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At 67, Margaret Bending performed her first professional show. Taking to the stage in February 2020, Bending launched into a dance and theatre piece accompanied by those all aged over 60. “I was terrified but as soon as we got going, I realized that this was what I had been looking for,” she says. “Moving my body and being surrounded by all these wonderful performers, I felt completely liberated.”
Growing up in 1960s Lincolnshire, Bending’s first love was space exploration. Determined to make it into space after witnessing Yuri Gagarin’s Vostok 1 flight as a seven-year-old in 1961, Bending went on to do a PhD at Leicester University and began working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on rocket launches. By 1990, she’d had her first child and decided to pause her career to homeschool. Over the next two decades, she homeschooled her other three children until, in 2015, her youngest son departed for university and she found herself with an empty nest at her North Yorkshire home.
“It felt as if I was done with working and parenting, so it was now time for a new chapter to begin,” she says. Looking back on her childhood hobbies for inspiration during retirement, Bending landed on one memory. “When I was 14 or 15, I played the part of Anitra in a school production and I loved it,” she says. “I remember the joy of dancing.”
Bending began researching local performance courses and landed on Leeds Playhouse’s Heydays programme. Every Wednesday morning, she would attend half-day workshops on everything from reading plays aloud to dancing salsa and improvisation(即兴表演).
Now 71, Bending has since become so fond of stage work that in 2023 she performed her own one-woman show, The Story of a Rocket Scientist, dramatising her career to an audience of 80 people. She has also more recently become a paid member of the Performance Ensemble, facilitating community outreach programmes to encourage older people to try their hand at taking part in performance.
“The whole experience has been exciting, and it’s made me so much more confident,” she says. “People stop seeing you as an individual in your 60s but by getting on stage we can show the world that we still have things to say, experiences to share and a future to work towards.”
(
A. It was far from perfect.
B. It would bring her fame.
C. It would improve her fitness.
D. It gave her a sense of freedom.
(
A. A teenage encounter.
B. A space flight broadcast.
C. Her homeschooling experience.
D. Her long-held dream.
(
A. It had a high box office.
B. It is starred by famous actors.
C. It is about Bending’s experience.
D. It has attracted more seniors to the show.
(
A. Rome was not built in a day.
B. One is never too old to start.
C. Many hands make light work.
D. Actions speak louder than words.
C
At 67, Margaret Bending performed her first professional show. Taking to the stage in February 2020, Bending launched into a dance and theatre piece accompanied by those all aged over 60. “I was terrified but as soon as we got going, I realized that this was what I had been looking for,” she says. “Moving my body and being surrounded by all these wonderful performers, I felt completely liberated.”
Growing up in 1960s Lincolnshire, Bending’s first love was space exploration. Determined to make it into space after witnessing Yuri Gagarin’s Vostok 1 flight as a seven-year-old in 1961, Bending went on to do a PhD at Leicester University and began working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on rocket launches. By 1990, she’d had her first child and decided to pause her career to homeschool. Over the next two decades, she homeschooled her other three children until, in 2015, her youngest son departed for university and she found herself with an empty nest at her North Yorkshire home.
“It felt as if I was done with working and parenting, so it was now time for a new chapter to begin,” she says. Looking back on her childhood hobbies for inspiration during retirement, Bending landed on one memory. “When I was 14 or 15, I played the part of Anitra in a school production and I loved it,” she says. “I remember the joy of dancing.”
Bending began researching local performance courses and landed on Leeds Playhouse’s Heydays programme. Every Wednesday morning, she would attend half-day workshops on everything from reading plays aloud to dancing salsa and improvisation(即兴表演).
Now 71, Bending has since become so fond of stage work that in 2023 she performed her own one-woman show, The Story of a Rocket Scientist, dramatising her career to an audience of 80 people. She has also more recently become a paid member of the Performance Ensemble, facilitating community outreach programmes to encourage older people to try their hand at taking part in performance.
“The whole experience has been exciting, and it’s made me so much more confident,” she says. “People stop seeing you as an individual in your 60s but by getting on stage we can show the world that we still have things to say, experiences to share and a future to work towards.”
(
D
)4. How did Bending view her first professional show?A. It was far from perfect.
B. It would bring her fame.
C. It would improve her fitness.
D. It gave her a sense of freedom.
(
A
)5. What inspired Bending to take up performing?A. A teenage encounter.
B. A space flight broadcast.
C. Her homeschooling experience.
D. Her long-held dream.
(
C
)6. What do we know about The Story of a Rocket Scientist?A. It had a high box office.
B. It is starred by famous actors.
C. It is about Bending’s experience.
D. It has attracted more seniors to the show.
(
B
)7. What message does the text intend to convey?A. Rome was not built in a day.
B. One is never too old to start.
C. Many hands make light work.
D. Actions speak louder than words.
C
答案
4.D 5.A 6.C 7.B
【语篇解读】本文是一篇记叙文。文章讲述了Bending在老年完成了工作和育儿后，开始追求自己的爱好——表演的故事。
4. D 解析：细节理解题。根据第一段中的“‘I was terrified but as soon as we got going, I realized that this was what I had been looking for,’ she says. ‘Moving my body and being surrounded by all these wonderful performers, I felt completely liberated.’(她说：‘我很害怕，但我们一出发，我就意识到这就是我一直在寻找的。移动我的身体，被这些出色的表演者包围，我感到完全解放了。’)”可知，Bending认为她的第一场专业演出给了她一种自由的感觉。故选D。
5. A 解析：细节理解题。根据第三段中的“‘When I was 14 or 15, I played the part of Anitra in a school production and I loved it,’ she says. ‘I remember the joy of dancing.’(她说：‘当我14或15岁的时候，我在一部学校制作的电影中扮演Anitra一角，我很喜欢。我记得跳舞的快乐。’)”可知，青少年时期的一次与表演的邂逅让Bending爱上了表演。故选A。
6. C 解析：细节理解题。根据第五段中的“Now 71, Bending has since become so fond of stage work that in 2023 she performed her own one-woman show, The Story of a Rocket Scientist, dramatising her career to an audience of 80 people.(现年71岁的Bending从此非常喜欢舞台工作，以至于在2023年，她表演了自己的单人秀《火箭科学家的故事》，向80名观众戏剧性地展示了自己的职业生涯。)”可知，《火箭科学家的故事》是关于Bending自己的经历的。故选C。
7. B 解析：推理判断题。根据第一段中的“At 67, Margaret Bending performed her first professional show. Taking to the stage in February 2020, Bending launched into a dance and theatre piece accompanied by those all aged over 60.(67岁时，Margaret Bending表演了她的第一场职业演出。2020年2月，Bending在60岁以上老人的陪伴下登台表演了一部舞蹈和戏剧作品。)”以及文章内容可知，文章讲述了Bending在老年完成了工作和育儿后，开始追求自己的爱好——表演的故事。B选项“One is never too old to start.(多老开始都不算晚。)”符合语境。故选B。
【语篇解读】本文是一篇记叙文。文章讲述了Bending在老年完成了工作和育儿后，开始追求自己的爱好——表演的故事。
4. D 解析：细节理解题。根据第一段中的“‘I was terrified but as soon as we got going, I realized that this was what I had been looking for,’ she says. ‘Moving my body and being surrounded by all these wonderful performers, I felt completely liberated.’(她说：‘我很害怕，但我们一出发，我就意识到这就是我一直在寻找的。移动我的身体，被这些出色的表演者包围，我感到完全解放了。’)”可知，Bending认为她的第一场专业演出给了她一种自由的感觉。故选D。
5. A 解析：细节理解题。根据第三段中的“‘When I was 14 or 15, I played the part of Anitra in a school production and I loved it,’ she says. ‘I remember the joy of dancing.’(她说：‘当我14或15岁的时候，我在一部学校制作的电影中扮演Anitra一角，我很喜欢。我记得跳舞的快乐。’)”可知，青少年时期的一次与表演的邂逅让Bending爱上了表演。故选A。
6. C 解析：细节理解题。根据第五段中的“Now 71, Bending has since become so fond of stage work that in 2023 she performed her own one-woman show, The Story of a Rocket Scientist, dramatising her career to an audience of 80 people.(现年71岁的Bending从此非常喜欢舞台工作，以至于在2023年，她表演了自己的单人秀《火箭科学家的故事》，向80名观众戏剧性地展示了自己的职业生涯。)”可知，《火箭科学家的故事》是关于Bending自己的经历的。故选C。
7. B 解析：推理判断题。根据第一段中的“At 67, Margaret Bending performed her first professional show. Taking to the stage in February 2020, Bending launched into a dance and theatre piece accompanied by those all aged over 60.(67岁时，Margaret Bending表演了她的第一场职业演出。2020年2月，Bending在60岁以上老人的陪伴下登台表演了一部舞蹈和戏剧作品。)”以及文章内容可知，文章讲述了Bending在老年完成了工作和育儿后，开始追求自己的爱好——表演的故事。B选项“One is never too old to start.(多老开始都不算晚。)”符合语境。故选B。
