John, a famous musician, took his priceless antique violin and played it in the crowded subway station. The music from the violin was delicately streaming throughout the whole station. However, during the one-hour play, only six or seven people were truly appreciating the charming music. A three-year-old kid was so fascinated by the music that he forgot everything around. John only got 52 dollars for his work that day.

     However, in normal days, when John is about to hold a concert, one ticket can be sold at more than 100 dollars and it is extremely hard to buy a ticket even at such a high price. Therefore, later, many passers-by in the station that day felt deeply regretful for not recognizing the famous musician and missing such a valuable but cheap music feast.

     I have a very busy friend who had totally changed after knowing that his wife came down with incurable illness. He cooked by himself for the family and took a walk with his wife every day. Nonetheless, his wife still did not manage to conquer the illness and passed away after three months. After that, he often sighed miserably that due to his past busy life, he had missed a lot of beautiful time with his wife. But now, it is impossible to make up for it.

     It is no use crying over spilt milk. We have missed a lot of precious things in our life without knowing to cherish them.

    Actually, I also missed something precious before. The reason why we would have missed those precious things is less than simple: we had thought that we could still own them tomorrow.

     Nevertheless, tomorrow is actually by no means reliable. There was a famous Buddhist monk saying that in many people’s lives, they have only done two things: waiting and regretting. The result is that they were always too late to cherish what they had before they lost it. We would often claim to do something when we grow up, or when we have money or when we become old, etc. However, when we reach the condition we have expected, we could no longer realize our wish, because we have lost it by then.

1.The reason why people often regret may be that _______.

A. they are too busy to notice the beautiful things

B. they are too careless to cherish precious things

C. they are lazy to observe the surroundings

D. they think that it’s none of their business

2.The idea the author would like to get across to us seems that _______.

A. actions speak louder than words

B. a bad beginning makes a bad ending

C. the lost will never come back

D. each day brings its own bread

3.What method does the author employ to support his opinion？

A. By listing data.                          B. By comparing the details .

C. By explaining the procedures .                   D. By taking examples.

4.How do we understand the underlined parts “waiting and regretting”?

A. Many people will not cherish what they have until they lost them.

B. Many people cannot do well until they get older.

C. Many people know what they are doing.

D. Many people regret for what they don’t possess.

John, a famous musician, took his priceless antique violin and played it in the crowded subway station. The music from the violin was delicately streaming throughout the whole station. However, during the one-hour play, only six or seven people were truly appreciating the charming music. A three-year-old kid was so fascinated by the music that he forgot everything around. John only got 52 dollars for his work that day.
     However, in normal days, when John is about to hold a concert, one ticket can be sold at more than 100 dollars and it is extremely hard to buy a ticket even at such a high price. Therefore, later, many passers-by in the station that day felt deeply regretful for not recognizing the famous musician and missing such a valuable but cheap music feast.
     I have a very busy friend who had totally changed after knowing that his wife came down with incurable illness. He cooked by himself for the family and took a walk with his wife every day. Nonetheless, his wife still did not manage to conquer the illness and passed away after three months. After that, he often sighed miserably that due to his past busy life, he had missed a lot of beautiful time with his wife. But now, it is impossible to make up for it.
     It is no use crying over spilt milk. We have missed a lot of precious things in our life without knowing to cherish them.
    Actually, I also missed something precious before. The reason why we would have missed those precious things is less than simple: we had thought that we could still own them tomorrow.
     Nevertheless, tomorrow is actually by no means reliable. There was a famous Buddhist monk saying that in many people’s lives, they have only done two things: waiting and regretting. The result is that they were always too late to cherish what they had before they lost it. We would often claim to do something when we grow up, or when we have money or when we become old, etc. However, when we reach the condition we have expected, we could no longer realize our wish, because we have lost it by then.
55. The reason why people often regret may be that _______.
   A. they are too busy to notice the beautiful things
   B. they are too careless to cherish precious things
   C. they are lazy to observe the surroundings
   D. they think that it’s none of their business
56. The idea the author would like to get across to us seems that _______.
   A. actions speak louder than words               B. a bad beginning makes a bad ending
   C. the lost will never come back                   D. each day brings its own bread
57. What method does the author employ to support his opinion？
   A. By listing data.                          B. By comparing the details .
   C. By explaining the procedures .                    D. By taking examples.
58. How do we understand the underlined parts “waiting and regretting”?
   A. Many people will not cherish what they have until they lost them.
   B. Many people cannot do well until they get older.
   C. Many people know what they are doing.
   D. Many people regret for what they don’t possess.

Billie Holiday was one of the greatest jazz(爵士音乐) singers in America. Her life was just a mixture of success and tragedy. Her singing expressed her experiences and feelings.
Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan in 1915 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her parents were Sadie Fagan and Clarence Holiday. They were young when their daughter was born. Their marriage failed because Clarence Holiday was often out. He traveled as a musician with some of the earliest jazz bands and inspired his daughter.
Sadie Fagan cleaned people’s houses to make a living. But she could not support her family with the money she earned. So she moved to New York City where the pay was higher. She left her daughter in Baltimore with one of her distant relatives.
The young girl Eleanora Fagan changed her name to Billie, because she liked a movie star, Billie Dove. The talented Billie Holiday loved singing. She sang and listened  to music whenever she could. In one place near her home there was a machine that played records. The building was a theater where many famous singers also performed their newly-made songs for free.
Billie cleaned floors and did other jobs for the theater so that she could listen to the records. It was there that young Billie first heard the records of some famous black American blues artists of the 1920s. she heard Bessie Smith sing the blues. And she heard Louis Armstrong play the horn. Both musicians had a great influence on her.
Billie Holiday once said, “I do not think I’m singing. I feel like I am playing a horn. What comes out is what I feel. I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That is all I know.”
【小题1】Billie Holiday’s parents divorced because _______.

Billie Holiday was one of the greatest jazz(爵士音乐) singers in America. Her life was just a mixture of success and tragedy. Her singing expressed her experiences and feelings.

Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan in 1915 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her parents were Sadie Fagan and Clarence Holiday. They were young when their daughter was born. Their marriage failed because Clarence Holiday was often out. He traveled as a musician with some of the earliest jazz bands and inspired his daughter.

Sadie Fagan cleaned people’s houses to make a living. But she could not support her family with the money she earned. So she moved to New York City where the pay was higher. She left her daughter in Baltimore with one of her distant relatives.

The young girl Eleanora Fagan changed her name to Billie, because she liked a movie star, Billie Dove. The talented Billie Holiday loved singing. She sang and listened  to music whenever she could. In one place near her home there was a machine that played records. The building was a theater where many famous singers also performed their newly-made songs for free.

Billie cleaned floors and did other jobs for the theater so that she could listen to the records. It was there that young Billie first heard the records of some famous black American blues artists of the 1920s. she heard Bessie Smith sing the blues. And she heard Louis Armstrong play the horn. Both musicians had a great influence on her.

Billie Holiday once said, “I do not think I’m singing. I feel like I am playing a horn. What comes out is what I feel. I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That is all I know.”

1.Billie Holiday’s parents divorced because _______.

A．Sadie Fagan wanted to move to New York City

B．the family couldn’t support itself

C．Clarence Holiday spent too much time in working

D．Clerence Holiday was a strange person

2.Who might originally have had an influence on Billie Holiday’s career in music?

A．Sadie Fagan        B．Clerence Holiday.    C．Bessie Smith.       D．Louis Armstrong

3.From the passage, we can learn that ______.

A．Sadie Fagan was fond of living in New York

B．Clerence Holiday didn’t love his wife at all

C．Billie lived a happy childhood

D．Billie had a gift for music

4.The underlined sentence “ What comes out is what I feel” means _____.

A．Billie Holiday doesn’t like to sing for others

B．Billie Holiday’s songs reflect her unhappy childhood

C．Billie Holiday is fond of the songs written for herself

D．Billie Holiday’s music is greatly determined by her emotions

5.In order to listen to the records in the theater, Billie Holiday_______.

A．cleaned floors for the theater              B．changed her name

C．moved to New York                      D．separated from her parents

　　Eddie liked music very much when he was at school, but when he went to the college he decided to study medicine instead of music. When he passed his examinations and became a doctor, he had to work in a hospital for some time. There he found out that a lot of patients were happier and caused less trouble if pleasant music was played to them. When he got an office and began to work for himself, he decided to keep his patients happy by having a tape recorder in his waiting room to play beautiful music for them. But soon after the tape recorder had been put in, Eddie's nurse heard a woman, Who was sitting in the crowded waiting room one morning, complained, “Here we're all waiting to see the doctor, but he is just playing the violin in his office instead of doing his work.”

(1) Eddie preferred to be ________.

[　　]

A．a musician instead of a doctor

B．a doctor instead of a musician

C．both a doctor and a musician

D．a violin player

(2) After he graduated he ________.

[　　]

A．first worked as a doctor then a singer

B．first worked in his own office

C．played the violin to many people

D．first worked as a doctor for others for a time

(3) What he found was ________.

[　　]

A．pleasant music could cause trouble

B．many patients became happy when they listened to pleasant music

C．a lot of patients didn't like pleasant music

D．more trouble may be brought about when patients listened to pleasant music

(4) Which of the following is true?

[　　]

A．Eddie put a tape recorder in his own office.

B．Eddie put a tape recorder in the waiting room of his own office and made it play beautiful music in order to make his patients happy.

C．Eddie worked in a hospital all the time.

D．Beautiful music can cause no trouble.

(5) The woman in the waiting room ________.

[　　]

A．didn't like to listen to music

B．liked to listen to music

C．thought that the doctor himself was playing the violin

D．was waiting to listen to music in order to cure her illness