Question

More than 50 music students of New Milford High School in New Jersey, US, got a letter from their headmaster. The letter said that the music department (系) of the school was in big trouble. The students had to pass a test, or the department would be closed.

The test came on Saturday. The nervous students were required to play a piece of music created by Richard Strauss. And they had to sing the words to the music — German words! There were also other difficult tasks. One student had to sing Mary Had A Little Lamb, a children’s song, in an operatic (歌劇的) voice.

After three hours of testing, the students all waited for the results. They met some students from the New Jersey Youth Orchestra (管弦樂團(tuán)) while waiting. They had the same test and only got a passing grade.

The worried New Milford High School students started to realize they had no chance. “I thought it was over,” said Bryan Olsen-Santana. “The girl next to me was crying. I felt bad for her. I felt bad for myself, too, because music is everything to me.”

But then the headmaster came and told them something very dramatic (戲劇性的), “Someone has played a joke on you!”

What was going on?

The test was part of a new reality TV show called “Schooled”. The students’ parents, the school and a TV network had made it together. Everything was faked. The “students from New Jersey Youth Orchestra” were students from another school. There were hidden cameras.

The students’ parents were hiding as they watched.

As a reward for putting up with the joke, the students got gifts: MP3 players, digital cameras and school supplies (文具). They were all from the show’s sponsor (贊助商).

1. At the beginning of the story, the music students got a letter which said .

A. the headmaster would be in big trouble

B. the school had a problem with money

C. the students had to pass a test to save the music department

D. the students had to give up music

2.The students were nervous before the test, because .

A. they were not good at music

B. the test was very simple

C. they thought they couldn’t pass

D. the test meant so much

3.According to Olsen-Santana, he must be feeling that .

A. they had failed the test

B. he could have passed the test

C. the test was just a joke

D. the test was never over

4.The underlined word “faked” in the passage means .

A. not real B. not serious C. popular D. stupid

Answer 1