I appreciate ______ the opportunity to work in your company two years ago.
|
A．giving |
B．to give |
C．being given |
D．to be given |
It is one thing to enjoy listening to good music, but it is quite ______ to perform skillfully yourself.
|
A．another |
B．other |
C．the other |
D．others |
The rising house price and the high income tax rate have become the biggest ______ of the ordinary people in China today．
|
A．concern |
B．influence |
C．involvement |
D．occupation |
--- She will finish the project within three days!
--- ______! I could do it in three hours.
|
A．You are right |
B．I’m stuck |
C．Oh, come on |
D．Don’t mention it |
Most Americans would find it hard to think that what life 1.
would look like without a car. But, some have realized 2.
the serious question of the pollution caused by the car. 3.
The polluted air becomes harmful and dangerous to health 4.
One way to getting rid of the polluted air is to build a 5.
car that doesn’t cause pollution. That is how several of the 6.
large car factories have been tried to do. But to build 7.
a clean car is more easier said than done. Progress in this 8.
field has been slow.
Another way is to take place of the car engine by a 9.
steam one. Inventors are now working on steam cars as well as
electric cars. Many makers believe that it will spend 10.
years to develop a practical model that pleased people
Violin prodigies (神童), I learned, have come in distinct waves from distinct regions. Most of the great performers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were born and brought up in Russia and Eastern Europe. I asked Isaac Stern, one of the world’s greatest violinists the reason for this phenomenon. “It is very clear,” he told me. “They were all Jews and Jews at the time were severely oppressed and ill-treated in that part of the world. They were not allowed into the professional fields, but they were allowed to achieve excellence on a concert stage.” As a result, every Jewish parent’s dream was to have a child in the music school because it was a passport to the West.
Another element in the emergence of prodigies, I found, is a society that values excellence in a certain field to nurture (培育) talent. Nowadays, the most nurturing societies seem to be in the Far East. “In Japan, a most competitive society, with stronger discipline than ours,” says Isaac Stern, children are ready to test their limits every day in many fields, including music. When Western music came to Japan after World War II, that music not only became part of their daily lives, but it became a discipline as well. The Koreans and Chinese as we know, are just as highly motivated as the Japanese.
That’s a good thing, because even prodigies must work hard. Next to hard work, biological inheritance（遗传） plays an important role in the making of a prodigy. J. S. Bach, for example, was the top of several generations of musicians, and four of his sons had significant careers in music.
1. Jewish parents in Eastern Europe longed for their children to attend music school because ________.
|
A．it would allow them access to a better life in the West |
|
B．Jewish children are born with excellent musical talent |
|
C．they wanted their children to enter into the professional field |
|
D．it would enable the family to get better treatment in their own country |
2. Nurturing societies as mentioned in the passage refer to societies that ________.
|
A．are highly motivated in the education of music |
|
B．treasure talent and provide opportunities for its full development |
|
C．encourage people to compete with each other |
|
D．promise talented children high positions |
3. Which of the following contributes to the emergence of musical prodigies according to the passage?
|
A．a natural gift. |
B．extensive knowledge of music. |
|
C．very early training. |
D．a prejudice-free society. |
4. Which of the following titles best summarizes the main idea of the passage?
|
A．Jewish Contribution to Music |
B．Training of Musicians in the World |
|
C．Music and Society |
D．The Making of Music Prodigies |
