Question

Would you jump off the Great Wall of China for 300 pounds a day?

A stunt (特技表演)person is a man or woman who does all the dangerous bits of acting work in films or on TV. This can be anything from a simple fall into a swimming pool, or walking off the top of a tall building. It sounds like a job that you would have to be made to try, but there are actually lots of people who want to do it.

Sarah France, twenty-four, is one of Britain’s sixteen professional stunt women ---there are one hundred and sixty stunt men in the country. We asked Sarah how she came to be a stunt woman.

“When I was young I was trained to be a dancer, and for seven years after school I was hardly out of work. A dancer’s life is pretty short, though, and my father suggested I should think about doing stunt work after I’d given up dancing. I thought about it for the next two years and decided to have a go. For six months, I worked really hard every day. I had to learn different skills---swimming, jumping, horse -riding, etc.”

Sarah finished the course in just five months and applied to the office which decides whether you’re accepted as a professional stunt person or not. Two weeks after she was accepted, Sarah was throwing off the Great Wall of China in Superman IV.

“I was very lucky to get work so quickly. I had a small part, playing a traveler who fell off the Wall after an earthquake. The traveler’s life was saved by Superman, of course! Actually, I fell forty-five feet into a pile of cardboard boxes! You can’t use anything softer than that or you will be brought back into view of the cinema. Instead you just have to learn to fall properly. It’s quite dangerous but I enjoy it.”

1.Quite a number of people want to do dangerous acts in films because___________.

A. they are mad B. they don’t think them dangerous

C. no training is needed D. they can earn much money

2.Sarah gave up dancing because___________.

A. her father persuaded her to do stunt work

B. she could not go on dancing forever

C. she had to work hard every day

D. she was often out of work

3.Soon after Sarah got her new job as a stunt person, ______________.

A. an earthquake took place near the Great Wall

B. she fell off the Great Wall and hurt herself

C. she was asked to act in Superman IV

D. she learned how to fall properly

4.Which of the following words best describes Sarah?

A. Healthy B. Adventurous C. Skillful D. Successful

5.The purpose of the first sentence of the passage is to ____________.

A. draw the readers’ attention to the whole passage

B. invite you to try jumping off the Great Wall for money

C. ask you to be a stunt person

D. raise a question for the readers to think about

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.B

3.C

4.B

5.A

【解析】

試題分析：文章介紹了一種充滿冒險的工作--特技表演。Sarah小時候學習的是舞蹈，畢業(yè)幾年以后，她不再適合跳舞，父親建議她去學特技，經過刻苦訓練，Sarah成為了一名特技演員，并出演電影《超人4》。特技表演充滿危險性，但表演者很享受那個過程。

1.I had to learn different skills---swimming, jumping, horse -riding, etc.”和最后一段“It’s quite dangerous but I enjoy it.”可知，特技演員需要刻苦的訓練，特技表演是很危險的，排除B、C；特技演員做的事情具有危險性，但不能說明他們很瘋狂，排除A；根據第一句“Would you jump off the Great Wall of China for 300 pounds a day?”可知，特技演員能賺很多錢，故選D。

2.and for seven years after school I was hardly out of work. A dancer’s life is pretty short, though,”可知，舞蹈演員的演藝生涯是很短暫的，隨著年齡的增長，身體不再適合跳舞，故選B。

3.Two weeks after she was accepted, Sarah was throwing off the Great Wall of China in Superman IV.”可知，Sarah被聘用兩周之后就在《超人4》中扮演角色了，故選C。

4.I fell forty-five feet into a pile of cardboard boxes! You can’t use anything softer than that...It’s quite dangerous but I enjoy it.”可以看出，從事特技工作需要很大的勇氣和膽量，Sarah具有冒險精神，故選B。

5.Would you jump off the Great Wall of China for 300 pounds a day?”提到了“從長城上跳下去”，通過后文可知，這是電影《超人4》中的場景，作者用首句來吸引讀者的注意力，故選A。

考點：人物類短文閱讀