Question

【题目】You have probably heard of the Mozart effect. It’s the idea that if children or even babies listen to music composed by Mozart, they will become more intelligent. A quick Internet search reveals plenty of products to assist you in the task. Whatever your age there are CDs and books to help you taste the power of Mozart’s music, but when it comes to scientific evidence that it can make you more clever, the picture is more mixed.

The phrase “the Mozart effect” was made up in 1991, but it was a study described two years later in the journal Nature that sparked(激发) real media and public interest about the idea that listening to classical music somehow improves the brain. It is one of those ideas that sound reasonable. Mozart was undoubtedly a genius himself; his music is complex and there is a hope that if we listen to enough of it, we’ll become more intelligent.

The idea took off, with thousands of parents playing Mozart to their children, and in 1998 Zell Miller, the Governor of the state of Georgia in the US, even asked for money to be set aside in the state budget so that every newborn baby could be sent a CD of classical music. It was not just babies and children who were exposed to Mozart’s music on purpose, even an Italian farmer proudly explained that the cows were played Mozart three times a day to help them to produce better milk.

I’ll leave the debate on the impact on milk yield to farmers, but what about the evidence that listening to Mozart makes people more intelligent? More research was carried out but an analysis of sixteen different studies confirmed that listening to music does lead to a temporary improvement in the ability to handle shapes mentally, but the benefits are short-lived and it doesn’t make us more intelligent.

【1】What can we learn from paragraph 1?

A. Mozart composed many musical pieces for children.

B. Children listening to Mozart will be more intelligent.

C. There are few products on the Internet about Mozart’s music.

D. There is little scientific evidence to support Mozart effect.

【2】The underlined sentence in paragraph 3 suggests that ________.

A. people were strongly against the idea

B. the idea was accepted by many people

C. Mozart played an important part in people’s life

D. the US government helped promote the idea

【3】What is the author’s attitude towards the Mozart effect?

A. Favorable. B. Objective. C. Doubtful. D. Positive.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】B

【3】C

【解析】这是一篇介绍说明类文章。很多人都相信莫扎特效应，认为听莫扎特的音乐可以使人更聪明，但是，研究表明，这没有什么科学依据。听音乐的确可以暂时提高大脑处理形状的能力，但是这些益处是短暂的，它并不能使我们更加聪明。

【1】细节理解题。由第一段中的“but when it comes to scientific evidence that it can make you more clever, the picture is more mixed”可知，当涉及到莫扎特效应的科学证据时，情况会更加复杂。即：没有什么科学证据来支持莫扎特效应。故D选项正确。

【2】句意理解题。由第三段中的“The idea took off, with thousands of parents playing Mozart to their children”可知，很多父母给孩子听莫扎特的音乐，由此可知，这种想法被大部分人接受。故B选项正确。

【3】观点态度题。由第三段中的“… that listening to music does lead to a temporary improvement in the ability to handle shapes mentally, but the benefits are short-lived and it doesn’t make us more intelligent”可知，听音乐的确可以暂时提高大脑处理形状的能力，但是这些益处是短暂的，它并不能使我们更加聪明。故可推知，作者对莫扎特效应持怀疑态度。故选C。