Fans often only see the good side of fame. They see the happy smiles and great success of famous people. But it’s difficult for them to understand everything that comes before then. They can’t see the hard work or the hours of practice.
Li Yundi, the Chinese piano prodigy(天才), recently released his first concert recording. He talked with Teens about his art and his job.
“Of course, the job is hard work,” Li, 25, said. “You need to work hard to be a professional. But you also have to play hundreds of concerts, meet fans, and listen to critics(评论) of your music.”
In 2000, when Li was 18, he won the top prize at the International Chopin(肖邦) Competition in Warsaw, Poland. This was the first time the top prize had been given in 15 years. Li was also the youngest, and the first Chinese to win the prize. Since then, Li became famous and his list of honors goes on and on.
Born in Chongqing, Li began to play piano when he was seven. His parents spent all their money and bought a piano for him--- a luxury in 1980s China.
He worked hard. Every day, Li played for eight hours or more at a piano school. He often played even after the school had closed.
Today, Li still can’ t play a beautiful tune without careful preparation.
“ You need to be ready on stage.” Li said. “People are waiting for you. Nobody knows whether you have slept enough, or whether you have another problem in your life. But you need to play great music for your audience. That’s what they want to hear.”
【小题1】What is Li Yundi?  ______.
A. A music-critic     B. A music fan      C. A pianist        
【小题2】What does the underlined word “luxury” mean in Chinese?  ______.
A. 奢侈品          B. 流行品         C.豪华          
【小题3】How long did it take Li to get the prize of Chopin Competition and became famous? ______.
A. 7 years     B. 11 years      C. 15 years      
【小题4】What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?  ______.
A. You need to sleep well the night before the performance
B. You should prepare carefully before the performance.
C. You need to know your audience.
【小题5】What does the passage mainly tell us?  ______.
A. You need to be a prodigy to be successful.
B. You need to be happy to be successful.
C. You need to work hard to be successful.

完形填空

Last Sunday,  21  the charity show, Ricky helped the organizers because he wanted to  22 money for Project Hope. He is  23 busy that he had no time to write to Kitty. He felt happy when he  24  to be host. At the same time, he felt nervous because of the TV cameras.

They started to work on the show two months  25  . Ricky’s job was   26 each famous star. He 27 sleep at all that night before the show. He kept asking  28   , “Will it be      29 ?”In fact, the show was a success. They raised  30 money.

One night, I wondered what it would be like if I only asked questions. I decided that no matter what anyone said to me the next day, I would reply only with   36  .

I loved to read about scientists and their discoveries, and I knew that scientists always started their research with a question. I hoped that I could become a scientist. Maybe by asking questions, I could train my mind to be   37  .

  I survived the morning easily. “Is there any egg?” I answered when my mother asked what I wanted for breakfast. “Is this seat taken?” I asked when my friend Mike asked where he was going to   38   on the bus.

In the classroom, Mr. Black spoke slowly and clearly while I listened carefully. The problem had been part of my homework the night before. I wrote the answer on the board, “Could the answer be 361?”

  Mr. Black smiled and nodded. I thought,“How did I   39   to get through that?” I almost laughed because asking questions really was starting to become a   40  .

  I thought I had made it safely through the whole day,   41   what I had come to consider my experiment blew up at the dinner table when my dad asked me about my day. “What do I always do?” I replied.

My parents looked at each other. My father   42   again. “Well, I hope you went to school,” he said.

    “Uhhh … why would you think otherwise?” I asked. My parents exchanged another   43    

and were becoming annoyed.

   “Do you think questions are a good way to train your mind to be active?” I asked.

“It   44   the question,” said my father. “Some questions are asked for   45   information. Those are good mind-training questions. Sometimes, people use questions to get the other person to say something. Sometimes people ask questions to get someone to agree with them. Those questions don’t really achieve anything.”

   “I guess my experiment didn’t work,” I said, and I told my father about my   46  .

“I think it worked   47  !” my father said. “You made a discovery, didn’t you? What matters is that you have put your idea into practice.”                               

1.A. actions              B. answers             C. gestures             D. questions

2.A. deep             B. free            C. quick            D. strong

3.A. get                  B. sit                 C. come         D. take

4.A. fail             B. have            C. want             D. manage

5.A. habit            B. step                C. goal                 D. rule

6.A. or               B. so                  C. but              D. and

7.A. tried             B. asked            C. guessed           D. ordered

8. A. look                B. word            C. mind                 D. topic

9.A. refers to            B. belongs to     C. puts on          D. depends on

10.A. sending         B. finding             C. sharing         D. keeping

11.A. test            B. idea            C. plan                 D. wonder

12.A. slowly              B. safely          C. perfectly            D. properly

My friend, David Smith, kept birds. One day he phoned and   26   me he would be away for a week. He asked me to feed the bird   27   him and said he would leave his key in my mailbox.

Unfortunately, I did not remember to feed the birds  28  the night before David was going to return. I rushed out of my house and it was already dark when I arrived at   29  house. I soon found the key he gave me could unlock neither the front door   30  the back door! I kept   31  of what David would say when came back.

Then I noticed   32  one bedroom window was open. I found a big tone and pushed it under the window   33  the stone was very heavy. I  of niose. But in the end, I managed to climb up.

I had one leg inside the bedroom when I suddenly realized that someone  34   a torch(电筒)up at me. I looked down and saw  35  policeman and an old lady, one of David’s neighbours. “What are you doing up there?” Said the policeman. Feeling like a fool, I replied, “I was just going to feed Mr. Smith’s birds.”

 —The rain came to a stop the night before. The fields are still full of water.
　 —It _________ for nearly a week.