Question

My father’s playing the violin lights up any room. To him, it is an instrument of faith, hope and charity. My mother used to joke, “Your papa would play his violin if the world was about to blow up.”

Once_Dad_came_about_as_close_to_that_as_could_ever_be_possible.

In the early years of the 20th century, the boll weevil (棉铃象鼻虫) began destroying the cotton farms in the southern USA.

In May 1910, folks all over the nation were talking about Halley’s Comet (哈雷彗星). There were all sorts of frightening stories about it, the main one being that the world would pass through its tail, said to be millions of miles long.

Between the threats of the comet and weevils, the farmers were running low on optimism. One night, they gathered at our farm to discuss what to do. Will Bowen, a local man, suggested, “Charley, how about giving us a little music?”

“I don’t think anybody’d want to hear me tonight,” Dad replied.

“Come on, Mr. Nordyke,” one of the younger women urged. “Play for us!”

Dad got the hang of getting people in the mood for his music. He played church songs, and then switched to war songs. By the time he had finished performing, people were stamping their feet, clapping their hands and yelling.

All of our neighbors went home whistling. Very few remembered to look to see whether the comet was still around.

Another evening, Will Bowen called Dad on the telephone and said, “Charley, I'm downhearted and blue. Could you play a tune or two for me through the phone?”

Dad handed the receiver to me and then set about playing the songs he had performed that night. I could hear Mr. Bowen whistling and yelling.

By the time the tune was finished there were half a dozen neighbors on the line. They talked about how wonderful the music sounded over the telephone. They made numerous requests; I relayed them to Dad and he played.

Our broadcasts became regular features of community life. When the weather was bad in winter and farmers were forced to remain in the house, someone would ring us and ask Dad to play. Usually it developed into a network affair. Our phone kept ringing with requests for music until radio came into fashion.

1. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that the author’s mother ________.

A. believed that her husband had the ability to save the world by playing the violin.

B. complained that her husband loved the violin more than her.

C. thought that her husband could always get strength from his violin.

D. showed that she loved music as much as her husband

2.The underlined sentence “Once Dad came about as close to that as could ever be possible.” functions as ________.

A. a conclusion of the first paragraph

B. an introduction of a story

C. an example of my father's love of music

D. the topic sentence of this passage

3. From the last three paragraphs, we could see that Mr. Nordyke was ______.

A. generous and optimistic   B. popular and creative

C. sensitive and determined   D. energetic and humorous

4.All the following statements are FALSE except ________.

A. The neighbors often dropped in to hear Mr. Nordyke’s performance.

B. Mr. Nordyke’s music entertained and comforted people in the community.

C. The farmers knew listening to music would help them avoid being destroyed by Halley’s Comet.

D. At that time people loved all sorts of music deeply.

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.A

4.B

【解析】

试题分析: 父亲很喜欢拉小提琴，对他来说小提琴就是他的信仰、希望和慈善事业，人们也很喜欢父亲的表演，觉得父亲的节目能给他们带来乐趣和舒适。

1.C推理判断题。根据第一段妈妈说的话“Your papa would play his violin if the world was about to blow up.”意思是，如果世界即将爆炸，你爸爸也会拉他的小提琴，言外之意就是爸爸能从提琴中获得力量来应付一切，C选项符合题意。故选C。

2.B细节理解题。“Once Dad came about as close to that as could ever be possible.” 意思是有一回，爸爸几近要面临那可能发生的一幕……，是一个故事的概括，B选项符合题意。故选B。

3.A推理判断题。后三段主要讲的是父亲的表演很成功，受到很多人的喜爱，很多人都要求父亲表演节目，父亲很慷慨的答应了，很乐意的为大家表演，所以可以看出父亲是个慷慨乐观的人。故选A。

4.Our broadcasts became regular features of community life. When the weather was bad in winter and farmers were forced to remain in the house, someone would ring us and ask Dad to play.”可以推断出人们很喜欢父亲的节目，能从节目中的得到快乐和舒适。故选B。

考点：考察记叙类文章的阅读。