| My first performance in front of an audience was doming up soon. I tried as hard as I could to remain calm, but my heart was racing. I stared down at my sweat-covered, shaking hands. I looked up again at the audience, realizing that these were real people. They were not just my mum and dad, who would say, "Good job!" even if I missed up the entire piece. What if I had the wrong music? What if I played the wrong notes? As it turned out, I was never able to answer these questions because the spotlight was waiting for me. I grasped my hands tightly together, drying off the sweat. Slowly I walked to the mud-brown piano in the centre of the room. It contained 88 demanding keys, which were waiting impatiently to be played. I swallowed the golf ball-sized lump in my throat and sat down. Slowly, I opened the music. Next, I rested my still shaking hands on the ivory keys. As my fingers played across the keys, I was becoming more unsure of my preparation for this moment. But the memory of my year of training came flooding back. I knew that I had practiced this piece so many times that I could play it backwards if requested. Although at one point I accidentally played two keys instead of the intended one, I continued to move my fingers automatically. My eyes burned holes into the page in front of me. There was no way that I was going to lose my concentration. To keep this promise to myself, I leaned forward and focused carefully on the music. When I came to the end of the page, a warning went off inside my head. Don't make a mistake when you turn the page! Needless to say, I obeyed myself with all my heart and mind, and, proud of my "page-turning" feat, I finished the rest of the piece without making a single mistake. After the final note died away, a celebration went into action inside my head. I had finished. I had mastered the impossible. 1. Before the writer gave her first performance, A. she could see nothing but her own shaking hands B. her parents encouraged her, saying, "Good job!" C. she missed up the whole piece D. her heart beat very fast 2. The underlined word "demanding" in the sixth paragraph means A. proper-numbered B. necessary for a piano C. needing great attention or efforts D. being familiar to a person 3. The sentence "I swallowed the golf ball-sized lump" in the sixth paragraph shows___________. A. the writer was too nervous to play B. the writer managed to calm down C. the writer had put something in her mouth D. there was something wrong with her throat 4. The writer's experience proved that_____________. A. failure is the mother of success B. the heaven stands by the good girl C. a journey is started by taking the first step D. to keep an army for a thousand days is to use 5. Which one is the best title for this story? A. My First Success B. My First Piano Show C. My First Date D. My First Music Lesson |