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 21st century 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 the theatre.

Stage schools often act as agencies to supply children for stage and television work. More worthy of the name “stage schools” 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 fact seems to suggest this is not always the case.

1．People would stop feeling uneasy when realizing that the children they’re talking to ____.

A．a(chǎn)ttend a stage school                            B．be going to the theatre

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

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

A．produce star performers

B．help pupils improve their study skills

C．train pupils’ language and perform arts

D．provide a general education and stage training

3．“Professional work” used in the text means __________.

A．ordinary school work                           B．money-making performances

C．stage training at school                      D．a(chǎn)cting, singing or dancing after class

4．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.

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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

 

    When older honeybees take on tasks usually handled by younger bees, aging of their brains is effectively

changed, a new study finds. The discovery suggests that in humans, social involvement ought to be considered

in addition to drugs as a way to treat age-related dementia(癡呆).

    “We knew from previous research that when bees stay in the nest and take care of larvae—the bee

babies---they remain mentally able as long as we observe them,” explained Gro Amdam, who led the research

at Arizona State University. “However, after a period of nursing, bees fly out gathering food and begin aging

very quickly.”

     “After just two weeks, foraging(覓食的)bees have worn wings, hairless bodies, and more importantly,

lose the brain function—-basically measured as the ability to learn new things,” Amdam said in a statement.

     Amdam and his colleagues wanted to find out what would happen if they “asked” the foraging bees to

take care of larval babies again. To find out, they removed younger nurse bees from a nest, leaving the older

foraging bees to face a choice: forage or care for the larvae. Some of the older returned to searching for food,

and others switched to caring for the nest and larvae. After ten days, about fifty percent of the older bees that

had chosen to care for the nest and larvae had “greatly improved their ability to learn new things.”

    The researchers also discovered changes in the proteins in the brains of the bees whose learning ability had

improved. One of the proteins that changed, called Prx6, is also found in humans and is known to help protect

against dementia.

    “Maybe social involvement is something we can do today to help our brains stay younger,” Amdam says.

“Since the proteins being researched in people are the same proteins bees have, these proteins may be able to

respond to specific social experiences.”

     Other studies have shown several non-drug methods can help improve brainpower in older people,

including going for walks and taking music lessons.

     The findings, announced this week, are detailed in the journal Experimental Gerontology.

81．What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 4 refer to? （No more than 5 words）

82．When do the brains of older bees age very fast? （No more than 9 words）

83．What is Amdam’s suggestion for old people to prevent dementia? （No more than 6 words）

84．What is the best title for the text? （No more than 6 words）

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