[originaltext] People fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor in 1944, when she s

People fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor in 1944, when she starred in National Velvet — the story of Velvet Brown, a young girl who wins first place in a famous horse race. At first, the producers of the movie told Taylor that she was too small to play the part of Velvet. However, they waited for her for a few months as she exercised and trained — and added three inches to her height in four months! Her acting in National Velvet was still considered the best by a child actress.
    Elizabeth Taylor was born in London in 1932. Her parents, both Americans, had moved there for business reasons. When World War II started, the Taylors moved to Beverly Hills, California, and there Elizabeth started acting in movies. After her success as a child star, Taylor had no trouble moving into adult roles and won twice for Best Actress: Butterfield 8(1960)and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?(1966).
    Taylor’s fame and popularity gave her a lot of power with the movie industry, so she was able to demand very high pay for her movies. In 1963, she received $1 million for her part in Cleopatra — the highest pay received by any star up to that time.
    Elizabeth Taylor is a legend of our time. Like Velvet Brown in National Velvet, she has been lucky. She has beauty, fame and wealth. But she is also a hard worker. Taylor seldom acts in movies any more. Instead, she puts her time and efforts into her business, and into helping others — several years ago, she founded an organisation that has raised more than $40 million for research and education.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
23. Why didn’t the producers let Taylor play the part of Velvet at first?
24. What did Elizabeth Taylor and Velvet Brown have in common?
25. To what did Elizabeth Taylor devote herself in her later life?