I started winning competitions. We still had very little money -- my father had to borrow $5,000 to pay for a trip to the International Young Pianists Competition in Ettlingen, Germany, in 1994, when I was 12. I realized later how much pressure he was under. Tears streamed down his face when it was announced that I'd won -- earning enough money to pay back our loan.

It was soo n clear I couldn't stay in China forever. To become a world-class musician, I had to play on the world's big stages. So in 1997, my father and I moved again, this time to Philadelphia, so I could attend The Curtis Institute of Music. Finally our money worries were easing. The school paid for an apartment and even lent me a Steinway(斯坦威钢琴).At night, I would sneak into the living room just to touch the keys.

Now that I was in America, I spent two years practicing, and by 1999 I had worked hard enough for fortune to take over. The Chicago Symphony orchestra heard me play and liked me, but orchestra schedules were set far in advance. I thought I might join them in a few years.

The next morning, I got a call. The great pianist Andre Watts, who was to play the "Gala Benefit Evening" at Chicago's Ravinia Festival, had become ill. I was asked to replace him. That performance was, for me, the moment. After violinist Isaac Stern introduced me, I played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. My father's mouth hung open throughout the entire song.

I played until 3:30 a.m. I felt something happening. Sure enough, it was a great success. Still, my father kept telling me, "You'd better practice!" But living in America with me was beginning to relax him. In Beijing I'd been fat -- he made sure I ate -- and he'd been skinny. Now I was getting thin. He wasn't.

My father and I had often practiced a piece called "Horses," a fun version for piano and erhu. One night in Carnegie Hall, after I played Chopin and Liszt, I brought Dad out on the stage, and we played our duet(二重奏). People went crazy -- they loved it. My father couldn't sleep for days. He was too happy to sleep.

There have been lots of concerts in Carnegie Hall, but for me playing there was especially sweet when I remember the cold days in Beijing. Together, my father and I worked to reach the lucky place where fortune spots you, and lets you shine.

 

1.In the first paragraph his father cried when it was announced that he'd won mainly because__________.

A.his father was excited that his son succeeded at last.

B.his father was under too much pressure.

C.they could pay back the loan with the prize.

D.his father was proud of him.

2. Tell the order of the events.

a. He and his father moved to Philadelphia.

b. He was asked to replace the great pianist Andre Watts.

c. He and his father played “Horses” together.

d.The Chicago Symphony orchestra heard his performance.

e. The Curtis Institute of Music lent him a Steinway

A. a, e, c, b, d       B. b, e, a, d, c       C. d, a, e, b, c       D. a, e, d, b, c

3. Which of the following statements agrees with the author?

A. The writer’s father had been very fat before they went to America.

B. The writer thought he would be one of them soon when he knew the Chicago Symphony orchestra heard him play and liked him.

C. The Curtis Institute of Music finally eased their money worries.

D. One can achieve his dream if he is lucky enough.

4. The underlined word there in the last paragraph refers to_________.

A. America     B. Beijing.   C. Carnegie Hall  D. All the places he went to. 

5. What is the best title of the passage?

A. I Took Off!                          B. When Fortune Spots Me.

C. No Pain, No Gain.                    D. My father and I

 

 

   For about three years now, I have been writing poetry. It was not until my junior year in high school that I developed an interest, love and skill for writing poetry.

   Back in elementary school, I loved to write stories. I would write stories on post-it notes and anywhere I could. Yet when I had to write a limerick(五行打油诗) for an assignment, I could not wrap my head around poetry. I had a very hard time figuring out how to rhyme words and have the words make sense. I eventually tossed the paper with the attempted limerick in the trash. I did not try my hand at poetry again until several years later.

   Many years later in my freshman year of high school, my English teacher gave my class a poetry project as an assignment. I still remember my limerick assignment and was afraid of doing the poetry project. For the project, we had to analyze a poem and write a response to it. I chose to respond to Robert Frost’s poem Fire and Ice. I also wrote my own poem first. I became really excited when writing the poem.

   Two years later, I started writing poetry as a hobby and for fun. To learn how good or bad my poems were, I handed them in to some magazines and contests. I won second place in the North Carolina Poetry Society’s Sherry Pruitt Award Contest with a poem called The Ocean, and had my two poems published as high merit(优等) poems. I have continued to write poetry, and have even self-published three collections of poetry in both print and e-book formats, which can be found at my store on Lulu.

   Now, I love writing poetry, but I don’t hate writing short stories. I just find it more difficult and not my style of writing, even though I still write short stories occasionally.

1.When the author was a pupil, he ___________.

   A. liked writing stories

   B. was good at writing poetry

   C. could understand poetry well

   D. was often praised by his teacher

2.When given the poetry project in high school, the author was___________.

   A. excited        B. annoyed       C. confident       D. worried

3.The author took up writing poetry as a hobby when he____________.

   A. was in Grade Three in high school

   B. worked as a storekeeper

   C. was in Grade One in high school

   D. was at college

4.How did the author increase his confidence in writing poetry?

   A. He wrote a lot of poems and asked advice from his teacher.

   B. He published three collections of poetry by himself.

   C. He submitted his poems to magazines and contests.

   D. He gave up writing stories and only wrote poetry.

 

A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms, though my teacher emphasized(强调) the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience.

One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be astonished. Gently shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders, he said, “You don’t say!” “You don’t say!” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not an appropriate(适当的) topic. “Well, I’d better change the topic.” So I said to him. “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? By the way, have you ever been there?” “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It was magnificent.”He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide. “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are very proud of it.” Soon I was interrupted again by his words:“You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking, “Why do you ask me not to talk about it?” “Well, I didn’t request you to do so, ”he answered, greatly surprised.I said, “Didn’t you say’ you don’t say?”Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, ‘You don’t say’ actually means ‘really!’It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.”Only then did I know I had made a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions. Remember: what the English teachers said is always right to us students.

1.A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms because ____________.

A. English idioms were not important               B. I was not careful with English idioms

C. my teacher didn’t emphasize the importance of them  D. I had no interest in them

2.At first, on hearing “You don’t say,” I thought the foreigner meant _____________.

A. he was not interested in the topic     B. he was only interested in the Great Wall

C. I had talked too much              D. I had to stop talking

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

A. The Englishman left China without seeing the Great Wall.

B. The Englishman wanted to see the Great Wall after I talked about it.

C. The Englishman wanted me to act as his guide.

D. The Englishman visited the Great Wall and thought it worth visiting.

4.After the Englishman explained the idiom, ________________.

A. I thought the Englishman had made me a fool  B. the Englishman became a real fool.

C. I felt very silly                           D. I became more carefully in everything

 

I’d been 16 for six days and was already prepared to deal with failure. I remember when my mum   36   me up that morning, her voice wasn’t as   37   as it usually was.

I stayed in bed for a few minutes. I was   38   to leave its warmth and comfort, and didn’t want to face the problem that I’d let myself   39   for the past six months. Finally, I dragged myself out of    40  .

I finished getting ready and tried to   41  . It didn’t work, so I decided that my   42   should go with me. We had a little time, so I thought we could practice parking. I   43  , with the wheel hitting the fence. After that, the little bit of confidence I’d had was   44  . I tried two more times, but didn’t   45   much. Then we headed to the test site.

    I went into a room for some paperwork. And I waited for 20 minutes—just   46   time to make myself believe that I was going to fail. Then, finally, it was my   47  . I just wanted to get it over and make sure that I had to come back next Thursday.

    I stepped outside and the sky was the light blue I love. It offered me some   48   and I realized something: something between when I pulled myself off the seat and when I got outside. I had become   49   and confident.

    The first thing I had to do was parking, which I did quite   50  . The confidence that came with it hit me like a wave. The rest of the test went well too and I   51   it all. As I drove back, the instructor told me I would not be coming back for a second   52   next Thursday.

    Back in the building I didn’t have to say a word. My mum knew just by looking at me. Her    53   made her face softer. And I’m sure it was at least as big as the smile on my face. Her eyes, 54  , looked kind of teary. I knew she was   55   for me.

1.A. got  

B. woke 

C. turned  

D. brought

2.A. loud    

B. weak    

C. noisy  

D. strong

3.A. unable

B. unhappy     

C. unwilling

D. unavailable

4.A. mention    

B. forget    

C. leave 

D. put

5. A. house    

B. kitchen   

C. garage   

D. bed

6.A. set down   

B. take down     

C. calm down

D. put down

7. A. mum   

B. dad     

C. instructor 

D. teacher

8. A. succeeded    

B. failed     

C. managed 

D. attempted

9.A. missing   

B. lost

C. disappeared

D. gone

10. A. work

B. improve

C. change

D. get

11. A. enough

B. little

C. more

D. less

12.A. ability

B. performance

C. time

D. turn

13. A. belief

B. advantage

C. anxiety

D. comfort

14. A. calm

B. anxious

C. excited

D. cautious

15. A. badly

B. well

C. unsuccessfully

D. hardly

16. A. passed

B. went

C. failed

D. tried

17. A. practice     

B. paperwork

C. test

D. parking

18.A. words

B. smile

C. look

D. anger

19. A. however

B. therefore

C. although

D. but

20. A. sad

B. happy

C. nervous

D. sorry

 

 

“Linda, if beating yourself up were an Olympic sport, you’d win a gold medal!”

Annabel, my close friend, stunned me with that frank observation after I told her how I had mishandled a situation with a student in a third-grade class where I was substituting. “I should never have let him go to the boy’s room without a pass! It was my fault he got into trouble with the hall monitor! I’m so stupid!”

My friend burst out laughing, and then made her “Olympic” comment. After a brief period of reflection I had to admit that she was right. I did put myself down an awful lot. Why, just during the previous day I had called myself “a slob” for having some papers spread out on my desk, “ugly” when I left the house without makeup and “an idiot” when I left the house for an emergency substitute job without my emergency lesson plan.

In a more reflective tone, Annabel said, “I once took a workshop at church where the woman in charge had us list all the mean things we say about ourselves.”

“How many did you have on your list?” I asked.

“Fifteen,” she confessed. “But then the teacher said, ‘Now turn to the person next to you and say all the items on your list as if you were speaking to that person!’ ”

My jaw dropped. “What did you do?”

“Nothing. Nobody did. We all just sat there, until I said, ‘I could never say these things to anyone else!’ ”

“And our teacher replied, ‘Well, if you can’t say them to anyone else, then don’t ever say them to yourself!’ ”

My friend had a point. I would never insult a child of God---and I’m God’s child, too!

God, today let me be as kind to myself as I would be to another of Your children.

1. What does Annabel mean by the first sentence of the passage?

  A. The writer is a good athlete.      B. The writer scolds herself too much.

  C. She is encouraging the writer.      D. A gold medal is not a big deal.

2. What does the writer intends to tell us through the second and third paragraphs?

  A. She has low self-esteem over some small things.

  B. She often makes serious mistakes in daily life.

  C. She is a third-grade teacher.

  D. She cares too much about her appearance.

3. We can infer that the underlined word “slob” might be _____.

  A. something untidy         B. someone dangerous

  C. something dirty           D. someone lazy

4. What does the writer mean by the last sentence of the passage?

  A. She is ready to turn to God for help.

  B. She will be kind to all children.

  C. She won’t insult herself as well as others.

  D. She is willing to be a child of God.

 

 

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