问答题 The decision of the New York Philharmonic to hire Alan Gilbert as its next music director has been the talk of the classical-music world ever since the sudden announcement of his appointment in 2009. For the most part, the response has been favorable, to say the least. "Hooray! At last!" wrote Anthony Tommasini, a sober-sided classical-music critic.
One of the reasons why the appointment came as such a surprise, however, is that Gilbert is comparatively little known. Even Tommasini, who had advocated Gilbert's appointment in the Times, calls him "an unpretentious musician with no air of the formidable conductor about him. " As a description of the next music director of an orchestra that has hitherto been led by musicians like Gustav Mahler and Pierre Boulez, that seems likely to have struck at least some Times readers as faint praise.
For my part, I have no idea whether Gilbert is a great conductor or even a good one. To be sure, he performs an impressive variety of interesting compositions, but it is not necessary for me to visit Avery Fisher Hall, or anywhere else, to hear interesting orchestral music. All I have to do is to go to my CD shelf, or boot up my computer and download still more recorded music from iTunes.
Devoted concertgoers who reply that recordings are no substitute for live performance are missing the point. For the time, attention, and money of the art-loving public, classical instrumentalists must compete not only with opera houses, dance troupes, theater companies, and museums, but also with the recorded performances of the great classical musicians of the 20th century. There recordings are cheap, available everywhere, and very often much higher in artistic quality than today's live performances; moreover, they can be "consumed" at a time and place of the listener's choosing. The wide-spread availability of such recordings has thus brought about a crisis in the institution of the traditional classical concert.
One possible response is for classical performers to program attractive new music that is not yet available on record. Gilbert's own interest in new music has been widely noted: Alex Ross, a classical-music critic, has described him as a man who is capable of turning the Philharmonic into "a markedly different, more vibrant organization. " But what will be the nature of that difference? Merely expanding the orchestra's repertoire will not be enough. If Gilbert and the Philharmonic are to succeed, they must first change the relationship between America's oldest orchestra and the new audience it hopes to attract.

【正确答案】纽约爱乐乐团决定聘请Alan Gilbert作为下一任的音乐总监，这个决定自从2009年宣布这项任命时就成为了古典音乐界议论的热点。退一步说，在很大程度上，反应是积极的。Anthony Tommasini是一个冷静的古典音乐评论家，他这样写道：“好啊，终于好了!”
然而，这个任命之所以令人惊讶，原因之一就是：相对而言，Gilbert少有人知。甚至是在《纽约时报》上用户Gilbert任命的Tommasini都称其为“一位谦逊的音乐家，从他身上找不到一点令人敬畏的指挥家的气质”。迄今为止，纽约爱乐乐团一直是由像Gustav Mahler和Pierre Boulez那样的著名音乐家指挥的。如今，如此描述这个乐团的下一任指挥，至少对于《纽约时报》的某些读者而言，这是一种贬低。
就我看来，我不知道Gilbert是否是一个伟大的指挥家或者只是一个好指挥。但有一点我能确定，尽管他能表演出很多有趣的乐章且是人印象深刻，但是我却没必要去艾维费雪音乐厅或其他地方去听一场有趣的交响乐。我要做的事情就是去翻我的CD架，或者打开电脑从iTunes上下载更多的唱片。
音乐会的忠实听众会回答说唱片永远不能代替现场演出，但他们忽略了重点。现在，为了赢取艺术爱好者的时间、关注度和金钱，古典乐器演奏家们不仅要和剧院、舞蹈团、电影公司和博物馆竞争，还要和那些记录了20世纪伟大的古典音乐家演出的唱片竞争。唱片便宜且随处可买，而且常常比如今的现场音乐会的艺术质量要高。另外，听众可以任意选择唱片的时间和地点。唱片的随处可得给传统音乐演出机构带来了危机。
一种可能的回应是，古典音乐演奏者需表演新颖且具吸引力的曲目，而且曲目必须不能在唱片中听到。人们已经广泛关注Gilbert对新音乐的独有兴趣：古典音乐的批评家AlexRoss把他描述为一个可以把交响乐变为“一种迥然不同，而且更具活力的音乐”。但是那种差异的性质是什么呢?仅仅增加乐团的演出曲目还不够。如果Gilbert和他的乐团要想成功的话，他们就必须首先改变美国最古老的乐团和他们想吸引的新观众之间的关系。

【答案解析】[长难句分析]
The decision of the New York Philharmonic to hire Alan Gilbert as its next music director has been the talk of the classical-music world ever since the sudden announcement of his appointment in 2009.
本句句子主干为：The decision has been the talk of the classical-music world。of the New York Philharmonic to hire Alan Gilbert as its next music director 用来作 decision的定语，ever since the sudden announcement of his appointment in 2009为时间状语。本句句意为：纽约爱乐乐团决定聘请Alan Gilbert作为下一任的音乐总监，这个决定自从2009年宣布这项任命时就成为了古典音乐界议论的热点。
2．As a description of the next music director of an orchestra that has hitherto been led by musicians like Gustav Mahler and Pierre Boulez，that seems likely to have struck at least some Times readers as faint praise．
本句句子主干为：that seems likely to have struck Times readers。As部分为方式状语，of the next music director of an orchestra为description的定语，that has hitherto been led by musicians like Gustav Mahler and Pierre Boulez为定语从句，修饰先行词orchestra。弄清楚该句子以上结构之后，则不难理解该句子含义。
3．For the time，attention，and money of the art-loving public，classical instrumentalists must compete not only with opera houses，dance troupes，theater companies，and museums，but also with the recorded performances of the great classical musicians of the 20th century．
本句句子主干为：classical instrumentalists must compete with o For the time，attention，and money of the art-loving public为本句的目的状语，opera houses，dance troupes，theater companies，museums，the recorded performances of the great classical musicians of the 20th century一系列的名词作compete with的并列宾语。句中含有not only…but also结构，意为“不但……，而且……”。