When a group of children politely stop a conversation with you, saying: “We have to go to work now,” you’re left feeling surprised and certainly uneasy. After all, this is the 1990s and the idea of children working is just unthinkable. That is, until you are told that they are all pupils of stage schools, and that the “work” they go off to is to go on the stage in a theatre.

　　Stage schools often act as agencies（代理机构）to supply children for stage and television work. More worthy of the name “stage school” are those few places where children attend full time, with a training for the theatre and a general education.

　　A visit to such schools will leave you in no doubt that the children enjoy themselves. After all, what lively children wouldn’t settle for spending only half the day doing ordinary school work, and acting, singing or dancing their way through the other half of the day?

　Then of course there are times for the children to make a name and make a little money in some big shows. Some stage schools give their children too much professional work at such a young age. But the law is very tight on the amount they can do. Those under 13 are limited to 40 days in the year; those over 13 to 80 days.

　The schools themselves admit that not all children will be successful in the profession for which they are being trained. So what happens to those who don’t make it? While all the leading schools say they place great importance on children getting good study results, the facts seem to suggest this is not always the case.

　People would stop feeling uneasy when realizing that the children they’re talking to________.

　　  A. attend a stage school　　　　  B. are going to the theatre

　　  C. have got some work to do 　　  D. love singing and dancing

　　 In the writer’s opinion, a good stage school should ________.

　　  A. produce star performers

　　  B. help pupils improve their study skills

　　  C. train pupils in language and performing arts

　　  D. provide a general education and stage training.

　“Professional work” as used in the text means ________.

　　  A. ordinary school work　　　　　  B. money-making performances

　　  C. stage training at school 　 　  D. acting, singing or dancing after class

　 Which of the following best describes how the writer feels about stage schools?

　　  A. He thinks highly of what they have to offer.　　　　

　　  B. He favours an early start in the training of performing arts.

　　  C. He feels uncomfortable about children putting on night shows.

　　  D. He doubts the standard of ordinary education they have reached.

　An explosion on Thursday killed one and injured 21 in a busy street in Tongren, Southwest China’s Guizhou Province.

　　The bomb was hidden in a rubbish bin in the city’s commercial hub（商业中心），where lots of shops and restaurants are concentrated.

　　The ear-splitting blast was heard around 12∶50 p.m.，said a local newspaper, citing witnesses. The power of the blast shattered（使粉碎）nearby shop windows and ripped the stainless（不生锈的）steel rubbish can to pieces.

　　One passer-by，identified（确认）only as Zhang，said she was shocked by the noise and saw a lot of pedestrians lying on the ground when she got to the scene.

　　Thirteen of the injured were taken to a local hospital after the explosion. A doctor there said five were in serious condition but already out of danger after emergency treatment. The others were just slightly hurt.

　　The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, said an officer with the Tongren police, but refused to speculate as to the cause.

　It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

　　A. All the injured were taken to a hospital

　　B. 8 of the injured were not taken to a hospital

　　C. The rubbish bin with a bomb was in a restaurant

　　D. The rubbish bin with a bomb was in a shop

　Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

　　A. One passer- by, indentified only as Zhang, saw the man throwing a bomb into a bin.

　　B. Some customers in restaurants were injured.

　　C. The writer didn’t get to the scene.

　　D. All customers in shops got hurt.

In the last paragraph the underlined word“ speculate” probably means ________.

　　A. tell　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. guess

　　C. discuss　　　　　　　　　　　　D. talk

　What of the follwing can be the best title for the passage?

　　A. Bomb Hidden in a Rubbish Bin

　　B. The Cause of the Explosion

　　C. A Terrible Thing

　　D. Market Blast Kills 1 ,Injures 21

When you visit America, you will see the word Motel on signs and notice boards. It is made up of “motor” and “hotel” and it is really a hotel for people who arrive by car (how-ever, you don’t need a car to stay at one). You have to pay when you arrive for your room, which usually has a bath. Meals are not provided, but there will certainly be a cafeteria (自助餐馆). Americans eat a lot of salads and sandwiches. Along the main roads there are a lot of motels. Each tries to offer more than next. Some provide television in every bedroom; others have swimming pools; and so on. Motels are especially useful when you are in the country, far from a town or city. You will also find them in the big National Parks.

      In these great National Parks, you may meet guests you don’t expect to see. An American friend told me a little story. In the middle of a moonless night she heard strange noises outside her motel window in the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Thinking it might be a thief, she jumped out of bed, opened the door and crept towards a dark shadow. As she got close, she saw the thief. She was dreadfully frightened: it wasn’t a human thief — it was a big black bear. The bear was turning over some empty tins with its paw, looking for tasty bits of food. My friend decided to leave that particular thief alone!

      There are also, of course, places called “rooming houses”,  where they receive lodgers (房客). You will see such signs as Tourists or Rooms Rent, and you could try one of these. A word of warning — looking for a room in New York during the tourist season is like looking for gold on the moon!　

Which of the following is TRUE about motels?

A. You can only find motels in the big National Parks.

B. They are free for people who arrive by car.

C. If you want to stay at a motel, you must have a car.

D. The word “motel” is formed by two words.

Which of the following is NOT provided by motels?

A. Baths.                            B. Swimming pools.

C. TV.                                 D. Meals.

The underlined word “crept” in the second paragraph probably means “______”.

A. moved slowly                       B. rushed out

C. threw away                       D. ran fast

The second paragraph mainly tells us ______.

A. an interesting story                         

B. the experience of the author’s friend

C. we may meet animals in the National Parks     

D. bears usually look for food at night

From the last paragraph, we can learn that in New York during the tourist season ______.

A. tourists can find gold there     

B. tourists can have a sweet dream there            

C. it is difficult to find a room there 

D. there is warning for tourists to New York

　Want a glance of the future of health care? Take a look at the way the various networks of people about patient care are being connected to one another, and how this new connectivity is being exploited to deliver medicine to the patient - no matter where he or she may be.

　　Online doctors offering advice based on norman symptoms（症状）are the most obvious example. Increasingly, however, remote diagnosis（远程诊断）will be based on real physiological data（生理数据）from the actual patient. A group from the University of Kentucky has shown that by using personal data assistance plus a mobile phone ,it is perfectly practical to send a patient’s important signs over the telephone. With this kind of equipement, the cry asking whether there was a doctor in the house could well be a thing of the past.

　　Other medical technology groups are working on applying telemedicine to rural （countryside） care. And at least one team wants to use telemedicine as a tool for disaster need - especially after earthquakes. On the whole, the trend is towards providing global access to medical data and experts’ opinions.

　　But there is one problem. Bandwidth（宽带） is the limiting factor for sending complex （复 杂 ）medical pictures around the world,—CU photos being one of the biggest bandwidth users. Communication satellites say be able to deal with the short - term needs during disasters such as earthquakes or wars. But medicine is looking towards both the second - generation Internet and third generation mobile phones for the future of remote medical service.

　　Doctors have met to discuss computer - based tools for medical diagnosis, training and telemedicine. With the falling price of broadband communications, the new technologies should start a new time when telemedicine and the sharing of medical information, experts’opinions and diagnosis are common.

　　The writer chiefly talks about ________ .

　　A. the use of telemedicine

　　B. the on -lined doctors

　　C. medical care and treatment

　　D. communication improvement

　　Which of the following statements is true according to the text?

　　A. Patients don’t need doctors in hospitals any more.

　　B. It is impossible to send a patient’s signs over the telephone.

　　C. Many teams use telemedicine dealing with disasters now.

　　D. Broadband communications will become cheaper in the future.

　　The“problem”in the fourth paragraph refers to the fact that ________ .

　　A. bandwidth isn’t big enough to send complex medical pictures

　　B. the second - generation of Internet has not become popular yet

　　C. communication satellites can only deal with short - term needs

　　D. there is not enough equipment for spreading the medical care　

　Without proper planning, tourism can cause problems. For example, too many tourists can crowd public places that are also enjoyed by the inhabitants of a country. If tourists create too much traffic, the inhabitants become annoyed and unhappy. They begin to dislike tourists and to treat them impolitely. They forget how much tourism can help the country’s economy. It is important to think about the people of a destination country and how tourism affects them. Tourism should help a country, keep the customs and beauty that attract tourists. Tourism should also advance the wealth and happiness of local inhabitants.

　　Too much tourism can be a problem. If tourism grows too quickly, people must leave other jobs to work in the tourism industry. This means that other parts of the country’s economy can suffer.

　　On the other hand, if there is not enough tourism, people can lose jobs. Businesses can also lose money. It costs a great deal of money to build large hotels, airports, air terminals, first- class roads, and other support facilities（配套设施）needed by tourist attractions. For example, a major international class tourism hotel can cost as much as 50 thousand dollars per room to build. If this room is not used most of the time, the owners of the hotel lose money.

　　Building a hotel is just a beginning. There must be many support facilities as well, including roads to get to the hotel, electricity, sewers to handle waste, and water. All of these support facilities cost money. If they are not used because there are not enough tourists , jobs and money are lost.

　Which of the following do you think has been discussed in the part before this selection？

　　A. It is extremely important to develop tourism.

　　B. Building roads and hotels is essential.

　　C. Support facilities are highly necessary.

　　D. Planning is of great importance to tourism.

　The underlined word“ inhabitants” （in Paragraph 1 ） probably means________.

　　A. tourists　　　　　　　　　　　 B. passengers

　　C. population　　　　　　　　　　D. citizens

　Too much tourism can cause all these problems EXCEPT ________ .

　　A. a bad effect on other industries

　　B. a change of tourists’ customs

　　C. over - crowdedness of places of interest

　　D. pressure on traffic

　It can be inferred from the text that ________ .

　　A. the author doesn’t like tourism developing so fast

　　B. local people will benefit from tourist attraction

　　C. other parts of a country’s economy won’t benefit from tourism much

　　D. we can't build too many support facilities