For some people, music is no fun at all. About four percent of the population is what scientists call “amusic.” People who are amusic are born without the ability to recognize or reproduce musical notes (音调). Amusic people often cannot tell the difference between two songs. Amusics can only hear the difference between two notes if they are very far apart on the musical scale.

As a result, songs sound like noise to an amusic. Many amusics compare the sound of music to pieces of metal hitting each other. Life can be hard for amusics. Their inability to enjoy music sets them apart from others. It can be difficult for other people to identify with their condition. In fact, most people cannot begin to grasp what it feels like to be amusic. Just going to a restaurant or a shopping mall can be uncomfortable or even painful. That is why many amusics intentionally stay away from places where there is music. However, this can result in withdrawal and social isolation. “I used to hate parties,” says Margaret, a seventy-year-old woman who only recently discovered that she was amusic. By studying people like Margaret, scientists are finally learning how to identify this unusual condition.

Scientists say that the brains of amusics are different from the brains of people who can appreciate music. The difference is complex, and it doesn’t involve defective hearing. Amusics can understand other nonmusical sounds well. They also have no problems understanding ordinary speech. Scientists compare amusics to people who just can’t see certain colors.

Many amusics are happy when their condition is finally diagnosed (诊断). For years, Margaret felt embarrassed about her problem with music. Now she knows that she is not alone. There is a name for her condition. That makes it easier for her to explain. “When people invite me to a concert, I just say, ‘No thanks, I’m amusic,’” says Margaret. “I just wish I had learned to say that when I was seventeen and not seventy.”

1.Which of the following is true of amusics?

A. They can easily tell two different songs apart.

B. Listening to music is far from enjoyable for them.

C. Their situation is well understood by musicians.

D. They love places where they are likely to hear music.

2.According to paragraph3, a person with “defective hearing” is probably one who __________.

A. dislikes listening to speeches

B. can hear anything nonmusical

C. has a hearing problem

D. lacks a complex hearing system

3.What is the passage mainly concerned with?

A. Amusics’ strange behaviours.

B. Some people’s inability to enjoy music.

C. Musical talent and brain structure.

D. Identification and treatment of amusics.

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

If you do not use your arms or your legs for some time, they become weak; when you start using them again, they slowly become strong again. Everybody knows this, and nobody would think of questioning this fact. 1. When someone says that he has a good memory, he really means that he keeps his memory in practice by exercising it regularly, either consciously or unconsciously. When someone else says that his memory is poor, he really means that he does not give it enough opportunity to become strong. 2. One of them exercises his arms and legs by playing tennis, while the other sits in a chair or a motor car all day.

If a friend complains that his arms are weak, we know that it is his own fault. But if he tells us that he has a poor memory, many of us think that his parents are to blame, or that he is just unlucky, and few of us realize that it is just as much his own fault as if it was his arms or legs that were weak. 3. But all of us can, if we have ordinary bodies and brains, improve our strength and our memory by the same means— practice.

Have you ever noticed that people who cannot read or write usually have better memories than those who can? 4. It’s because those who cannot read or write have to remember things. They cannot write them down in a little notebook and they have to remember dates, time and prices, names, songs and stories, so their memory is being exercised the whole time 5. .

A. What do you think of it?

B. Yet many people do not seem to know that the memory works in the same way.

C. Not all of us can become extremely strong or extremely clever.

D. So if you want a good memory, practice remembering.

E. Someone else says that he is poor in health.

F. Why is this?

G. The position is exactly the same as that of two people.

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