when he was a child?

A.He found it on the road and made it round.

B.A dying German soldier gave him as a present.

C.He chanced to find it in the street while playing.

D.He put the broken pieces together and made it.

Why did Dr.Papaderos like the small round mirror so much as a child?

A.Because he was too poor to afford other toys.

B.Because it could shine the places where tke sun couldn’t reach.

C.Because he believed it would bring good luck to him.

D.Because it tofd him a lot about what life really meant to him.

The underlined“metaphor”in the 7th paragraph most probably means        .

A.symbol              B.source            C.light           D.purpose

Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A.A Special Game in the Childhood          B.A Broken Piece of Mirror

C.Dr.Papaderos’Experience                  D.The Meaning of Life

Do you know what really troubles me? For some reason, words with silent letters have always bothered me. For example, consider these words: know, design, island, school, wrist, naughty, and salmon. All of these words have at least one letter that is not typically pronounced, and these words are just a very small part of words with silent letters in them.

   Some words are even worse, consider this word: colonel. Not only are some letters not pronounced, but letters that are not even there are pronounced.

   Even foreign languages, especially French, are guilty of this needless complexity and confusion. I know there must be some main historical reasons why the words are spelled and pronounced the way they are, but that does not mean bad traditions must continue to survive. Especially if they are no longer logical.

   Unfortunately, there is very little that anyone can do for it, because there’s no group of people who can change or have the right to change the English language for everyone. However, the only thing we can do is make changes in the way we talk and write in hopes that it catches on. For example, I pronounce the letter “l” in salmon on purpose to make people annoyed and to sound more different or complicated. I even pronounce colonel the correct or French way.

   I can only hope these two minor changes to the English language make sense to you, and you will help to keep up these minor changes forever in your everyday life.

We can learn from the passage ________.

   A. colonel is pronounced   

B. salmon is pronounced

   C. all the words with silent letters come from French

   D. linguists will solve the problem of dumb letters

Which of the following is the main reason for silent letters?

   A. French language.   B. Historical reasons.  C. Some linguists  D. Bad traditions.

The underlined phrase “catches on” probably means “________”.

   A. becomes popular   B. gets across   C. follows the fashion  D. doesn’t fall behind

Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

   A. Troubles in everyday life            B. Traps in English words

   C. Words with silent letters            D. Necessary changes of languages