Question

I am a music store owner. One day, when I was cleaning the instruments in my store, I saw an old man come in. His short steps dragged on the carpet. “Is 77 too old to learn the banjo (班卓琴)?” he asked.

“You can learn to play it well,” I replied, holding back my doubts. My mind told me I was giving false encouragement. I reached the instructor’s schedule and gave the rates, the available time and the additional information that he would need. To my surprise and delight, the old man, Carl, began banjo lessons three days later with my most patient teacher.

With nothing to do at home but practice, Carl made surprising progress. After breakfast he practiced for his required half hour. While waiting for lunch he picked up his banjo again for just a couple of minutes. Since TV was difficult for him to see and hear, he often played the banjo in the evenings. Carl was always early for lessons so it was a surprise that he didn’t arrive one Tuesday.

The next morning I listened to the answering machine with sadness. “Carl’s in hospital,” the voice recorded.

Two months later, I shared the newspaper obituary with the banjo teacher. We both shed tears for a surprisingly clever banjo student.

Several months later, a woman came into the store carrying a plant. “This is for Carl’s banjo teacher,” she said. “I’m his wife, Mary.”

“Why did Carl want to play the banjo?” I asked. Mary took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Carl was at some show when he was 10 years old. He came close to the stage to watch the performers. When they were packing up their instruments, the banjo player said to Carl, ‘You want to see this up close?’ Carl climbed up on the stage and from then on he wanted to play the banjo.” Carl had waited 67 years to realize a dream! Mary gave the plant to Carl’s banjo teacher. “Thank you for the best six months of his life,” she said.

1.How did Carl learn to play the banjo well?

A. By taking short cuts.

B. By working hard.

C. By asking his wife to help him.

D. By finding the best teacher.

2.From Paragraph 2, we can know the author ______.

A. encouraged Carl though he had doubts

B. was giving true encouragement

C. didn’t want to encourage Carl

D. was unwilling to help Carl

3.The underlined word “obituary” in Para.5 means a notice that _______.

A. announces a good piece of news

B. announces somebody is needed

C. announces somebody has died

D. announces a gift for somebody

4.Why did Carl want to learn banjo?

A. He wanted to become a banjo performer.

B. He wanted to make his dream of his young age come true.

C. His wife encouraged him to learn it.

D. He wanted to spend the last best six months of his life.

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.C

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文讲的是一个练banjo的天才学生Carl的去世。Carl为了实现演奏banjo梦已经等了67年。

1.B推理判断题。根据第三段第一句With nothing to do at home but practice, Carl made surprising progress.他在家里除了练习什么也没做，Carl取得了令人惊讶的进步。故选B。

2.A细节理解题。根据第二段第一句“You can learn to play it well,” I replied, holding back my doubts.“你能学得很好，”我回答道，抑制住我的怀疑。故选A。

3.

我们都为一个绝顶聪明的banjo学生去世而落泪。可推知前面的划线单词的意思应该是：宣布某人去世的消息。故选C。

4.

【名师点拨】

推理判断题要求在理解原文表面文字信息的基础上，做出一定的推理判断，从而得到文章的隐含意义和深层意义。推理判断题所涉及的内容可能是文中的某一句话，也可能是某几句话，所以，推理题的答案只能是根据原文表面文字信息一步推出的答案：即对原文某一句话或某几句话所作的同义改写或综合。推理判断题的题干中通常含有infer, suggest, imply, conclude indicate等标志性词语。 这种题型主要包括细节判断题、态度观点推断题、写作意图推断题、文章出处判断题和猜测想象推断题。比如，第31小题B推理判断题。根据第三段第一句With nothing to do at home but practice, Carl made surprising progress.他在家里除了练习什么也没做，Carl取得了令人惊讶的进步。故选B。

考点：考查励志类阅读