How the royal opera house helped ordinary people find their voices martin french and electrician from thurrock uk stands in a school music room, breathes deeply then blasts out several bars' from verdi's 1853 opera, i trovatore;nearby, dozens or other singers mr french, along with about 75 other people living in this culturally deprived area, is a member of thurrock community chorus. the royal opera house set up the choir to introduce opera to new audiences. the group is preparing to debut in london next week with a performance of verdi's anvil chorus - one of opera's most instantly recognizable passages - to hundreds of families at a "welcome performance" aimed at those who have never experienced the art form before. almost 20000 new homes are due to be built in thurrock by 2021. however, the cultural delights on offer are few and do not match the speed of house-building, so last december the royal opera house opened an £8 million scenery-making workshop nearby. the launch featured a performance of a new opera - ludd and isis - inspired by thurrock and using local singers and musicians. it was a success, and a permanent choir followed. at a rehearsal on monday night, the choir's diversity was apparent. those using it as therapy to recover from illness warmed up alongside businessmen attending with their wives and children. eight-year-old beginners sang librettos along with retired people. barbara dawes, 62, who is recovering from a stroke, said, "it has helped my confidence 1 am working here in different languages. it's great." gary houghton, 32, who works in the photocopying room at a local college, said that society was "used to people being selfish" and the choir represented a good way for the community to "we all want to make it work.." he added. "pull together"now mr haneman, the chorus director, aims to expand the choir'membership to 200 and take them on tour, introducing opera to other parts of the country. judging by the enthusiasm, there will certainly be plenty of people wanting to take part in this project. mr french said, "there is an emotion, a feeling you get when you hear a lot of people making a beautiful sound. there's nothing quite like it." from statements a to j select four that are true acccording to text a b. the residents of thurrock have plenty of cultural opportunities c. the chorus will have a large audience at their london debut d. the people attending the london debut know opera well e. the peformanyof kids and lsis went well f. the members of the choir all have the same background g. barbara dana dislike have to use various languages h. gary hougton thinks the choir is a positive influence in the community i. me haneman plans to use the choir to show people what opera is like j. there will not be enough people interested in touring with choir