For a 400-year-old art form, opera had a bad fame: overweight actresses singing the words which were hard to understand in one of those romance languages you were supposed to learn in high school. And with tickets costing as much as ＄ 145 a performance, opera goers also had a certain appearance in people’s mind: rich, well-dressed and old.

But now opera companies around the country are loosening their ties and kicking off their shoes in an attempt to keep opera alive and take it to a younger and not so wealthy audience.

Opera producers have found that to attract this crowd, they need to associate opera with common people. That means no formal suits, old-style theatre or bank breaking ticket prices. And because young people don’t or won’t come to the opera, companies are bringing the opera to them, giving performances in such usual places as parks, libraries and public schools.

The Houston Grand Opera’s choice is the public library, where it performs “mobile operas”, shortened version of child-friendly operas. This summer’s production is Hansel ￡Gretel. By performing smaller versions of large productions, producers are able to make people interested while keeping costs at a reasonable level. The San Francisco Opera, which will be celebrating its 75^th anniversary this year, is staging Cinderella free of charge, keeping costs down by employing students from its Young Artists’ Training Program.

72. Which of the following is the main idea of this passage?

A.　 Opera is famous for is history.　　　　　　　

B Opera is only for rich people.

C. Opera companies are trying to keep operas alive.

D. Young people are not interested in operas.

73．The underlined part in Paragraph 2 most probably means ________.

A. breaking up the old rules　　　　　 B. changing the dresses

C. making the audience at ease　　　　 D. advertising themselves

74. The San Francisco Opera employs young students in order to ________.

A. attract young people　　　　　　　　 B. reduce the cost

C. celebrate its 75^th anniversary　　　　　 D. make Cinderella popular

75．What can you infer from the passage?

A.　 The tickets for opera are very expensive at present.

B.　 Opera is performed in a language difficult to understand.

C.　 Opera is not so popular an art form today.

D.　 Students enjoy performing operas very much.

完形填空：

阅读下面短文， 掌握其大意， 然后从1～25各题所给的四个选项中， 选出一个最佳答案．

(A)

　Everyone told me to make my travel preparations early， but I thought I had plenty of time． I had no idea how much there was to do and I waited too long before I began getting ready．

　First， I had to apply for a passport (护照) and visa (签证) because I was going to 　1　I had to get several inoculations (预防注射) at 2 office． Then I needed to drop by the bank and get some traveler's checks．(支票)

　　3　， there were many things 　4　at home． I had the phone disconnected (断开) and the dog 　5　the kennels (窝)， but I almost forgot to have the milk and newspaper deliveries stopped． The postman had to remind me to leave my forwarding address at 　6　office． I know it would have slipped my mind if he hadn't mentioned it．

　The day I was supposed to leave． I realized I still hadn't received my passport and visa． I simply couldn't believe the time 　7　to quickly． I was really afraid I would be left behind．

　Fortunately， the mail was delivered early and my passport arrived． 　8　I got to the airport， they were already calling my flight． I just barely had time to make it． As soon as I sat down 　9　， I remembered that I hadn't taken my camera， but it was too late to worry about that． I would have to buy another one if I wanted to take pictures．

　I did have a wonderful time during this trip, but the next time I plan to travel, I'm going to be sure to start preparing 　10　to avoid all the last minute problems．

(B)

　Rice was original (原来) a plant that only grew in warm areas． There was 　11　when it was considered to be very valuable food in cold areas． Now ice 　12　， and grows not only in warm areas but also in cold areas． Rice is one of 　13　foods of the human being． There are three groups of rice eaters in the world． The biggest group is that of those who 　14　rice． Most of them live in the Far East． These people number more than 1, 000 million—about one third of the world population． They usually grow their own rice． To them rice is even more important than wheat is 　15　of Europe and North America． China is the biggest of all the countries 　16　people live on rice． Well over 400 million of the Chinese are riceeaters． So are most of 　17　living in the Far East． They number more than 600 million． The next group is 　18　people who eat rice from time to time． They live in the towns and cities of West Africa, parts of Latin America，and Asia． To the third group 　19　the people who live in countries in Europe and North America, there rice is eaten only as a special dish． 　20　rice have grains that are from 1/5 to 2/5 of an inch long． Many people like the long grain rice better, and so its price is 21 than that of the short grain rice in the world market． Rice is often polished (磨光) before cooking so food may 　22　． But it loses much of its vitamins (维生素) through polishing． How to make 　23　richer is a very useful subject of study．

　People began to 　24　this problem in the early part of the twentieth century， when some scientists thought of adding vitamins to rice． 　25　we now have what is called “enriched rice” (营养米)．

With his attention________on the shops along the roadside，he knocked an old man down while riding to school.

A  concentrating     B．concentrated     C．to concentrate      D．concentrates

答案　B

解析　考查词组，故选B项。