GIGANTIC : SIZE
A. marginal: volume
B. despondent: cheerfulness
C. substantial: mass
D. bankrupt: money
E. heartrending:humor
正解:C
質問 2:
The origin of the attempt to distinguish early from modern music and to establish the canons of
performance practice for each lies in the eighteenth century. In the first half of that century, when
Telemann and Bach ran the collegium musicum in Leipzig, Germany, they performed their own and other
modern music. In the German universities of the early twentieth century, however, the reconstituted
collegium musicum devoted itself to performing music from the centuries before the beginning of the
"standard repertory," by which was understood music from before the time of Bach and Handel. Alongside
this modern collegium musicum, German musicologists developed the historical sub-discipline known as
"performance practice," which included the deciphering of obsolete musical notation and its transcription
into modern notation, the study of obsolete instruments, and the re-establishment of lost oral traditions
associated with those forgotten repertories. The cutoff date for this study was understood to be around
1 750, the year of Bach's death, since the music of Bach, Handel, Telemann and their contemporaries did
call for obsolete instruments and voices and unannotated performing traditions-for instance, the
spontaneous realization of vocal and instrumental melodic ornamentation. Furthermore, with a few
exceptions, late baroque music had ceased to be performed for nearly a century, and the orally
transmitted performing traditions associated with it were forgotten as a result. In contrast, the notation in
the music of Haydn and Mozart from the second half of the eighteenth century was more complete than in
the earlier styles, and the instruments seemed familiar, so no "special" knowledge appeared necessary.
Also, the music of Haydn and Mozart, having never ceased to be performed, had maintained some kind of
oral tradition of performance practice. Beginning around 1960, however, early-music performers began to
encroach upon the music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Why? Scholars studying performance
practice had discovered that the living oral traditions associated with the Viennese classics frequently
could not be traced to the eighteenth century and that there were nearly as many performance mysteries
to solve for music after 1750 as for earlier repertories. Furthermore, more and more young singers and
instrumentalists became attracted to early music, and as many of them graduated from student- amateur
to professional status, the technical level of early-music performances took a giant leap forward. As
professional early-music groups, building on these developments, expanded their repertories to include
later music, the mainstream protested vehemently. The differences between the two camps extended
beyond the question of which instruments to use to the more critical matter of style and delivery. At the
heart of their disagreement is whether historical knowledge about performing traditions is a prerequisite
for proper interpretation of music or whether it merely creates an obstacle to inspired musical tradition.
It can be inferred from the passage that the "standard repertory" mentioned in line 15 might have included
music that was written
A. before the time of Handel
B. before 1700
C. during the early twentieth century
D. to be played using obsolete instruments
E. by the performance-practice composers
正解:D
解説: (Pass4Test メンバーにのみ表示されます)
質問 3:
Many great inventions are greeted with ridicule and disbelief. The invention of the airplane was no
exception. Although many people who heard about the first powered flight on December 17,1903, were
excited and impressed, others reacted with peals of laughter. The idea of flying an aircraft was repulsive
to some people. Such people called Wilbur and Orville Wright, the inventors of the first flying machine,
impulsive fools.
Negative reactions, however, did not stop the Wrights. Impelled by their desire to succeed, they continued
their experiments in aviation. Orville and Wilbur Wright had always had a compelling interest in
aeronautics and mechanics. As young boys they earned money by making and selling kites and
mechanical toys. Later, they designed a newspaper-folding machine, built a printing press, and operated
a bicycle-repair shop. In 1896, when they read about the death of Otto Lilienthal, the brother's interest in
flight grew into a compulsion. Lilienthal, a pioneer in hang-gliding, had controlled his gliders by shifting his
body in the desired direction. This idea was repellent to the Wright brothers, however, and they searched
for more efficient methods to control the balance of airborne vehicles. In 1900 and 1901, the Wrights
tested numerous gliders and developed control techniques. The brothers' inability to obtain enough lift
power for the gliders almost led them to abandon their efforts. After further study, the Wright brothers
concluded that the published tables of air pressure on curved surfaces must be wrong.
They set up a wind tunnel and began a series of experiments with model wings. Because of their efforts,
the old tables were repealed in time and replaced by the first reliable figures for air pressure on curved
surfaces. This work, in turn, made it possible for them to design a machine that would fly. In 1903 the
Wrights built their first airplane, which cost less than one thousand dollars. They even designed and built
their own source of propulsion- a lightweight gasoline engine. When they started the engine on December
1 7, the airplane pulsated wildly before taking off. The plane managed to stay aloft for twelve seconds,
however, and it flew one hundred twenty feet. By 1905 the Wrights had perfected the first airplane that
could turn, circle, and remain airborne for half an hour at a time. Others had flown in balloons or in hang
gliders, but the Wright brothers were the first to build a full-size machine that could fly under its own power.
As the contributors of one of the most outstanding engineering achievements in history, the Wright
brothers are accurately called the fathers of aviation.
People thought that the Wright brothers had ____.
A. acted in a negative way
B. been too cautious
C. been negatively influenced
D. had not given enough thought
E. acted without thinking
正解:E
質問 4:
The Galapagos Islands are in the Pacific Ocean, off the western coast of South America.
They are a rocky, lonely spot, but they are also one of the most unusual places in the world. One reason is
that they are the home of some of the last giant tortoises left on earth. Weighing hundreds of pounds,
these tortoises, or land turtles, wander slowly around the rocks and sand of the islands. Strangely, each of
these islands has its own particular kinds of tortoises. There are seven different kinds of tortoises on the
eight islands, each kind being slightly different from the other. Hundreds of years ago, thousands of
tortoises wandered around these islands. However, all that changed when people started landing there.
When people first arrived in 1535, their ships had no refrigerators. This meant that fresh food was always
a problem for the sailors on board.
The giant tortoises provided a solution to this problem. Ships would anchor off the islands, and crews
would row ashore and seize as many tortoises as they could. Once the animals were aboard the ship, the
sailors would roll the tortoises onto their backs. The tortoises were completely helpless once on their
backs, so they could only lie there until used for soups and stews. Almost 100,000 tortoises were carried
off in this way. The tortoises faced other problems, too. Soon after the first ships, settlers arrived bringing
pigs, goats, donkeys, dogs and cats. All of these animals ruined life for the tortoises.
Donkey and goats ate all the plants that the tortoises usually fed on, while the pigs. Dogs and cats
consumed thousands of baby tortoises each year. Within a few years, it was hard to find any tortoise
eggs-or even any baby tortoises. By the early 1900s, people began to worry that the last of the tortoises
would soon die out. No one, however, seemed to care enough to do anything about the problem. More
and more tortoises disappeared, even though sailors no longer needed them for food. For another fifty
years, this situation continued. Finally, in the 1950s, scientist decided that something must be done. The
first part of their plan was to get rid of as many cats, dogs and other animals as they could.
Next, they tried to make sure that more baby tortoises would be born. To do this, they started looking for
wild tortoise eggs. They gathered the eggs and put them in safe containers. When the eggs hatched, the
scientists raised the tortoises in special pens. Both the eggs and tortoises were numbered so that the
scientists knew exactly which kinds of tortoises they had-and which island they came from. Once the
tortoises were old enough and big enough to take care of themselves, the scientists took them back to
their islands and set them loose. This slow, hard work continues today, and, thanks to it, the number of
tortoises is now increasing every year.
What happens right after the tortoise eggs hatch?
A. The scientists get rid of cats, dogs, and other animals.
B. The scientist encouraged the villagers to help.
C. The sailors use the tortoises for food.
D. The scientists take the tortoises back to their islands.
E. The scientist raised the tortoises in special pens.
正解:E
質問 5:
When using a metal file, always remember to bear down on the forward stroke only. On the return stroke,
lift the file clear of the surface to avoid dulling the instrument's teeth.
Only when working on very soft metals is it advisable to drag the file's teeth slightly on the return stroke.
This helps clear out metal pieces from between the teeth. It is best to bear down just hard enough to keep
the file cutting at all times. Too little pressure uses only the tips of the teeth; too much pressure can chip
the teeth. Move the file in straight lines across the surface. Use a vice to grip the work so that your hands
are free to hold the file. Protect your hands by equipping the file with a handle. Buy a wooden handle and
install it by inserting the pointed end of the file into the handle hole.
When working on soft metals, you can-
A. strengthen them with added wood
B. remove the handle
C. file in circles
D. clear metal pieces from the teeth
E. bear down very hard on the return stroke
正解:D
質問 6:
Late Victorian and modern ideas of culture are indebted to Matthew Arnold, who, largely through his
Culture and Anarchy (1869), placed the word at the center of debates about the goals of intellectual life
and humanistic society. Arnold defined culture as "the pursuit of perfection by getting to know the best
which has been thought and said." Through this knowledge, Arnold hoped, we can turn "a fresh and free
thought upon our stock notions and habits." Although Arnold helped to define the purposes of the liberal
arts curriculum in the century following the publication of Culture, three concrete forms of dissent from his
views have had considerable impact of their own. The first protests Arnold's fearful designation of
"anarchy" as culture's enemy, viewing this dichotomy simply as another version of the struggle between a
privileged power structure and radical challenges to its authority. But while Arnold certainly tried to define
the arch-the legitimizing order of value-against the anarch of existentialist democracy, he himself was
plagued in his soul by the blind arrogances of the reactionary powers in his world. The writer who
regarded the contemporary condition with such apprehension in Culture is the poet who wrote "Dover
Beach," not an ideologue rounding up all the usual modern suspects. Another form of opposition saw
Arnold's culture as a perverse perpetuation of classical and literary learning, outlook, and privileges in a
world where science had become the new arch and from which any substantively new order of thinking
must develop. At the center of the "two cultures" debate were the goals of the formal educational
curriculum, the principal vehicle through which Arnoldian culture operates. However, Arnold himself had
viewed culture as enacting its life in a much more broadly conceived set of institutions. A third form is
so-called "multiculturalism," a movement aimed largely at gaining recognition for voices and visions that
Arnoldian culture has implicitly suppressed. In educational practice, multiculturalists are interested in
deflating the imperious authority that "high culture" exercises over curriculum while bringing into play the
principle that we must learn what is representative, for we have overemphasized what is exceptional.
Though the multiculturalists' conflict with Arnoldian culture has clear affinities with the radical critique,
multiculturalism actually affirms Arnold by returning us more specifically to a tension inherent in the idea
of culture rather than to the cultureanarchy dichotomy. The social critics, defenders of science, and
multiculturalists insist that Arnold's culture is simply a device for ordering us about. Instead, however, it is
designed to register the gathering of ideological clouds on the horizon. There is no utopian motive in
Arnold's celebration of perfection. Perfection mattered to Arnold as the only background against which we
could form a just image of our actual circumstances, just as we can conceive finer sunsets and unheard
melodies.
The author's primary concern in the passage is to
A. describe Arnold's conception of culture
B. examine the different views of culture that have emerged since the eighteenth century
C. trace Arnold's influence on the liberal arts educational curriculum
D. argue against those who have opposed Arnold's ideas
E. explain why Arnold considered the pursuit of perfection to be the essence of culture
正解:D
解説: (Pass4Test メンバーにのみ表示されます)
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