题目内容

When I heard the piano, I walked to Mrs. Windsor’s house and waited outside as I always did. That meant she was working with another student, and I was not supposed to bother them by ringing the bell. I stood against the wall and daydreamed what I’d rather be doing. “Almost anything”, I sighed dejectedly. I had been tutored enough to read, understand, and even write some musical compositions, but I just didn’t have a gift for it. It didn’t come to me naturally. I thought back to happier times when I was writing stories and acting them out with my friends, cutting up old clothes to make dresses that performers wear in plays, and building scenery out of old things we found. But Mrs. Windsor had offered to give me the lessons for free, so I felt my duty to try.

The door opened and Wendy Barton came out. I walked in, sat down on the piano bench and began to sort through my sheet music.

“Hello,” I heard a voice behind me say softly. I turned around to see a little girl standing behind me, eating an apple. But before I could make any response, Mrs. Windsor walked into the room in her usual urgent manner and announced,“Jennifer, this is my niece, Pasha. Pasha, this is Jennifer. Pasha will be giving you your lesson today. I’m up to my ears in something else!” she then exited to the kitchen.

Pasha set her apple down on the side table and slid beside me on the piano bench.

“What piece do you like best?”she asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “They’re all the same to me. I don’t know.

“You mean you don’t have a favorite?”

“No, not really.”

Pasha looked at me, rather puzzled, then opened my sheet music to the beginning page and asked me to play. I arranged my fingers on the keys and studied the notes on the page for a moment. Then I frowned and concentrated to make the notes on the page match the finger movements. I have to admit I was a rather mechanical pianist.

After about a page or two, Pasha gently put her hand on top of mine as if to calm my fingers. There was a long pause. “What are you hearing in the music?” I looked at her rather strangely and admitted I didn’t know what she meant.

“Like a story. What story is being playing out within the music?”

“I guess I’ve never thought about it before. I don’t know.”

“Here, let me try and you listen,” Pasha advised.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting her fingers dance lightly over the keys. Then, she began to play. “See, it begins here beside some kind of river. Hear the water flowing beside you?”

Her fingers rose and fell gently on the keys.“Now the princess appears and she’s picking flowers from the water’s edge.”A carefree, happy piece of music filled the air in time to Pasha’s dancing fingers. “Oh, but she slips!”The music changed. “And our princess is being carried off by the fast-flowing stream. Quickly, the princess’s horse sees her plight (困境),” Pasha continued, and races to the river’s edge where he swims out to let her catch hold of him. They make it to the bank and she hugs her faithful horse and swears she will never again wear princess skirts that weigh her down. She will only wear jeans and T-shirt from now on.” Pasha finished with a big smile and then looked at me.

“Aren’t you the girl who tells the stories?” she asked.

“I guess. I do tell a lot of stories.”

“Oh, yes! All the kids talk about them. I’ve heard about you. Well, all you have to do is learn to hear the stories in the music. That’s all there is to it.”

“I’ve never thought it that way.”

“Let’s try another one, shall we?”Pasha smiled and together we played that afternoon, finding the stories in the music and learning that sometimes it takes a friend to pull you out of the river onto dry land again.

1.The underlined word “dejectedly” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to _______

A. nervously B. desperately

C. impatiently D. unhappily

2.Jennifer got lost in thought when she ________

A. played the piano with Pasha for the first time

B. listened to Pasha tell her story about the princess

C. remembered happier times of writing stories and acting them out

D. discovered that Mrs. Windsor’s niece would be giving the piano lesson

3.By describing herself as a mechanical pianist, the author showed ______

A. she could remember the notes in a short time

B. she was playing the piano without thinking

C. Pasha was showing off her skills

D. it had been a long time since she played last time

4. Which of the following can best describe Pasha?

A. Creative B. Naughty

C. Humorous D. Brave

5.Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A. Never Give up B. A Piano Lesson

C. Why I Hated Playing the Piano D. A Friend for Ever

6.This text would be probably found in ______

A. a collection of stories about friendship and learning

B. a book of daily records about famous young musicians

C. a magazine series about the challenges of overcoming fears

D. a series of newspaper articles about musical instruments

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Only two countries in the advanced world provide no guarantee for paid leave from work to care for a newborn child. Last spring one of the two,Australia, gave up the bad distinction by setting up paid family leave starting in 2011.I wasn’t surprised when this didn’t make the news here in the United States—we’re now the only wealthy country without such a policy.

The United States does have one explicit family policy, the Family and Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993.It entitles workers to as much as 12 weeks’ unpaid leave for care of a newborn or dealing with a family medical problem. Despite the modesty of the benefit, the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups fought it bitterly, describing it as “government-run personnel management” and a “dangerous precedent(先例).” In fact, every step of the way, as (usually) Democratic leaders have tried to introduce work-family balance measures into the law, business groups have been strongly opposed.

As Yale law professor Anne Alstott argues, justifying parental support depends on defining (定义) the family as a social good that, in some sense, society must pay for. Parents are burdened in many ways in their lives: there is “no exit” when it comes to children. Society expects—and needs—parents to provide their children with continuity of care. And society expects—and needs—parents to persist in their roles for 18 years, or longer if needed.

1.What do we learn about paid family leave according to Paragraph 1?

A. It came as a surprise when Australia adopted the policy.

B. Setting up this policy made Australia less influential.

C. It has now become a hot topic in the United States.

D. No such policy is applied in the United States.

2.What makes it hard to take work-family balance measures in the States?

A. The incompetence of the Democrats.

B. The opposition from business circles.

C. The lack of a precedent in American history.

D. The existing Family and Medical Leave Act.

3.What is Professor Anne Alstott’s argument for parental support?

A. Children need continuous care.

B. Good parenting benefits society.

C. The cost of raising children has been growing.

D. The U.S.should keep up with other developed countries.

4.Why is the author against classifying parenting as a personal choice?

A. Parenting is regarded as a moral duty.

B. Parenting relies largely on social support.

C. Parenting produces huge moral benefits.

D. Parenting is basically a social responsibility.

Many animals recognize their food because they see it. So do humans. When you see an apple or a piece of chocolate you know that these are things you can eat. You can also use other senses when you choose your food. You may like it because it smells good or because it tastes good. You may dislike some types of food because they do not look, smell or taste very nice. Different animals use different senses to find and choose their food. A few animals depend on only one of their senses, while most animals use more than one sense.

Although there are many different types of food, some animals spend their lives eating only one type. The giant panda eats only one particular type of bamboo. Other animals eat only one type of food even when given the choice. A kind of white butterfly will stay on the leaves of a cabbage, even though there are plenty of other vegetables in the garden. However, most animals have a more varied diet. The bear eats fruits and fish. The fox eats small animals, birds and fruits. The diet of these animals will be different depending on the season.

Humans have a very varied diet. We often eat food because we like it and not because it is good for us. In countries such as France and Britain, people eat foods with too much sugar. This makes them overweight, which is bad for their health. Eating too much red meat and animal products, such as butter, can also be bad for the health. Choosing the right food, therefore, has become an area of study in modern life.

1.We can infer from the text that humans and animals ______.

A. depend on one sense in choosing food

B. are not satisfied with their food

C. choose food in similar ways

D. eat entirely different food

2.Certain animals change their choice of food when ______.

A. the season changes

B. the food color changes

C. they move to different places

D. they are attracted by different smells

3.We can learn from the last paragraph that ______.

A. French and British food is good

B. food is chosen for a good reason

C. some people have few choices of food

D. some people care little about healthy diet

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