In the past, going to a piano teacher was the only way to learn how to play the piano. You could have one lesson a week. If you didn’t have private(个人的) lessons, you could still learn piano, but you would have to learn it by yourself. This was easy for some, but very difficult for most. However, with technology as it is today, there is at last another way that you can take piano lessons. You can take an online course.
An online course can save you lots of money. If a private lesson costs 30 or 40 dollars per week, just think about how quickly that adds up. You can take a complete online course in piano by spending a small part of the money that you would pay for taking weeks of private lessons. Also, private lessons are only usually one hour per week. If you have questions during the rest of the week, or if you forget something that your teacher said, you will have to wait for your next lesson to continue your learning. However, online piano courses are quite different.
With an online piano course, you can work at your own pace(进度). You can also take as many lessons per week as you’d want, or go back and listen to your last lesson if you have forgotten anything. Most adults who want to learn how to play the piano enjoy being able to go back and listen to lessons they watched before. It can give you a good idea of what you were doing right, what you were doing wrong, and what you should be doing before the next lesson.
Of course, if you need someone to sit beside you and give you instant feedback(及时反馈) while you are playing, you are not suggested to choose an online course. But most adult learners think they can get their own type of feedback by watching the course again and again.
【小题1】       is not mentioned in the passage to learn to play the piano.
A.Going to a piano teacher        B. Asking experts for information   C. Teaching oneself
【小题2】Going to a piano teacher is much more        than having an online piano course.
A. expensive                   B. convenient                  C. interesting
【小题3】If you choose an online piano course, you can          .
A. ask questions whenever you want          
B. watch the lessons whenever you’d like  
C. get some advice while you are playing the piano.
【小题4】Most adults like to go back and listen to the lessons again because         .
A. they needn’t spend any extra money          
B. they can ask some questions   
C. they can know what they were doing right, what they were doing wrong
【小题5】How many advantages of an online piano course have been introduced in the passage?
A. 2                           B. 3                         C. 4

Long, long ago there was a very foolish thief. Do you know what he did one day? When he wanted to steal(偷) the bell on his neighbour’s door, he walked up to the door, took hold of(抓住) the bell and pulled hard. The bell made a very loud noise. The thief was afraid and went home.

    Then he sat down to think, “I must do something about the noise,” he said. He thought and thought. At last he had an idea. “Ah, I’ll put some cotton in my ears. Then I won’t be able to hear the noise.” The next day he went to the door of his neighbour, and took hold of the bell. This time he pulled even harder. The bell rang loudly, but the thief did not hear anything. With another hard pull he got the bell out. Just then the neighbour came running out. “Steal my bell? I’ll teach you a lesson(教训),”the angry man shouted. And he hit the thief on the nose.

   The foolish thief did not know how the neighbour found out he was stealing the bell. “Why did he come out just then?” he wondered(感到疑惑).

1.The thief was trying to get            .

A. his neighbour                       B. his neighbour’s doorbell

C. some cotton                        D. a door with a bell on it

2. The thief put some cotton in his ears. He thought it would be      for him to steal the doorbell.

A. safe         B. difficult        C.dangerous       D. easy

3.The neighbour ran out probably(很可能) because__________________.

A. he knew his doorbell was being stolen 

B. he thought someone was eager(渴望的)to visit him

C. He realized(意识到)something strange happened

D. Both B and C

4.The neighbour hit the thief to_____________________.

A. give him lessons                   B. punish (惩罚) him for stealing

C. help him with the bell               D. be his teacher

5.Which of the following is TRUE?

A. The thief understood why he was hit on the nose.

B. The thief knew why the neighbour came out.

C .The thief thought the neighbour could not hear the bell.

D. The thief didn’t want to know why the neighbour ran out just at the time he stole the doorbell.