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(作曲家) begins,how he manages to keep going—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.

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

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

A.difficult to be made                                       B.without any light

C.black in color                                               D.not known

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

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

【小题1】A

【小题2】D

【小题3】C

【小题4】A

解析:

【小题1】这是一道主旨题。文章主要介绍了作曲家给人的神秘感和他们工作的方式。B选项不对因为文中指出有时候好音乐来自灵感,C选项不对是因为文章引用作曲和睡觉的关系是作为例子说明作曲家的工作方式,D选项文中没有提到。

【小题2】这是一道推理题。根据第一段“The composer,in short,is a man of mystery.”可以推断出作曲家从哪里开始,怎么发展,他怎么学习的这门手艺,都不为人知,所以才会神秘,可以推断出“covered in complete darkness” 是不为人知的意思。

【小题3】这是一道推断题。根据第二段“One of the first things the common man wants to know about is the part inspiration plays in a composer’s work. He finds it difficult to believe that composers are not much interested in that question.”可知大众不能理解作曲家并不关心灵感在作曲工作中的作用,可以推断出大众认为作曲家应该比较关注灵感。

【小题4】这是一道推断题。根据最后一段可知作曲家对于工作就像人对于睡眠一样(是一种本能),也就是说他们对于作曲有一种天赋。