Question

When I heard the piano, I walked to Mrs. Windsor’s house and waited outside as I always did. That meant she was working with another student, and I was not supposed to bother them by ringing the bell. I stood against the wall and daydreamed what I’d rather be doing. “Almost anything”, I sighed dejectedly. I had been tutored enough to read, understand, and even write some musical compositions, but I just didn’t have a gift for it. It didn’t come to me naturally. I thought back to happier times when I was writing stories and acting them out with my friends, cutting up old clothes to make dresses that performers wear in plays, and building scenery out of old things we found. But Mrs. Windsor had offered to give me the lessons for free, so I felt my duty to try.

The door opened and Wendy Barton came out. I walked in, sat down on the piano bench and began to sort through my sheet music.

“Hello,” I heard a voice behind me say softly. I turned around to see a little girl standing behind me, eating an apple. But before I could make any response, Mrs. Windsor walked into the room in her usual urgent manner and announced,“Jennifer, this is my niece, Pasha. Pasha, this is Jennifer. Pasha will be giving you your lesson today. I’m up to my ears in something else!” she then exited to the kitchen.

Pasha set her apple down on the side table and slid beside me on the piano bench.

“What piece do you like best?”she asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “They’re all the same to me. I don’t know.

“You mean you don’t have a favorite?”

“No, not really.”

Pasha looked at me, rather puzzled, then opened my sheet music to the beginning page and asked me to play. I arranged my fingers on the keys and studied the notes on the page for a moment. Then I frowned and concentrated to make the notes on the page match the finger movements. I have to admit I was a rather mechanical pianist.

After about a page or two, Pasha gently put her hand on top of mine as if to calm my fingers. There was a long pause. “What are you hearing in the music?” I looked at her rather strangely and admitted I didn’t know what she meant.

“Like a story. What story is being playing out within the music?”

“I guess I’ve never thought about it before. I don’t know.”

“Here, let me try and you listen,” Pasha advised.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting her fingers dance lightly over the keys. Then, she began to play. “See, it begins here beside some kind of river. Hear the water flowing beside you?”

Her fingers rose and fell gently on the keys.“Now the princess appears and she’s picking flowers from the water’s edge.”A carefree, happy piece of music filled the air in time to Pasha’s dancing fingers. “Oh, but she slips!”The music changed. “And our princess is being carried off by the fast-flowing stream. Quickly, the princess’s horse sees her plight (困境),” Pasha continued, and races to the river’s edge where he swims out to let her catch hold of him. They make it to the bank and she hugs her faithful horse and swears she will never again wear princess skirts that weigh her down. She will only wear jeans and T-shirt from now on.” Pasha finished with a big smile and then looked at me.

“Aren’t you the girl who tells the stories?” she asked.

“I guess. I do tell a lot of stories.”

“Oh, yes! All the kids talk about them. I’ve heard about you. Well, all you have to do is learn to hear the stories in the music. That’s all there is to it.”

“I’ve never thought it that way.”

“Let’s try another one, shall we?”Pasha smiled and together we played that afternoon, finding the stories in the music and learning that sometimes it takes a friend to pull you out of the river onto dry land again.

1.The underlined word “dejectedly” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to _______

A. nervously B. desperately

C. impatiently D. unhappily

2.Jennifer got lost in thought when she ________

A. played the piano with Pasha for the first time

B. listened to Pasha tell her story about the princess

C. remembered happier times of writing stories and acting them out

D. discovered that Mrs. Windsor’s niece would be giving the piano lesson

3.By describing herself as a mechanical pianist, the author showed ______

A. she could remember the notes in a short time

B. she was playing the piano without thinking

C. Pasha was showing off her skills

D. it had been a long time since she played last time

4.58. Which of the following can best describe Pasha?

A. Creative B. Naughty

C. Humorous D. Brave

5.Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A. Never Give up B. A Piano Lesson

C. Why I Hated Playing the Piano D. A Friend for Ever

6.This text would be probably found in ______

A. a collection of stories about friendship and learning

B. a book of daily records about famous young musicians

C. a magazine series about the challenges of overcoming fears

D. a series of newspaper articles about musical instruments

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.C

3.B

4.A

5.B

6.A

【解析】

试题分析：本文通过讲述作者在一次学习钢琴的经历中，明白了弹琴就要体会出琴谱所讲得情境和故事，这样才能弹好琴。

1.D词意推测题。A. nervously“提心吊胆地；焦急地”； B. desperately“拼命地；绝望地”； C. impatiently“不耐烦地”； D. Unhappily“难过地”，根据上下文语境可知，我觉得自己在音乐方面是没什么天赋的，在外等待老师时，我靠着墙做白日梦时，应是“难过地”叹了口气。故正确答案为D.

2.C细节信息题。be/get lost in thought：“陷入沉思”。根据文章第一段中“I thought back to happier times when I was writing stories and acting them out with my friends, cutting up old clothes to make dresses that performers wear in plays, and building scenery out of old things we found.”可知，我是在回忆过去写故事并把它们表演出来时，陷入了沉思。故正确答案为C.

3.B推理判断题。根据文章第九段中“I arranged my fingers on the keys and studied the notes on the page for a moment. Then I frowned and concentrated to make the notes on the page match the finger movements.”可知，我只是让自己机械地把曲子弹正确就好了，又由语境可知我根本都没去想曲子所表达的情境是什么。所以我将自己描述成一个机械的/呆板的演奏者，是说自己只弹而不思考。故该题正确答案为B.

4.A推理判断题。A. Creative“有创造性的”； B. Naughty“淘气的”； C. Humorous“幽默的”； D. Brave“勇敢的”，根据文章中对Pasha弹钢琴和对于所谈曲子的讲述像讲故事一样（第十四、十五段），可知她是一个富有“创造性”的人。故正确答案为A.

5.B主旨大意题。通读全文可知，本文讲述的是一次让作者受益匪浅的钢琴课。故该题正确答案为B.

6.A推理判断题。因为本文讲述的是对作者起到重要影响的钢琴课，重点并不在于“友谊”、“克服恐惧的挑战”或是“乐器”，所以该题正确答案为A.

考点：故事类文章的阅读