My first performance in front of an audience was coming up soon.

I tried as hard as I could to remain clam，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 messed up the entire piece.

What if I had the wrong music? What if I played the wrong notes?

       As it turned, 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 piano in the center of the room. It contained 88 demanding keys，which were waiting impatiently to be played. 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 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 1 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 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．The author was nervous before the performance because         .

       A．her mother and father weren’t present

       B．the strong spotlight was shining onto the stage

       C．she hadn’t mastered the entire piece

       D．she had never performed in public before

2．The underlined phrase “mess up” in Paragraph 3 probably means     .

       A．put into disorder   B．forget about         C．stop halfway        D．do well in

3．The author           .

       A．didn’t make any mistake in the performance

       B．felt better at t he beginning of the performance

       C．paid all attention to nothing but her performance

       D．lost her concentration sometimes during the performance

4．What did the author feel about her performance?

       A．She thought it was comfortable and successful.

       B．She thought it was very difficult but successful.

       C．She thought she had never made a mistake during the performance.

       D．She thought she played through the piece carefully but light-heartedly.

When I was born, my parents immediately noticed something wrong. My feet were deformed (畸形的), pointing inward and curling under. I wore casts (石膏) and foot braces (支架) in my first two years to correct the problem. Yet I learned to balance and walk in casts. Soon after the last set of casts came off，Mom enrolled me in dance classes as therapy for my feet. I, however，quickly decided to try something else. Not far from my house was an ice rink (溜冰场) in the mall. There，local skaters would perform ice shows. I wanted to try skating.
I started taking group skating lessons. Performing on ice came naturally. For me，skating has never been about beating others. It’s been about being my personal best. I progressed through various levels rapidly and gave my first ice performance at age seven. Soon I started winning local and regional competitions. That’s because being on the ice has always been the one place I can truly express my emotions. The ice is like home.
I began seriously training when I was nine years old. After graduating from girls’ high school，I moved to Canada. Saying goodbye to my family and friends made me homesick，but I knew deep down that I had to leave and train full－time to give my dreams a chance at reality.
I went to compete in the Olympic Games in 1992.I was the first of the final six skaters on the ice. My long performance started well，but I slipped while landing one of my easiest triple jumps，and my hand touched the ice. I didn’t want to make two mistakes in a row，so next I did a jump with just two spins to play it safe. As I neared the end，I had one more jump. I landed it perfectly.
When medals were awarded，I found myself on the top step，the gold hanging around my neck and America’s national anthem playing. Words can’t describe the overwhelming mixture of emotions I felt.
【小题1】The author was enrolled in dance classes to________.

My first performance in front of an audience was coming up soon.

I tried as hard as I could to remain calm, but my heart was racing. I looked 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 messed 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 piano in the center of the room. It contained 88 demanding keys, which were waiting impatiently to be played. 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 years 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 pages in front of me.

There was no way that I was going to lose my concentration. To keep this 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．The author was nervous before the performance because _______.

     A．her mother and father weren’t present

     B．the strong spotlight was shining onto the stage

     C．she hadn’t mastered the entire piece

       D．she had never performed in public before

2．The underlined phrase “mess up” in Paragraph 3 probably means ________.

       A．put into disorder                               B．forget about 

       C．stop halfway                                   D．do well in

3．The author _________.

       A．didn’t make any mistake in the performance

       B．felt better at the beginning of the performance

       C．paid all attention to nothing but her performance

       D．lost her concentration sometimes during the performance

4． What did the author feel about her performance?

       A．She thought it was comfortable and successful.

       B．She thought it was very difficult but successful.

       C．She thought she had never made a mistake during the performance.

       D．She thought she played through the piece carefully but light-heartedly.