题型：任务型阅读 题类：常考题 难易度：容易
上海市光明中学2018-2019学年高一下学期英语期中考试试卷
Today, in most of the theatres in Britain, the stages are situated behind a sort of arch (拱门), called the proscenium (幕布前的舞台部分)arch. The arch runs across the building with the stage on one side of it and the auditorium, housing the audience, on the other. The audience is kept to the area from which it can get a clear view of the stage. This type of theatre has been is use for three hundred years. The actor can ignore them until the end, when they applaud the performance. If an actor wants to speak to the audience he tends to step out of the picture, as it were—down to the edge of the stage.
Stage furniture or properties—"props", as they are referred to in the business – are now as few as possible. Elaborate scenery is used only when it is going to last throughout the play, or when it is so constructed that it can be changed quickly. Modern theatres are built with the stage extending far in front of the proscenium arch, if indeed they have a proscenium arch at all, electricity, already long in use, has recently had a revolutionary effect. A change of lighting is as good as a change of scenery, and simpler and quicker; it can light one part of the stage in place of another. Footlights have been found unnecessary. Curtains also are hardly necessary, since the stage can be darkened to signify the end of a scene.
The modern idea of having the stage in front of the proscenium arch is not really modern, of course. It makes our stages much like Shakespeare's. The famous speeches of Hamlet, for instance, can be delivered more quietly and naturally than they were in the las century. The actors no longer have to worry much about not being heard, or about turning their backs to the auditorium. They can get closer to the audience, while a larger audience can see them at work.
Moreover, nowadays, people are finding that modern theatres are built to sit in comfortably for two or three hours at a stretch. The result of these improvements is that, in spite of the high price of seats, perhaps more people than ever before are keen on theatre-going.
A. Over the last few decades, since the Second World War, theatrical customs have altered.
B. It makes people feel, as they watch a play or a show, that they are seeing a living and moving picture.
C. All these innovations have quickened up the pace of the drama.
D. This is an advantage both for actors and audience.
E. Today the theatres are much more comfortable because of the many improvements.
F. Often they can meet and eat in the restaurants attached to the theatres.
Some students get so nervous before a test, they do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock has studied these highly anxious test-takers.
Sian Beilock: “They start worrying about the consequences. They might even start worrying about whether this exam is going to prevent them from getting into the college they want. And when we worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources. I talk about it as your cognitive horsepower that you could otherwise be using to focus on the exam.”
Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.
Sain Beilock: “What we think happens is when students put it down on paper, they think about the worst that could happen and they reappraise the situation. They might realize it's not as bad as they might think it was before and, in truth, it prevents these thoughts from appearing suddenly when they're actually taking a test.”
The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short math tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.
The researchers added to the pressure. They told the students that those who did well on the second test would get money. They also told them that their performance would affect other students as part of a team effort.
Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of twelve percent worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of five percent.
Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test.
Professor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B- for those who did not.
Sain Beilock: “What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, who'd done our writing intervention, all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. Those students most prone to worry were performing just as well as their classmates who don't normally get nervous in these testing situations.”
But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam or presentation? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.
Title: Overcoming test {#blank#}1{#/blank#} | |
Problem | Some students get nervous before a test, so they can't do{#blank#}2{#/blank#}even if they know the material. |
Reason | {#blank#}3{#/blank#} about the consequences {#blank#}4{#/blank#}them their attention and memory resources. |
Solution | Write down their worries to {#blank#}5{#/blank#}the negative thoughts appearing suddenly. |
Results of the researches | College students:{#blank#}6{#/blank#} with those sitting quietly, students writing about their fears improved their performance. |
Younger students: highly anxious students who did the writing instead of {#blank#}7{#/blank#}things unrelated to the test got {#blank#}8{#/blank#}grades. | |
{#blank#}9{#/blank#} ways to solve the problem | If students have no {#blank#}10{#/blank#}to write about their fears immediately, they can try it themselves at home or in the library. |
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