B
Perhaps your childhood piano lessons made you never want to play the piano again. Perhaps a piano is too expensive for you to afford. Now thanks to a program in Sydney called “Play Me, I’m yours”, people are able to play the piano in public places for free. They share beautiful music and the program also helps them communicate with each other.
Thirty pianos have been placed in different parts of the city, including in several parks, at a bus stop and on some streets. The pianos have the logo “Play Me, I’m yours” on them. People are invited to play music or sing songs with the pianos no matter what level of ability they have. Lots of people have been attracted to the program and stopped to watch or play the pianos.
“Play Me, I’m yours” is a part of the Sydney Festival. It is a project of the British artist Luck Jerram. He wants to help people in the city connect with each other. He thinks that so many people are sitting in front of computers and busy with their work all hours and they almost have no chance to enjoy music. So the purpose of the project is to help them relax and make new friends.
The program “Play Me, I’m yours” has also reached England and Brazil(巴西) before. It was warmly welcomed there. But its greatest success seems to come at the Sydney Festival. “It’s a chance for people to be creative, connect with strangers and just have some fun,” Jerram said.
54. According to the first sentence of the passage, your childhood piano lessons may be _____.
A. boring B. valuable C. interesting D. meaningful
55. Thirty pianos are placed in parts of the city except _______.
A. in parks B. at a bus stop C. on streets D. in a school
56. The aim of the project is to help people _______.
A. sing songs  B. play the piano for free
C. relax and make friends  D. enjoy beautiful music
57. _______ countries have had the program.
A. Two B. Three C. Four D. Five
58. What can be the title for the passage?
A. beautiful music  B. A British artist, Luck Jerram
C. The Sydney Festival  D. A program “Play Me, I’m yours”.
C
Aunt Polly had told Tom to paint the whole fence (栅栏) in front of the house. He thought of the other boys out for the day enjoying themselves and he felt very unhappy. Then he had an idea! He picked up the brush and started painting slowly and carefully. Soon, his friend Ben Rogers appeared, eating an apple. Tom pretended (假装) not to see him.
“Tom!” Ben said. “Why are you working?”
“Oh, it’s you, Ben,” Tom said, “I didn’t notice you.”
“I’m gong for a swim,” Ben said, “but you don’t want to come. You want to work, don’t you? It’s much nicer!” Ben laughed loudly. Tom looked seriously at Ben and said. “What is work? What do you call work?”
“Isn’t that work?” Ben asked.
“Well, no. Does a boy get the opportunity to paint a fence every day? You’ve never painted a fence, have you? Aunt says I have to do it with great care!’
“Please, Tom. Let me do a little,” said Ben.
“No, Ben. If you do, you’ll do it wrong. You can’t paint very well. If it was the back fence, I wouldn’t mind, but it isn’t.”
“I won’t do it wrong. I’ll be really careful. I’ll give you my apple.” Tom gave him the brush and paint with a sad face, but in his heart he was glad, His trick had worked.
After Ben got tired and left, other boys came along and Tom said the same things to them. Soon, the whole fence was painted white, but not by Tom. He felt very clever because he had discovered something important about the way people are. People only want what they can’t have or want to do what they shouldn’t do.
59. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “opportunity” ? 
A. Courage.  B. Interest.  C. Ability.  D. Chance.
60. Why did Tom pretend not to see Ben?
A. Because he wanted Ben to believe that he was enjoying the work.
B. Because he tried his best to make Ben not notice him.
C. Because he did not want Ben to see the fact that he had to work.
D. Because he was afraid that Ben might laugh at him if he saw him.
61. What can we infer (推断) from the story?
A. Aunt Polly gave Tom a lot of pocket money for what he had done.
B. Ben and the other boys might feel unhappy when they found out the truth.
C. Tom would say sorry to his friends because he had cheated them.
D. Everyone thought Tom clever when they realized what had happened.