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.

Would you like to be a king or queen? To have people waiting on you hand and foot? Many Americans experience this royal treatment every day. How? By being customers. The American idea of customer service is to make each customer the center of attention. Need proof? Just listen to the commercials. Most of them sound like the McDonald’s ad: “We do it all for you.” Actually, not all stores in America roll out the red carpet for their customers. But wherever you go, good customer service means making customers feel special.

People going shopping in America can expect to be treated with respect from the very beginning. Most places don’t have a “furniture street” or a “computer road” which allow you to compare prices easily. Instead, people often “let their fingers do the walking” through the store hot lines. From the first “hello”, customers receive a satisfying response to their questions. This initial contact can help them decide where to shop.

When customers get to the store, they are treated as honored guests. Customers don’t usually find store clerks sitting around watching TV or playing cards. Instead, the clerks greet them warmly and offer to help them find what they want. In most stores, the clear signs that label each department make shopping a breeze. Customers usually don’t have to ask how much items cost, since prices are clearly marked. And unless they’re at a flea market or a yard sale, they don’t bother trying to bargain.

When customers are ready to check out, they find the nearest and shortest checkout lane. But as Murphy’s Law would have it, whichever lane they get in, all the other lanes will move faster. Good stores open new checkout lanes when the lanes get too long. Some even offer express lanes for customers with 10 items or less. After they pay for their purchases, customers receive a smile and a warm “thank you” from the clerk. Many stores even allow customers to take their shopping carts out to the parking lot. That way, they don’t have to carry heavy bags out to the car.

1. By quoting (引用) the McDonald’s ad: “We do it all for you”, the author intends to_______.

A. suggest that customers believe what commercials say deeply

B. show readers the American idea on good customer service

C. express all the stores pay much attention to the customers

D. persuade readers to choose the stores with ads correctly

2. In the USA, what may you do at first if you want to do some shopping?

A. To visit a professional street with lots of similar stores.

B. To compare prices in many shops in the same street.

C. To make phone calls and get better shopping choices.

D. To receive other customers’ answers to the questions.

3. The Underlined words “a breeze” in Para.3 most probably means _________.

A. an easy job　　  B. a trouble　　    C. a funny thing　　    D. a boring task

4. Which of the followings shows American stores offer convenience to customers in this passage?

A. The store clerks don’t usually sit around watching TV or playing cards.

B. Some stores offer price bargain to the customers like a yard sale.

C. The clerks give customers a smile and a warm “thank you” after paying.

D. Some stores open new checkout lanes when the lanes are crowded.

Imagine a classroom missing the one thing that's long been considered a necessary part to reading and writing ? Paper. No notebooks, no textbooks, no test paper. Nor are there any pencils or pens, which always seem to run out of ink at the critical (关键的) moment.

A "paperless classroom" is what more and more schools are trying to achieve.

Students don't do any handwriting in this class. Instead, they use palm (手掌) size, or specially-designed computers. The teacher downloads texts from Internet libraries and sends them to every student's personal computer.

Having computers also means that students can use the Web. They can look up information on any subject they're studying ? from maths to social science.

High school teacher Judy Herrell in Florida, US, described how her class used the Web to learn about the war in Afganistan (阿富汗) over one year ago.

"We could touch every side of the country through different sites ? from the forest to refugee camps (难民营)," she said. "Using a book that's three or four years old is impossible."

And exams can go online too. At a high school in Tennessee, US, students take tests on their own computers. The teacher records the grades on the network for everyone to see and then copies them to his own electronic grade book.

A paperless classroom is a big step towards reducing the waste of paper. High school teacher Stephanie Sorrell in Kentucky, US, said she used to give about 900 pieces of paper each week to each student.

"Think about the money and trees we could save with the computers," she said.

But, with all this technology, there's always the risk (危险) that the machines will break down. So, in case of a power failure or technical problems, paper textbooks are still widely available (可用的) for these hi-tech students.

What does the part of the last sentence in the first paragraph, “run out of ink at the critical

moment”, mean?

   A. Pens may not write well at the critical moment.

　 B. Pens get lost easily, so you may not find them at the critical moment.

　 C. Pens may have little or no ink at the critical moment.

　 D. Pens use ink, while pencils don't.

In a paperless classroom, what is a must?

　 A. Pens. B. Computers. C. Information. D. Texts.

The high school teacher, Judy Herrell, used the example of her class to show that _______.

　 A. the Web could take them everywhere B. the Web taught them a lot

　 C. the Web is a good tool for information

　 D. the Web, better than the textbooks, can give the latest and comprehensive (全面的) information

The paperless classrooms will benefit _____ the most.

　 A. students B. teachers C. trees D. computers

What does the phrase in the last paragraph, “break down”, mean?

　 A. Break into pieces. B. Stop working. C. Fall down. D. Lose control.

Everyone has experienced trying, but failing to master a difficult book that was begun with the hope of increasing one's understanding. When that happens, it is ?　36　?to think that it was a mistake to try to read it, but that was not the mistake. The mistake was in ?　37　? too much from the first reading of a(n) ?　38　? book. If you read it in the right way, no book written for the ?　39　?reader, no matter how difficult, need be a cause for despair(令人失望).

What is the right method? The ?　40　? is an important and helpful rule of reading that is either not ?　41　? or often forgotten. That rule is simply this: when reading a difficult book for the first time, read it through without ever ?　42　? to think about the things that you do not understand immediately.

Do not be stopped by what you ?　43　? understand. Read through the difficult ?　44　?,and you soon come to things that you do understand. Read these ?　45　?.You will have a much better chance of understanding all of the book when you read it again, but that ?　46　? you to have read the book through once ?　47　?.

What you understand by reading the book through to the ?　48　? will help you when you try later to read the places that you did not ?　49　? in your first reading. Or if you never re-read the book, understanding half of it is much better than understanding ?　50　? of it, which will happen ?　51　? you allow yourself to be stopped by the first difficult part of the book.?

Most of us were taught to ?　52　? the things that we do not understand. We were told to find the ?　53　? of unfamiliar words, and to try to find an explanation in another ?　54　? for anything that we did not understand in the book that we were reading. But when these things are done before the proper time, they only ?　55　? our reading, instead of helping it.

36. A. necessary     B. useful C. natural       D. effective?

37. A. learning       B. wanting      C. accepting    D. expecting?

38. A. easy     B. difficult     C. important   D. correct?

39. A. ordinary      B. young C. serious       D. sincere?

40. A. method B. question     C. answer       D. problem?

41. A. taught  B. known       C. sure    D. perfect?

42. A. starting B. hesitating   C. Stopping    D. repeating?

43. A. can't     B. won't  C. mustn't       D. wouldn't?

44. A. words   B. articles       C. parts   D. points?

45. A. quickly B. immediately      C. clearly       D. carefully?

46. A. requires       B. causes C. advises       D. allows?

47. A. later     B. after   C. before D. again?

48. A. top       B. end     C. bottom       D. cover?

49. A. see       B. turn    C. Notice D. understand?

50. A. anything      B. everything  C. nothing      D. something?

51. A. if B. so that C. whenever   D. as though?

52. A. put away     B. put down    C. think of      D. think about?

53. A. uses     B. Meanings   C. Spellings    D. troubles?

54. A. thinking      B. reading      C. Book  D. way?

55. A. harm    B. increase      C. Improve     D. prevent??

The total on advertising spent on the Chinese mainland last year rose by 25 per cent over 2003, a survey shows.

Expense reached US$23 3 billion, including television and print media, the survey/vas released by CTR Market Re-search on February 23, 2005.

The cosmetics and toiletries化妆品) sector was ranked No.1 in spending with US＄4.8 billion, an increase of 34 percent.

Advertising can be seen as the "weather glass" of the overall development of the country's economy, said Tian Tao, deputy general manager of CTR..

       "The results of the survey reflect strong economic development in the country," Tian said.

"One of the most interesting-findings from the survey is that local and foreign mobile phone manufacturers reacted quite differently in terms of advertising spending," Tian said.

Most local mobile phone manufacturers had decreasing advertising expense while the foreign ones saw significant growth, Tian said.

Researchers also found that advertising on so called functional drink categories(种类) increased while milk makers decreased after a clear increase in advertising spending in 2003.

The survey also includes figures from Hong Kong and Taiwan, advertising expense in Hong Kong reached US $ 4.8 billion, an increase of roughly 15 per Cent from the previous year. Taiwan advertising spending reached US $15 billion, up roughly 27 per cent from the previous year.

In Hong Kong, the top three advertising categories were household and toiletries~ banking and investment services, and cosmetics.

In Taiwan, the top three advertising categories were real estate(房地产) , automobile and financial institutions.

The first largest advertising spending on the Chinese mainland in the year 2004 was　　.

 A. real estate                        B. household  

C. the cosmetics and toiletries       D. automobile

Advertising can be seen as the "weather glass" of the overall development of the country's economy because the rise of the advertising spending reflects strong __.

A. agricultural development in the country  

B. trade development in the country

C. industrial development in the country   

D. economic development in the country

According to the passage, the advertising expense on __ dropped in the year 2004.

A. most foreign mobile phones              

B. most local mobile phones

C. so-called functional drink categories       

D. banking and investment services

According to the passage, the growth. rate on advertising spending of __ is the fastest.

   A. the Chinese mainland        B. Hong Kong      C. Taiwan                           D. Macao