Question

In high school, “cool” is the rule, so teenagers will do anything to avoid possibly embarrassing situations.

But not Samantha Elton, 15. She seeks them out. And if she can make a fool of herself as in the process, well, that’s even better.

For the past two years, Elton, has been a practitioner of improvisation, doing things that others would be embarrassed to consider.

Elton is a member of High School Jesters, a group that teaches improvisation techniques to students. The group was founded two years ago by Nicholas Kopatich, himself a keen improviser.

“I was sitting in my dorm room and some friends were having chats about comedy and improvisation,” Kopatich recalls. They asked for lessons after Kopatich told them he had improvisation experience. The small group turned out to be pretty good at it, so they did a show for the dorm. And things snowballed.

While even her mother marvels at Elton’s ability to get up in front of audience without a script to fall back on, the teen enjoys such opportunities. Performing improvisation comes with a certain freedom that theater doesn’t provide.

“What I like about it the most is that I don’t have to be a certain character or a certain way, and because of that I can’t get anything wrong,” Elton says, “I get to write the story while I’m doing it.”

Monica Elton, Samantha’s mom, thinks the workshops are a valuable outlet that a lot of students may not get in their schools. High school kids don’t usually like to act silly or look uncool, she says, but improvisation teaches them that it’s OK to have flaws.

“I like to think we give kids positively that allows them to gain confidence,” says Brent Mukai, a High School Jesters instructor. The great thing about improvisation is that it is an art form that is open to anyone. But there’s more to it than getting up in front of audience and telling jokes or acting silly.

“You don’t need to be the most amazing actress to be an improviser,” Samantha Elton says, “It’s really a place where I can show people my creativity. I can paint pictures for people and entertain others.”

It’s really free.

1.What do we know about improvisation?

A. Performers act as a certain character.

B. Performers need a script to act on.

C. Performers intend to make audience embarrassed.

D. Performers develop the story as they are playing.

2.According to Monica, practicing improvisation made Elton _______.

A. treat flaws as normal things

B. accept cool as the rule

C. avoid doing embarrassing things

D. care about what others comment on her

3.It can be inferred that Kopatich formed High School Jesters _______.

A. on purpose B. by accident

C. for business D. out of curiosity

4.The passage mainly tells us that ________.

A. teens make a fool of themselves

B. teens perform improvisation to be cool

C. teens express creativity through arts

D. teens gain confidence in the improvisation

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.A

3.B

4.D

【解析】

試題分析：在高中，同學(xué)們行為處事都以“酷”作為標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。因此，青少年往往會(huì)盡力避免讓自己陷入尷尬的境地。然而，15歲的Elton卻不是這樣的人，Elton是一名即興表演者。即興表演在給觀眾帶去快樂的同時(shí)，也讓表演者變得更加自信。

1.I don’t have to be a certain character...I get to write the story while I’m doing it.”可知，在即興表演中，演員沒有既定的角色，他們可以一邊創(chuàng)作，一邊表演，故選D。

2.but improvisation teaches them that it’s OK to have flaws”可知，Monica認(rèn)為，即興表演教會(huì)孩子們接受缺陷或不足，故選A。

3.They asked for lessons after Kopatich told them he had improvisation experience. The small group turned out to be pretty good at it, so they did a show for the dorm. And things snowballed.”可知，Kopatich的朋友向他請(qǐng)教有關(guān)即興表演的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，他們非常擅長即興表演，于是就在宿舍里表演了節(jié)目，事情一發(fā)不可收拾，就像滾雪球一樣，這個(gè)劇社逐漸地發(fā)展壯大起來，由此可知，Kopatich機(jī)緣巧合創(chuàng)辦了劇社，故選B。

4.I like to think we give kids positively that allows them to gain confidence”和倒數(shù)第三段“It’s really a place where I can show people my creativity. I can paint pictures for people and entertain others.”可知，即興表演能展示表演者的創(chuàng)作才能，為人們描繪各種畫面并給他人帶去快樂，從而讓人變得更加自信，故選D。

考點(diǎn)：教育類短文閱讀