Question

B

Six years ago at the age of 35, I suddenly decided I wanted to learn the cello(大提琴). Straight away I rented an instrument and appeared before Wendell Margrave, professor of musical instruction.

"You can be as good as you want to be, "Margrave said rather mysteriously. On a piece of paper he drew the notes E and F. He showed me where to put my fingers on the neck of the cello and how to draw the bow. Then he entered my name in his book: 10 am, Tuesday. Tuesday followed Tuesday, and soon it was spring.

Thus began my voyage out of ignorance and into the dream. E-F, E-F, we played together—and moved on to G. It was a happy time. I was again becoming something new, and no longer trapped as the same person. Surely the most terrible recognition of middle life is that we are past changing. We do what we can already do. The cello was something I couldn't do. Yet each Tuesday this became less and less true. Riding home on the bus one snowy night and learning the score of Mozart's C-Major Quintet, I felt the page burst into music in my hands. I could by then more or less read a score, and was humming(哼唱)the cello line, when suddenly all five parts came together harmonically in my head. The fellow sitting opposite stared. I met his glance with tears, actually hearing the music in my head for the first time. Could he hear it too, perhaps? No, he got off at the next stop.

As the years slipped by, my daughter grew up, playing the piano well. My goal was that she and I would one day perform together. I also wanted to perform in public with and for my peers, and to be secretly envied. I continued to play, to perform, but it is not the same. Before, when I heard a cello, it was all beauty and light. Now, as the TV camera gets close to Rostropovich's face, I recognize that his smile shows his incredible determination. Even for him, the cello is a difficult instrument that doesn't respect your ambitions. I picked up my cello and practiced. As good as I wanted to be, I am as good as I'm going to get. It is good enough.

1.From the first two paragraphs, we can learn that .

A. the author already knew some cello basics

B. the author went to a cello lesson every Tuesday

C. the author bought a cello after he decided to learn it

D. Wendell Margrave was a famous but mysterious professor

2.The author writes that "it was a happy time" in Paragraph 3 mainly because .

A. he felt very bored with his new life

B. it was beautiful to be able to hear the music in his mind

C. Professor Margrave made learning the cello very easy for him

D. he enjoyed the feelings of growth and getting closer to his dream

3. From the last paragraph, it can be inferred that the author .

A. put on shows with his daughter

B. was determined to catch up with Rostropovich

C. is happy to have kept up his personal development

D. was confident that his peers would envy him for his cello playing ability

4. The purpose of the article is mainly to .

A. show his deep gratitude to his cello tutor

B. advise readers on how to improve their cello skills

C. describe his incredible efforts to overcome difficulties

D. encourage readers that it's never too late to pursue their dreams

Answer 1