From my second grade on, there was one event I feared every year: the piano recital(独奏演唱会). A recital I had to practice a boring piece of music and perform before strangers. Each year I would ask my father if I could skip the recital “just this once”. And each year he would shake his head, saying something about building and working toward a goal.

One recent Sunday I stood in church, video camera in hand, and my 68-year-old father play the piano in his very first recital.

My father had longed to play music since childhood, but his family was poor and couldn’t lessons. He could have gone on regretting it, too many of us do. But he wasn’t stuck in the past. When he retired three years ago, he his church music director to take him as .

For a moment after my father sat down at the keyboard, he stared down at his fingers. Has he forgotten the ? I worried. But then came the beautiful melody (旋律). And I he had been doing what music teachers always stress: the notes and pretend the others aren’t there.

“I’m of him for starting something new at his age,” I said to my son Jeff.

“Yeah, and doing it so ,” Jeff added.

With his first recital, my father taught me more about self-confidence and the life goal than all the words he used those 30-plus years ago.

1.A. reflected B. meant C. explained D. proved

2.A. self-confidence B. self-control C. self-defense D. self-discipline

3.A. kept B. sent C. watched D. felt

4.A. miss B. afford C. select D. understand

5.A. as B. once C. if D. while

6.A. allowed B. invited C. inspired D. persuaded

7.A. a teacher B. an old man C. a student D. a singer

8.A. words B. videos C. notes D. lessons

9.A. predicted B. realized C. imagined D. insisted

10.A. pass over B . turn up C. bring in D. concentrate on

11.A. ashamed B. aware C. tired D. proud

12.A. nicely B. anxiously C. casually D. frequently

Regarded as one of the English language's most gifted poets, John Keats wrote poetry that concentrated on imagery, human nature, and philosophy. Although Keats didn't receive much formal literary education, his own studies and passion brought him much success. Additionally, his own life situation influenced his poetry greatly.

Growing up as a young boy in London in a lower, middle-class family, the young John didn't attend a private school, but went to a public one. His teachers and his family's friends regarded him as an optimistic boy who favored playing and fighting much more than minding his studies. After his father's death in the early 1800s, followed by his mother's passing due to tuberculosis (肺结核), he began viewing life differently. He wanted to escape the world and did so by reading anything he could get his hands on.

At around the age of 16, the teenage John Keats began studying under a surgeon so that he too might become a doctor. However, his literary appetite had taken too much of his fancy, especially with his addiction to the poetry of Ehmund Spenser. He was able to have his first full poem published in the Examiner in 1816, entitled O Solitude! If I Must With Thee Dwell. Within two months in 1817, Keats had written an entire volume of poetry, but was sharply criticized by a magazine. However, the negative response didn't stop his pursuit of rhythm.

John Keats' next work was Endymion, which was published in May 1818. The story involves a shepherd who falls in love with the moon goddess and leads him on an adventure of one boy's hope to overcome the limitations of being human. Following Engymion, however, he tried something more narrative-based and wrote Isabella. During this time, John Keats began seeing his limitations in poetry due to his own limit in life experiences. He would have to have the "knowledge" associated with his poems. His next work was Hyperion that would attempt to combine all that he learned. However, a bout (发作) with tuberculosis while visiting Italy would keep him from his work and eventually take his life in 1821.

1.John Keats' attitude towards life changed because of________.

A. his early education from school

B. the criticism of a magazine

C. Edmund Spenser's poetry

D. the deaths of his parents

2.What is the common thing between John Keats and his mother?

A. They read many books.

B. They died of the same disease.

C. They had a bad childhood.

D. They showed strong interest in poetry.

3.What do we know from the passage?

A. Keats once had a chance of becoming a doctor.

B. Keats received little education at school.

C. In 1816 Keats spent two months writing a poem.

D. Endymion was about a real love story.

4.While pursuing his dream of becoming a poet at first, John Keats was________.

A. knowledgeable B. experienced

C. determined D. impatient

5.What can we infer from the passage?

A. The poem Hyperion wasn't completed by Keats.

B. Edmund Spenser was the greatest poet in Keats' time.

C. It is likely that Keats rewrote his poem Isabella.

D. Keats' family must have been very poor when he was young.

 0  130748  130756  130762  130766  130772  130774  130778  130784  130786  130792  130798  130802  130804  130808  130814  130816  130822  130826  130828  130832  130834  130838  130840  130842  130843  130844  130846  130847  130848  130850  130852  130856  130858  130862  130864  130868  130874  130876  130882  130886  130888  130892  130898  130904  130906  130912  130916  130918  130924  130928  130934  130942  151629 

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网