Question

Dancing That Tells a Story--Ballet

　　There are different ways of telling a story. It can be told in words. It can be told in pictures. It can be told in music. It can be acted out. Or it can be told by still another way--by dancing. Dancing that tells a story is called ballet.

　　The dancing in a ballet is done to music, but the story is told by the movements of the dancers. There is no singing or speaking.

　　The dancers in the picture are telling the story of Steeping Beauty. The music for this famous ballet was written by the Russian composer Tschaikowsky. The movements of its dancers were worked out by the French ballet master Petipa.

　　A ballet is a work (of art) just as a beautiful picture is. The person who plans a ballet is an artist. So is each dancer.

　　Sometimes ballet is called toe dancing. It is true that in some ballets the dancers do dance on their toes. But a great deal of the dancing in ballets is not toe dancing. Toe dancing is used to give the idea of lightness and airiness. It is never put into a ballet unless it fits the story.

　　Back in the days of ancient Greece and Rome there were dances that told stories of the gods. Even longer ago in Egypt there were dances that told stories of the planets.But the ballet of today had its beginnings about 600 years ago. It began as a kind of entertainment in the courts of the rulers of Italy. Two hundred years later ballet was popular in the French court. The French king Louis X IV founded a ballet school.

　　On a ballet program today there are often some French words. The names of many ballets are French. But there may be other French words, too. A part of a ballet that is danced by just two people is called a pas de deux. Such French words remind us that France was once the leader in ballet.

　　Today there are many ballet companies. All opera companies, too, have ballet dancers, for ballets are a part of many operas. No one country now leads in ballet.

　　Later the rulers of Russia became interested in ballet. They offered a great deal of money to the best ballet masters and dancers of France. They founded a ballet school. Soon Russia was the leader in ballet.

　　Ballet is not easy to learn. A boy or a girl who wishes to be a ballet dancer has to begin going to a ballet school very early. Some begin when they are only three or four. All the parts in a ballet used to be danced by men. But now a girl has as good a chance as a boy of being a famous ballet dancer.

(1)There are ______ ways of telling a story accordingto the passage.

[　　]

A．3

B．4

C．5

D．6

(2)Ballet is called toe dancing because _____.

[　　]

A．there is a great deal of toe dancing in every ballet

B．in some ballets toe dancing is used to fit the story

C．it always tells a story by toe move-ments

D．the word ballet means “toe” in French

(3)Ballet of today can date back as early as ___.

[　　]

A．the days of ancient Greece and Rome

B．days before ancient Greece and Rome

C．about 600 years ago

D．the time when Louis X IV was in power

(4)_______ never acted as the leader in the history of ballet.

[　　]

A．France

B．Russia

C．Italy

D．Egypt

(5)Which of the following is true?

[　　]

A．Boys are more likely to be successful in ballet than girls.

B．Ballet dances also play parts in many operas beside ballets.

C．Petipa was a Russian ballet master.

D．Ballet dancers of France weren't welcome in Russia.

Answer 1

答案：C;B;C;D;B
解析：