It was eight o'clock on Christmas morning，and Uncle Tom said he wanted to listen to the news.My 11-year-old self was wondering why grown-ups would be interested in the news when there were important things to be done，such as handing out presents.However，while I was only half-listening to the radio broadcast，I was confused that I had heard that report earlier.
   My older brother，Colin，figured out what was happening."Pete，it's a tape recorder!We've got our tape recorder!" This was one of those rare moments when my inside gave an involuntary lurch（傾斜）.Colin and I had both been blind from birth.In the late 1950s，tape recorders were definitely the top choice for blind kids，especially with the rise of rock 'n' roll.
   But it wasn't the first time I had been attracted to a tape recorder.I vividly remember walking into a room when I was four and hearing a child's beautiful singing.It turned out that my dad had borrowed a tape recorder for preparing his projects.And for the first time，in the same way that a sighted child might react to seeing themselves in a mirror or a photograph，I got the sense of myself as a separate person who existed outside my head and was experienced by other people.
   Then I became a broadcaster at school.I would wander around the school with my microphone，recording my thoughts in the style of the voices I heard on the radio.But the biggest challenge was not finding things to do with the tape recorder but taking it away from Colin.His generosity on the first day we got it did not extend to handing it over to his brother at school."You'll break it，"he would say.
   But ten years later，I drew on the confidence gained from those early explorations of the sound and walked into a radio station，in the hopes of selling myself as a broadcast journalist.Eight years later，I presented my first report for BBC's Six O' Clock News.I never thought that a Christmas present had changed my life.

（1）Why did Uncle Tom probably listen to the news on Christmas morning？

D

D

A．To keep up with the times.
B．To carry on the holiday tradition.
C．To create a happy festival mood.
D．To surprise Colin and the author.
（2）What did the author feel when first hearing a tape recorder at four？

C

C

A．His interest in music.
B．His love of broadcasting.
C．The real existence of himself.
D．An understanding of his father.
（3）What was the author's biggest challenge as a school broadcaster？

B

B

A．Learning the voice style of radio hosts.
B．Getting the tape recorder from Colin.
C．Balancing broadcasting and study.
D．Finding fun things to record.
（4）What helped build up the author's confidence in becoming a broadcast journalist？

A

A

A．His experiences of exploring the sound.
B．His talent for recording.
C．His father's encouragement.
D．His rich broadcasting knowledge.