1 . My name is Mildred Hondorf, a music teacher. Over the years, I have found that children have many levels of musical ability. Although I have some talented students, I've also had my share of what I call "musically challenged" pupils. One such student was Robby.
Robby was 11 years old when he came for his first piano lesson. He said that it had always been his mother's dream to hear him play the piano. Although Robby tried hard, he lacked the basic rhythm needed to be excellent. However, he continued and always said, "My mom's going to hear me play some day." But he just did not have any inborn ability and his mother just dropped Robby off but never stopped in.
Then one day, Robby stopped coming to our lessons. He called me and said his mother was sick. Several weeks later, I was invited to take my students to have a show and Robby asked me if he could be in . "Miss Hondorf...I've just got to play!" I don't know what led me to allow him to play in the show. Maybe it was his insistence or something else inside of me.
The night for the show came. The gymnasium was packed with people. I put Robby up last in the program. I thought that any damage he would do would come at the end of the program and I could always save his poor performance through my "curtain closing".
The show went off well. Then Robby came up on stage. He played so well and everyone applauded for him. In tears I hugged Robby in joy. "How would you do it?"
"Well, Miss Hondorf ... remember I told you my mom was sick? Well, actually, she had cancer and passed away this morning. And well ... she was born deaf so tonight was the first time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special."
1. What are “musically challenged” pupils according to the author’s description?
| A．Children who are good at learning music. |
| B．Children who like challenging music. |
| C．Children who lack a gift for music. |
| D．Children who are crazy about music. |
2. Why did the author put Robby’s performance at last?
| A．She hoped Robby would give the show a good ending.. |
| B．She thought Robby would have a bad performance. |
| C．She gave Robby a chance to have a speech. |
| D．She wanted Robby to help her lower the curtain. |
3. What made Robby succeed in the show?
| A．His teacher’s encouragement. | B．His love to his mother. |
| C．His enthusiasm about music. | D．His talent and practice. |
4. What do we know about the teacher?
| A．She had a great deal of confidence in Robby at first. |
| B．She helped Robby practice before the performance. |
| C．She was surprised that Robby performed well at last. |
| D．She was inexperienced in instructing students like Robby. |
