第二节：完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36—55各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

I got up and dressed, with my violin under my jacket, and went out into the streets to try my luck. I wandered about for  36  , looking for a likely spot,  37  as though I were about to commit a crime. Then I stopped   38  under a bridge near the station and  39  to have a try.

I felt tense and nervous. One moment I was  40  the hurrying crowds ,  41 I stood apart, my back to the wall, my hat on the side of the street  42 me , the violin under my chin.

The first  43  I played were loud and unskilled, then they  44 down and began to run more smoothly.   45  ，I was neither caught nor told to shut up.  46  , nobody took any notice at all. Then an old man without stopping  47   threw a penny into my hat, as if getting rid of some guilty evidence.

Other pennies followed, slowly  48  steadily , dropped by   49 who appeared not to see or hear me. It seemed too easy, like a secret  50 .

I  51  there for several days , gradually getting the  52 of the trade by trial and error(反复试验). It was not a good thing,   53 , to let the hat fill up with money; nor was it wise to empty it completely. Placing a couple of pennies in the hat to  54  the thing going soon became a  55 rule.

36. A. an hour       B. a day             C. some time              D. too long

37. A. running                     B. crying     C. feeling                D. sounding

38. A. at first                  B. at last     C. at most                  D. at once

39. A. wanted           B. allowed            C. refused                 D. decided

40. A. part of                B. familiar with     C. far from              D. away from

41. A. the last                    B. once again      C. the next                    D. as a result

42. A. before                B. behind          C. next to                D. beside

43. A. music                   B. notes             C. piece                    D. parts

44. A. broke                B. fell           C. settled             D. slowed

45. A. Surprisingly        B. Interestingly      C. Undoubtedly            D. Pitifully

46. A. In a word              B. Moreover    C. Indeed              D. That is

47. A. immediately        B. secretly         C. bravely                    D. carefully

48. A. but                       B. and             C. while                   D. or

49. A. the old                B. fans      C. the passengers   D. shadows

50. A. trick                  B. business     C. story             D. joke

51. A. remained                   B. searched        C. left            D. worked

52. A. value                 B. truths            C. wealth                  D. conditions

53. A. however       B. therefore       C. for example           D. after all

54. A. make                    B. open         C. leave                         D. start

55. A. normal        B. regular              C. smart                 D. suitable

阅读理解。

     An idea came to me, and I turned off the lights in the studio. In the darkness, I took off my shirt and took

up the cello (大提琴); it was the first time in my life I'd felt the instrument against my bare chest. I'd never

thought about that; music scholars always talk about the resonating properties (共振) of various instruments,

but surely the performer's own body must have some effect on the sound. As I dug into the notes I imagined

that my own chest and lungs were extensions of the sound box; I seemed to be able to change the sound by

the way I sat, and by varying the muscular tightness in my upper body.

     After improvising for a while, I started playing, still in the darkness. I heard the music through my skin.

For the first time I didn't think about how it would sound to anyone else, and slowly, joyfully, gratefully, I

started to hear again. The notes sang out, first like a trickle, then like a fountain of cool water bubbling up

from a hole in the middle of a desert. After an hour or so I looked up, and in the darkness saw the outline of

the cat sitting on the floor in front of me, cleaning her paws and purring loudly. I had an audience again,

humble as it was.

     So that's what I do now with my cello. At least once a day I find time to tune it, close my eyes and listen.

It's probably not going to lead to the kind of comeback I'd be thirsty for-years of playing badly have left scars

on my technique-but I might eventually try giving a concert if I feel up.to it. Occasionally I feel a stab of

longing, and I wish I could give just one more concert on a great stage before my lights blink off, but that

longing passes more quickly now. I take comfort in the fact that, unlike the way I felt before, I can enjoy

playing for myself now. I feel relaxed and expansive when I play, as if I could stretch out my arms and reach

from one end of the apartment to the other. A feeling of completeness and dignity surrounds me and lifts me

up.

1. The writer put the cello against his bare chest to _____.

A. test music scholars' ideas about the resonating properties

B. experience the effect of his body on the musical sound

C. reduce his muscular tightness in his upper body

D. check the function of the sound box

2. In Paragraph 2, the writer intends to _____.

A. explain his feelings of playing before a cat

B. identify specific pieces of music he played

C. express his feelings of playing against his body

D. describe the sound when he played against his body

3. From the last paragraph we can infer that the writer was _____.

A. optimistic

B. discouraged

C. nervous

D. enthusiastic

4. The passage is mainly about _____.

A. a musician playing the cello for an audience

B. a musician's feelings when playing the cello

C. a musician finding joy in playing music in a new way

D. a musician's desire to return to his former profession