I stood in the doorway，watching my older brother carefully putting clothes into his bag．I coughed uneasily．When he realized that I was there，Rocky turned toward me  1  a sad smile．

    “I’m  2  tomorrow，”he said．“I know．”My  3  was almost a whisper（低声，耳语）．I was angry at  4  for being so weak，but I wasn’t about to（将要）cry．“My  5  is early so there is enough time to come to the airport，”he said．Seeing the sad look on my face，he quickly added，“I  6   won’t leave without saying goodbye．”

    I tried to say  7  ．but didn’t．It’s always better to  8  if you’re about to cr．

    “You promised you wouldn’t cry，”he said to me，thinking that I was to cry．I remember the day he   9   me how to ride a bike．At first I thought he was always right behind me，holding the seat to keep me from  10  ．I was happy with this，but he knew he  11  hold me up all my life．He told me that one day he would have to leave．His coughing stopped my  12  ．What was left to say?  13  could l say goodbye to the person who taught me everything?

    The next morning I   14  ，looked at my alarm clock，and realized he had left  15  before．We never even said goodbye．

Goodbye，Rocky! Although he may have been many miles away，I knew he heard me，even if it was only an answer in his heart．

1．A．In                            B．of                           C．by                         D．with

2．A．leaving                     B．coming                  C．traveling                 D．returning

3．A．word                        B．noise                      C．voice                     D．sound

4．A．me                           B．him                        C．myself                   D．himself

5．A．bus                          B．ship                        C．train                             D．flight

6．A．hope                        B．promise                  C．wish                      D．agree

7．A．something                B．anything                 C．everything              D．nothing

8．A．cheer up                  B．keep quiet               C．enjoy yourself         D．keep away

9．A．teaches                     B．taught                    C．is teaching              D．had taught

10．A．riding                     B．running                  C．walking                  D．falling

11．A．could                      B．couldn’t                 C．had to                    D．didn’t have to

12．A．dreaming                B．imaging                  C．thinking                  D．realizing

13．A．How                       B．Why                       C．What                     D．When

14．A．gave up                  B．looked up                C．woke up                D．stayed up

15．A．hours                            B．days                       C．weeks                    D．minutes

Beyond Baby Mozart, Students Who Rock
Music education hasn’t changed much since the 1970s. Students are still taught to read notation(乐谱) so they can recite compositions that they would never listen to on their MP3 players or play with friends. Playing music enriches life. The question is: Why do schools teach music in a way that turns off so many young people rather than catch their imagination? Can we do a better job of using the power of music to get kids excited about school?
The experience of an organization called Little Kids Rock suggests the answer is yes — if we change the way music is taught. Little Kids Rock has helped music programs in over a thousand public schools and served 150,000 children. The organization has given 30,000 free instruments out, mainly guitars, and trained 1,500 teachers to run music classes in which students quickly experience the joys of playing their favorite songs, performing in bands(乐队), and writing their own music.

The key to Little Kids Rock is that it teaches children to play music the way many musicians learn to play it — not by notation, but by listening, imitation(模仿) and meaningful experimentation. “The knowledge you need to get started playing rock music is very limited,” explains Dave Wish, the founder of Little Kids Rock. “In high school, my friend Paul taught me a couple of chords(和弦) and my life was changed forever. On the first day of class, Little Kids Rock teachers place guitars in the hands of their students and get them practicing chords that will enable them to play thousands of songs. The kids decide what songs they want to learn and the class is off and running. Their progress is surprising. Within a year, eight and nine-year-olds are playing musical instruments, and giving concerts, even performing their own songs.
One of the biggest advantages that music offers is the ability to encourage students who are otherwise bored by school. “I’ve had students start coming back to school because of this program,” said Adkison Thomas, who heads up music for the Dallas Independent School District. He added, “One of the best things is that the teachers discover a new side of their students. They see kids become successful who weren’t before.”
【小题1】The expression “turn off” in Paragraph 1 means “______”.