云南·近3年中考英语真题分类汇编：阅读理解 第二题（选择）

The summer vacation is on the way! Spend time on your computers or on your mobile phones? Stay at home and watch TV? Why don't you join one of the following clubs to develop your new interests and hobbies?

We know many musical instruments well, such as pianos, violins, drums and so on. What about the erhu? The erhu is a traditional Chinese instrument. It is the most popular of the huqin family, and it has a long history.

The modern erhu developed from the xiqin, which was played by many ethnic minorities (少数民族) during the Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, musicians began to use the erhu to perform different kinds of music, and it became quite a popular instrument. With the rise of some forms of folk art, the art of the erhu developed quickly during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It became an important accompanying (伴奏) instrument in different folk music. At present, it is used in both traditional and modern music, such as in pop, rock and jazz. It has even become a solo (独奏) instrument. One of the most famous musical pieces played on the erhu is Erquan Yingyue.

As the erhu was mainly played by common people and the playing skills were passed down orally (口头的), there are few written records about the erhu that can be found. To study the history and the development of the erhu, historians (历史学者) usually turn to ancient paintings. The earliest pictures of this instrument were found in Yulin Caves and Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves in Gansu Province, where five erhu pictures were discovered on murals (壁画).

There was a young man who was in trouble. He went bankrupt (破产) and his wife went away from him. From then on, failure was all that he had seen. Struggling (斗争) with this, he went into the forest alone. There, he met an old man who had lived there for a long time. He shared his story with the old man and asked" Can you give me one good reason not to give up?"

"Look, " the old man said, "Do you see that fern (蕆类植物) and bamboo there？"

"Yes." the man answered.

"When I planted the fern and bamboo seeds, I watered them carefully. Within a few days, the fern quickly grew from the land, " the old man went on.

"However, I watered the bamboo seed for years, it still didn't sprout. But I didn't give up and continued looking after it. In the fifth year, a small sprout came out of the land. Within six months, the tree grew a hundred feet tall. "

"The little bamboo tree had been growing underground in the past four years, developing a root strong enough for its ground growth (生长) in the fifth year. If it hadn't done this, it would not be so strong. So you know, all the time you were struggling, you were actually growing strong roots." the old man said. Finally, the man thanked the old man deeply. Then he left the forest with the hope for life.