Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, has come back from university to find that his father, the old king, is dead. His mother has married his father's brother, Claudius, who is now king of Denmark. Hamlet is shocked that his mother has married so soon after his father's death, and angry that she has married Claudius.

Soon, a ghost (幽灵) is seen walking on the castle walls. The ghost looks like Hamlet's father, the dead king. When Hamlet sees the ghost, he is told that it is the ghost of his father. "I am your father's spirit," the ghost tells Hamlet. It tells him that Hamlet's father did not die naturally, but was murdered by his brother Claudius. As the king slept, Claudius put poison into his ear, causing the king a painful death. The ghost tells Hamlet to take revenge on Claudius for murdering his father.

Hamlet can't believe his mother would marry the man who murdered her husband. He becomes depressed, and he thinks about killing himself: "To be or not to be, that is the question. " Hamlet decides to pretend he is mad while he tries to find out if King Claudius really killed his father. Claudius soon notices that Hamlet is acting strangely, so he asks Polonius, his adviser, to discover if it is true…

The theatre in Shakespeare's time was much different than it is today. Authors wrote plays for the masses, especially those who couldn't read or write.

The theatre changed a lot during Shakespeare's lifetime. The authorities didn't like it and didn't allow acting in the city itself: They thought it had a bad influence on people and kept them from going to church. Queen Elizabeth, on the other hand, loved acting and helped the theatre become popular.

The theatre in Shakespeare's time was full of life. People did not sit all the time and it was not quiet during the performance. The audience could walk around, eat and drink during the play.

Theaters were open arenas or playhouses that had room for up to three thousand people. There was almost no scenery because the dialogue was the most important part of the play. Colourful and well­designed costumes were very important and told the people about the status of a character. Women never performed in plays, 80 young boys played female characters. The performances took place in the afternoon because it was too dark at night.

There was no stage crew as there is today. Actors had do everything themselves—from making costumes to setting the stage. Plays were organized by acting companies. They performed about 6 different plays each week because they needed money to survive. They had almost no time to rehearse (排练).

The companies in Shakespeare's time had a rank system. The company belonged to shareholders and managers. They were responsible for everything and got most of the money when the company was successful. Sometimes they even owned their own buildings. Actors worked for the managers arid after some time became a permanent member of the company. Apprentices (学徒) were young boys and were allowed to act in unimportant role. They also played females characters in play.

Reading a book and watching a film are two very different experiences, but expectations can be high when a film of a favourite book is made. There are very many times I have been disappointed by a film of a book I love. So maybe highly regarded books do not always make good films. It is safe to say that great movies may be made from not particularly good books.

The source material may be anything from classic novels, short stones, comic books and stage plays, as well as non­fiction such as biography and autobiography, even those written by ghostwriters. All can work well, but why do many adaptations and indeed remakes fail with both cinema audiences and critics?

A key question is obviously how close to the original the film is. Since a typical film is only around two hours long, it becomes a question of what to leave out, and how to script the dialogue. Sometimes there may be changes to the plot, additions and even different endings to please producers, directors and test audiences. I, like many people, have often left the cinema feeling "the film is not like the book".

Another problem area is the cast. Whether suitable actors are found or not can mean the difference between success and failure. Readers of the book use their imaginations to visualize characters and have very definite ideas about how characters look and sound. This is where I think many film adaptations fall down.

Some books are just too difficult to film for technical reasons, although movies like The Life of Pi are changing this perception. The impact of CGI technology has had a huge impact on the movie industry and allowed the previously unfilmable to become a reality.

 Sometimes authors are very involved in the process and many may even be the screenwriters. This can actually be a bad thing because they may be too close to the material and find it difficult to adapt. At other times they are not the screenwriters, and there are instances where writers have been very unhappy with the film versions of their work. Roald Dahl and Stephen King are examples of this. Even more extreme was novelist J. D. Salinger who made sure no film versions of his popular novels could ever be made. In this situation, it is clear viewers will not be disappointed.

What's On Stage

An acrobatic (杂技) show: To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the China Acrobatic Troupe will present "The Soul of China"， where the seemingly impossible is made real. Chills (寒战) will run down your spine (脊柱) as you watch breathlessly as performers take their art and their bodies to the edge.

Time: 7：30 pm, September 13－19

Place: Capital Theatre, 22 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District

Exhibitions

Joint Show: A group ink painting exhibition is running at the Huangshicheng Art Gallery in Beijing. About 50 works by 25 young artists including Ge Yun and Yu Yang are on display .

Time: 9：00 am－5：00 pm until September 10

Place: Huangshicheng Gallery, 136 Nanchizi Dajie, Dongcheng Distirct

Oil paintings: The Wanfung Art Galley will host a joint show of oil paintings by 10 young and middle­aged artists. On display are more than 30 of their latest works, which capture (捕捉) the wondrous variety of life in unique (独特的) styles .

Time: 9：00 am－4：00 pm until September 15

Place: 136 Nachizi Street, Dongcheng District

Literature (文学) museum: The National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature offers an indepth study of the evolution of Chinese contemporary literature from 1919 to 1949.

Time: 9：00 am－4：00 pm, daily

Place: 45 Anyuan Donglu , Chaoyang District (Shaoyaoju area)

Concerts

Beijing rocks: "The Fashion Night of Chinese Rock" is set to bring rock fans out by the thousands next month. Nine Chinese rock bands will perform at the concert, including older generation bands, middle generation and some recent arrivals. The audience (听众) will be given a chance to decide what songs they want to hear, which is sure to bring a storm.

Time: September 16

Place: The Olympic Center

Belgium Orchestra (管弦乐队): La Petite Bande, the Baroque Orchestra of Belgium will perform in Beijing at the Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities as part of activities across the world to commemorate (纪念) the 250th anniversary of Bach's death .

Time: 7：30 pm, September 11－14

Place: Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities

Beijing Opera represents the finest combination of literature, music, dance, kung fu, fine arts and many other arts. Its way of performing is different from opera and drama.

Beijing Opera is a kind of art that pays equal attention to singing，speaking，acting and fighting. Meanwhile, Beijing Opera provides the opportunity to appreciate the pleasing artistic balance of the dance, the strength and music, even from only one act. According to the historical record, it dates back to the middle period of the Qing Dynasty. In the 55th year ruled by the Emperor Qianlong, the most famous four theatrical groups in Anhui went to Beijing to show their opera performance and then got a great success. Then, based on "Anhui Opera" and "Han Opera", and also mixed with characteristics of Beijing dialect, Beijing Opera was formed.

The Beijing Opera was officially formed after the 20th year of the Emperor Daoguang (1840). At that time, the forms of each kind of arias (唱腔) and the language characteristic of Beijing Opera originally came into being. New changes appeared in Beijing Opera's roles. Later, the first generation of the opera actors also appeared.

A. Beijing Opera is a kind of modem opera.

B. Actually Beijing Opera has its own characters.

C. Many roles of the Beijing Opera had appeared.

D. Because it was popular in Beijing, it spread nationwide.

E. Many people wonder what is the origin of the Beijing Opera.

F. It enables the audience to be inspired by language, music and fine arts.

G. Although in was formed in Beijing it didn't have its origins in Beijing totally.

Roberta appeared on the stage. She took a deep breath and began to 1. Now she was Portia, a strong­willed 2 in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.  The theater was filled with people. She was speaking with a power she had never before experienced, the words flowing 3 from her.

4, Roberta had never acted in her life before the audition (选拔试演). She 5 being in front of other people. She was very 6 at school. She had never thought she was good enough at anything to 7 much attention. She stayed mostly to herself, making 8 friends. She had excellent grades, 9 she always thought that something was missing.

Two weeks before the audition, Robertsa's mother had heard about it and 10 her to join in.

"I can't think of anyone else better suited to 11 the part. Remember all the plays you used to act out for us?"

Her mother wouldn't let the 12 drop. "You're just a little scared. Everyone gets scared. You know you 13 do it. The trick is to look past the 14 to find the love of what you're doing. "

So Roberta had made an appointment with the head of the Drama Club. She had read the play and found herself excited by the 15 of speaking such rich words. In secret she practiced Portia's part, 16 the lines by repeating them over and over. It wasn't hard; she 17 every minute of it. Every time she spoke the words, she had a new 18 of the lines, as if Shakespeare had written Portia on many levels.

On the day of the audition, she 19 two of Portia's famous speeches for the auditors. When she had finished, the head of the Drama Club announced the 20 was hers.

Peking Opera is form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became (full) developed and recognized by the mid­19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court and has come to be regarded as one of the (culture) treasures of China. Major performance troupes (剧团) (base) in Beijing and Tianjin in the north, and Shanghai in the south. It has also spread to other countries such as the United States and Japan.

Peking Opera comes four local operas, Hui Opera in Anhui, Han Opera in Hubei, Kun Opera in Jiangsu and Qingqiang in Shaanxi. It has drawn the merits of these local operas and created its own style.

Speech, song, dance and combat (be) the four classic performing arts in Peking Opera, which are also the basic (skill) for performers and is usually trained since the performers are very young. There are many roles in Peking Opera, mainly Sheng, Dan, Jing, and Chou, each of has its own costume and mask­paintings. Masks with different colors have different meanings, which is used to (represent) the character of the roles and illustrate their emotional state.

No China trip is complete without (watch) the classic Peking Opera! Enjoy the fantastic Peking Opera!

1）列举阅读文学作品的好处；

2）简述阅读文学作品对你的帮助。

注意：1）词数100左右，开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数；

2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

参考词汇：文学作品works of literature

Dear Susan ，

……

Yours ，

Li Hua

Once, when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus (马戏). Finally, there was only one family between us and the ticket counter.

This family made a big impression on me. There were eight children, all probably under the age of twelve. You could tell they didn't have a lot of money.

Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean. The children were wellbehaved, all of them standing in line, twobytwo behind their parents, holding hands. They were excitedly talking about the clowns, elephants, and other acts they would see that night with their brothers or sisters in a low voice.

One could sense they had never been to the circus before. It promised to be highlight of their young lives. The father and mother were at the head of the pack, standing proud as could be. The mother was holding her husband's hand, looking up at him as if to say, "You are my knight in shining armor."

He was smiling and responding in pride, looking back at her as if to say, "You got that right." The ticket lady asked the father how many tickets he wanted. He proudly responded, "Please let me buy eight children's tickets and two adult tickets so I can take my family to the circus."

The ticket lady gave the price. The man's wife let go of his hand. Her head dropped, and his lips began to shake. The father leaned a little closer and asked, "How much did you say？"

The ticket lady again quoted the price. The man didn't have enough money.

How was he supposed to turn and tell his eight children that he didn't have enough money to take them to the circus？Actually we were not wealthy in any sense. So I understand how the kids would feel. I felt sorry for them.

注意：

1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；

2）至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；

3）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；

4）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1：
Seeing what was going on, my dad put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill and dropped it on the ground.
Paragraph 2：
That day my father and I went back to our car and drove home without any tickets.