Question

Probably no other musical instrument is as popular as the guitar around the world. Musicians use the guitar for almost all kinds of music. Country and western music would not be the same without a guitar. The traditional Spanish folk music called Flamenco could not exist without a guitar. The sound of American blues music would not be the same without the sad cry of the guitar. And rock and roll music would almost be impossible without this instrument.

Music experts do not agree about where the guitar was first played. Most agree it is ancient. Some experts say an instrument very much like a guitar was played in Egypt more than 1,000 years ago. Most experts say that the ancestor of the modern guitar was brought to Spain from Persia sometime in the 12th century. The guitar continued to develop in Spain. In the 1700s it became similar to the instrument we know today.

Many famous musicians played the instrument. The famous Italian violinist Niccole Paganism played and wrote music for the guitar in the early 1800s. Franz Schubert used the guitar to write some of his famous works. In modern times Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia helped make the instrument extremely popular.

In the 1930s, Les Paul began experimenting to make an electric guitar. He invented the solid-bodied electric guitar in 1946. The Gibson Guitar Company began producing its famous Les Paul Guitar in 1952. It became a powerful influence on popular music. The instrument has the same shape and the same six strings (弦)as the traditional guitar, but it sounds very different. Les Paul produced a series of extremely popular recordings that introduced the public to this music. Listen to this Les Paul recording. It was the fifth most popular song in the United States in 1952. It is called “Meet Mister Callaghan.”

1.What can we infer from the first paragraph?

A. The guitar was the most popular musical instrument in the past.

B. The choice of musical instrument is important for a band.

C. The guitar plays a very important role in music.

D. Every musician likes playing music instrument with the guitar.

2.According to most experts, the guitar developed into a modern form like today in _____.

A. Egypt    B. Persia

C. Italy    D. Spain

3.In Paragraph 3, the author introduces ______.

A. the method of playing the guitar    B. some musicians who played the guitar

C. the way that the guitar was made    D. the exact time of the guitar’s origin

4.Where does the passage probably come from?

A. A broadcast    B. A newspaper

C. A magazine    D. A history book

Answer

1. C

2. D

3. B

4. A

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，主要介绍了吉他在音乐中的重要性、发展史以及使用它的音乐家。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段中三至六句：Country and western music would not be the same without a guitar. The traditional Spanish folk music called Flamenco could not exist without a guitar. The sound of American blues music would not be the same without the sad cry of the guitar. And rock and roll music would almost be impossible without this instrument.可推断出，没有吉他音乐也不一样了，也就是吉他在音乐中起着重要的作用，故选C项。

2.判断推理题。根据第二段中四至六句：Most experts say that the ancestor of the modern guitar was brought to Spain from Persia sometime in the 12th century. The guitar continued to develop in Spain. In the 1700s it became similar to the instrument we know today.可知，吉他是在西班牙发展成今天的乐器的，故选D项。

3.细节理解题。根据第三段第一句话Many famous musicians played the instrument以及后面又提到的几个音乐家用吉他，故这一段主要介绍了几个用吉他的音乐家，故B项正确。

4.推理判断题。由最后一段倒数第三句“Listen to this Les Paul recording.”可知，这篇文章有音乐播放，故很有可能来自广播。故A项正确。