1 . How Did Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Die?
On November 20th, 1791, Mozart suddenly came down with fever and was wracked with pain. His arms and legs were severely swollen. In the following days his health significantly deteriorated. He died on December 5 after lapsing into a coma. The death certificate states he died of “severe miliary fever”. Exactly which disease led to Mozart’s death has been a mystery for the last 200 years.
SpeculationsMany myths —some more plausible than others — entwine (缠绕) Mozart’s early demise. One of the most popular myths — that Mozart was poisoned by his rival Antonio Salieri — rose to prominence due to the popularity of the film Amadeus. This theory is supported by the fact that Mozart had been living through a phase of depression before his death, suffering from paranoia and existential fear. Mozart himself suspected that the cause of his deteriorating health was being poisoned over a long time. However, it is highly likely that this was just his subjective view of reality.
Many other speculations circulate. Syphilis and trichinellosis are frequently mentioned. In 1905, a French physician assumed uric acid poisoning due to a never fully healed nephritis. In 1961, lead poisoning was suggested as a possible cause of death.
Scientific attempts to explain Mozart’s deathIn 2000, a group of American scientists proposed rheumatic fever caused by a strep infection after conducting meticulous detective work. The symptoms stated in literature and the reports of Mozart’s contemporaries yielded the clues. Without antibiotics, such an infection would inevitably lead to death. Rheumatic fever causes a weakening of the heart, which could explain Mozart’s swollen limbs.
In 2009, the Dutch scientist Richard Zegers extensively studied surviving documents and concluded that Mozart had been suffering from pharyngitis, a throat infection with symptoms including cramps, fever, rashes and a swollen neck. Mozart’s sister-in-law Sophie Haibel had described these symptoms. The death registry of Vienna for winter 1791 lists several deaths caused by this disease.
Whatever the cause of Mozart’s death, it came far too early. Let us thank him for his manic urge to create art and remember him on December 5th!
1. Which of the following is similar in meaning to the underlined word “deteriorate” (Paragraph 1)?| A．To become worse. | B．To change greatly. |
| C．To recover quickly. | D．To be harmed rapidly. |
| A．It is generally believed that Mozart was poisoned by his friend. |
| B．Mozart’s depression paranoia and existential fear led to his death. |
| C．Mozart had been poisoned sustainably for a long time before he died. |
| D．Mozart once got a nephritis and it was never healed. |
| A．Mozart’s disease was recorded in contemporary literature and reports. |
| B．Antibiotics were not discovered at that time. |
| C．Rheumatic fever can only be caused by strep infection. |
| D．Mozart’s illness cannot be cured even today. |
| A．To back up the Dutchman’s study. |
| B．To prove they were common symptoms causing death in 1791. |
| C．To prove Mozart did have such symptoms before his death. |
| D．To emphasize her special identify as a witness to Mozart’s death. |
2 . About 20 years ago, Daniel Hoffman, a classically trained violinist met a young musician playing in the town square in Marrakech, an ancient city in Morocco. They communicated in the little French they both knew, but their main common language was music. On the back of a motorbike of the fellow violinist, Hoffman weaved through the back streets of the city and then learned his first lessons in Andalusian music, the classical music of North Africa.
That experience gave birth to an idea: What would it be like to try to learn how to play different violin styles around the world in just one week? Oh. yes, and at the end of that week, play a concert. He even got a name for the concept “musical extreme sports”.
It took him almost two decades to launch that dream with a friend, who introduced him to the wonders of Kickstarter, a funding platform for creative projects. Up to now, the dream has taken the form of a new documentary currently airing on American public television stations called “Otherwise, It’s Just Firewood.”
In the documentary, Hoffman travels to County Clare, Ireland, where he takes lessons with James Kelly, a master Irish violin player, for less than a week and then performs together with him in front of an audience, many of whom are star Irish musicians.
The film is what Hoffman hopes will be the first of an eventual series of short documentaries, showing him learning to play the violin in a variety of styles, including the folk music of south India, Sweden, Greece, Romania, and West Virginia.
That would add to his extensive repertoire (全部曲目), which already includes Balkan, Middle Eastern, and Turkish styles. “The big joke is what’s the difference between the fiddle and the violin? It’s the person who plays it,” says Niall Keegan, a traditional flute player. “It’s the music you make on it that makes it Irish or English or French or classical or jazz or whatever else. It’s how we imagine it and how we create through it that make it and give it character.”
“Otherwise, it’s just firewood,” he says, words that became the film’s title.
1. Where does Hoffman’s idea of musical extreme sports come from?| A．His exploration of the local music. |
| B．His cooperation with the young violinist. |
| C．His sightseeing tour on a motorbike seat. |
| D．His constantly changing taste in violin styles. |
| A．help Hoffman to become a master violin player |
| B．are funded by American public television stations |
| C．introduce different styles of musicians around the world |
| D．record Hoffman’s experience in learning various violin styles |
| A．the power of diversified artistic expression |
| B．the pleasure in learning traditional music |
| C．the technique of instrument playing |
| D．the importance of famous artists |
The highlight of this exhibition is the painting Clearing After Snow on a Mountain Pass,
4 . The exact location in France where Dutch master Vincent van Gogh painted his last work of art has been discovered.
A Dutch researcher figured out that a scene described in the artist’s last work, Tee Root, was visible on a postcard showing a man standing next to a bicycle on a back street of the village Auvers-sur-Oise. Van Gogh spent the last weeks of his life in the village. Helpfully, the card even included the name of the street.
Researchers were given a unique glimpse (体验) into the famous painter’s final hours. He was at work right up to the end.
Wouter van der Veen, scientific director of the Van Gogh Institute in France, made the discovery. While stuck at home, van de Veen used the extra time to organize the numerous files and documents on van Gogh, including images such as the old postcard from Auvers-sur-Oise. One day in late April, he saw the card on his computer screen and it suddenly struck him that he was looking at the location of Tree Roots. Next to the man and his bicycle, roots and trees are clearly visible. He took a virtual trip down the site using Google’s Street View.
“Villagers know the spot and the main tree root well, even giving it the name ‘the elephant’ because of its shapes,” van der Veen said. “It was really hiding in overt sight.”
The discovery provides tourists with an extra reason to visit Auvers-sur-Oise. “They travel a lot just for one reason — to walk in the footsteps of Vincent van Gogh. Now they can stand at the very place where he painted his last painting,” van der Veen said. “And that’s a very moving thing for a lot of people. So I’m very happy to be able to share that with all those who love van Gogh.”
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．What the postcard revealed. | B．How Tree Roots was discovered. |
| C．Why Auvers-sur-Oise became known. | D．Where van Gogh painted his works. |
| A．He studied a picture of Auvers-sur-Oise. |
| B．He organized his data on van Gogh. |
| C．He traveled to France to see for himself. |
| D．He paid a visit to the spot online. |
| A．Mixed. | B．Obvious. | C．Lovely. | D．Strange. |
| A．They enjoy exploring how to paint. | B．They share their love for van Gogh. |
| C．They admire van Gogh very much. | D．They want to experience the life there. |
5 . The moment he saw an organ, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart knew what to do with it, Aged six, already skilled at the clavier（键盘乐器）, he came across pedals （踏板） and stops for the first time in an Austrian church. Within moments he was playing an accompaniment and composing on the spot freely. In the following year, 1763, an official in Heidelberg was so astonished by his organ-playing that he had a plate carved for his church to mark the boy's visit. Mozart composed his first symphony at eight.
Youthful promise often declines. With Mozart the opposite was true. Through him classical music may have found its most ideal expression. As Jan Swafford writes in his outstanding biography, Mozart's compositions displayed “a kind of effortless perfection so easily worn that they seem almost to have written themselves”. He drafted quickly, often without needing to revise. He “could express delight by the yard”. A man of his time, Mozart was equally at home composing for the concert salon or the opera stage.
He is the subject of many biographies, but the leading one, by Hermann Aber, is 100 years old and 1, 600 pages long. Safford, himself a composer and a programme-writer, offers an updated and authoritative life, easy to understand, beautifully written, and full of critical judgments and sharp notes on the works.
Mozart' s way with melody （旋律） and keen view of human nature-his letters reveal an almost Dickensian ability to paint characters-combined to promote opera from desserts to a serious medium, the author argues. “His wisdom, his ability to observe people and their weaknesses, his fascination with the craze for love - al this made him the perfect composer" of the form, Mr Swafford thinks.
He was admired in his time. Most of his music stuck to conventional structures yet went over the heads of the average listener. Legend has it that his most important fan, Emperor Joseph II, reacted to one performance with an impressive comment: “Too beautiful for our ears, my dear Mozart!”
1. What does paragraph 1 mainly discuss?| A．The true origin of the symphony. |
| B．Musical instruments in Mozart's time. |
| C．Mozart's remarkable talent for music. |
| D．A friendship between Mozart and an official. |
| A．They sounded perfect. | B．They expressed his criticism. |
| C．They were created hurriedly. | D．They should be performed outdoors. |
| A．By comparing contemporary musicians' works. |
| B．By giving professional and accessible comments. |
| C．By including the remarks of Emperor Joseph II. |
| D．By referring to other writers' constructive advice. |
| A．Creating music for folk stories. |
| B．Inspirations for Dickens' works. |
| C．Reforms of conventional structures. |
| D．Transforming opera to a serious art form. |
6 . In Brazzaville, where art stalls can be found everywhere, local artist Andre N'Kitengue finds his inner peace on canvas in spite of traffic noise. At his
Though coloring his canvas and dealing with
“Brazzaville is an artistic city because of its unique history and we need to pass it on to our younger generations," he says. Andre is also an active teacher who
Andre is
| A．new | B．old | C．outdoor | D．indoor |
| A．darkness | B．loneliness | C．light | D．space |
| A．refuses | B．regrets | C．promises | D．prefers |
| A．lively | B．narrow | C．commercial | D．quiet |
| A．smart | B．positive | C．professional | D．creative |
| A．buyers | B．dealers | C．artists | D．fans |
| A．lacks | B．imagines | C．builds | D．carries |
| A．refers to | B．focuses on | C．stands by | D．gives up |
| A．systems | B．designs | C．reminders | D．effects |
| A．studios | B．paintings | C．investigations | D．reports |
| A．replies | B．introduces | C．adds | D．compares |
| A．depressed | B．united | C．awake | D．alive |
| A．drawing | B．living | C．filming | D．studying |
| A．express | B．explain | C．offer | D．present |
| A．relies on | B．calls at | C．takes in | D．brings up |
| A．Actually | B．Eventually | C．However | D．Meanwhile |
| A．pieces | B．performances | C．interviews | D．stories |
| A．terrified | B．surprised | C．embarrassed | D．confused |
| A．failed | B．worked | C．arrived | D．existed |
| A．cooperation | B．contribution | C．preparation | D．education |
