| A．Pop music. | B．Light music. | C．Classical music. |
In May, 2023, the National Museum of China (NMC) launched
Inspired by The Pottery Storyteller Beating A Drum, a piece in the NMC’s collection from the Eastern Han Dynasty,
Dialogues across time and space are happening in new ways at the NMC. The bronze (青铜) exhibits from the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties
Since 2018, the NMC
3 . Helena Blumen, a cognitive (认知的) scientist, says the complicated mental multi-tasking that dancing requires engages various parts of the brain at the same time, leading to the strengthening of neural (神经系统的) connections across different regions.
Anyone who’s ever felt the irresistible urge to dance to a favorite song knows that combining music and movement can lift your mood and melt away stress. But there’s a lot more happening in your brain when you’re trying to follow even the easiest choreography (编舞).
To learn how the mechanisms of dancing work in the brain, researchers conducted MRI scans on older adults who engaged in either dance or a traditional exercise program over six months.
The researchers assume that these brain changes contribute to more neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to form new connections and pathways.
| A．Moreover, dancing can help prevent brain injuries |
| B．In addition to the physical and neurological benefits |
| C．The effect extends beyond dancing to the real world |
| D．While both groups improved their level of physical fitness |
| E．Dancing might even help people with brain injuries and diseases |
| F．Imagine your brain is like a city with loads of roads and pathways |
| G．Basically, dancing requires more brain power than commonly believed |
4 . When Belquer first joined a team to make a better live music experience for deaf and hard-of-hearing people, he was struck by how they had developed more solutions to enjoy concerts. “What they were doing at the time was holding balloons to feel the vibrations (震动) through theirfingers,” Belquer said. He thought the team could make something to help hard-of-hearing people enjoy live music even more with the technology now available.
Belquer, who is also a musician and theater artist, is now the “Chief Vibration Officer” of Music: Not Impossible, which uses new technology to address social issues like poverty and disability access. His team started by tying different vibrating cell phone motors to bodies, but that didn’t quite work. The vibrations were all the same. Eventually, they worked with engineers to develop a light haptic (触觉的) suit with a total of 24 vibrating plates. There are 20 of them tied to a undershirt that fits tightly around the body like a hiking backpack, plus one that ties to each wrist and ankle. When you wear the suit, it’s surprising how it feels.
The vibrations are mixed by a haptic DJ who controls the location, frequency and intensity of feeling across the suits, just as a music DJ mixes sounds in an artful way. “What we’re doing is selecting and mixing what we want and send it to different parts of the body,” said the DJ. The haptic suits were just one component of the event. There were American Sign Language interpreters; the music was displayed on a screen on the stage.
The suits are the star attraction. Lily Lipman, who has auditory processing disorder, lit up when asked about her experience. “It’s cool, because I’m never quite sure if I’m hearing what other people are hearing, so it’s amazing to get the music in my body.”
1. What surprised Belquer about people with hearing problems?| A．The attitude they held to life. | B．The way they enjoyed music. |
| C．The love they had for balloons. | D．The frequency they vibrated fingers. |
| A．The vibrations lacked variety. | B．The vibrations were irregular. |
| C．The motors were the same. | D．The motors hardly worked. |
| A．Displaying music on the stage. |
| B．Selecting proper suits for participants. |
| C．Mixed methods helping people feel the music. |
| D．Interpreters with excellent sign language skills. |
| A．It’s comforting. | B．It’s challenging. | C．It’s satisfying. | D．It’s disturbing. |
5 . On April 3, at 7:30 p.m., the Symphony (交响乐团) of Oak Park & River Forest will hold their sixth concert at Symphony Center on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. This event has been a long time coming. After 2010, the Symphony performed a concert at the Avenue every two years until 2020, when the concert was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, they finally decided that the time was right to reschedule.
The concert will have two parts: the world premiere (首次公演) of Alex Groesch’s Symphony No. 3 and Hector Berlioz’s Te Deum, which hasn’t been performed in Chicago since 1982. The whole performance will last about 90 minutes.
Alex Groesch’s piece was not part of the original 2020 program, but it was added to this spring’s concert. “Music director Jay Friedman had this idea to premiere Alex’s symphony. It turned out to be a shrewd move as it’s gotten a lot of interest. Alex is a young musical talent,” said David Leehey, the president of the Symphony board.
This is the second time one of Alex’s symphonies will be performed. Alex, 28, started working on this symphony about five years ago, and began taking it a lot more seriously last year. He also received guidance from Friedman. Alex described his work as being in the Romantic style, and said his goal is to bring out nostalgic (怀旧的) feelings in people.
The second piece, Te Deum, was originally composed for Napoleon III’ s coronation (加冕典礼) in 1852, but it was not actually performed until 1855. The idea for performing Te Deum came from Leehey. He performed it when he was 22 years old and the audience loved it. He said it’s more approachable to an audience that may not be that musical.
The excitement is growing, and the Symphony hopes the community will come out to support their performance at the Symphony Center in downtown Chicago.
1. Why is the upcoming concert so exciting?| A．It marks a long-awaited return. |
| B．It will feature two new symphonies. |
| C．It will be held in Chicago for the first time. |
| D．It is the longest performance in Chicago’ s history. |
| A．Rapid. | B．Wise. | C．Generous. | D．Unexpected. |
| A．It is his first symphony. |
| B．It was inspired by Friedman. |
| C．It aims to encourage people to work hard. |
| D．It was the outcome of years of effort. |
| A．It is his favorite musical piece. | B．It has long been popular in France. |
| C．It is easy for people to understand. | D．It will bring in a handsome profit. |
6 . MUSICAL HERITAGES FROM ANCIENT CHINA
Since remote antiquity, Chinese people have used music to record their lives and describe the ideals in their hearts. Catchy tunes are not only played on precious instruments, but also visualized in carvings, paintings, and buildings. Feel free to explore here!
Han Dynasty (202 BC — AD 220)
This period marked the significant development of the manufacturing of guqin and its music. The example unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tomb in Changsha, Hunan province, proves that guqin had developed into the form known today during that period.
Northern Wei Dynasty (386 — 534)
Buddhism (佛教) and its musical culture spread extensively during this period. Buddhist temples provided places for musical activities, which were recorded in many of the-existing stone carvings. Located in Gongyi, Henan province, the Grotto Temple is famous for its reliefs (浮雕) representing musical events. They are precious historical materials reflecting the music characteristics of the dynasty.
Song Dynasty (960 — 1279)
With economic development, a variety of musical cultures emerged to meet the entertainment needs of different social classes. Part of the painting “Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival” vividly reveals a storytelling performance. The painter adopted delicate techniques to truly record a street performer, whose superb skills are reflected by each listener’s show of appreciation.
Ming Dynasty (1368 — 1644)
At this time, traditional Chinese operas developed rapidly, promoting the formation of many singing styles. People began to enjoy operas and drama stages were built. Covering a construction area of more than 160 square meters, the Fancun village drama stage in Shanxi province provides rich materials for the study of the local folk culture.
1. Which heritage would a fan of classical instruments explore?| A．The Ming Dynasty drama stage. | B．The Song Dynasty painting. |
| C．The Northern Wei Dynasty temple. | D．The Han Dynasty tomb. |
| A．Religion. | B．Economy. | C．Politics. | D．Technology. |
| A．Ming Dynasty witnessed the boom of traditional Chinese operas. |
| B．Most of the drama stages were built during the Northern Wei Dynasty. |
| C．The musical culture of Buddhism was developed during the Han Dynasty. |
| D．Buddhist temples were the main places for music al activities in the Song Dynasty. |
7 . Music can really affect your well-being, learning, quality of life, and even happiness. The fact that music can make a difficult task more tolerable may be why students often choose to listen to it while doing their homework. But is listening to music the smart choice for students who want to improve their learning? A new study suggests that for some students, listening to music is a wise strategy, but for others, it isn’t. The effect of music on cognitive (认知的) function appears to depend partly on your personality — specifically, on your need for external stimulation (刺激).
Researchers not only assessed listeners’ personality but also changed the difficulty of the task and the complexity of the music. Participants first completed a personality test used to determine the need for external stimulation. Then, they engaged in an easy cognitive task (searching for the letter A in lists of words) and a more challenging one (remembering word pairs) in order. Participants finished both tasks under one of two sound conditions: (1) no music, (2) with music.
The data suggests that for those with a high need of external stimulation, on the simple task of finding A’s, the scores for the music condition were significantly worse than those for the silent condition. On the complex task of learning word pairs, their performance was worse whenever music was played. For those with a low need of external stimulation, however, on the simple task, such participants’ scores for the music condition were much better than those for the silent condition. On the complex task of learning word pairs, the participants showed a small but reliable benefit when listening to music.
According to the study, there are individual differences in the impact of music on cognitive function. Students who are easily bored and who seek out stimulation should be cautious of adding music to the mix. On the other hand, students with a low need for stimulation may benefit significantly from the presence of music.
With the right personality, the right music and the right task, the presence of music may significantly improve cognitive functioning. Given the benefits of music, subscription to Spotify will be rewarding!
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To explain what is stimulation. | B．To lead into the topic. |
| C．To make a prediction. | D．To offer some advice. |
| A．It is done under one and only sound condition. |
| B．Participants only need to complete a personality test. |
| C．The difficulty of the two tasks decreased in the experiment. |
| D．Participants were grouped by their needs for external stimulation. |
| A．The complexity of tasks might reduce the benefit of music. |
| B．Students should listen to music when performing complex tasks. |
| C．Students with less external stimulation perform badly with music. |
| D．The presence of music benefits students who seek for external stimulation. |
| A．A dictionary. |
| B．A psychology journal. |
| C．A music platform. |
| D．A personality test. |
8 . Linda, a sixteen-year-old girl, was a “violinist” of average level, who had basic violin playing skills but was neither particularly outstanding nor bad. She just learned to play the violin at the request of her father.
This year, the school music festival came on time. As usual, Linda accompanied the lead singer with her violin, and the rehearsals (彩排) went well. During a break, noticing Linda always play her violin, a teacher asked Linda if she would sing a song. But Linda refused, saying that she had never sung in public places because she was not good at it. The teacher told her, “Each of us seems to have something that we are not good at, but as long as we are brave enough to try, there may be surprises.” Linda still didn’t have the courage, and the teacher encouraged her again, “You are a brave girl, and I believe you can try your best.”
Thrilled and nervous, Linda finally chose to sing Mystery of Life. Everyone was surprised by her voice. She had such a talent for singing! All the students cheered for her! Without such an unexpected opportunity and that teacher, she might have never found her gift. Now she has become one of the best known singers in her city.
Everyone has some talent. If you think you have no talent, you either haven’t discovered yours yet or don’t consider it a talent because it’s not all that useful. You may be able to build a huge house of cards but you don’t think it’s a talent. With confidence and effort, some skills can be unlocked and improved. In your life, you should be brave and confident enough to try doing different things and find out what talents you really have.
1. Linda chose to sing because ______| A．the teacher encouraged her to sing. | B．she got lots of applause that night. |
| C．she wanted to show everyone her talent. | D．she didn’t want to play the violin that night. |
| A．Strict and sensitive. | B．Kind and patient. |
| C．Rude and unfriendly. | D．Honest and humorous. |
| A．Building a huge house of cards isn’t a talent. | B．Confidence and effort help find out talent. |
| C．All skills can be unlocked and improved. | D．Not everyone in the world has a talent. |
| A．It’s important to encourage others. | B．The story of a song Mystery of Life. |
| C．A violinist became a famous singer. | D．We should find out our real talent. |
9 . For some people, music is no fun at all. About four percent of the population is what scientists call “amusic”. People who are amusic are born without the ability to recognize or reproduce musical notes. Amusic people often cannot tell the difference between two songs. Amusics can only hear the difference between two notes if they are far apart on the musical scale.
As a result, songs sound like noise to an amusic. Many amusics compare the sound of music to pieces of metal hitting each other. Life can be hard for amusics. Their ability to enjoy music sets them apart from others. It can be difficult for other people to identify with their condition. In fact, most people cannot begin to grasp what it feels like to be amusic. Just going to a restaurant or a shopping mall can be uncomfortable or even painful. That is why many amusics intentionally stay away from places where there is music. However, this can result in withdrawal and social isolation. “I used to hate parties,” says Margaret, a seventy-year-old woman who only recently discovered that she was amusic. By studying people like Margaret, scientists are finally learning how to identify this unusual condition.
Scientists say that the brains of amusics are different from the brains of people who can appreciate music. The difference is complex, and it doesn’t involve defective hearing. Amusics can understand other nonmusical sounds well. They also have no problems understanding ordinary speech. Scientists compare amusics to people who just can’t see certain colors.
Many amusics are happy when their condition is finally diagnosed (诊断). For years, Margaret felt embarrassed about her problem with music. Now she knows that she is not alone. There is a name for her condition. That makes it easier for her to explain. “When people invite me to a concert I just say, ‘No, thanks. I’m amusic,’” says Margaret. “I just wish I had learned to say that when I was seventeen and not seventy.”
1. Which of the following is true of amusics?| A．They can easily tell two different songs apart. |
| B．Their situation is well understood by musicians. |
| C．Listening to music is far from enjoyable for them. |
| D．They love places where they are likely to hear music. |
| A．has a hearing problem | B．can hear anything nonmusical |
| C．dislikes listening to speeches | D．lacks a complex hearing system |
| A．she were able to meet other amusics | B．her problem could be easily explained |
| C．she were seventeen years old rather than seventy | D．her problem with music had been diagnosed earlier |
| A．Identification and treatment of amusics. | B．Some people’s inability to enjoy music. |
| C．Amusics’ strange behaviour. | D．Musical talent and brain structure. |
10 . Music exists almost every human culture on earth. The oldest discovered musical instruments date back over 40,000 years to the Stone Age.
In prehistoric times, music promoted tighter social bonding between group members. Singing and drumming together released chemicals like dopamine and endorphins, inducing positive emotions that strengthened social connections.
Early music likely aided communication too. Rhythmic drumbeats and calls organized the actions and movements of groups during hunts or battle. Singing while working made labor less boring. Mothers may have sung primitive tunes to children as an early form of emotional communication.
In all these ways, music increased survival chances in human evolution. Natural selection then embedded (嵌入) the capacity for music into our biology. Supporting this, scientists have discovered specific regions of the brain devoted to musical processing. Children have an inborn ability to detect musical patterns and different tonal pitches.
| A．Music also strengthened defenses. |
| B．Music can bring humans a lot of joy. |
| C．Music also helped to win the battle. |
| D．But scientists believe music itself could be much older than that. |
| E．We connect with music now simply because we are born to do so. |
| F．Even patients with severe dementia (痴呆) respond actively to their favorite childhood songs. |
| G．This allowed groups to cooperate better in hunting, children-caring and protection against outside threats. |
