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

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