英語四級(jí)閱讀練習(xí)附答案-26 神童

　　Violin prodigies (神童), I learned, have come in distinct waves from distinct regions. Most of the great performers if the late 19th and early 20th centuries were born and brought up in Russia and Eastern Europe.I asked Isaac Stern, one of the world’s greatest violinists the reason for this phenomenon. It is very clear, he told me. They were all Jews(猶太人) and Jews at the time were severely oppressed and ill treated in that part of the world. They were not allowed into the professional fields, but they were allowed to achieve excellence on a concert stage. As a result, every Jewish parent’s dream was to have a child in the music school because it was a passport to the West.

 

　　Another element in the emergence of prodigies, I found, is a society that values excellence in a certain field to nurture (培育) talent. Nowadays, the most nurturing societies seem to be in the Far East. “In Japan, a most competitive society, with stronger discipline than ours. ”says Isaac Stem, children are ready to test their limits every day in many fields, including music. When Western music came to Japan after World WarⅡ, that music not only became part of their daily lives, but it became a discipline as well. The Koreans and Chinese as we know, are just as highly motivated as the Japanese.

　　That’s a good thing, because even prodigies must work hard. Next to hard work,biological inheritance plays an important role in the making of a prodigy. J. S. Bach, for example, was the top of several generations of musicians, and four of his sons had significant careers in music.

　　練習(xí)題：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1.Jewish parents in Eastern Europe longed for their children to attend music school because ______ .

　　A. it would allow them access to a better life in the West

　　B. Jewish children are born with excellent musical talent

　　C. they wanted their children to enter into the professional field

　　D. it would enable the family to get better treatment in their own country

　　2.Nurturing societies as mentioned in the passage refer to societies that ______ .

　　A. enforce strong discipline on students who want to achieve excellence

　　B. treasure talent and provide opportunities for its full development

　　C. encourage people to compete with each other

　　D. promise talented children high positions

　　3.Japan is described in the passage as a country that attaches importance to ______ .

　　A. all-round development.

　　B. the learning of Western music

　　C. strict training of children

　　D. variety in academic studies

　　4.Which of the following contributes to the emergence of musical prodigies according to the passage?

　　A. A natural gift.

　　B. Extensive knowledge of music.

　　C. Very early training.

　　D. A prejudice-free society.

　　5.Which of the following titles best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

　　A. Jewish Contribution to Music.

　　B. Training of Musicians in the World

　　C. Music and Society

　　D. The Making of Prodigies

　　1.[A] 原文首段最后一句提到，所有猶太人父母的夢想就是讓孩子上音樂學(xué)校，由because引導(dǎo)的從句解釋了原因，即因?yàn)檫@是通往西方世界的通行證。A項(xiàng)為原文的同義改寫，故選A。B、D在文中沒有提及，原文中說進(jìn)入professional field是不被允許的,故C不符合。

　　2.[B] nurturing societies出現(xiàn)在文中第2段第2句，很顯然nurturing society指的是前一句說的“重視在某一特定領(lǐng)域中的優(yōu)異表現(xiàn)，能培養(yǎng)才能的社會(huì)”,B與原文相符。

　　3.[C] 日本在文中作為典型的nurturing society的例子，之后提到日本社會(huì)竟?fàn)幖ち遥⒅匾?guī)范和紀(jì)律，結(jié)合這兩點(diǎn)可知，C正確。

　　4.[A] 最后一段第2句提到，遺傳在天才的產(chǎn)生上也起很重要的作用，即天賦，故選A。其他三項(xiàng)在文中并未提及。

　　5.[D] 本文中，prodigies是一個(gè)關(guān)鍵詞，四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中只有D包含了這一關(guān)鍵詞。其他三個(gè)選項(xiàng)都只是文中的局部信息，不是文章主旨，均排除。英語四級(jí)必備工具：測測你的詞匯量能過四級(jí)嗎