SECTION C NEWS BROCDCAST
Questions 11 to 12 are based on the following news from the BBC.At the end of the news item,you will be given 30 seconds to answer the two questions.
Now Listen to the news.
11.How did this accident happen?
A.The train was controled by outlaws. B.The bus went past a stop sign.
C.The train went past a stop sign. D.The bus hit the oncoming train itself.
12.How was the bus driver?
A.He was dead. B.He was injured. C.He was gone. D.It was not clear.
Questions 13 to 15 are based on the following news from the VOA.At the end of the news item,you will be given 45 seconds to answer the three questions.
Now Listen to the news.
13.Which programme is season finale toprated primetime drama?
A.“You'll never forget.” B.“ER” C.“Law & Order” D.“Third Watch”
14.Media experts give credit for all not to
A.the fierce rivalry of the current ratings “sweep”。
B.TV dramas' growing tendency to transform news into fiction.
C.writers' increasing the ability to imagine the killings.
D.the recent spate of reallife school violence making headlines.
15.Which movie publicized a case that turned the issue of missing children into a national crisis?
A.“Adams” B.“ER” C.“Sweeps” D.“Law & Order”
SECTION D NOTE/|TAKING & GAP/|FILLING
In this section you will hear a mini-lecture.You will hear the lecture once only.While listening to the lecture,take notes on the important points.Your notes will not be marked,but you will need them to complete a 15-minute gap-filling task on Answer Sheet One.Use the blank paper for note-taking.
PART Ⅱ PROOFREADING & ERROR CORRECTION[15 min.]
Proofread the given passage on ANSWER SHEET TWO as instructed.
PART Ⅲ READING COMPREHENSION [40 min.]
SECTION A READING COMPREHENSION [30 min.]
In this section there are six reading passages followed by a total of fiften multiple choice questions.Read the passages and then mark your answer on you Coloured ANSWER SHEET.
Tricky Business
“All right,boys and girls,who'd like to see some magic?”Twice a day the ferry Arahura—and it is greeted with cries of “Me!”from children,and with sighs of relief from parents,glad to find something to occupy their kids for at least half an hour of the threehour trip.
The parental saviour in question is Nigel Kennedy,a professional magician who has been working in the ferry for the past seven years.The facilities aren't great—there is no designated performance space,and he has to conjure more or less in a corridor—but there is room enough to wave a wand and wow an audience more captive than most.
Kennedy,33, thrives on the work,which guarantees him a level of exposure he would not readily find elsewhere.The Arahura carries,thousands of people each day in the holiday season.“Every time I travel,”says Jonathan Morgan,manager of passenger services for the ferry line,“he is ringed with kids,like the Pied Piper.”
The key to what horgan refers to as Kennedy's stunning success in audience participation:every show,he ropes in four kinds to help,although they usually wind up being the butt of his tricks.Wands are apt to wobble,droop,squeak or vanish;lossies and hankies turn up in unexpected places.Kennedy is a dab hand with balloons,too,twisting them at top speed into crowns,swords,worms,ducks and donkeys.
The children's work,he says,is his bread and butter,although it is not without its hazards.“Adults are very predictable to perform for as an audience.They will always clap in the same place,always laugh in the same place.But kids,you can't predict what they're going to say or do.Sometimes you're going to have a little fiveyearold who's going to sit there with his arms folded and say this trick's absolutely pathetic—some word he's learnt from his parents.”
Kennedy was drawn to magic in the classic manner .“I got given a magic book when I was eight years old and that started me on it.From then on,I was putting on shows in Mum and Dad's garage and plastering up flyerson lampposts and letterboxes around the streets,probably to their embarrassment.And it just developed from there.”
“I remember vividy a magician in a touring show.I remember sitting watching him in this little seat on my own.I don't know how old I would have been,but I was just rapt.He threw this big hula hoop at me and I had to examine it.I thought,wow,I feel so special.”
Since turning professional in 1989,Kennedy has made what he calls a good living from magic.But the business is not what it was.He can remember doing cabaret every Friday and Saturday night,plus a round of conferences,dineanddances and garden parties.He still does conferences,but these days,“rather than having a set stage show with illusions,they're more inclined to hire me for an hour or two,having me walk around the tables,do a little trick in somebody's hand,which is what they call closeup magic.”
He augments his income by running an ail/|order husiness for aspiring magicians,but admits that the average age of his clients is climbing:fewer and fewer children are taking up the craft.“it's the competition.Nowadays they can push a computer screen and a magic effect happens:why learn a magic trick?People come along to a magic club and,if they can't see a person in half on the first evening,they lose interest.”
Kennedy's skill is acknowledged by fellow magicians who have recently voted him best children's entertainer.But—you have to ask—do people confuse him with the other Nigel Kennedy,the internationally famous violinist?
Well,yes,and Kennedy shamelessly plays up to it:“Whenever Nigel is touring in this area,I make the most of it.I come on stage with a violin case while Vivaldi's The Four Seasons plays in the background.Then I pull out a magic wand from the violin case and everyone laughs.”
There are no plans for a name/|change,and in any case the confusion is worth it to overhear,as Kennedy once did,someone say:“This must be what that violinist does in the offseason.”
16.Nigel kennedy is____.
A.a professional violinist.
B.a professional magician and violinist.
C.a famous musician and childrens' entertainer.
D.an internationally famous player.
17.Which of the following statements is not true?
A.Kennedy started to be drawn to magic at the age of 8.
B.Kennedy was turned professional in 1989.
C.Kennedy the magician often performed on the stage with Kennedy the violinist.
D.Kennedy ran a mailorder business for those interested in magic.