Tens of thousands of theatre tickets will be given away to young people next year as part of a government campaign to inspire a lifelong love for theatre.
The plan to offer free seats to people aged between 18 to 26—funded with £2.5 million of taxpayers’ money—was announced yesterday by Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary. It received a cautious welcome from some in the arts world, who expressed concern that the tickets may not reach the most underprivileged.
The plan comes as West End theatres are enjoying record audiences, thanks largely to musicals teaming up with television talent shows. Attendances reached. 13.6 million in 2007, up 10 percent on 2006, itself a record year. Total sales were up 18 percent on 2006 to almost £470 million.
One theatre source criticised the Government’s priorities(优先考虑的事) in funding free tickets when pensioners were struggling to buy food and fuel, saying: “I don’t know why the Government’s wasting money on this. The Yong Vic, as The Times reported today, offers excellent performances at cheap prices.”
There was praise for the Government’s plan from Dominic Cooke of the Royal Court Theatre, who said: “I support any move to get young people into theatre, and especially one that aims to do it all over England, not just in London.”
Ninety-five publicly funded theatres could apply for funding under the two-year plan. In return, they will offer free tickets on at least one day each week to 18 to 26-year-olds, first-come, first-served. It is likely to be on Mondays, traditionally a quiet night for the theatre.
Mr. Burnham said: “A young person attending the theatre can find it an exciting experience, and be inspired to explore a new world. But sometimes people miss out on it because they fear it’s ‘not for them’. It’s time to change this perception.”
Jeremy Hunt, the Shadow Culture Secretary, said: “The real issue is not getting enthusiastic children into the theatre, but improving arts education so that more young people want to go in the first place. For too many children theatres are a no-go area.”
46. Critics of the plan argued that ______.
A. the theatres would be overcrowded
B. it would be a waste of money
C. pensioners wouldn’t get free tickets
D. the government wouldn’t be able to afford it
47. According to the supporters, the plan should ______.
A. benefit the television industry
B. focus on producing better plays
C. help increase the sales of tickets
D. involve all the young people in England
48. Which of the following is TRUE about the plan?
A. Ninety-five theatres have received funding.
B. Everyone will get at least one free ticket.
C. It may not benefit all the young people.
D. Free tickets are offered once every day.
49. We can infer from the passage that in England ______.
A. many plays are not for young people
B. many young people don’t like theatre
C. people know little about the plan
D. children used to receive good arts education
50. According to the passage, the issue to offer free tickets to young people seems ______.
A. controversial
B. inspiring
C. exciting
D. unreasonable
D
Next time a customer comes to your office, offer him a cup of coffee. And when you’re doing your holiday shopping online, make sure you’re holding a large glass of iced tea. The physical sensation(感觉) of warmth encourages emotional warmth, while a cold drink in hand prevents you from making unwise decisions—those are the practical lesson being drawn from recent research by psychologist John A. Bargh.
Psychologists have known that one person’s perception(感知) of another’s “warmth” is a powerful determiner in social relationships. Judging someone to be either “warm” or “cold” is a primary consideration, even trumping evidence that a “cold” person may be more capable. Much of this is rooted in very early childhood experiences, Bargh argues, when babies’ conceptual sense of the world around them is shaped by physical sensations, particularly warmth and coldness. Classic studies by Harry Harlow, published in 1958, showed monkeys preferred to stay close to a cloth “mother” rather than one made of wire, even when the wire “mother” carried a food bottle. Harlow’s work and later studies have led psychologists to stress the need for warm physical contact from caregivers to help young children grow into healthy adults with normal social skills.
Feelings of “warmth” and “coldness” in social judgments appear to be universal. Although no worldwide study has been done, Bargh says that describing people as “warm” or “cold” is common to many cultures, and studies have found those perceptions influence judgment in dozens of countries.
To test the relationship between physical and psychological warmth, Bargh conducted an experiment which involved 41 college students. A research assistant who was unaware of the study’s hypotheses(假设), handed the students either a hot cup of coffee, or a cold drink, to hold while the researcher filled out a short information form: The drink was then handed back. After that, the students were asked to rate the personality of “Person A” based on a particular description. Those who had briefly held the warm drink regarded Person A as warmer than those who had held the iced drink.
“We are grounded in our physical experiences even when we think abstractly,” says Bargh.
51. According to Paragraph 1, a person’s emotion may be affected by ______.
A. the visitors to his office
B. the psychology lessons he has
C. his physical feeling of coldness
D. the things he has bought online
52. The author mentions Harlow’s experiment to show that ______.
A. adults should develop social skills
B. babies need warm physical contact
C. caregivers should be healthy adults
D. monkeys have social relationships
53. In Bargh’s experiment, the students were asked to ______.
A. evaluate someone’s personality
B. write down their hypotheses
C. fill out a personal information form
D. hold coffee and cold drink alternatively
54. We can infer from the passage that ______.
A. abstract thinking does not come from physical experiences
B. feelings of warmth and coldness are studied worldwide
C. physical temperature affects how we see others
D. capable persons are often cold to others
55. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Drinking for Better Social Relationships.
B. Experiments of Personality Evaluation.
C. Developing Better Drinking Habits.
D. Physical Sensations and Emotions.
