宝藏男孩的伯克利音乐之路

主题语境：音乐篇幅：377词建议用时：7分钟

Seba Stephens is only 11 years old， but hes avery talented musician. He plays the drums， bass， gui⁃tar， and piano. Recently， he earned a professional cer⁃tificate （证书） in music through the Berklee Online pro⁃gram at the famous Berklee College of Music.

Seba and his family live in Memphis， Tennessee—a place famous for music. He grewup with music all around. Before he turned three， his parents had asked him what hewanted for his birthday.“Drums！”he answered. His parents werent sure， but after seeinghim play the drums at a local music store， they decided he was serious. They bought him ajunior drum kit. It was a huge step. He didnt stop playing ever. His parents signed him upfor lessons. In just a few months， his drum teacher reported that Seba was learning ex⁃tremely quickly and needed a higher level of training. He was still four.

Sebas parents encouraged him to explore music in other ways. Seba learned thebass， guitar， and piano. He faced challenges—some related to his size.“I couldnt see overmy drum set，”he said. He also had trouble finding a good bass that was small enough.

In 2020， Everett， Sebas father， got special permission （许可） for Seba to join a sum⁃mer music program at Berklee as an 8⁃year⁃old. Seba studied the bass in an online pro⁃gram. To keep up， he had to practice up to 36 hours a week. After the intense summer， Ev⁃erett thought Seba might want a break. He was wrong. Instead， Seba asked his parents tohome⁃school him so he could keep going to Berklee during the school year. His parents hadto make some big changes to make the plan work， but they agreed. Seba did school work inthe morning. In the afternoon， he worked on music. And at night， he usually worked on mu⁃sic some more. He studied with several well⁃known drummers， and learned many drum⁃ming styles.

In 2021， Seba spent four months in Utah， performing in“School of Rock the Musi⁃cal”. Since he played so many instruments， he was in almost every scene. In May 2021，Seba became the youngest person ever to receive a professional certificate from Berklee.The certificate is equal to about four college⁃level classes.

1. What can be known about Seba？

A. He prefers the guitar most.

B. He shows a great talent for music.

C. He got his first drums when he was eleven years old.

D. He earned a professional certificate through a live competition.

2. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about？

A. Sebas music lessons.

B. Sebas family background.

C. Sebas challenges of exploring music.

D. Sebas interest in finding a good bass.

3. Whats Sebas parents attitude to his learning music？

A. Negative.

B. Unclear.

C. Tolerant.

D. Supportive.

4. What does the underlined word“he”in paragraph 4 refer to？

A. Seba.

B. Everett.

C. Sebas music teacher.

D. Everetts friend.

Ⅰ. 日积月累

talented adj. 有天赋的

serious adj. 认真的

extremely adv. 极度地

encourage v. 鼓励

sign up for 报名参加

get special permission 得到特殊的许可

up to 多达

make some big changes 做出一些大的改变

work on 致力于

be equal to 等于；相当于

Ⅱ. 单句填空

1. Can I sign up this course in advance？

2. He is a （talent） player.

3. She found it （extreme） difficult to get a job.

4. My parents have always （encourage） me to make decisions by myself.

5. This country is roughly equal France in size and population.

6. Up half of the students took part in this activity.