1 . A Welcome Gift

Dario and his mother loved their new apartment. The living room was large enough for their piano. That night, the two of them _______ side by side at the piano, playing jazz music to celebrate their new home happily.

However, their happiness disappeared the next morning. Someone had left a _______ under their door during the night. One of their neighbors complained about the sound of the piano. Later that morning, Dario suggested that they write a letter to their _______ and apologize.

“Maybe we could go and _______ everyone in person.” his mother said. “What if we invited them to come here for a party instead? Dario asked. They both loved the _______. Then they started to prepare for it.

Finally, the day of the party arrived. Some guests brought presents. Others brought flowers. One woman, Mrs. Gilbert, _______ Dario's mother with a book of piano music by Chopin.

“I heard you playing the other night,” she said. “The sounds woke me out of bed. I _______ that you might play like this every night. So I wrote a short note I hope you don't think I disliked the playing.”

Dario's mother smiled at Mrs. Gilbert. “We should apologize to you.” she said. “I didn't _______ how late it was when we were playing.”

“You play, you play!” Mrs. Gilbert pointed to the book she had given them and said, “These songs are not such _______ music.”

“These songs are beautiful music. And we won't play so loud or late!” Dario said. The big smile on his mother's face gave him a feeling of ________ and made him feel that they were home at last.

2 . Beethoven is one of the greatest composers in the history of music. In his twenties, he lost his hearing. But he didn't give up._______by his struggles with deafness, he produced hundreds of musical works.

At 54 years of age, he lived at a small house in Vienna,_________he completed his last work, Symphony No 9. Before the performance, Beethoven nervously imagined how people would _______. The backstage atmosphere at the theatre was tense. During the performance, Michael Umlauf and Beethoven took _______of the concert as directors together. For more than an hour, Beethoven jumped about in front of the orchestra,_______ his arms wildly in the air, and madly turning the pages of his score while Umlauf stood quietly by his side, skillfully guiding the orchestra. As the final joyous note signaled the end of the symphony, the audience _______ to their feet clapping, cheering and waving their hats. The performance was a great _______.

Beethoven was surprised at the audiences response. _______shocked the audience as well was that the person who didn't hear the symphony was the very man who composed it! Beethoven is a real musical genius.