Some plays are so successful that they run for years on end. In many ways, this is 36 for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the sane 37 night after night. One would
38 them to know their parts by heart and 39 have cause to falter（结巴）.Yet 40 is not always the case.
A famous actor in a 41 successful play was once cast in the role of an aristocrat 42 had been imprisoned in Bastille for twenty years. In the last act，a gaoler（监狱长，看守）would always e on to the stage with a letter which he would hand to the prisoner. 43 the noble was expected to read the letter at each 44 ,he always insisted that it should be written out in full.
One night, the gaoler decided to play a joke 45 his colleague to find out if, after so many performances, he had managed to learn the 46 of the letter by heart. The curtain went up on the final act of the play and revealed（使显露）the aristocrat sitting alone behind bars in his dark cell. Just then，the gaoler 47 with the precious letter in his hands. He entered the 48 and presented the letter to the aristocrat. But the copy he gave him had not been written out in
49 as usual. It was simply a blank sheet of paper. The gaoler looked on eagerly, 50 to see if his fellow actor had at last learnt his lines. The noble stared at the blank sheet of paper for a few seconds. Then，squinting（眯着眼看）his eves，he said,“The light is 51 .Read the letter to me.”And he promptly handed the sheet of paper to the gaoler. 52 that he could not remember a word of the letter either, the gaoler replied，“The light is indeed dim，sir. I must get my 53 ”With this, he hurried off the stage. Much to the aristocrat’s 54 ，the gaoler returned a few moments later with a pair of glasses and the 55 copy of the letter which he proceeded（继续进行）to read to the prisoner.
36．A. fortunate
B. unfortunate
C. happy
D. unhappy
37．A. lines
B. words
C. plays
D. roles
38．A. want
B. ask
C. expect
D. wish
39．A. always
B. never
C. sometimes
D. often
40．A. such
B. the thing
C. one
D. this
41．A. highly
B. high
C. poorly
D. poor
42．A. where
B. what
C. which
D. who
43．A. Because
B. Even though
C. When
D. Though
44．A. play
B. performance
C. role
D. case
45．A. with
B. in
C. on
D. to
46．A. pages
B. joke
C. lines
D. contents
47．A. appeared
B. disappeared
C. came out
D. came in
48．A. room
B. cell
C. stage
D. office
49．A. English
B. French
C. order
D. full
50．A. worded
B. surprised
C. anxious
D. afraid
51．A. bright
B. dim
C. dark
D. out
52．A. To see
B. To find
C. Seeing
D. Finding
53．A. glasses
B. lines
C. light
D. letters
54．A. surprise
B. satisfaction
C. anger
D. amusement
55．A. usual
B. old
C. unusual
D. new
36-40 BACBB 41-45 ADBBC 46-50 DABDC 51-55 BDADA
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(答案→)36-40 BACBB 41-45 ADBBC 46-50 DABDC 51-55 BDADA
解析：
36．B 提示：剧目成功，以致连续上演好几年，这对可怜的演员来说可倒霉了。因为下文说他们必须夜夜重复同样的台词，故unfortunate（不幸的，倒霉的）为最佳答案。
37．A 提示：重复同一台词是令人厌烦的。
38．C 提示：expect意为“期待，认为”。人们认为演员一定要把台词背得烂熟。
39．B 提示：人们认为演员绝对不会结巴的。
40．B 提示：指代前面所说的情况。
41．A 提示：high意为“高的”。highly意为“高度地，极为”。
42．D 提示：此处先行词为人，故要用who引导定语从句。
43．B 提示：尽管那个贵族每场戏都得念一遍那些信，但他还是坚持要求将信的全文写在信纸上。even though引导让步状语从句，比though语气更强。
44．B 提示：在下文第三段有暗示。
45．C 提示：play a joke on sb意为“戏弄某人”。
46．D 提示：熟记信的内容。
47．A 提示：appeared意为“出现，露面”，此处指上场。
48．B 提示：cell意为“牢房”，在上文有暗示。
49．D 提示：in full意为“全文”，这在第二段已有暗示。
50．C 提示：狱卒热切地观察着，急于想了解他的同事是否熟记了台词。
51．B 提示：“光线太暗”这是贵族委婉而又聪明的托辞，因为他记不住台词。
52．D 提示：分词短语作状语，表示时间。当狱卒发现自己连一个字也记不得时，也找了个借口。
53．A 提示：下文：“with a pair of glasses”作了暗示。
54．D 提示：“much to one’s＋表示感情的名词”结构，有“给某人带来很大的……”的意思，此处狱卒的表现使贵族感到可笑。
55．A 提示：the usual copy平时使用的那封信。