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

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

Only about half of this year’s high school graduates have the reading skills they need to succeed in college, and even fewer are prepared for college-level science and math courses, according to a yearly report from ACT, which produces one of the nation’s leading college admissions tests.

The report, based on scores of the 2005 high school graduates who took the exam, some 1.2 million students in all, also found that fewer than one in four met the college-readiness benchmarks① in all four subjects tested: reading comprehension, English, math and science.

ACT sets its college-readiness benchmarks — including the reading comprehension benchmark, which is new this year—by correlating② earlier students’ ACT scores with grades they actually received as college freshmen. Based on that data, the benchmarks indicate the skill level at which a student has a 70 percent likelihood③ of earning a C or better, and a 50 percent chance of earning a B or better.

Among those who took the 2005 test, only 51 percent achieved the benchmark in reading, 26 percent in science, and 41 percent in math; the figure for English was 68 percent. Results from the new optional ACT writing test, which was not widely taken this year, were not included in the report.

About 40 percent of the nation’s 2005 high school graduates took the ACT, and the average overall score was unchanged from the year before. Minority students make up 27 percent of all ACT test takers. Besides, there are also other worrying trends in the ACT report as well, including a continuing decline in the percentage of students planning to major in engineering, computer science and education.

Notes:

① benchmark  n.  基准

② correlate  v.  联系

③ likelihood  n.  可能性

1. The report from ACT mainly tells readers the problem that ______.

  A. few minority students graduates took ACT

  B. many who intend to go to college are not ready

  C. the college-readiness benchmarks is high this year

  D. the tests for some subjects are too difficult

2. According to the benchmarks in 2005, about how many students will not earn C?

  A. 30 percent.      B. 70 percent.      C. 50 percent.       D. 26 percent.

3. Which of the following pictures can correctly show the numbers of the students who achieve the benchmark in different subjects?

   A.        B.

   C.      D.

4. Which of the followings can be found in the report from ACT in 2005?

  A. The report about the writing test is very objective.

  B. More boy students are not good at science and math.

  C. The percentage of students majoring science declined.

  D. The average score of 2005 ACT participants changed greatly.

1.There is a t______________ in our family that we have a party on New Year’s Eve.

2.Things fall to the ground because of the earth’s ________________.

3. All the children felt e_______________ after a long journey.

4.The custom of arranged marriages still ___________(存在) in many countries.

5.As is known to all, smoking is h______________ to people’s health.

6.Air is a m_________________ of gases.

7.To succeed, we must __________________ (结合) talent with hard work.

8.Children are supposed to avoid watching v_______________ programmes and video games, which are possible to cause them to become more aggressive.

9.I know you don’t like her but try not to make it so ______________ (明显).

10.The actor’s performance left a strong i_________________ on the director.

Visitors worry that London is an expensive city but there really are so many things to do for

free in London from museums and galleries to free music and walking tours.

Art Galleries

Tate Modern and Tate Britain are exceptional national art galleries housing some of the finest artworks in the world. Tate Modern focuses on contemporary art while Tate Britain displays British Art from the sixteenth century to the present day.

Museums

All of London's major museums are free, but most offer some special exhibitions for a fee. My favorite is the Museum of London where you can learn the history of London from Roman times to today. Other great major museums are the British Museum, the V&A, the Science Museum, and the      Natural History Museum. Oh, and I love the Geffrye Museum. And the. Now I can't decide which is the best!

Many of London's major art galleries and museums are open in the evening and often have special evening events. This can be a great way to relax at the end of a busy day seeing the sights. The main London galleries and museums are air-conditioned so it can be a wonderful way to cool down in the height of summer in the city. Galleries and museums are not open late every night so here is a handy list to help you plan your days and evenings.

Royal Parks

Many people say the Queen Mary's Rose Gardens in Regent's Park is their favorite spot in London, and who am I to argue? I would also recommend St. James's Park as it offers one of the best views of Buckingham Palace. Hyde Park is enormous and includes the ever popular Diana Memorial Fountain and the Peter Pan Statue.

There are often free talks and guided walks in the royal parks so do check the What's On section of the Royal Parks website.

Changing of the Guard

No visit to London is complete without seeing this military tradition. The Queen's Guard in London changes in the Forecourt inside the gates of Buckingham Palace at 11:30am every day in the summer and every other day in the winter. Get there early and view the spectacle from outside the front gates.

53. The passage is intended to _________.

 A. recommend some free scenic spots to tourists       

 B. help visitors save money while visiting Ireland

 C. advise travelers how to choose art articles      D. tell readers London’s wonderful history

54. If you visit some museums in London in the evening, you ________.

 A. can see all the artworks free of charge                B. have to endure the heat of the summer

 C. need to pay admission for general exhibition  

D. may have a chance to enjoy some special events

55. In order to watch Changing of the Guard in summer, visitors have to _________.

  A. gain access to the front gates after 11:30 a.m.

  B. pay a sum of money to enter the Royal Parks

 C. arrive at Buckingham Palace before 11:30 a.m.

 D. come through the gates of Buchingham Palace