Once there was a piano player in a bar. People came just to hear him play. But one night, a lady asked him to sing a song.
"I don't sing," said the man.
But the lady told the waiter, "I'm tired of listening to the piano. I want the player to sing!
The waiter shouted across the room, "Hey, friend! If you want to get paid, sing a song!'
So he did. He had never sung in public before. Now he was singing for the very first time! Nobody had ever heard the song Mona Lisa sung so beautifully!
He had talent(天赋) he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar. But once he found, by accident, that he could sing well, he went on working hard and became one of the best-known singers in the US. His name was Nat King Cole.
You, too, have skills and abilities. You may not feel that your talent is great, but it may be better than you think. With hard work, most skills can be improved. Besides, you may have no success at all if you just sit on your talent.
【小题1】The lady asked the player to sing a song because _____.

A．she had paid him for this

B．she knew him very well

C．she wanted to have a change

D．she enjoyed his singing

【小题2】Nat King Cole succeeded because _____.

A．the lady helped him a lot

B．he caught the chance

C．he continued to play in the bar

D．he stopped playing the piano

【小题3】The words "sit on" in the passage probably mean"

A．参加

B．搁置

C．开发

D．展示

【小题4】Which could be the best title for the passage?

A．Sing in the Bar

B．Achieve Success in Life

C．Never Lose Heart

D．Find Your Hidden Talent

　

going to be home late, I asked him to go into the kitchen and get　　　 something to eat and drink.

Two hours later, my friend telephoned me from the house. At the

moment, he said, he was listening to music. He said he had helped

himself to some cold chicken from the fridge and he was now drinking a glass of orange. I asked him if he had reached the house without any

difficulty. He answered he had not been able to find the key under the

door-mat, but luckily the living-room window by the apple tree had been left open and he had climbed in. I was greatly surprised to hear all this. There is no apple tree in front of my living-room, but there is one in

front of my neighbor’s.

41.Which of the following is true?

A.The writer never knew his friend would come until his friend

called him.

B.The writer knew his friend would come before he arrived home.

C.The writer was at home waiting for his friend.

D.The writer would not like to see his friend.

42． The writer asked his friend to 　　　 .

A. put the key under the door-mat

B. come to his office first

C. go into the house by himself and get something to eat and drink

D. wait for him outside the house

43．The writer’s friend 　　　 .

A. found the key and opened the door with it

B. climbed into the writer’s house

C. got into the house when the writer was listening to music

D. thought the living-room was the writer’s

44.From the story we know 　　　　 .

A. the writer’s friend got a wrong room

B. there is an apple tree in front of the writer’s house

C. the writer didn’t close the window of his living-room when he left home

D. the writer forgot where he had put the key

45.Which is the best title of the story?

A. A strange Telephone Call

B. The Key under the Door-mat

C. My old Friend and the Trouble

D. My house and the Apple tree

One night I was sitting in my room half-listening as my 15-year-old brother Tommy fought with my 12-year-old brother Kevin. I didn’t pay attention when Kevin rushed up the stairs with the hurt on his face.
About 20 minutes later, as I was walking upstairs I heard Kevin crying inside the bathroom. I knocked on the door and asked, “Hey Kevin, do you want to talk?”
No answer.
I tried again, “Why don’t you come out of there?”
Again, no answer.
So, joking around, I grabbed a stack of （一摞）cards and a pencil and wrote, “If you don’t want to talk, we can write notes to each other.”
An hour later I was still sitting on the floor outside the bathroom with two stacks of cards in front of me. One was blank and one was cards from Kevin on which he had translated all his yucky feelings into words for me. As I read one of Kevin’s notes, tears came to my eyes. It said, “Nobody in this family cares about me. I’m not the youngest, and I’m not the oldest. Tommy thinks I’m silly and Dad wishes he had the other Kevin as a kid because he’s better at basketball. And you’re never around to even notice me.”
Tears came to my eyes as I wrote back to him. “You know Kevin, I really do love you and I’m sorry I don’t always show it. I am here for you and you are loved in this family.”
There was no answer for a while, but then I heard a tearing sound coming from inside the bathroom. Kevin, who had run out of cards wrote on a torn paper cup. “Thanks.”
I wrote back “For what?” it returned to me with “Loving me” on it.
Since then, I try my best to never only half-notice my family members any more. Kevin and I have a closer relationship now. And sometimes when one of us notices that the other is upset, we’ll smile and say “Write it on a paper cup.”
【小题1】The underlined word “yucky” most probably means ____.

A．upset

B．exciting

C．terrible

D．amazing

【小题2】What could be the reason that Kevin’s Dad doesn’t like him?

A．Kevin is not as clever as his brother.

B．He is neither the youngest nor the oldest.

C．Kevin doesn’t like to make friends with others.

D．Kevin is not good at playing basketball.

【小题3】What do we know about the writer?

A．She has two children in her family.

B．She didn’t pay enough attention to Kevin before.

C．She used to show her love to Kevin.

D．She has a closer relationship with Tommy after that.

【小题4】What does the writer want to tell us?

A．Everyone should show how they love their family members.

B．It’s hard to get on well with family members.

C．It’s important to keep peace in the family.

D．We should try our best to stop our children from fighting.