| A．On the CD. | B．On the Internet. | C．On the radio. |
2 . What are two things that make humans different from animals? One is language, and the other is music. It is true that some animals can sing (and many birds sing. better than a lot of people). However, the songs of animals, such as birds and whales, are very limited. It is also true that humans, not animals, have developed musical instruments.
Music is strange stuff. It is clearly different from language. However, people can use music to communicate things—especially their emotions. When music is combined with speech in a song, it is a very powerful form of communication.
If music is truly different from speech, then we should process music and language in different parts of the brain. The scientific evidence suggests that this is true. Sometimes people who suffer brain damage lose their ability to process language. However, they don't automatically lose their musical abilities. For example, Vissarion Shebalin, a Russian composer, had a stroke in 1953. It injured the left side of his brain. He could no longer speak or understand speech. He could, however, still compose music until his death ten years later. On the other hand, sometimes strokes cause people to lose their musical ability, but they can still speak and understand speech.
Why does music have such a strong effect on us? That is a harder question to answer. Geoffrey Miller, a researcher at University College, London, thinks that music and love have a strong connection. Music requires special talent, practice, and physical ability. That's why it may be a way of showing your fitness to be someone's mate. For example, singing in tune or playing a musical instrument requires fine muscular control. You also need a good memory to remember the notes.
And playing or singing those notes correctly suggests that your hearing is in excellent condition. Finally, when a man sings to the woman he loves, it may be a way of showing off.
However, Miller's theory still doesn't explain why certain combinations of sounds influence our emotions so deeply. For scientists, this is clearly an area that needs further research of sounds influence our emotions so deeply. For scientists, this is clearly an area that needs further research.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To introduce the main topic. | B．To show the author's attitude. |
| C．To analyze causes. | D．To describe a process. |
| A．is translated into a language | B．is combined with speech |
| C．is sung by some famous musician | D．is mixed with the cry of an animal |
| A．he is one of the luckiest person |
| B．he is really interested in composing music |
| C．the brain processes music and language separately |
| D．music and language are two different things for some |
| A．Effects of music on humans works. | B．A study on how music works |
| C．Reasons why music affects us. | D．Ways of using music in daily life. |
3 . Probably no other musical instrument is as popular as the guitar. Musicians use the guitar for almost every kind of music. Country and western music would not be the same without a guitar. The traditional Spanish folk music called Flamenco could not exist without a guitar. The sound of American blues music would not be the same without the sad cry of the guitar. And rock and roll music would almost be impossible Without this instrument.
Some music experts say an instrument very much like a guitar was played in Egypt more than one thousand years ago. Some other experts say that the ancestor of the modern guitar was brought to Spain from Persia sometime in the twelfth century. The guitar continued to develop in Spain. In the 1700s, it became similar to the instrument we know today.
Many famous musicians played the instrument. The famous Italian violinist Niccolo Paganinni played and wrote music for the guitar in the early 1800s. Franz Schubert used the guitar to write some of his famous works. One kind of music for the guitar developed in the southern area of Spain called Adalusia. It will always be strongly linked with the Spanish guitar. It is called Flamenco.
In the 1930s, Les Paul began experimenting with ways to make an electric guitar. He invented the solid body electric guitar in 1946. The guitar has always been important to blues music. With the electric guitar, Les Paul helped make modern blues music possible. There have been many great blues guitarists. Yet, music experts say all blues guitar players are measured against one man and his famous guitar. That man is B. B. King. Every blues fan knows that years ago B. B. King named his guitar Lucille. Here B. B. King plays Lucille on his famous recording of “The Thrill Is Gone”. Lucille, B. B. King's large, beautiful black guitar, is important to American music. Visitors can see King's very first guitar at the Rock and Soul Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. The museum is the only permanent exhibit organized by the Smithsonian Institution outside Washington, D. C., and New York City.
1. Where did the modern guitar finally come into being?| A．Egypt. | B．Spain. |
| C．Persia. | D．Italy. |
| A．It is the name of a famous musician. | B．It is related to Spanish guitar. |
| C．It is also called Adalusia. | D．It is the name of a guitar. |
| A．The electric guitar promoted the development of the blues. |
| B．The musician B. B. King named his guitar Lucille. |
| C．The Rock and Soul Museum first opened in Memphis. |
| D．The exhibit was first organized by the Smithsonian Institution. |
| A．Traditional Folk Music | B．Flamenco and Guitar |
| C．Violinist and Blues | D．Guitar and Music |
4 . Are you interested in country music? I like it very much! It will take me away for a while after I am tired. The guitars and songs will take me to mountains and fields. Country music usually talks of everyday life and feelings. It’s the spirit of America, easy to understand, slow and simple. Country music developed in the Southern United States. It was the folk music of American countryside. Many of songs tell about the lives of farmers. They talk about love, crops or death.
The life of the countryside can be hard, so the words in country music are often sad. At first, people played the music only at family parties. But it became more popular later. In the 1920s, people played country songs on the radio, and they made them into records. When people in the countryside moved to towns and cities to look for work, they took their music with them. Country music continued to change and became popular across America. John Denver was one of America’s most famous country singers in the 1970s. His song “ Take Me home, Country Roads ” is well-known and people still play it today.
1. Country music is usually about _______.| A．people’s everyday life and feelings | B．farmer’s feelings |
| C．the lives of workers | D．workers’ feelings |
| A．in John Denver’s city | B．in the Southern United States |
| C．in the Northern United States | D．in the Western United States |
| A．in the 1920s | B．in 1920 |
| C．in the 1970s | D．in 1970 |
| A．A farmer in the countryside. | B．A person who moved to towns |
| C．John Denver. | D．Denver John |
