Ole Bull was a very famous violinist from Norway. He really liked to play the violin. But his father thought that playing the violin was not useful. So his father sent him to university to study. However, playing the violin was his dream. He didn’t want to give up his dream. So he left university before he finished his studies and spent all his time and energy practicing the violin. Unfortunately, his violin teacher was not very good. So when it was time for him to start his concert tour, he still couldn’t play the violin very well.
Therefore, a Milan newspaper critic¹ criticized him and said that he was an untrained violinist. The critic said, “If he is gold, he is not ready to shine² yet.”
When facing this kind of problem, some people may become very angry and some people try to learn from it. Fortunately, Ole Bull belonged to the second group. He went to the newspaper office and found the critic. Instead of being angry, he talked about his mistakes with the man and listened to the man’s advice.
After he met the critic, he gave up the rest of his concerts. Then he went back to practice the violin with the help of good teachers. In the end, he got great success when he was only 26. He also became one of the most famous violinists in the world.
【小题1】Why didn't Ole Bull's father like him to play the piano?

A．Because he thought playing the violin was useless.

B．Because his father thought playing the violin would cost lots of money.

C．Because his father thought he couldn't play the violin well.

D．Because his father thought he couldn't make his dream come true.

【小题2】What does the underlined part "If he is gold, he is not ready to shine yet." mean?

A．Gold always shines no matter where it is.

B．He is an excellent violinist.

C．He doesn't play the violin very well.

D．If he sells gold, he will make a lot of money.

【小题3】What was Ole Bull's attitude towards the critic's article?

A．Angry.

B．Excited.

C．Modest.

D．Worried.

【小题4】Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Without a good teacher, one can't succeed.

B．The critic's advice helped Ole Bull a lot.

C．Ole Bull got success after many years' hard practice at last.

D．The critic helped Ole Bull find a famous teacher.

【小题5】What can we learn from the passage?

A．Becoming a violinist can make a lot of money.

B．When we meet problems, we should learn to face them.

C．Old Bull was a famous American pianist.

D．You can be famous easily if you play the violin.

Ole Bull was a very famous violinist from Norway. He really liked to play the violin. But his father thought that playing the violin was not useful. So his father sent him to university to study. However, playing the violin was his dream. He didn’t want to give up his dream. So he left university before he finished his studies and spent all his time and energy practicing the violin. Unfortunately, his violin teacher was not very good. So when it was time for him to start his concert tour, he still couldn’t play the violin very well.
Therefore, a Milan newspaper critic¹ criticized him and said that he was an untrained violinist. The critic said, “If he is gold, he is not ready to shine² yet.”
When facing this kind of problem, some people may become very angry and some people try to learn from it. Fortunately, Ole Bull belonged to the second group. He went to the newspaper office and found the critic. Instead of being angry, he talked about his mistakes with the man and listened to the man’s advice.
After he met the critic, he gave up the rest of his concerts. Then he went back to practice the violin with the help of good teachers. In the end, he got great success when he was only 26. He also became one of the most famous violinists in the world.
【小题1】Why didn’t Ole Bull’s father like him to play the piano?

A．Because he thought playing the violin was useless.

B．Because his father thought playing the violin would cost lots of money.

C．Because his father thought he couldn’t play the violin well.

D．Because his father thought he couldn’t make his dream come true.

【小题2】What does the underlined part "If he is gold, he is not ready to shine yet." mean?

A．Gold always shines no matter where it is.

B．He is an excellent violinist.

C．He doesn’t play the violin very well.

D．If he sells gold, he will make a lot of money.

【小题3】What was Ole Bull’s attitude towards the critic’s article?

A．Angry.

B．Excited.

C．Modest.

D．Worried.

【小题4】Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Without a good teacher, one can’t succeed.

B．The critic’s advice helped Ole Bull a lot.

C．Ole Bull got success after many years’ hard practice at last.

D．The critic helped Ole Bull find a famous teacher.

【小题5】What can we learn from the passage?

A．Becoming a violinist can make a lot of money.

B．When we meet problems, we should learn to face them.

C．Old Bull was a famous American pianist.

D．You can be famous easily if you play the violin.

A lady in an old cotton dress and her husband, dressed in an old suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked into the president of Harvard’s outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such country people had no business at Harvard. She frowned. “We want to see the president,” the man said softly.  “He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary said coldly. “We’ll wait,” the lady replied.

For hours, the secretary didn’t talk to them, hoping that the couple would finally become tired and go away. They didn’t. And the secretary finally decided to disturb the president. “Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she told him. He frowned too. Someone of his importance didn’t have the time to spend with nobodies.

The president walked toward them unwillingly. The lady told him, “We had a son that attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard, and was very happy here. But he was accidentally killed. And my husband and I would like to set up a memorial(纪念碑) to him somewhere on campus. ” The president was so surprised that he shouted sharply, “We can’t put up a statue(塑像) for every person who attended Harvard and died, this place would look like a cemetery.

“Oh, no” the lady explained, “We don’t want to build a statue. We thought we would give a building to Harvard.” The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at their plain clothes, and said with surprise, “A building! Do you have any idea how much a building costs? The physical building at Harvard cost seven million and a half.”

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. He could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly. “Is that all it costs to start a university?” Her husband nodded(点头). Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they set up the university with their name -------a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

You can easily judge(判断) others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.

46. What did the old couple go to Harvard for?

A. They wanted to see their son.

B. They had an important meeting

C. They went to Harvard just to see start a university

D. They wanted to meet the president of Harvard.

47. Why didn’t the president come out to meet the couple?

A. He was really busy at that time.

B. The secretary didn’t allow the couple to meet the president.

C. He was important and didn’t have time for unimportant people.

D. He had an important friend to meet and had to spend some time together.

48. From the passage, we can know ______.

A. the old couple were in fact rich people

B. the secretary was afraid of the old couple

C. the old couple’s son was killed in Harvard

D. the president of Harvard was kind and patient to anyone

49. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. the old couple set up their own university.

B. the old couple set up a memorial to their son

C. the old couple gave a building to Harvard.

D. Giving a building to Harvard was easy and cheap at that time.

50. The best title of the passage is “______”.

A. Never Judge a Book by Its Cover     B. How the Stanford Was Built 

C.A Visit to Harvard University        D. A Strange Old Couple