Question

Our love of music and appreciation of musical harmony (和声) is learnt and not based on natural ability, a new study by University of Melbourne researchers has found. The researchers said previous theories about how we appreciate music were based on the physical functions of sound, the ear itself and a born ability to hear harmony.

The study shows that musical harmony can be learnt, and it is a matter of training the brain to hear the sounds. So if you thought that the music of some foreign culture (or Jazz) sounded like the crying of cats, it’s simply because you haven’t learnt to listen by their rules.

The researchers used 66 volunteers with a range of (一系列的) musical training and tested their ability to hear combinations (组合) of notes (音符) to determine if they found the combinations familiar or pleasing. They found that people needed to be familiar with combinations of notes. If they couldn’t recognize the notes, they found the notes dissonant. This finding put an end to centuries of theories claiming (声称) that physical functions of the ear determine what we find attractive.

The study found that trained musicians were much more sensitive (敏感的) to unpleasant notes than non-musicians. When they couldn’t find the note, the musicians reported that the sounds were unpleasant, while non-musicians were much less sensitive. This shows the importance of training or nurturing (培养) the brain to like particular sound of combinations of notes, like those found in jazz or rock.

Depending on their training, a strange chord (和弦) sound was pleasant to some musicians, but very unpleasant to others. This showed us that even the ability to hear a musical note is learnt.

To confirm (证实) this finding, they trained 19 non-musicians to find the notes of a random (随机的) selection of western chords. Not only did the participants’ ability to hear notes improve rapidly; the chords they had learnt sounded more pleasant—regardless of (不论) how the chords were played.

The question of why some combinations of musical notes are heard as pleasant or unpleasant has long been debated. “ We have shown in this study that for music, beauty is in the brain of the beholder(观看者),” a researcher said.

1.According to the passage, why do people sometimes find foreign music quite unpleasant?

A． Because they don’t like the person playing the music.

B． Because they have no talent for music at all.

C． Because they have no idea about how to listen.

D． Because they hear music too often.

2.The underlined word “dissonant” in Paragraph 3 probably means ___________.

A. informal B. unpleasant

C. inspiring  D. unfamiliar

3.Although non-musicians were less sensitive to music, they can still _______.

A． find the beauty of chords without training

B． enjoy the beauty of music when played by musicians

C． be trained to like particular music

D． make friends with real musicians

4.What is the best title for the passage?

A． Improve Your Brain By Listening to Music

B． You Can Be a Musician Without Being Trained

C． Music Can’t be Taught

D． Love of Music Is Not Natural But Nurture

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.C

4.D

【解析】

试题分析:本文是说明文，提到对音乐的喜爱是可能过能培养获得。

1.C细节理解题。根据第二段提到if you thought that the music of some foreign culture (or Jazz) sounded like the crying of cats, it’s simply because you haven’t learnt to listen by their rules.如果你认为外国的音乐象猫叫，那就是仅仅因为你听不懂他们的规则，故选C。

2.B词义猜测题。句意：If they couldn’t recognize the notes, they found the notes dissonant. 如果他们不认识的笔记，发现笔记不和谐。A. informal 非正式的，B. unpleasant不愉快的，C. inspiring励志的，D. unfamiliar陌生的。只有B项接近，故选B。

3.C细节理解题。根据第四段提到This shows the importance of training or nurturing(培养) the brain to like particular sound of combinations of notes, like those found in jazz or rock.这就表明训练与后天培养的重要性，故选C。

4.

考点：考查科普类短文阅读