It was not easy to learn different kinds of musical instruments well at the same time. I still remembered when I took my piano lessons, my mother said worriedly to my father, “Why hasn’t he made any progress with so much practice?” I tried to play the piano better. However, my parents never got a strong feeling of satisfaction with my piano performance.
From then on, I didn’t play any musical instrument until my old friend Larry invited me to play the violin with him when I was 60. It made me enjoy the joy of playing music again. One day, Larry asked me to take part in a violin performance with him. At first, thinking of my past, I wanted to refuse. I expected to hear his words that I would become more skilled with practice on stage （舞台） . But he said, “OK, only play if you want to. “I was shocked by the unexpected answer.
In fact, nobody made me do it, so I had to make a choice by myself. I was willing to catch the chance this time. After a long and careful preparation, I played the violin with Larry. Though I didn’t lose all my nervousness, it was enough for me to overcome my fear. Finally, I offered a full performance in front of the audience （观众） .
However, happy times always didn’t last long, my friend Larry passed away . It was a hard hit, but his influence stayed. It helped me not only in music, but on all sides of my life. Whenever I paid attention to what I wanted to do, joy usually took the place of fear.
1 ． The mother was worried about the writer because __________.
A ． he spent little time playing the piano B ． he made no progress in the piano
C ． his father didn’t like him any more D ． she had no time to teach him music
2 ． From Paragraph 2 we know that the writer __________.
A ． actually wanted to play the violin with Larry B ． didn’t want to play any musical instrument again
C ． began to learn music at the age of 60 D ． refused Larry’s invitation at last
3 ． The writer felt a little __________ during his violin performance with Larry.
A ． angry B ． bored C ． nervous D ． tired
4 ． This underlined phrase “passed away” means __________ in the last paragraph.
A ． slept B ． left C ． lost D ． died
5 ． The article mainly tells us __________.
A ． not to fear but enjoy the joy of doing something
B ． how to offer a full performance in front of the audience
C ． how to help a person both in music and on all sides of life
D ． Larry is the writer’s best old friend in his life
1 ． B
2 ． A
3 ． C
4 ． D
5 ． A
【分析】
本文是一篇记叙文。主要讲述了在作者学习乐器的过程中，朋友拉里对自己的影响：做任何事情时，不要害怕而是享受做某事的乐趣。
1 ．
细节理解题。根据文中 “my mother said worriedly to my father, “Why hasn’t he made any progress with so much practice?”” 可知，母亲担心作者，是因为他钢琴没有进步。故选 B 。
2 ．
推理判断题。根据文中 “From then on, I didn’t play any musical instrument until my old friend Larry invited me to play the violin with him when I was 60. It made me enjoy the joy of playing music again.” 可知，作者实际上想和拉里一起拉小提琴。故选 A 。
3 ．
推理判断题。根据文中 “Though I didn’t lose all my nervousness, it was enough for me to overcome my fear.” 可推理出，作者在和拉里一起演奏小提琴时感到有点紧张。故选 C 。
4 ．
词句猜测题。根据后句 “It was a hard hit, but his influence stayed.” 可推知，应是朋友拉里去世了，故下划线短语 “passed away” 的意思应是 “ 去世、死亡 ” 。故选 D 。
5 ．
主旨大意题。短文主要讲述了在作者学习乐器的过程中，朋友拉里对自己的影响：做任何事情时，不要害怕而是享受做某事的乐趣。故选 A 。
阅读短文，根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。
It’s always challenging to face fear. Here are some ways to help you overcome（克服）it.
Breathing
As we know, breathing can help us relax. If you purposely breathe out longer than you breathe in, your body will calm down. If you start to feel fearful, try this. Take a breath in (to a count of 7 in your mind), and then slowly breathe out (to a count of 11 in your mind). To your surprise, if you do this for a minute or so, you’ll calm down quickly. We call this "7/11 breathing".
Using a different part of your brain
When we feel fearful, it’s harder to think clearly. But if we force ourselves to use the part of thinking brain, this will help to calm us down. The easiest way to do this is with numbers. You can set your own fear from l to 10, 10 being the worst state and 1 being the most relaxed state. When you’re feeling fearful, ask yourself; “Okay, what grade do I get right now? 7 or 5?” Just doing this will reduce fear because it starts the thinking brain. Once I gave a speech to three hundred people and I felt fearful. So I graded myself at 6, and waited for myself to go down to 3 before starting. I took control.
Getting control of your imagination
Imagine seeing yourself in the situation you were scared, but see yourself being calm and things going well. Doing this starts to recondition your mind to more calmly face the coming events which were causing fear.
It seems that overcoming fear is always the first step to finish all you need to do and it will help you devote yourself to what you really want to be and to do. It takes efforts, but it’s worth your try.
| 59． to overcome fear | |||
| Introduction | It’s challenging to face fear in your life. | ||
| Ways | Breathing | To calm down, you can breathe out 60． than you breathe in. You’ll be 61． that you’ve calmed down very quickly if you take 7/11 breathing. | |
| Using a different part of your brain | You can set ten 62． for your own fear with numbers. Grading your state of mind helps 63． the thinking brain and make you 64． fearful. | ||
| Getting control of your imagination | Imagine you’re in a bad 65． but you feel calm and things go well. It can help you feel 66． to face the coming events. | ||
| Conclusion | To finish all you need to do, you must overcome fear 67． It’s worth 68． though it takes efforts. | ||
