Question

When my sister Diane began playing the violin, she was seven. How did she sound? Terrible. But she didn’t _______. At twelve, she asked our parents if she could_______a full-time music school. They said no. Actually, everyone agreed that my sister_______talent.

I was better at my _______. My teacher had told my parents that I had great _______. So my parents found the best piano teacher in the area to _______me. But the only time he was _______was Saturday afternoons at 3 p.m. Back then, I was _______about the British TV show “The Avengers”, which was_______every Saturday at 3 p.m. I let nothing take up my “Avengers” hour. So I ________this amazing opportunity. Today, I don’t even have a ________ in my house.

My sister became an engineer, but she________stopped making music. When she was in her 40s, she switched ________. She went back to college, got a(n) ________in music education, and became a music teacher. She starts kids out on their first instrument and gives them all the encouragement and support she never ________.

Recently, she and a pianist pal put on a recital. A big crowd of friends and family ________for her. As she played, I looked around at the ________. Everyone was ________enjoying the music. It occurred to me that I was the only person who remembered that 7-year-old kid making those perfectly ________sounds and knew how far she had come, despite ________.

Talent is important. But enthusiasm is even more important.

1.A. advance    B. quit    C. reflect    D. listen

2.A. inspect    B. open    C. attend    D. visit

3.A. lacked    B. spotted    C. possessed    D. admired

4.A. major    B. project    C. composition    D. instrument

5.A. patience    B. enthusiasm    C. potential    D. ambition

6.A. train    B. examine    C. correct    D. challenge

7.A. punctual    B. skillful    C. occupied    D. available

8.A. sensitive    B. crazy    C. serious    D. particular

9.A. filmed    B. designed    C. aired    D. commented

10.A. jumped at    B. turned down    C. waited for    D. opened up

11.A. tutor    B. violin    C. musician    D. piano

12.A. never    B. once    C. already    D. even

13.A. attitudes    B. careers    C. plans    D. positions

14.A. scholarship    B. sponsor    C. degree    D. assistant

15.A. provided    B. imagine    C. received    D. expected

16.A. voted    B. feared    C. stayed up    D. turned up

17.A. students    B. audience    C. spotlights    D. platform

18.A. obviously    B. desperately    C. appropriately    D. anxiously

19.A. booming    B. pleasing    C. awful    D. powerful

20.A. everything    B. something    C. everybody    D. somebody

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.D

5.C

6.A

7.D

8.B

9.C

10.B

11.D

12.A

13.B

14.C

15.C

16.D

17.B

18.A

19.C

20.A

【解析】本文是一篇记叙文。讲述了姐姐通过努力实现了自己儿时的理想，揭示了坚持和毅力是成功的基础。

1.B考查动词。A. advance前进；B. quit放弃；C. reflect反思；D. listen听；根据上文 How did she sound? Terrible.可知，她拉小提琴拉得很糟糕，但不放弃，故选B。

2.C考查动词。A. inspect检查；B. open打开；C. attend上学；D. visit访问；根据上文But she didn’t ___1___.可知，她不放弃，想上音乐学校，故选C。

3.A考查动词。A. lacked缺乏；B. spotted弄污；C. possessed控制；D. admired羡慕；根据上文她拉小提琴拉得很糟糕可推知，她缺乏天赋，故选A。

4.D考查名词。A. major主修课；B. project工程；C. composition作文；D. instrument乐器；根据下文So my parents found the best piano teacher in the area to ___6___me可知，父母给我请钢琴老师说明我在我的乐器方面做得更好，故选D。

5.C考查名词。A. patience耐心；B. enthusiasm热心；C. potential潜能；D. ambition雄心；根据上文I was better at my ___4___可知，老师说我有潜能，故选C。

6.A考查动词。A. train训练；B. examine检查；C. correct改正；D. challenge挑战；根据上文So my parents found the best piano teacher in the area可知，父母找钢琴老师培训我，故选A。

7.D考查形容词。A. punctual准时；B. skillful熟练的；C. occupied占有的；D. available有空的；根据下文I was ___8___about the British TV show “The Avengers”, which was___9___every Saturday at 3 p.m. 可知，老师唯一的空闲时间，故选D。

8.B考查形容词。A. sensitive敏感的；B. crazy疯狂的；C. serious严肃的；D. particular特别的；根据下文I let nothing take up my “Avengers” hour.可知，我对Avengers”这个节目是疯狂的，故选B。

9.C考查动词。A. filmed拍摄；B. designed设计；C. aired播出；D. commented评论；复仇者是每周六下午3 点播出，正好与我练琴的时间相冲突，故选C。

10.B考查动词短语。A. jumped at跳跃；B. turned down拒绝；C. waited for等候；D. opened up开放。根据上文I let nothing take up my “Avengers” hour.可知，我不让任何事情占据我的电视时间，故我应是拒绝了这个很棒的机会。故选B。

11.D考查名词。A. tutor导师；B. violin小提琴；C. musician音乐家；D. piano钢琴；根据上文我为了看电视放弃了弹钢琴，所以今天家里没有一架钢琴，故选D。

12.A考查副词。A. never从不；B. once从前；C. already已经；D. even甚至；根据下文When she was in her 40s, she switched ___13___. She went back to college, got a(n)___14___in music education, and became a music teacher.可知，她回到大学学习音乐，故选A。我姐姐成为一名工程师，但她从来没有停止写音乐。

13.B考查名词。A. attitudes态度；B. careers事业；C. plans计划；D. positions位置；根据下文She went back to college, got a(n)___14___in music education, and became a music teacher.可知，她由工程师转变成音乐老师，故是事业改变了，故选B。

14.C考查名词。A. scholarship奖学金；B. sponsor赞助者；C. degree学位；D. assistant助手；根据下文became a music teacher可知，她变成了一个音乐老师，应是得到一个学位，故选C。

15.C考查动词。A. provided提供；B. imagine想象；C. received收到；D. expected盼望；根据上文She starts kids out on their first instrument and gives them all the encouragement and support可知，她给孩子们她从来没盼到的鼓励和支持，故选C。

16.D考查动词。A. voted投票；B. feared畏惧；C. stayed up熬夜；D. turned up出现；根据上文she and a pianist pal put on a recital可知，很多朋友家人出席为她捧场，故选D。

17.B考查名词。A. students学生；B. audience观众；C. spotlights聚光灯；D. platform平台；根据上文As she played, I looked around at the ___17___可知，当她演奏时我想周围看到是听众，故选B。

18.A考查副词。A. obviously明显地；B. desperately绝望地；C. appropriately适当地；D. anxiously不安地；根据上文As she played, I looked around at the ___17___. Everyone was ___18___enjoying the music可知，每一个人明显地是正在欣赏音乐，故选A。

19.C考查形容词。A. booming兴旺的；B. pleasing令人愉快的；C. awful可怕的；D. powerful强大的；根据上文When my sister Diane began playing the violin, she was seven. How did she sound? Terrible.可知，她七岁演奏的是完全糟糕的声音，故选C。

20.A考查代词。A. everything每一件事；B. something某事；C. everybody每个人；D. somebody某人；根据上文knew how far she had come可知，作者知道姐姐每一件事她进步有多大，故选A。

【名师点睛】

下面是一些完形填空解题技巧：

1.上下文对照，捕捉关键词。

解完形填空题时，有时候单独看一句话是找不到正确答案的，需要阅读下句或者若干句才能明白。所谓上下文对照，即在上文和下文中找到与正确答案相同的关键词。因此，在做题时要边读边在大脑中储存上下文信息，捕捉关键词。比如小题1，根据上文How did she sound? Terrible.可知，她弹得糟糕，再根据转折连词But可知，“但她不放弃”，故选quit。

2、设置语境，分析推理。旨在考查学生在选项都符合语法及句子结构的情况下能否利用前后语境去推断出正确答案。小题2，根据前一句But she didn’t quit.可知，她不放弃，所以推测她想上音乐学校，故选attend（上学）。