视障钢琴神童马修

李璐

有时候，年纪很小的人，也会做出一些让人惊叹的事情，你不禁会想知道他们是怎么做到的。

难词探意

1. prodigy /?pr?d?d?i/ n. 神童;（年轻的）天才

2. impaired /?m?pe?d/ adj. 受损的;有缺陷的

3. squelch /skwelt?/ v. 压制;遏制;限制

4. gig /g?g/ n. 现场演奏会

Every so often， someone so young does something so amazing  that you cant help but wonder how he manages it. Thats what happened the first time we heard Matthew Whitaker play the piano. Matthew is a jazz pianist who is blind， and since the age of 11， hes been performing around the world. He is regarded as a prodigy.

Matthew grew up in Hackensack， New Jersey. Matthew had an ear for music before he could even talk. Matthew Whitaker was born at 24th week. He weighed 1 pound and 11 ounces. His parents were told he had less than a 50% chance of survival. One of the many complications he faced was a disease which led to blindness.

No one in Matthews family was a musician， but his grandfather bought him his first keyboard when he was 3 years old. It didnt take long for Matthew to show that he had a gift. So the Whitakers decided to get Matthew a teacher， which proved to be difficult. “At the time， we got a lot of answers that hes too young and they dont know how to teach a blind child，” Moses Whitaker said. “He was 3 years old at the time.”

Finally， Dalia Sakas agreed to meet Matthew. Dalia is the director of music studies at a music school in New York City， a school for the visually impaired. Dalia played something on the piano and Matthew repeated it. Then she played something else and Matthew repeated it. She said， “Bring him in. Well make the exception.” Dalia has been teaching Matthew ever since.

Dalia said that Matthew could listen to a piece of music once and then play it. “Because it is rare to meet someone of this talent， creativity and enthusiasm. I dont want to squelch that. I dont want to mess up. Hes obviously， you know， got something to offer to the world and I want to make that possible.”

She did. By the time he was 11， Matthew was performing around the world. His first paying gig was in Capri， Italy， where he performed with seasoned jazz musicians. Since then， hes played in more than 200 clubs and concert halls around the world. His love of music has never been in doubt. But Dalia Sakas wanted him to be a literate musician.

Matthews latest album is called Now Hear This. One critic noted that it sounded like Matthew was playing with six hands.

[Reading][Check]

1. What caused Matthews blindness？

A. An accident. B. A disease.

C. The keyboard. D. The impaired piano.

2. Which of the following words can be used to describe Dalia Sakas？

A. Proud. B. Mean. C. Responsible. D. Ambitious.

3. Matthews great success can be largely owed to .

A. his doctors treatment B. his grandfathers keyboard

C. his mothers teaching D. his teachers devotion

4. Where is the text probably from？

A. A travel journal. B. A newspaper.

C. A fashion magazine. D. A novel.

[Language][Study]

Sentence for writing

So the Whitakers decided to get Matthew a teacher， which proved to be difficult. 所以惠特克夫婦决定给马修找个老师，结果证明那是一件很难的事情。

【信息提取】本句为一个主从复合句。主句为So the Whitakers decided to get Matthew a teacher， 后面接了一个由which引导的非限制性定语从句，起到补充说明的作用。

【句式仿写】他是个除数学之外各科都优秀的学生，数学是他的短处。