Evelyn Glennie was the first lady of solo percussion in Scotland. In an interview, she talked about how she became a percussion soloist（打击乐器独奏演员）in spite of deafness.

   “Early on I decided not to allow the   1   of others to stop me from becoming a musician. I grew up on a farm in northeast Scotland and began   2   piano lessons when I was eight. The older I got, the more my passion（酷爱）for music grew. But I also began to lose my   3 . Doctors told me that the nerve damage(神经损伤) was the  4  and by age twelve, I was completely deaf. But my love for music never left me.”

  “My   5   was to become a percussion soloist, even though there were none at that time. To perform, I learned to ‘hear’ music differently from others. I play in my stocking feet and can  6  the pitch of a note（音调高低）by the vibrations（振动）I feel through my body and through my imagination. My sound world exists by making use of almost every   7  that I have.”

  “I decided to be a musician even though I was deaf, and applied to the famous Royal Academy of Music in London. No other deaf student had   8   this before and some teachers disagreed with me. Because of my performance, I finally entered the academy and went on to  9   with the academy’s highest honors a few years later.”

  “I’ve been a soloist for more than ten years. 10   the doctor thought I was totally deaf, it didn’t mean that my passion couldn’t be realized. I would encourage people not to allow themselves to be limited by others. Follow your passion; follow your heart. They will lead you to the place you want to go.”

【小题 1】A. conditions     B. opinions         C. advantages   D. recommendations

 A. enjoying        B. choosing         C. taking           D. giving

【小题 3】A. sight          B. hearing          C. touch            D. taste

【小题 4】A. evidence       B. result               C. excuse       D. cause

【小题 5】A. job            B. opinion          C. promise      D. goal

【小题 6】A. tell           B. see              C. hear         D. smell

【小题 7】A. feeling        B. effort               C. sense            D. idea

【小题 8】A. done           B. accepted         C. advised      D. refused

【小题 9】A. study          B. offer                C. graduate     D. educate

【小题 10】A. As            B. Although         C. Because      D. Since

I will never forget the very moment that caused me to leave my gift behind because I wanted the gift that my older sister Maria had.
My family was spending a week at the beach. One morning, Maria went to the beach early, but I stayed behind to finish a drawing of a seashell. After finishing the drawing, I walked to join Maria. She was a top gymnast (体操运动员). Her show was perfect as she wheeled along the beach. The beauty of that sight froze me, and I decided immediately that I too would become a gymnast like her.
I knew that I had never been very good at sports. However, when I told my parents I wanted to take a gymnastics class, they agreed with me in surprise. The next week, I went to a beginners’ class.
If only my parents had talked me out of this misguided plan! Five minutes into the first class, it was clear that I didn’t have the gift of a gymnast. But I kept at it.
During this time, drawing and painting—which had been my two favorites—all but left my mind. It must have been hurting for my family as they watched my hopeless efforts. I blindly decided to be like Maria. I just would not give up.
At the same time, on the advice of Ms. White, my art teacher, I hurriedly handed in my seashell drawing for an art contest in our town. One night as I was having a hard time practicing, the phone rang. It was Ms. White. “Alice, you won the contest!” she said loudly.
“Really?” was all I could reply.
“Yes,” Ms. White said. “They’re going to give you a prize. And that’s not all. The winner is also accepted into Wildale’s Summer Fine Arts Institute.” I couldn’t believe what I heard. Only a handful of young artists were accepted each summer.
That night I didn’t go back into the living room to continue practicing. Gymnastics was Maria’s gift, not mine. It had taken me a while, but I realized that I had a gift of my own.
【小题1】Alice wanted to be a gymnast because ________.

Evelyn Glennie was the first lady of solo percussion in Scotland. In an interview, she talked about how she became a percussion soloist（打击乐器独奏演员）in spite of deafness.
“Early on I decided not to allow the   1  of others to stop me from becoming a musician. I grew up on a farm in northeast Scotland and began   2  piano lessons when I was eight. The older I got, the more my passion（酷爱）for music grew. But I also began to lose my   3 . Doctors told me that the nerve damage(神经损伤) was the  4  and by age twelve, I was completely deaf. But my love for music never left me.”
“My   5  was to become a percussion soloist, even though there were none at that time. To perform, I learned to ‘hear’ music differently from others. I play in my stocking feet and can  6  the pitch of a note（音调高低）by the vibrations（振动）I feel through my body and through my imagination. My sound world exists by making use of almost every   7 that I have.”
“I decided to be a musician even though I was deaf, and applied to the famous Royal Academy of Music in London. No other deaf student had   8  this before and some teachers disagreed with me. Because of my performance, I finally entered the academy and went on to  9  with the academy’s highest honors a few years later.”
“I’ve been a soloist for more than ten years. 10  the doctor thought I was totally deaf, it didn’t mean that my passion couldn’t be realized. I would encourage people not to allow themselves to be limited by others. Follow your passion; follow your heart. They will lead you to the place you want to go.”

I will never forget the very moment that caused me to leave my gift behind because I wanted the gift that my older sister Maria had.

My family was spending a week at the beach. One morning, Maria went to the beach early, but I stayed behind to finish a drawing of a seashell. After finishing the drawing, I walked to join Maria. She was a top gymnast (体操运动员). Her show was perfect as she wheeled along the beach. The beauty of that sight froze me, and I decided immediately that I too would become a gymnast like her.

I knew that I had never been very good at sports. However, when I told my parents I wanted to take a gymnastics class, they agreed with me in surprise. The next week, I went to a beginners’ class.

   If only my parents had talked me out of this misguided plan! Five minutes into the first class, it was clear that I didn’t have the gift of a gymnast. But I kept at it.

   During this time, drawing and painting—which had been my two favorites—all but left my mind. It must have been hurting for my family as they watched my hopeless efforts. I blindly decided to be like Maria. I just would not give up.

   At the same time, on the advice of Ms. White, my art teacher, I hurriedly handed in my seashell drawing for an art contest in our town. One night as I was having a hard time practicing, the phone rang. It was Ms. White. “Alice, you won the contest!” she said loudly.

 “Really?” was all I could reply.

“Yes,” Ms. White said. “They’re going to give you a prize. And that’s not all. The winner is also accepted into Wildale’s Summer Fine Arts Institute.” I couldn’t believe what I heard. Only a handful of young artists were accepted each summer.

That night I didn’t go back into the living room to continue practicing. Gymnastics was Maria’s gift, not mine. It had taken me a while, but I realized that I had a gift of my own.

1.Alice wanted to be a gymnast because ________.

A. she had been good at sports                  B. her sister’s show was perfect

C. she hated drawing and painting               D. her parents wanted her to do so

2. How did Alice feel about learning gymnastics at last?

A. Satisfied.           B. Worried.             C. Hopeful          D. Regretful.  

3. From the story, we can infer that ________.

A. Alice’s parents disagreed with her choice of gymnastics

B. Alice did not realize her gift in drawing and painting at first

C. Alice spent a hard time preparing for the art contest in the town

D. Alice couldn’t believe the news that she got the prize for painting

4. What does the writer want to tell us according to the passage?

A. We should value our own gifts.           B. It takes time to find one’s gifts.

C. We could develop different gifts.        D. It’s never too late to show our gifts.

Several years ago, a television reporter was interviewing three of the most important people from local businesses. One was a very rich banker, another owned one of the largest companies in the world, and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York.

　　The reporter was talking to them about being important.

　　“How do we know if someone is really important?” the reporter asked the banker.

　　The banker thought for a few moments and then said, “I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the President is really important.”

　　The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree with that?” she asked.

　　The man shook his head, “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You’d only be important if while you were visiting the President, there was a telephone call from the president of another country, and the President said he was too busy to answer it.”

　　The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so?”

　　“No, I don’t.” he said. “I don’t think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important.”

　　“Then what would make the visitor important?” the reporter and the other two men asked.

　　“Oh, I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang, and the President picked up the receiver, listened and then said, ‘it’s for you.’”

1.This story happened in ________.

A. U.N.                         B. U.S.A.                              C. U.K.         D. P.R.C.

2.There are________in this passage.

A. three men        B. three women and one man　

C. four men       D. three men and one woman

3.The banker and the owner of one of the largest companies in the world ________.

A. had similar opinions about the reporter’s question　　        

B. disagreed with each other  

C. had been invited to the White House many times      

D. didn’t reply to the reporter

4.The owner of one of the largest companies thought ________.

A. he himself was really important because he owned one of the largest companies in the world

B. the President was really important because the president of another country called him

C. the visitor was really important if the President would rather treat him than answer an important phone call from another country

D. none of them was really important

5.The underlined word you in the last paragraph refers to (指的是) ________.

A. the television reporter　　                    B. the owner of many buildings

C. the President                   D. the visitor to the White House