单选题Questions 11-15 Pop stars
today enjoy a style of living which was once the prerogative only of Royalty.
Wherever they go, people turn out in their thousands to greet them. The crowds
go wild trying to catch a brief glimpse of their smiling, colorfully dressed
idols. The stars are transported in their chauffeur driven Rolls-Royces, private
helicopters or executive airplanes. They are surrounded by a permanent entourage
of managers, press agents and bodyguards. Photographs of them appear
regularly in the press and all their comings and goings are reported, for, like
Royalty, pop stars are news. If they enjoy many of the privileges of
Royalty, they certainly share many of the inconveniences as well. It is
dangerous for them to make unscheduled appearances in public. They must be
constantly shielded from the adoring crowds which idolize them. They are no
longer private individuals, but public property. The financial rewards they
receive for this sacrifice cannot be calculated, for their rates of pay are
astronomical. And why not? Society has always rewarded its top
entertainers lavishly. The great days of Hollywood have become legendary,
famous stars enjoyed fame, wealth and adulation on an unprecedented
scale. By today's standards, the excesses of Hollywood do not seem quite
so spectacular. A single gramophone record nowadays may earn much more in
royalties than the films of the past ever did. The competition for the title
"Top of the Pops" is fierce, but the rewards are truly colossal.
It is only right that the stars should be paid in this way. Don't the top
men in industry earn enormous salaries for the services they perform to their
companies and their countries? Pop stars earn vast sums in foreign
currency--often more than large industrial concerns—and the taxman can only be
grateful for their massive annual contributions to the exchequer. So who would
begrudge them their rewards? It's all very well for people in
humdrum jobs to moan about the successes and rewards of others. People who make
envious remarks should remember that the most famous stars represent only the
tip of the iceberg. For every famous star, there are hundreds of others
struggling to earn a living. A man working in a steady job and looking forward
to a pension at the end of it has no right to expect very high rewards. He has
chosen security and peace of mind, so there will always be a limit to what he
can earn. But a man who attempts to become a star is taking enormous risks. He
knows at the outset that only a handful of competitors ever get to the very top.
He knows that years of concentrated effort may be rewarded with complete
failure. But he knows, too, that the rewards for success are very high indeed:
they are the recompense for the huge risks involved and if he achieves them, he
has certainly earned them. That's the essence of private enterprise.
单选题
The sentence " Pop stars' style of living was once the
prerogative only of Royalty" means ______.
A. their life was as luxurious as that of royalty
B. they enjoy what once only belonged to the royalty
C. they are rather rich
D. their way of living was the same as that of the royalty
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】
单选题
What is the author's attitude toward top stars' high income? ______
A. Approval.
B. Disapproval.
C. Ironical.
D. Critical.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】
单选题
It can be inferred from the passage ______.
A. there exists fierce competition in climbing to the top
B. people are blind in idolizing stars
C. successful pop stars give great entertainment
D. the tax they have paid is great
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】
单选题
What can we learn from the passage? ______
A. Successful men should get high-income repayment.
B. Pop stars made great contribution to a country.
C. Pop stars can enjoy the life of royalty.
D. Successful men represent the tip of the iceberg.