No opera smells of the sea quite like Britten's Peter Grimes. The music makes us constantly aware of the sea's immensity, it's potential for threat, and the play of light on its waves. But the sea isn't just a special background, it weighs on the lives of the characters, offering them a living, but at a price. In the first act the laboured sound of the strings evokes the complete heaviness of the sailor's work, as they haul the boats up the shingle . Then a storm gathers which rages through the scene at the Inn, and stirs up an orchestral hurricane. Even when it's calm and favorable, the sea is inescapable. In the comfortable enclosed world of the opera house, this can only be suggested. In the production of Peter Grimes about to open at the Aldeburgh Festival, it will be really present, because the opera is taking place on the beach, the setting for much of the narrative of Britten's opera, and also the poem by the Suffolk poet George Crabbe that inspired it. This won't be the first opera production to be set in the actual landscape in which the action takes place. There's a well-known filmed production of Tosca shot in Castel Gandolfo in Rome, and a production of Donizetti's Anna Bolena was once mounted in the moat surrounding the Tower of London. But those were manageable urban landscapes, with comfortingly solid buildings to act as wind shields and acoustic blocks. On the Aldeburgh beach there's actually nothing, apart from a few boats, some whole, some wrecked. Here anything more complicated than walking the dog is hard to solve. The wind blows away one's words, so conversation is hard, and anything not tied down tends to blow away. The sliding shingle turns one's steps into a drunken stagger. The idea of performing an opera in these conditions seems quite _ -- an accusation Aldeburgh director Jonathan Reakie takes cheerfully on the chin. Why has he done it? "Well, Grimes is the opera of Britten's that's most associated with Aldeburgh, but it's never been produced at the Festival which he founded.... Reakie's partners' attitude towards his opera on a beach is _ . A) eager B) cautious C) doubtful D) unfavorable
A
In Denmark, parents are allowed to set up a new school if they are dissatisfied with the school in the area where they are living. Although these schools have to follow the national courses, they are allowed a lot of choice in deciding what to teach. Some of these new schools are called "small schools" because usually the number of pupils in them is only sixty, but a school has to have at least twenty-seven pupils. Cooleenbridge School in Ireland, is a small school similar to the ones in Denmark, it was set up by parents who came from Holland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, England and other parts of Ireland. They came because they wanted to live in the countryside and to grow their own food. In June 1986, they decided to start a school. They managed to get an old, disused primary-school building and started with twenty-four children aged from four to twelve. The teachers say, "The important thing in school is doing, not sitting." And so the courses includes yoga , cooking, knitting, kite-making, music, fishing, drama and environmental river studies, as well as reading, writing, maths and science. What makes this kind of school special? A) It is set up by parents not by government. B) It is free to decide what to teach. C) The number of pupils in it is only sixty. D) It has to have at least 27 pupils.
A
Q: My grandfather lived only half a mile away from where I grew up in New York. Every day, he would walk down to our house and bring my dad newspapers. Along with the papers he would bring a small bag of treats for my two brothers and me. Western New York had terrible winter weather: rain, sleet , or even 3 feet of snow. Even when he was 81, he still walked the half mile every single day. As a child, I looked forward to the daily treats, but now I'm older and I realize he braved the rough weather each day just to see us smile; I now value that more than anything else. My grandfather touched many lives. A woman who had been in hospital for five years told me her story. She said my grandfather would visit her twice a week at her home: to read to her, play bridge, or just chat. It lasted for years without stop. She had few visitors. Even a _ who had traveled by getting free rides from passing cars told me of my grandfather's influence on his life. My grandfather had picked him up for free and took the traveler to his home. After learning that the man was homeless, my grandfather gave him a place to stay. The man told me that no one had ever been so nice to him. He later found a job in a supermarket. I was touched, but not surprised to know all of the touching stories from which I understood my grandfather's selflessness. I have since tried to learn from him to help others. Although he died years ago, we still respect him. After learning about his grandfather's stories, the writer _ . A) felt a little surprised at first B) followed the example of his grandfather C) was much sad all the time D) didn't like his grandfather's action
A: B
*Question*
One day, I received a call from a colleague. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physical problem ,while the student claimed a perfect score. I was elected as their arbiter( ).I read the examination problem: "Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer ." The student had answered: "Take the barometer to the top of the building,attach a long rope to it,lower it to the street,and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of it is the height of the building. " The student had really answered the question completely ,but the answer didn't confirm his competence in physics. I suggested the student try again. I gave him six minutes to answer the question, warning that the answer should show some knowledge of physics. Five minutes later, he said he had many answers and clashed off one, which read: "Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then, use the physical formula to calculate the height of the building. " At this point, my colleague had to accept it, and then the student made almost full marks. I couldn't help asking the student what the other answers were. He listed many others ,and then added5"Probably the best is to take the barometer to the. administrator and said to him,' Sir, here is a fine barometer. If you tell me the height of the building, I will give it to you.," Then, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did ,but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think. The name of the student was Bohr who later was famous all over ,the world. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922. We know from the passage that _ A) the student knew the expected answer B) the administrator told Bohr the height C) the author preferred Bohr s last answer D) the teacher was a very stubborn person
**Answer**
A