王迈迈英语

Text 2
Where is the second centre of Hollywood film making in Europe, after London, Paris, or perhaps Berlin? Try Prague. Last year, Hollywood spent over $2OOm on shooting movies, commercials and pop videos in the Czech capital. This year, all the big studios will be in town. MGM has "Hart's War" starring Bruce Willis, Disney is shooting "Black Sheep" with Anthony Hopkins, and Fox has just finished filming "From Hell", a Jack the Ripper saga starring Johnny Depp.
     Praguers take Tinseltown in their stride. Old ladies looked only slightly bemused last month when the cobbled streets of Mala Strana, Prague's old quarter, were cleared of real snow and sprayed with a more cinematically pleasing chemical alternative for Universal's "Bourne Identity", a $50m thriller starring Matt Damon. The film's producer, Pat Crowley, reckons a day filming in Prague costs him $l00，000, against $250,000 in Paris. Czech crews, he says, are professional, English-speaking and numerous. They are also a bargain-40% cheaper than similar crews in London or Los Angeles, points out Matthew Stillman, the British boss of Stillking, a Prague-based production firm.
    Mr. Stillman founded Stillking in 1993 after arriving in Prague with $500 and a typewriter. Today, Hollywood producers come to the company for crews, catering, lights and much more. It claims to have about half of the local film-production business and this year hopes for revenues of over $50m.
    The biggest draw to Prague, however, is Barrandov - one of the largest film studios in Europe, with 11 sound-stages, onsite photo labs and top-notch technicians. It was founded during Czechoslovakia's pre-war first republic by Milos Havel, an uncle of the present Czech president, Vaclav Havel. The Nazis expanded it as a production centre for propaganda flicks - the sound-stages are courtesy of Joseph Goebbels. Then came the Communists with their own propaganda and, admittedly, a few impressive homegrown directors such as Milos Forman, who began Hollywood's march to Prague by filming "Amadeus" there.
     But it is partly thanks to Barrandov that Prague remains some way behind London as a film centre. The studio has suffered from iffy management and is already stretched to capacity ("You can't even get an office there," moans one producer). Its present owner, a local steel company, is keen to sell but talks with a Canadian consortium have been thorny, not least because the Czech government holds a golden share. Should the Canadian deal fall through, Stillking says it would consider a bid of its own.

26．Which one is not true about Prague?
A It’s a gathering place for big studio to make film-stars.
B It’s the Czech capital.
C It’s a very popular place for Hollywood film making.
D It’s an attractive place for both film makers and the stars.

27.Pat Crowley has chosen Prague to be the place for his new film just because       .
A  this place is covered with snow, which is what they want.
B  he takes  costs  into consideration.
C Matt Damon loves the place.
D it has the cobbled streets.
28. Czech Film workers are not       .
A  skilled                    B  able to speak foreign languages
C  professional               D  bargaining ?

29. Stillking is a company       .
A  providing instruments and workers for studios
B  providing actors
C  involved in film-making
D  gathering money from local film studios

30. Prague remains behind London because       .
A  the studio leader grasped all the capitals.
B  of bad strategies of selling studios.
C  Canadian consortium can not get the golden share from the government.
D  the studio leaders didn’t do a good job on booming it.

TEXT 3
THE elephants of Thailand used never to be short of work hauling timber. But most of the country's forests have been cut down, and logging is now banned to save the few that are left. The number of domesticated elephants left in the country is now only 2,500 or so, down from about 100,000 a century ago. Though being the national animal of Thailand earns an elephant plenty of respect, this does not put grass on the table. Thai elephants these days take tourists on treks or perform in circuses, and are sometimes to be seen begging for bananas on the streets of Bangkok.
     Some of the 46 elephants living at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre, a former government logging camp near Lampang, have found a new life in music. The Thai Elephant Orchestra is the creation of two Americans, Richard Lair, who has worked with Asian elephants for 23 years, and David Soldier, a musician and neuroscientist with a taste for the avant-garde. They provided six of the center’s elephants, aged seven to 18, with a variety of percussion and wind instruments. Those familiar with Thai instruments will recognize the slit drums, the gong, the bow bass, the xylophone-like rants, as well as the thunder sheet. The only difference is that the elephant versions are a bit sturdier.
    The elephants are given a cue to start and then they improvise. They clearly have a strong sense of rhythm. They flap their ears to the beat, swish their tails and generally rock back and forth. Some add to the melody with their own trumpeting. Elephant mood-music could have a commercial future, Mr. Soldier believes. He has even produced a CD on the Mulatta label-it is available at www.mulatta.org-with 13elephant tracks. It is real elephant music, he says, with only the human noises removed by sound engineers. But is it music? Bob Halliday, music critic of the Bangkok Post, says it is. He commends the elephants for being "so communicative". Anyone not knowing that it was elephant music, he says, would assume that humans were playing.
    Some of the elephants in the band have also tried their hand at painting, tending to favor the abstract over the representational style. Their broad-stroke acrylic paintings last year helped raise some $25,000 at a charity auction at Christie's in New York, and a London gallery has also taken some of their work. These art sales, together with profits from the CD, are helping to keep the centre going. A second CD is on the way. It will be less classical, more pop.
31. The elephants of Thailand now are short of the work they used to do because       .
A they are trained to take tourists on trek.
B they are trained to play music.
C the forest-cutting is illegal
D there is not enough timber for them to haul.

32. The author’s attitude towards these elephants is        .
A  astonished               B  indescribable
C  supportive               D  appreciative

33. The two American created the Orchestra in order to       .
A  earn money              B  protect elephants
C  enjoy themselves        D  none of the above

34. “trumpet” in the 3rd paragraph refers to       .
A  jump                   B  shriek
C  move                   D  shake

35. The elephants do not make money from       .
A  getting charity from visitors     B  selling their paintings
C  selling their own CDs            D  all their entertainment work