The following passages is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C, and D. Decide on the best choice. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.
阅读下面短文，从每题所给的4个选项A、B、C、D中选出最佳选项。将答案写在答题卷上。
Would you set yourself on fire for ￡75 a day?1. A stuntperson is a man or woman who does all the hair-raisingly dangerous bits of acting work in films or on TV. This can be anything from a relatively simple fall into a swimming pool, to tripping off the top of a sky-scraper building. It sounds like a crazy profession that only the crazy would attempt, but it's actually a job that many people think about — though few people actually go through with it.
2. Sarah Franzi, 24, is one of Britain's 16 stuntwomen (as against 160 men.) Like many of her colleagues, it was a career she'd never seriously considered. "From when I was young I'd trained to be a dancer, and for seven years after school, I was rarely out of work. A dancer's life is pretty short, though, and it was my father who suggested I should think about stunt work after I'd given up dancing. I did think about it for the next two years — then decided to have a go."
3. Sarah discovered that she could only be a stuntwoman if she was accepted onto the Stunt Register. To do that, you have to be between 18 — 30 years old, and be a full member of Equity, the actor's union. You also have to obtain the right qualifications.
4. "For six months, I worked really hard, every day. To become qualified, I had to learn six different skills, sub-aqua, sky-diving, horse-riding etc. — stuff like that — to a high standard of training.
5. "A lot of time during my training I was thinking 'what has this got to do with being a stuntwoman?' Like when I had to do a five hour written examination on horse and stable management — but you know you have to do it in order to get the qualification."
6. Sarah finished all the requirements in just five months — it can take as long as three years to qualify — and she reckons it cost her about ￡4000. "You can do it much more cheaply if you can join local clubs and are prepared to wait, but I wanted to get it over with."
7. After five months of training, Sarah's completed application was accepted by the Stunt Committee (the governing body which has the final say as to whether you are accepted or not). Two weeks later, she was launching herself off the Great Wall in the film Superman.
8. "I was very lucky to get work so quickly. I had a small part playing a tourist who fell off the wall after an earthquake, only to be rescued from death by Superman. In reality I fell 45 feet (about 14 metres) onto a pile of cardboard boxes. You can't use anything softer than that, because you might bounce back up into the view of the camera. Instead you just have to suffer the discomfort and fall properly."
9. Sarah was paid ￡210 a day for it, and because it was considered dangerous, she got another 200 fee for every extra take. (i.e. every time the shot had to be recorded on film camera.) "That's the union's minimum fee (you have to be a member of the trade union.) For film work you can earn up to ￡1000 per day."
10. This sounds a fortune, but as Sarah explains, "The film company is paying for the risk. If I'd broken a bone, that isn't very much money at all when you're out of work for the next few months. And there is a risk involved. Safety procedures are every strict, but there's still a danger. Fortunately, the risks are one part of the job that I really enjoy."
11. To do the job, you have to be physically fit, and mentally strong — you need a lot of courage. As yet, Sarah has received injuries no more severe than bangs and bruises, though she does admit that she was pretty scared on one or two occasions.
12. "I was set alight for London's Burning (a TV programme about the London Fire Service). It was a full fire job, which meant that my whole body was set alight. Of course, I was wearing protective clothing. I was on fire for fifteen seconds and towards the end it was terribly hot. The difficulty with that kind of job is that you're never fully in control of the fire, so it's easier for something to go wrong."
13. "It's jobs like that which make people think we must be completely crazy to do this kind of work. But that's not the case at all. There are so many safety procedures, with so much mental concentration involved, that what we are really doing is creating the illusion of danger. If people think "How could you do that? You must be mad", then we're doing our jobs properly."What does the blue whale feed on?
14.According to the writer, being a stuntperson is a job that
A. not many people think about.
B. few people think about, and even fewer actually do.
C. many people think about, but few people succeed in.
D. most people think about, but few attempt.
15.Sarah decided to try to be a stuntwoman
A. because she was too old to dance.
B. because she was made unemployed.
C. because her father suggested it.
D. because she had always wanted to work in films.
16.Why did it cost Sarah so much money to do the training?
A. She went to private clubs for it.
B. She was in a hurry.
C. She only wanted the best training.
D. She did not do it through clubs.
17.The fees paid to stuntpeople seem high until you consider
A. the high costs of training involved.
B. the amount of time you have to spend in front of the camera.
C. the risk of injury.
D. the amount of time that they have to travel.
18."Creating an illusion" in this text means making people think that
A. the stunts are quite safe.
B. the stunts are not real.
C. stunts are less dangerous than they appear to be.
D. stunts are more dangerous than they are.
