Question

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 suggests 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 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 （复杂的）and there is a hope that if we listen to enough of it, we’ll become more intelligent.

The idea got across to the public, 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. the idea was accepted by many people

B. people were strongly against the idea

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. Positive.D. Doubtful.

4.What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Listening to Mozart, necessary?

B. What music is beneficial?

C. What is the Mozart effect?

D. To accept Mozart or not to?

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.D

4.A

【解析】

试题分析：文章讲述很多人相信听莫扎特的音乐会让人更聪明，但是研究表明这种影响是短暂的，并不能让人们更加聪明。

1.D 细节理解题。从第一段的句子：but when it comes to scientific evidence that it can make you more clever, the picture is more mixed.可知，没有什么科学证据来支持莫扎特效应，故选D。

2.A 句意理解题。从第三段的句子：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，可知这句话表明这种想法被大部分人接受，故选A。

3.D 推理判断题。从文章第三段的句子：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.可知，作者对莫扎特效应的态度是怀疑的，故选D。

4.主旨大意题。文章讲述很多人相信听莫扎特的音乐会让人更聪明，但是研究表明这种影响这是短暂的，并不能让人们更加聪明，所以Listening to Mozart , necessary? 是贴切的标题。故选A。

考点：考查科教类阅读