“What is the story of your piano?” a new friend asked over dinner. My piano sits in the corner of my small living room.
My piano has a story? “All pianos have stories” she said. Suddenly, my piano’s story came flooding out of me fully-formed as if I’d always had this tale to tell.
I loved music since childhood. I started with the recorder and moved on to instrument like the violin, trumpet (小号) and guitar. But playing the piano had always been my dream, a dream our family could not afford.
I grew up in an immigrant Chinese family in Toronto. My father waited tables in a Chinese restaurant, and my mother worked in a Chinese laundry. Despite our poor childhood, my siblings (兄弟姐妹) and I were always fed with love. I can’t remember which birthday it was when she spared the money to buy me a doll. Of course, by then I’d grown out of the age of wanting dolls, but she worked too hard to know that, and I never told her. I happily and gratefully accepted the doll because I loved the gift that was her loving me enough to buy it for me.
So it was eventually with my piano. It was in my last year of high school. I took piano lessons for about a year before university forced me to stop. I had to make a decision: to work towards the more practical goal of medical school or my love for music. Finally I chose to stop piano lessons.
I moved that piano around with me over the next decade — until my son was born. He showed an early interest in music, so I put him in piano lessons. I played that piano through my son — although guitar was finally his instrument of choice .
I’ve come to realize that for my career, I’ve let all personal pleasures fall away. I figured I’d get back to playing the piano when I retire. Maybe it’s time to get that piano retuned (重新调音) again, this time for myself, before it’s too late to enjoy. Maybe that’s something we all should do right now .
Sometimes a single question can open whole paths of thinking and discovery. So, what is the story of your piano?
12. What do we know about the author from the first four paragraphs?
A.She was born in a musical family. |
B.She had a poor but happy childhood. |
C.Her interest in dolls never faded. |
D.Her parents were too busy to care for her. |
13. What is the main reason the author stopped learning piano?
A.Her parents persuaded her to do so. |
B.She faced study and career pressure. |
C.She couldn’t afford piano lessons. |
D.Her university didn’t provide such lessons. |
14. What will the author probably do in the near future?
A.Restart her piano dream. |
B.Ask her son to learn piano. |
C.Buy a new piano for herself. |
D.Focus on her medical career. |
15. What is the author’s purpose in writing the article?
A.To explain the influence of music on her. |
B.To encourage readers to play an instrument. |
C.To look back on her childhood experience. |
D.To share her story about an unrealized dream. |