With the arrival of sound films and radio in the late 1920s, theater buildings were torn down or converted into film palaces. Soon the only theater that remained was provided by colleges and other amateur groups. It was not until the so-called cultural revolution swept the United States after World War II that a strong demand arose for resident professional theater. Then the demand led to action in almost every major city. With the help of the government and of such groups as the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, regional theaters have been established on a non-profit basis to serve their communities as cultural not commercial institutions.Also active on the cultural scene are the arts councils of the fifty states. They provide funds and coordinate programs on the statewide level. On the local level, direct contributions to various art groups are made by many city governments.Professional plays are now being performed in such unusual places as a former nightclub in Boston, Massachusetts, or a wholesale meat-and-vegetable market in New Haven, Connecticut. But Broadway, off-Broadway, and regional theater, sometimes called resident theater, are still only part of the story of American theater today. There are touring companies taking Broadway shows to cities throughout the country. There are summer theaters — more than 300 now — where plays are performed, often in tents or barns.21. It can be inferred from the passage that in the 1930s, _______.A) there was no professional theatersB) theaters were all putting on filmsC) only college students had interest in theatersD) the government provided help to theaters22. Theaters revived in the U.S. _______.A) in the World War IIB) after the World War IIC) as a result of the warD) because film industry was destroyed by the war23. Theaters at first were reestablished _______.A) to place jobless peopleB) not for making moneyC) by the governmentD) to hold public activities24. The funds for the operating of the theaters do not come from _______.A) the governmentB) the famous foundationsC) the arts councilsD) the public25. Regional theaters are also addressed as _______.A) summer theatersB) resident theatersC) professional theatersD) amateur theaters
Culture is the sum total of all the tradition, customs, beliefs, and ways of life of a given group of human being. In this sense, every group has a culture, however savage, undeveloped, or uncivilized it may seem to us.To the professional anthropologists, there is no intrinsic superiority of one culture over another, just as to the professional linguists there is no intrinsic hierarchy among languages.People once thought of the languages of backward groups as savage, undeveloped forms of speech, consisted largely of grunts and groans. While it is possible that language in general began as a series of grunts and groans, it is a fact established by the study of "backward" languages that no spoken tongue answers the description today. Most languages of uncivilized groups are, by our most severe standards, extremely complex, delicate, and ingenious pieces of machinery for the transfer of ideas. They fall behind our western language not in their sound patterns or grammatical structure, which usually are fully adequate for all language needs, but only in their vocabularies, which reflect the objects and activities known to their speakers. Even in this department, however, two things are to be noted: a) All languages seem to possess the machinery for vocabulary expansion, either by putting together words already in existence or by borrowing them from other languages and adapting them to their own system; b) The objects and activities requiring names and distinctions in "backward" languages, while different from ours, are often surprisingly numerous and complicated. A western language distinguished merely between two degrees of remoteness ("this" and "that"); some languages of the American Indians distinguish between what is close to the speaker, or to the person addressed, or removed from both, or out of sight, or in the past, or in the future.This study of language, in turn, casts a new light upon the claim of the anthropologists that all cultures are to be viewed independently, and without ideas of rank or hierarchy.16. The language of uncivilized groups as compared to western language is limited in _________.A) vocabulariesB) sound patternsC) grammatical structuresD) both A and B17. The statement that "every group has a culture" grows out of the author's _________.A) philosophyB) definition of cultureC) feeling about human beingsD) bias in regard to civilized human18. According to the author, anthropologists would have all culture viewed _________.A) comparativelyB) independentlyC) intrinsicallyD) hierarchically19. According to the author, language whether "civilized or not" has _________.A) the same way to transfer ideasB) the same grammatical structuresC) the potential for expanding vocabularyD) the potential for increasing sound patterns20. Which of the following is implied but not stated?A) The study of languages discredited the anthropological studies.B) The study of language is the same as the study of anthropology.C) The study of language casts a new light upon the claims of anthropologists.D) The study of language has reinforced anthropologists in their view that there is no hierarchy cultures.
Statuses are marvelous human inventions that enable us to get along with one another and to determine where we "fit" in society. As we go about our everyday lives, we mentally attempt to place people in terms of their statuses. For example, we must judge whether the person in the library is a reader or a __47__, whether the telephone caller is a friend or a salesman, whether the unfamiliar person on our __48__ is a thief or a meter reader, and so on.The statuses we assume often vary with the people we __49__, and change throughout life. Most of us can, at very high speed, assume the statuses that __50__ situations require. Much of social interaction consists of __51__ and selecting among appropriate statuses and allowing other people to assume their statuses in relation to us. This means that we __52__ our actions to those of other people based on a __53__ mental process of appraisal and interpretation. Although some of us find the task more difficult than others, most of us perform it rather __54__.A status has been compared to __55__ clothes. Within certain limits, the buyer can choose style and fabric. But an American is not __56__ to choose the costume of a Chinese peasant or that of a Hindu prince. We must choose from among the clothing presented by our society.A) fitI ) ready-madeB) inappropriatelyJ ) identifyingC) encounterK) raisingD) destinyL) librarianE) effortlesslyM) spokesmanF) boundN) variousG) propertyO) constantH) free