1999年高考英语全国卷 - 阅读理解E

When a group of children politely stop a conversation with you, saying:“We have to go to work now,” you're left feeling surprised and certainly uneasy. After all, this is the 1990s and the idea of children working is just unthinkable. That is, until you are told that they are all pupils of stage schools and that the work“they go off” is to go on the stage in a theater.
当一群孩子礼貌地停止与你的对话，说：“我们现在得去上班了，”你会感到惊讶，当然也会感到不安。毕竟，现在是20世纪90年代，孩子们工作的想法是不可想象的，直到他们告诉你他们都是舞台学校的学生，“他们要去做”的工作就是在剧院的舞台上表演。

Stage schools often act as agencies to supply children for stage and television work. More worthy of the name “stage school” are those few places where children attend full time, with training for the theatre and a general education.
舞台学校经常充当中介机构为孩子们提供舞台和电视工作。更应该称之为“舞台学校”的是少数几个为孩子们提供全日制学习的地方，包括戏剧培训和常规教育。

A visit to such schools will leave you in no doubt that the children enjoy themselves. After all, what lively children wouldn't settle for spending only half the day doing ordinary school work, and acting, singing or dancing their way through the other half of the day?
毫无疑问，参观这样的学校，你会发现孩子们很开心。毕竟，活泼的孩子怎么会满足于只花半天时间做普通学校的作业，另半天时间表演、唱歌或跳舞呢？

Then of course there is time for the children to make a name and make a little money in some big shows. Some stage schools give their children too much professional work at such a young age. But the law is very tight on the amount they can do. Those under 13 are limited to 40 days in the year and those over 13 to 80 days.
当然，孩子们还有机会在一些大型演出中露脸并赚点小钱。一些舞台学校在孩子很小的时候就给他们提供了非常多的专业工作，但法律严格限制可以做的工作数量。13岁以下的孩子一年只能做40天，而13以上的孩子一年可以做80天。

The schools themselves admit that not all children will be successful in the profession for which they are being trained. So what happens to those who don't make it? While all the leading schools say they place great importance on children getting good study results, the facts seem to suggest this is not always the case.
学校承认，并不是所有的孩子都能在他们正在接受的职业中取得成功。那么，那些没有成功的孩子会怎样呢？虽然所有主要的学校都说他们非常重视孩子取得好的学习成绩，但事实似乎表明，情况并非总是如此。