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You might be crazy about Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” as an English learner， but what do you think British teenagers studying Chinese are crazy about? Well， it’s Cao Xueqin’s classic， “The Dream of the Red Chamber”.

On December 18， nine British students arrived in Beijing for a seven-day trip after winning a 2006 Chinese Speaking Competition in Britain. More than 170 students from 36 secondary schools took part in that competition last month. It was organized by the British Council. Three of the students coming to Beijing won first prizes for Language Ability. The other six were first prize winners for a dramatic performance in Chinese entitled “A New Home for Lin Daiyu”.

“We chose to perform this drama because we all love the characters in the tragic (悲劇的) story. They’re traditional and loveable，”said Imogen Williams， 13， who played the lead role， Lin Daiyu. Williams said her group spent all their lunch breaks for nearly two months together， watching the drama， studying the characters， and practising.

“We were excited to win the grand prize — the trip to Beijing. My mum even cried when she heard the news!” recalled Alice Clark Edwards， who was “Wang Xifeng”in the drama. These students have fallen in love with Chinese literature and are crazy about Chinese music and movies.“I love Jay Chou， Wilber Pan and the Boy Band Flowers. As for actress， Zhang Ziyi is my favourite，” said Nishat Ali， 16.

1. The British students came to Beijing because _______.

A. they just wanted to have a seven-day trip

B. they are interested in Chinese literature

C. they wanted to learn Chinese in Beijing

D. they had got prizes in the Chinese Speaking Competition

2. The underlined word entitled in the second paragraph has the same meaning as _______.

A. designedB. made

C. named D. thought

3. The best title of the passage may be _______.

A. A New Home for Lin Daiyu

B. The Dream of the Red Chamber

C. Be Wild with the Chinese Literature

D. the Chinese Speaking Competition

4. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. The seven-day trip to Beijing was the prize for the winners of the Chinese Speaking Competition.

B. More than 170 students from 36 primary schools took part in that competition last month.

C. Only three of the students coming to Beijing won the first prizes.

D. The 2006 Chinese Speaking Competition in Britain was organized by the Chinese Council.

5. From the passage we can infer that _______.

A. English learners must be crazy about Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”

B. people will be surprised that British teenagers studying Chinese are crazy about Chinese classic

C. the British teenagers all love the characters in the tragic (悲劇的) story

D. Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” are very popular among the teenagers in China

( Keys: 1. D2. C3. C4. A5. B)

（杭州第十四中學孔慧敏供稿）