The nine-year-old Marc Yu is called Little Mozart. He is too short to reach the pedals (踏板) of a piano. Marc, from California, USA, says, “The problem is that my legs aren’t straight enough, so I have to get very close to the piano.”
Marc’s 34-year-old mother played Beethoven’s CDs to him when she was pregnant . Marc started playing the piano at a birthday party when he was only two. While the other children were singing “twinkle, twinkle, little star …”, he walked over to the piano and started playing the song. It astonished his mother, because that was the first time he’d been near a piano. Marc gave his first public performance, playing Beethoven, at six, the same age as Mozart. After that concert, Marc won a ￡225,000 university scholarship.
At present he practices the piano eight hours a day. He also studies part-time at the famous Colbum Music School in Los Angeles, and flies once a month to China for lessons at Shanghai Music School. Marc says, “I like playing the piano because it makes me have a lot of different feelings —sadness, excitement, happiness and so on. I like playing difficult pieces, especially those that my teacher says I shouldn’t.”
【小题1】The nine-year-old Marc Yu is from       .

The nine-year-old Marc Yu is called Little Mozart. He is too short to reach the pedals (踏板) of a piano. Marc, from California, USA, says, “The problem is that my legs aren’t straight enough, so I have to get very close to the piano.”

Marc’s 34-year-old mother played Beethoven’s CDs to him when she was pregnant . Marc started playing the piano at a birthday party when he was only two. While the other children were singing “twinkle, twinkle, little star …”, he walked over to the piano and started playing the song. It astonished his mother, because that was the first time he’d been near a piano. Marc gave his first public performance, playing Beethoven, at six, the same age as Mozart. After that concert, Marc won a ￡225,000 university scholarship.

At present he practices the piano eight hours a day. He also studies part-time at the famous Colbum Music School in Los Angeles, and flies once a month to China for lessons at Shanghai Music School. Marc says, “I like playing the piano because it makes me have a lot of different feelings —sadness, excitement, happiness and so on. I like playing difficult pieces, especially those that my teacher says I shouldn’t.”

1.The nine-year-old Marc Yu is from       .

A．China            B．France            C．Canada           D．the United States

2.Marc played the piano at the age of        for the first time.

A．two              B．five              C．six               D．nine

3.According to the passage, the underlined word “astonished” means “     ” in Chinese.

A．使……理解                           B．使……担心

C．使……惊奇                           D．使……难过

4.At present Marc practices playing the piano        .

A．once a month                          B．eight hours a day

C．in his free time                         D．only on weekends

5.What Marc says in the last paragraph tells us that       .

A．he likes challenges                      B．he doesn’t like challenges

C．he is afraid of challenges                  D．he wants to be happy and famous.

The nine-year-old Marc Yu is called Little Mozart. He is too short to reach the pedals (踏板) of a piano. Marc, from California, USA, says, “The problem is that my legs aren’t straight enough, so I have to get very close to the piano.”
Marc’s 34-year-old mother played Beethoven’s CDs to him when she was pregnant . Marc started playing the piano at a birthday party when he was only two. While the other children were singing “twinkle, twinkle, little star …”, he walked over to the piano and started playing the song. It astonished his mother, because that was the first time he’d been near a piano. Marc gave his first public performance, playing Beethoven, at six, the same age as Mozart. After that concert, Marc won a ￡225,000 university scholarship.
At present he practices the piano eight hours a day. He also studies part-time at the famous Colbum Music School in Los Angeles, and flies once a month to China for lessons at Shanghai Music School. Marc says, “I like playing the piano because it makes me have a lot of different feelings —sadness, excitement, happiness and so on. I like playing difficult pieces, especially those that my teacher says I shouldn’t.”

1. 1.

   The nine-year-old Marc Yu is from       

   1. A.
      China
   2. B.
      France
   3. C.
      Canada
   4. D.
      the United States
2. 2.

   Marc played the piano at the age of        for the first time

   1. A.
      two
   2. B.
      five
   3. C.
      six
   4. D.
      nine
3. 3.

   According to the passage, the underlined word “astonished” means “     ” in Chinese

   1. A.
      使……理解
   2. B.
      使……担心
   3. C.
      使……惊奇
   4. D.
      使……难过
4. 4.

   At present Marc practices playing the piano        

   1. A.
      once a month
   2. B.
      eight hours a day
   3. C.
      in his free time
   4. D.
      only on weekends
5. 5.

   What Marc says in the last paragraph tells us that       

   1. A.
      he likes challenges
   2. B.
      he doesn’t like challenges
   3. C.
      he is afraid of challenges
   4. D.
      he wants to be happy and famous

Simon is reading his e-friend’s views on the net. Let’s have a look!

1.Whose topic was read by the most students?

A. Mike’s.     B. Nick’s.        C. Kitty’s.        D. Jim’s.

2.Why does Kitty begin to hate playing the piano?

A. Because she has no time to play it.

B. Because she can’t watch matches.

C. Because she has to play it for a long time every day.

D. Because she can’t keep up with others.

3.Which of the following is NOT true?

A. Mike has training class at weekends.

B. Kitty doesn’t like playing the piano at all.

C. Nick is a fan of the England team.

D. Jim is not pleased with the striker.

My sister Sharon and I look very different. She’s tall, and I’m short. She has short curly dark (黑暗的，深色的) hair, and I have long straight blond hair. We both have dark eyes, but Sharon wears glasses, and I don’t. And she always wears large earrings (耳环). I don’t wear earring.
Sharon and I do many things together (一起). We watch movies together, and we often go shopping. We play tennis together every Saturday. Often, people don’t know that Sharon and I are sisters, because we look so different. But we are also good friends.
【小题1】What does Sharon look like? She        .

I was feeling a little blue because my mother had lost her job.

One day, while I was    on the street, I heard the piano music and singing rising above the noise of the people. I walked more slowly to      where it was coming from. Then I saw a young lady sitting at a piano.

She was singing songs about love,      yourself and keeping on trying. The way she was singing made me a little comfortable. I stood there     ，watching her playing on such a crowded New York square. I thought that she must be     enough to perform in front of so many people.

She noticed me. I walked over and told her how good her       sounded. “Thank you.” she said.

“I have been going through a hard time recently,     you’ve made me hopeful again.” I said to her.

“I’m glad that I could help,” she replied, “Why are you so    ?”

“Well, my mom has lost her job, and I’m not sure what to do …”

“Did you noticed the    you were walking? Your head was down.” she said. “Don’t be upset, because      comes in different ways and if your head is down, you might not see it. You should       more… lift your head up.”

I looked      her, amazed at how she was encouraging me. “    are you playing the piano here?” I asked her with a smile.

She     that she saw a lot of unhappy people in the world and she tried to cheer       up by playing music.

I smiled a little wilder, realizing that no difficulties could stop me from going on.

1.A. driving            B. riding                         C. running     D. walking

2.A. find out           B. send out                     C. take out     D. get out

3.A. dressing          B. believing                     C. hurting      D. losing

4.A. nervously         B. rudely                        C. angrily      D. quietly

5.A. brave             B. shy                          C. bored       D. honest

6.A. advice             B. idea                         C. music       D. interest

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

8.A. dirty              B. busy                  C. sad         D. lazy

9.A. way               B. time              C. reason       D. station

10.A. opportunity     B. health            C. pain         D. life

11.A. complain       B. rest              C. smile        D. pay

12.A. like           B. after             C. for          D. at

13.A. How          B. Why              C. When       D. Where

14.A. dreamed       B. hoped             C. guessed     D. explained

15.A. us            B. them               C. me        D. her