Mathematical ability and musical ability may not seem on the surface to be connected, but people who have researched the subject and studied the brain say that they are．Three quarters of the bright but speech-delayed children in the group I studied had a close relative who was an engineer, mathematician or scientist, and four fifths had a close relative who played a musical instrument．The children themselves usually took readily to math and other analytical subjects and to music．
Black, white and Asian children in this group show the same patterns．However, it is clear that blacks have been greatly overrepresented(被过多的代表)in the development of American popular music and greatly underrepresented in such fields as mathematics, science and engineering．
If the abilities required in analytical fields and in music are so closely related, how can there be this great discrepancy?One reason is that the development of mathematical and other such abilities requires years of formal schooling, while certain musical talents can be developed with little or no formal training, as has happened with a number of well-known black musicians．
It is precisely in those kinds of music where one can acquire great skill without formal training that blacks have excelled(擅长)popular music rather than classical music, piano rather than violin, blues rather than opera．This is readily understandable, given that most blacks, for most of American history, have not had either the money or the leisure for long years of formal study in music．
Blacks have not merely held their own in American popular music．They have played a large role in the development of jazz, both traditional and modern．A long string of names comes to mind－W．C．Handy, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker…and so on．
None of these presupposes(假设，意味着)any special innate(先天的)ability of blacks in music．On the contrary, it is perfectly consistent(一致的)with blacks having no more such inborn ability than anyone else, but being limited to being able to express such ability in narrower channels than others who have had the money, the time and the formal education to spread out over a wider range of music, as well as into mathematics, science and engineering．
(1)
What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
[ ]
A．
Mathematical ability and musical ability are connected．
B．
Mathematical ability has more to do with the brain than musical ability．
C．
More people are good at music than math．
D．
More research should be done into the relationship between mathematical ability and math ability．
(2)
The word“discrepancy”(Para．3)most probably means ________．
[ ]
A．
difference
B．
excellence
C．
inborn ability
D．
inability
(3)
What can be inferred about opera?
[ ]
A．
It requires formal training．
B．
It is often enjoyed by those with strong analytical ability．
C．
It is disliked by blacks．
D．
It is more difficult to learn than classical music．
(4)
Which of the following statements is true according to the last paragraph?
[ ]
A．
Blacks have special innate ability in music．
B．
Unlike others, blacks do not have innate ability in music．
C．
Jazz is one of the narrow channels through which blacks express their ability in music．
D．
Those who have money and time choose mathematics over music．
(5)
Which of the following questions does the passage mainly concern?
[ ]
A．
Are musical ability and mathematical ability connected?
B．
Why have blacks been greatly overrepresented in the development of American popular music?
C．
What kinds of music require formal training?
D．
What are the contributions made by black musicians?
Ask most American children what they want to be when they grow up, and they probably will say“doctor”or“lawyer”．
Though our culture, our economy(经济)，indeed our very security(安全)are heavily dependent on science and engineering, only 12 percent of American high school students graduate with the prerequisites(先决条件)for a career in science or engineering．
Don't be too surprised．If you ask further why the majority of the high school students would choose a career in medicine or law, the answers will be straight out of some popular TV shows．
“Doctors help people．They save lives．”“Lawyers beat the bad guys．”Most students would say．
Now, how about science or engineering as a career choice?The answers will be just as predictable(可预见的)，“Get real!Who wants to be a geek?They all are nerds．Besides I hate maths．”
In our media, scientists and engineers typically are described as introverted(内向的)and humorless．They always wear white lab coats with a collection of pencils in their pocket protectors．They wear glasses with black plastic frames．
If more students are to choose technical careers, they must have a better view presented to them．
They need to be told, for example, that the invention of lifesaving equipment saves lives just as surely as the application(应用)of it in the hospital．
It also might help if someone points out to students that the lawyer who saved the defendant(被告)by introducing the DNA evidence(证据)would have seen him hanged had it not been for the scientists who discovered DNA．
Whatever we do, until students stop thinking of the term“engineer”as a synonym (同义词)“geek”, it is impossible to expect our children to change their views towards scientists and engineers．
(1)
Which of the following has influenced American students greatly in their choice of their careers?
[ ]
A．
Parents'opinions．
B．
TV shows and publications．
C．
Security measures．
D．
Culture and economy．
(2)
What kind of person do you think a geek or nerd is?
[ ]
A．
Someone who is boring, unfashionable or unsociable．
B．
Someone who loves the career of a scientist or engineer．
C．
Someone who is good at mat hs and loves science．
D．
Someone who is full of unreal ideas in the head．
(3)
In order to change the students'view towards scientists and engineers, the writer suggests that ________．
[ ]
A．
teachers reconsider their way of teaching mathematics
B．
scientists and engineers change their images a little bit
C．
students be told about the wonders of science and engineering
D．
the media stop praising doctors and lawyers too much
(4)
Judging from what is said in the passage, the writer obviously believes that ________．
[ ]
A．
scientists and engineers are more important than doctors and lawyers
B．
there are too many scientists and engineers nowadays
C．
American children are hopeless
D．
science and engineering have been dangerously ignored
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