Some plays are so successful that they run for years on end. In many ways, this is　 36　 for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the sane　 37　 night after night. One would

 38　 them to know their parts by heart and　 39　 have cause to falter（结巴）.Yet　40　is not always the case.

　　A famous actor in a　 41　 successful play was once cast in the role of an aristocrat　 42　 had been imprisoned in Bastille for twenty years. In the last act，a gaoler（监狱长，看守）would always come on to the stage with a letter which he would hand to the prisoner.　 43　 the noble was expected to read the letter at each　 44　 ,he always insisted that it should be written out in full.

　　One night, the gaoler decided to play a joke　 45　 his colleague to find out if, after so many performances, he had managed to learn the　 46　 of the letter by heart. The curtain went up on the final act of the play and revealed（使显露）the aristocrat sitting alone behind bars in his dark cell. Just then，the gaoler　 47　 with the precious letter in his hands. He entered the　 48　and presented the letter to the aristocrat. But the copy he gave him had not been written out in　

 49　 as usual. It was simply a blank sheet of paper. The gaoler looked on eagerly,　50　 to see if his fellow actor had at last learnt his lines. The noble stared at the blank sheet of paper for a few seconds. Then，squinting（眯着眼看）his eves，he said,“The light is　 51　.Read the letter to me.”And he promptly handed the sheet of paper to the gaoler.　52　 that he could not remember a word of the letter either, the gaoler replied，“The light is indeed dim，sir. I must get my　 53　”With this, he hurried off the stage. Much to the aristocrat’s　 54　 ，the gaoler returned a few moments later with a pair of glasses and the　 55　 copy of the letter which he proceeded（继续进行）to read to the prisoner.

　　36．A. fortunate B. unfortunate C. happy D. unhappy

　　37．A. lines B. words C. plays D. roles

　　38．A. want B. ask C. expect D. wish

　　39．A. always B. never C. sometimes D. often

　　40．A. such B. the thing C. one D. this

　　41．A. highly B. high C. poorly D. poor

　　42．A. where B. what C. which D. who

　　43．A. Because B. Even though C. When D. Though

　　44．A. play B. performance C. role D. case

　　45．A. with B. in C. on D. to

　　46．A. pages B. joke C. lines D. contents

　　47．A. appeared B. disappeared C. came out D. came in

　　48．A. room B. cell C. stage D. office

　　49．A. English B. French C. order D. full

　　50．A. worded B. surprised C. anxious D. afraid

　　51．A. bright B. dim C. dark D. out

　　52．A. To see B. To find C. Seeing D. Finding

　　53．A. glasses B. lines C. light D. letters

　　54．A. surprise B. satisfaction C. anger D. amusement

　　55．A. usual B. old C. unusual D. new

　Some plays are so successful that they run for years on end. In many ways, this is　 36　 for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the sane　 37　 night after night. One would

 38　 them to know their parts by heart and　 39　 have cause to falter（结巴）.Yet　40　is not always the case.

　　A famous actor in a　 41　 successful play was once cast in the role of an aristocrat　 42　 had been imprisoned in Bastille for twenty years. In the last act，a gaoler（监狱长，看守）would always come on to the stage with a letter which he would hand to the prisoner.　 43　 the noble was expected to read the letter at each　 44　 ,he always insisted that it should be written out in full.

　　One night, the gaoler decided to play a joke　 45　 his colleague to find out if, after so many performances, he had managed to learn the　 46　 of the letter by heart. The curtain went up on the final act of the play and revealed（使显露）the aristocrat sitting alone behind bars in his dark cell. Just then，the gaoler　 47　 with the precious letter in his hands. He entered the　 48　and presented the letter to the aristocrat. But the copy he gave him had not been written out in　

 49　 as usual. It was simply a blank sheet of paper. The gaoler looked on eagerly,　50　 to see if his fellow actor had at last learnt his lines. The noble stared at the blank sheet of paper for a few seconds. Then，squinting（眯着眼看）his eves，he said,“The light is　 51　.Read the letter to me.”And he promptly handed the sheet of paper to the gaoler.　52　 that he could not remember a word of the letter either, the gaoler replied，“The light is indeed dim，sir. I must get my　 53　”With this, he hurried off the stage. Much to the aristocrat’s　 54　 ，the gaoler returned a few moments later with a pair of glasses and the　 55　 copy of the letter which he proceeded（继续进行）to read to the prisoner.

Two years after the First World War (1914-1918), a small group of soldiers left the army and returned to their hometown in France. Most of them lived well, but one of them was poor. His name was Clinton. Once a year they had supper in Barton’s house. Barton was very rich.

One evening Barton showed his friends a large gold coin at the supper table. The coin was passed around and praised by everyone. At the same time they were talking and talking. They soon forgot about the coin. After supper, Barton asked for his coin, but nobody could tell where it was. It was lost. One man said that everyone must be searched. One by one they turned their pockets inside out. Only Clinton refused, however. “I didn’t steal the coin, and I will not be searched,” he said. After that, people turned their heads away from Clinton when they met him. He grew poorer. Soon his wife died.

A few years later, Barton had his house repaired. The lost coin was found under the floor. Barton felt sorry and went to Clinton to apologize. “But,” he asked, “you knew the coin was not in your pocket. Why did you refuse to be searched?” “Because I was a thief,” Clinton answered. “My pockets were full of food at that time. I had taken some food from the table to carry to my hungry wife and children.”

1.The story took place ________.

A. in 1920　　　    B. after 1945　　　 C. in 1950　　  D. 1916

2.The coin was passed and praised because ________.

A. Clinton was rich　　　　　                       B. the supper was good

C. it was a large gold coin　                           D. they were happy

3.Everyone was to be searched because _________.

A. they were thieves　　　                          B. the gold coin was lost

C. Clinton stole the gold coin                      D. they stole the gold coin

4.Clinton refused to be searched because _________.

A. he was afraid to be found that there was some food in his pockets

B. he didn’t steal the coin　

C. he was poor enough

D. the gold coin was in his pocket

5.“After that, people turned their heads away from Clinton when they met him.” From the sentence we know that _____.

A.  people thought of him as a beggar　

B.  people took no notice of him

C.  people look down upon him　　　

D. Clinton refused to see his friends

I have a friend named John Roberts who owns a horse ranch （牧马场）in San Ysidro.　　The last time I was there he shared a story with me. “It is a story about a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer. When he was a senior，he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.”

That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch， showing the location of all the buildings，the stables and the track.　　

“The next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, ‘See me after class.’”

　　“The boy went to see the teacher after class and asked, ‘Why did I receive an F？’”

　　“The teacher said, ‘This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you’ll have to pay large stud fees. There‘s no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher added， ‘If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.’”

　　“The boy went home and asked his father what he should do. His father said, ‘Look, son， you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.’”

　　“Finally，after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He stated, ‘You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.‘”

　　John continued, “I tell you this story because you are sitting in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace.” He added, “If I had changed my paper at that time, maybe we would not have the chance to be here talking about the dreams .”

1.What was the boy’s goal described in his seven-page paper? (No more than 6 words)

2.Why did the teacher give him a F”?                    (No more than 14 words)

3.How did John’s father respond to his son’s puzzlement?    (No more than10 words)

4.What can we learn from the article?                    (No more than 8 words.)