Question

   Most people want to know how things are made. They honestly admit,however ，that they hardly know a thing when it comes to understanding how a piece of music is made. Where a composer begins，how he manages to keep going一in fact，how and where he learns his trade—all are covered in complete darkness. The composer,in short,is a man of mystery(神秘) .

One of the first things the common man wants to know about is the part inspiration(灵感) plays in a composer’s work. He finds it difficult to believe that composers are not much interested in that question. Writing music is as natural for the composer as eating or sleeping for all. Music is something that the composer happens to have been born for.

The composer,therefore,does not say to himself，“Do I feel inspired?”

He says to himself，“Do I feel like working today?” And if he feels like working,he does. It is more or less like saying to himself, “Do I feel sleepy?” If you feel sleepy，you go to sleep. If you don’t feel sleepy,you stay up. If the composer doesn’t feel like working，he doesn’t work. It’s as simple as that.

1. What would be the best title for the text?

   A. Composer： a man of mystery

   B.  Practice makes good music

   C. Relation between sleeping and music

   D.  Music： product of nature

2. The underlined words “covered in complete darkness” in Paragraph 1 most probably mean “       ”

   A. difficult to be made   B. without any light

   C.  black in colour   D. not known

3. Most people seem to think that a composer          .

   A. finds it difficult to write music

   B.  considers it important to have a good rest

   C.  should like to talk about inspiration

   D.  never asks himself very simple questions

4. The author will most probably agree that composers       .

   A. are born with a gift for music

   B.  are people full of mystery

   C.  work late at night for their music

   D.  know a lot about eating and sleeping

Answer 1

1. A主旨大意题。第一段的最后一句为主题句。

2. D词义猜测题。根据上下文可知，作曲家是从哪里开始作曲的、怎样继续下去的、怎样学会这一技巧的，都是个谜，没有人知道，由此可以推断出答案。

3. C细节理解题。根据短文第二段可知普通人首先想知道的事情之一就是灵感在作曲家的工作中所起的作用。

4. A细节理解题。根据短文第二段的“Writing music is… have been born for. ”可知 A 项正确。