When I was four years old, I wanted nothing more in life than to play the piano. My best friend Betty had a piano. But Betty hardly played it at all. She would rather play hide-and-seek. It didn’t seem fair.

One day my mother came to pick me up from Betty’s house. “Watch this!” I told her. Then I ran to play a song I had learned that morning. I was so proud of what I’d learned. “That’s nice, Jenny,” she said. “But we can’t afford a piano.”

When I turned six, my mother bought me a recorder(直笛). The problem was that I didn’t love the recorder. When I played the recorder, I didn’t feel anything special inside. I asked my mother if we could have a piano. “We still can’t afford one,” she said. “One day, I promise.”

In the sixth grade, my mother traded in the recorder for a real clarinet(黑管). I like the clarinet more, but it still wasn’t a piano. It wasn’t the music that was inside of me.

One day, when I was in the seventh grade, my mother cut an ad out of the newspaper. We drove to a stranger’s home in Providence, Rhode Island. The woman had a beautiful, dark wood piano from Russia. It was called an upright piano because it was tall. It was so shiny that it looked like it was wet. “We’ll take it,” my mother said. “It has a nice sound.”

After that, I played the piano every single day.When I left for school in the morning, I would leave the sheet music open on the piano. When I got home, I would walk straight to the piano and sit down and start playing the sheet music. I even played if I stayed home sick. I had finally found the music inside of me.

Do you struggle with music? Have you been given an instrument to play, but you just can’t play it? Maybe you think you’re just no good or that you don’t have any musical talent. Don’t get discouraged. It’s not true! We all have music inside of us, even if it’s just what we listen to. Now it’s up to you to find the right way to set that music free.

1.What did Jenny get when she was six?

A. A clarinet. B.A recorder. C. A violin. D. A guitar.

2.How did Jenny get her piano?

A. Betty gave it to her.

B. She traded in the clarinet for it.

C. She got it from her uncle.

D. Her mother bought it from a stranger.

3.Which of the following is TRUE?

A. Betty was more interested in playing the piano.

B. An old woman sent Jenny a clarinet from Russia.

C. Jenny enjoyed playing music with the right instrument.

D. Jenny’s mother borrowed a recorder in her seventh grade.

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A. How Jenny found the music inside of her.

B. What benefits Jenny got from making music.

C. How Jenny learned to play musical instruments.

D. What trouble Jenny had taking up music as a hobby.

練習(xí)冊(cè)系列答案
相關(guān)習(xí)題

科目:初中英語 來源:2014-2015學(xué)年山東德州慶云縣第二中學(xué)中考模擬考試英語試卷(解析版) 題型:補(bǔ)充句子

情景對(duì)話(共5小題,每小題1分,共5分)

根據(jù)對(duì)話內(nèi)容,從方框內(nèi)選出能填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng),其中兩項(xiàng)為多余。

A: Hi,Miss Li! I haven’t seen you for a long time. Where have you been?

B: __1.____

A: What did you do there?

B: ___2.__

A: How dou you feel?

B: __3.________

A: It’s so wonderful. Could I go with you next time?

B: ___4.___

A: When shall we go there again? I can’t wait.

B: Don’t worry. ___5.______

A. I felt very happy. Now I can not only feel good about helping other people but also spend time doing what I love to.

B. Let’s make it next Sunday.

C. OK. Welcome to join us.

D. Sometimes I cheered up the sick kids.Sometimes I looked after the old people who couldn’t move.

E. Oh! I worked as a volunteer in the hospital.

查看答案和解析>>

科目:初中英語 來源:2014-2015學(xué)年廣西梧州市畢業(yè)升學(xué)考試抽樣調(diào)研測(cè)試卷二英語試卷(解析版) 題型:單項(xiàng)填空

Jane was able to play the piano years ago. The underlined part means .

A. can B. would C. will D. could

查看答案和解析>>

科目:初中英語 來源:2014-2015學(xué)年廣東深圳市九年級(jí)第三次模擬英語試卷(解析版) 題型:單詞拼寫

A man walked into a pub and asked for three beers. The barkeeper 1.__________(surprise)and served the man. This repeat several times, and the town was talking about the man who was ordering three beers 2.__________ the same time. Later, the barkeeper asked 3._________he ordered three beers all the time. The man answered, “My two brothers live abroad at the moment, 4._________in France, and the other in Italy. We have made 5.__________ agreement that each of us going to a pub would order extra two beers and it will help keep the promise.

One day, however, the man 6.__________(come) to the pub and ordered only two, not three 7. __________ usual. The barkeeper served him with a sad feeling. The next day all the people in the town talked about the news. Some people prayed, and 8.__________were quietly sad.

The man ordered two beers again, the barkeeper said to him,“ I would like to offer sorrow to the9.__________(die) of your brother.” The man considered this for a moment, saying,“ Oh, my two brothers are alive well. I just made a decision to give up 10. __________(drink).

查看答案和解析>>

科目:初中英語 來源:2014-2015學(xué)年廣東廣州市畢業(yè)班綜合測(cè)試一英語試卷(解析版) 題型:完形填空

完形填空 ( 共10 小題;每小題1分, 滿分10分 )

One summer evening as I was cooking dinner, there was a knock at the door. I it and saw a truly bad-looking man. But his voice was as he said, “Good evening. I come to see if you have a for just one night. I came to the market this morning from eastern shore, and there’s no bus till next morning.” He told me he had been searching for a long time but with no . I told him we would find him a bed, but to rest on the porch(走廊). I went inside and prepared dinner. When we were ready, I asked him if he would like to us. “No, thank you. I have plenty.” After I had the dinner, I went out to talk with him. It didn’t take a long time to see that this old man had very large heart in that tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to his daughter, her five children, and her husband, who was hopelessly disabled from an accident. At bedtime, we put a bed in the children’s room for him.

On his next trip, as a gift, he brought a big fish and some other fresh sea food I had never seen. In the years he came to overnight with us, and there was a time he didn’t bring us some fish or vegetables from his garden.

I know our family will always be thankful to have known him, from him we learn to accept the bad without and the good with thanks.

1.A. felt B. opened C. repaired D. painted

2.A. boring B. angry C. pleasant D. scary

3.A. room B. bus C. television D. cake

4.A. success B. dinner C. job D. problem

5.A. call B. join C. visit D. invite

6.A. checked B. finished C. prepared D. cooked

7.A. provide B. take C. educate D. support

8.A. help B. play C. work D. stay

9.A. never B. always C. often D. usually

10.A. thanks B. excitement C. complaints D. Happiness

查看答案和解析>>

科目:初中英語 來源:2015年初中畢業(yè)升學(xué)考試(浙江金華卷)英語(解析版) 題型:閱讀理解

It happens every spring. Flowers come out everywhere on the same day. But how do plants “know” when to flower?

For years, it has been a difficult question for scientists. But a US research group may have finally answered it—the secret lies in a protein(蛋白質(zhì))called FKF1. This helps plants to know when the days become long and when they get short. Then they can tell the seasons are changing.

Researchers found the FKF1 protein when they were studying a plant called Arabidopsis(擬南芥). It is sensitive(敏感的)to sunlight, and can be made active by sunlight.

Plants produce this protein every day in the late afternoon all year. If there is no light at this time, for example in winter when the sun goes down early, the protein won’t be active. But when spring comes and the days get longer, the FKF1 protein can be made active by day light and the plants “know” it is time to flower. “If there is light in the late afternoon, plants will know that the days are getting longer and that it is the best time for flowers to come out,” explained Takato Imaizumi, leader of study. But when conditions are poor for growing, such as during autumn or winter when the weather is cold and days are short, plants won’t flower.

Although researchers have only studied how the FKF1 protein works in the Arabidopsis, they believe that it is the same with many other plants, including crops such as rice and wheat. This could be useful to the agricultural industry.

“If we can control when flowers come out, we might be able to increase crop production,” Imaizumi said.

1. The passage is mainly about ____.

A. how plants “know” when to flower

B. what people can do with plants

C. how seasons are changing

D. what kind of plant Arabidopsis is

2.Scientists found the FKF1 protein when they were____.

A. answering a question

B. controlling the clours of flowers

C. planting flowers in the garden

D. studying a plant called Arabidopsis

3.The best time for flowers to come out is when____.

A. it rains in spring

B. there is light in the late afternoon

C. it is getting dark

D. the sun goes down early

4.Scientists believe that____.

A. other plants also know when to flowers

B. flowers are more valuable than fruits and vegetables

C. people have known how to control when flowers come out

D. if the weather is cold and days are short, plants will flower

查看答案和解析>>

科目:初中英語 來源:2015年初中畢業(yè)升學(xué)考試(遼寧葫蘆島卷)英語(解析版) 題型:其他題

Kate's father took her to the hospital to see her one-day-old baby brother They drove there straight from schoo1. Kate had never been inside a hospita1 before. 1._This was a new experience for her.

At the gate there was a large sign listing all the departments of lhe hospital, with arrows (箭頭) showing how to find them. When Kate saw the A&E department(急救室), she asked,“What do those letters stand for?”“Accident and emergency,” replied her father,

2.“Last spring, I took our sister there because she fell off her bike,”

查看答案和解析>>

科目:初中英語 來源:2015年初中畢業(yè)升學(xué)考試(黑龍江黑河齊齊哈爾大興安嶺卷)解析版 題型:完形填空

Do you laugh every day? Most people _. Scientists say that people laugh about 17 times a day. That is laughter.

In India, there are laughter clubs. The people in these clubs get together every morning. First they stretch their hands above their heads. Then they pretend to laugh. Soon everyone is laughing naturally. People say they feel good after together.

Scientists believe that laughter is good you. ? For one thing, laughter is good exererse. When you laugh, you exercise many muscles in your body

Scientists say that one hundred laughs is the same ten minutes of running. When you laugh, you breathe deeply. This makes you

Why do we laugh? That is a hard question . We know that people laugh _ _ in a group. They don't laugh very often when they are alone. Many scientists believe that we use laughter to make friends with . Laughter helps us feel part of a group.

In English, people say that laughter is the best . Some think that laughter helps sick people get . Do you think so, too?

1.A. laugh B. do C. does

2.A. a lot B. many C. a lot of

3.A. hundred of B. hundreds of C. hundred

4.A. laugh B. to laugh C. laughing

5.A. for B. at C. with

6.A. Why B. What C. How

7.A. a B. the C./

8.A. as B. like C. for

9.A. oo B. also C. either

10.A. relaxed B. to relax C. relaxing

11.A. answered B. to answer C. answer

12.A. less often B. more often C. never

13.A. another B. others C. other

14.A. magazine B. knowledge C. medicine

15.A. well B. good C. bad

查看答案和解析>>

科目:初中英語 來源:2014-2015學(xué)年江蘇太倉八年級(jí)下期中教學(xué)調(diào)研測(cè)試英語試卷(解析版) 題型:閱讀理解

Amy was looking for a gift for her little daughter.Suddenly she stopped before a store of dolls.“Girls like dolls,”she thought as she stepped into it.Looking around,she saw a grandma doll…one with gray hair and a pair of glasses.In her mind appeared Joyce,her mother.

When Amy was a little girl,she got her first doll from Joyce for her birthday.Then the second,the third...A doll a year never arrived late.

“ Why always a doll? ” This question had been in Amy’s mind until one day her father gave the answer.

Little Joyce dreamed to have a doll.Her parents promised(答應(yīng))one for her fifth birthday.Sadly ,they both died in a traffic accident before it arrived.The never-received gift was the most precious(珍貴的)in her eyes.

Her mother’s story being recalled,Amy got an idea. It was Joyce’s birthday.A package(包裹)was sent to her with a card that read:

Dear Joyce ,

I forget to send you the package that you should have received on May 20,1 956,your fifth Birthday.The gift inside has aged ,but I thought that you might still wish to have it。

Love ,Angel of Joy

Joyce opened the package and saw a lovely grandma doll.She clasped the doll that she had waited so many years for ,crying softly.The doll given by “Angel of Joy”,made her the happiest “child” in the world.

1.Why did Joyce think dolls were the best birthday gifts for Amy?

A.Amy dreamed to have all kinds of lovely dolls.

B.Amy Iooked like a doll when she was a little girl.

C.Joyce received a lot of lovely dolls from her parents.

D.Joyce had never got the dream doll from her parents.

2.Who sent a grandma doll to Joyce indeed(真正的)on her birthday?

A.Amy. B.Angel of Joy.

C.Joyce’s parents. D.Amy’s daughter.

3.The underlined word “clasped” means“ ”in the passage.

A.held B.threw C.made D.bought

4.What can we learn from the story?

A.Dolls are every little girl’s dream toys.

B.Grandma dolls are best gifts for parents.

C.Parents sometimes need their“Angel of Joy”.

D.Parents’birthdays are very important.

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習(xí)冊(cè)答案