Question

    “Without music, life would be a mistake, ” famous German philosopher(哲学家) Friendrich Nietzsche said over a century ago. Music is a big part of our lives. But in recent years, some US schools have cut music classes to control budgets.

For example, Chicago public schools hurt arts education when it fired over 1, 000 teachers. Among them, 10 percent of the teachers taught art or music, according to The Washington Times. In fact, this is not just a problem in the US. In other countries, such as China and the UK, music classes are not thought to be as important as ones like science, math and history. That's partly because music is not seen as a very important life skill, and it isn't tested. Many students are busy with schoolwork, so parents and students choose to focus on subjects that are tested more often.

However, learning music is beneficial in many ways.

When playing music, you need different abilities to work together. It is not as simple as it looks, according to Kenneth Guilmartin of Music Together, an early childhood music development program. For example, when playing the piano, people see music notes and decode them in their brains. They also use their fingers to make sounds. You need to deal with all these things at the same time.

Music has a special connection with science as well. You can see that many scientists are good at playing music: Einstein played the violin, and German physicist Max Planck was talented in playing the piano.

1.In Paragraph 2, what does the underlined word “them” refer to?

A.Public schools. B.Fired teachers.

C.Parents in Chicago. D.Students in Chicago.

2.What's the main idea of Paragraph 4?

A.Different abilities are needed to work together while we are playing music.

B.Playing the piano needs people to use fingers to make sounds.

C.Decoding music notes is needed while we are playing music.

D.Playing the piano needs people to see music notes.

3.How many scientists who are good at playing music are mentioned in this passage?

A.One. B.Two. C.Three. D.Four.

4.What's the writer's opinion according to this passage?

A.Music is as simple as it looks. B.Music is a big part of our lives.

C.Music classes should be cut in some schools. D.Music isn't a very important life skill for us.

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.B

4.B

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。讲述了社会上忽视音乐的现象，很多大学删除音乐课。作者提出音乐在很多地方是有用处的。比如有利于器官协作的能力，比如对科学的帮助等。

1.词义猜测题。根据上文For example, Chicago public schools hurt arts education when it fired over 1, 000 teachers可知是指代这些被解雇的老师们。故选B。

2.段落大意题。根据第4大段第一句When playing music, you need different abilities to work together.可知你弹奏音乐时，需要不同能力来合作。第一句是中心主旨大意。故选A。

3.细节理解题。根据第5大段Einstein played the violin, and German physicist Max Planck was talented in playing the piano.可知有Einstein和Max Planck2个人。故选B。

4.推理猜测题。根据第3大段However, learning music is beneficial in many ways.和第5大段Music has a special connection with science as well.可知作者都在讲述音乐的优点和好处，所以音乐对人们是重要的。故选B。