A
My heart beat with that feeling, pumping it like blood to my body as my fingers flew across the piano keys. As the piece neared the end, I stood up to take my final bow. For a second, the room was quiet. Yet, even in that one second, I had enough time to doubt whether I had done everything perfectly. Then, suddenly, the applause came.
“Thank you… so much,” I said, turning to Olga, my piano teacher for six years. “You’ve been an amazing student all these years,” she said, “and I hope that whatever you do, you never stop practicing.”
I leaned forward, promising I would always keep playing because I loved piano, and hugged her.
It turned out to be that promises weren’t as meaningful as I’d hoped for them to be. Right after quitting, I kept up my strict practicing schedule. Soon, it began slipping away from me. After all, the reason I had stopped taking lessons was that my schedule was busy with homework. Not long after, I stopped practicing altogether. It was pleasing not to have to stress about piano anymore. But something was shifting inside of me. I was empty inside.
One day I met Michelle, who had also taken piano lessons from Olga for quite a while.
“So, are you still taking lessons from Olga?” She asked.
“Um, no, actually I just quit a while ago,” I replied quickly.
“Oh, that’s a shame,” she responded, “You used to be so good — I remember your performance a year ago; it was breathtaking.”
Two days after talking to Michelle, I subconsciously(潜意识地)sat down on the bench and started playing. I wasn’t even trying to make the notes sound musically correct…I was simply doing what I should have been this entire time: playing, just to be playing.
As the music spread, a familiar feeling rose inside me.
21. According to the passage, the quiet room made the writer doubt .
A. whether she ended the music a little earlier
B. whether she expressed her feeling in music
C. whether she played the piano perfectly
D. whether she was polite to make a bow
22. Why did the writer stop practicing the piano?
A. She lost interest in playing the piano.
B. She was satisfied with her performance.
C. She thought Olga to be too strict with her.
D. She was busy with her homework.
23. After stopping the piano, the writer felt .
A. she seemed to have no purpose in life
B. she got rid of the pressure of life
C. she had more time to do other activities
D. she changed herself into another person
24. Michael seemed to think .
A. the writer could become a famous pianist
B. it was a pity for the writer to stop practicing
C. the writer should be ashamed of her decision
D. the performance of the writer made her heart broken
