Question

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till without stopping, and continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3-year-old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most beautiful pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment.

The outlines were: in a commonplace(普通的) environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we enjoy beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected situation?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

1.Few people stopped to listen to Joshua Bell playing because____________.

A. people were in a hurry

B. they were not interested in music

C. it was too cold in the subway

D. the performance was not good enough

2.When children stopped to look at the violinist, their parents ____________.

A. would give him some money

B. would stop to enjoy the music

C. would applaud for the performance

D. would urge them to continue walking

3.Which of the following is true about Joshua Bell’s performance?

A. Nobody gave him money

B. Nobody recognized him.

C. Nobody appreciated it

D. Nobody organized it

4.Joshua Bell played in the metro station in order to ____________.

A. make more money

B. practice his skills in playing music

C. made an advertisement for his concert

D. find out people’s reaction under such a circumstance

5.The purpose of the passage is to _________.

A. set us to think about our life

B. show us how to play music

C. tell us the importance of music

D. report a subway performance

 

Answer 1

1.A

2.D

3.B

4.D

5.A

【解析】

试题分析：华盛顿邮报在繁忙的地铁站做了一项实验，让伟大的音乐家Joshua Bell在地铁站演奏，看有多少人驻足欣赏，实验的结果并未能让人满意。作者由此感慨，人们因为忙碌而忽视了太多发生在身边的美好事物。

1.since it was rush hour, ...most of them on their way to work”和第二段“...and then hurried up to meet his schedule”以及后文多次出现的“hurry”一次可知，大多数人都是匆忙赶着去上班，故选A。

2.Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, ...All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.”可知，当孩子们停下来欣赏音乐时，他们的父母都是催促他们继续前行，故选D。

3.No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.”和第七段“No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell,”以及第十段“Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected situation?”可知，当时没有人认出了这个伟大的音乐家，故选B。

4.This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment.”和第十段“Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected situation?”可知，这个事件是华盛顿邮报组织的，主要是为了查明在不知情的情况下，人们对一件事的反应，故选D。

5.If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”可知，如果连最伟大音乐家的演奏，我们都错过了的话，我们生活中所错过的事情会有多少啊！作者通过本文主要是呼吁人们思考现在的生活，不应忽视身边的美好。故选A。

考点：生活类短文阅读