单选题
A World Without Books Or Music

If books had never been discovered, man would have found some other way of recording his communication. But then, for our consideration, we should include as books everything that is a written record. This would include tablets, papyrus and anything else—including computer diskettes. In the case of music, it would be impossible to think that man can live without it. Looking-at primitive cultures, it appears that music is actually a part of the human psyche. When two things are knocked together, music is produced. So for the sake of our discussion,it is intended to restrict the meaning of music to the popularly accepted concept. Music is the pleasing combination of sounds that we like to listen to.
Though it is difficult to, we can pretend that these things never existed. In this case we would not miss them today. To compare with recent inventions, let us look at radio and television Though we cannot think of life without them today, this is so only from comparatively recent times. There are many of us living today who had seen a time when there was no television. They will tell us that life was not that much different. The same is probably true of radio. But books are a different thing because they, or something akin to them, began thousands of years ago. In the case of music, it goes back even further-perhaps to millions of years, we may be able to imagine a world which never saw books, because books are a human invention. However, in the case of music this does not seem possible. Pleasing sounds are all around us, like the singing of the birds and the whistling of the wind. Music just seems to be inborn in us and in the world around us.
If books did not exist, the world will be a poorer place indeed. Great philosophies like Plato's would become unknown and all the pleasures and lessons we could get from them will be lost forever. Then there is literature like the works of the great masters like Shakespeare, Dickens and Jane Austen. What a so sombre, miserable world it will be without the pleasures of reading. Since there are so many other things which depend on reading—like plays, songs and movies—we can expect them to disappear also. It would be a dark and unsatisfying world where knowledge is not propagated; where there are no books to derive pleasure from.
In the case of music, without it the world will be bleak and cold indeed. It would be a terrible world with no cheery tunes, no songs to sing and no great music to lose ourselves in. A world which does not listen to the music of the great masters like Chopin and Beethoven would be a very sorry world. There will not be so many smiles on faces anymore. When we lose music, an expression of a deep part of ourselves—from the soul—is lost. With music, connected activities like dancing will be lost too. A world without music and dancing will bring us back to the Stone Age.
Unlike radio, television, telephones and computers, reading and music are not mere conveniences that we can live without. Reading is crucial for self-expression and for passing on records and knowledge to future generations. Music is part of our very soul. A world without these will not be the world as we know it. In fact, many of us would not want to live in such a world.
单选题 Music is part of the human psyche because ______.
  • A. it is part of primitive culture
  • B. it is something we like to listen to
  • C. it always strikes a chord with us
  • D. it has been produced since ancient times
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 语义理解题。根据上下文判断。“Music just seems to be inborn in us and in the world around us.”即音乐似乎是与生俱来的一种东西，所以本题选D。
单选题 According to the passage, life without television and radio would be ______.
  • A. essentially the same
  • B. very different
  • C. quite boring
  • D. spiritually more satisfying
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 语义理解题。根据上下文判断。“There are many of us living today who had seen a time when there was no television. They will tell us that life was not that much different. The same is probably true of radio.”即我们中的许多人都曾经历过一段没有电视的日子。他们可以告诉我们，与现在相比，那时的生活没有很大的不同。而没有收音机的生活也一样。所以，本题选A。
单选题 It is impossible to imagine a world without music because ______.
  • A. music like books is a human invention
  • B. it is crucial for self-expression
  • C. enjoyable sounds exist in our environment
  • D. plays, songs and movies depend on it
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 语义理解题。根据上下文判断。“Pleasing sounds are all around us; like the singing of the birds and the whistling of the wind. Music just seems to be inborn in us and in the world around us.”我们无时无处不被诸如鸟鸣或风啸等悦耳的声音所包匿着，所以我们无法想象—个没有音乐的世界将会变成怎样。在我们和我们周围的世界中，音乐似乎是与生俱来的一种东西。所以，本题选C。
单选题 A world without books would be ______.
  • A. bleak and cold
  • B. a very sorry world
  • C. dreadfully unsatisfying
  • D. dark and dull
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 语义理解题。根据上下文判断。本题侧重于书籍承传历史和给人带来娱乐的作用，即“It would be a dark and unsatisfying world where knowledge is not propagated;”所以，本题选C。
单选题 Why is music something that we cannot live without?
  • A. Because it is a convenience like the Internet.
  • B. Because we will lose a deep part of ourselves,
  • C. Because we won't have smiles on our faces anymore.
  • D. Because philosophies like Plato's would not exist.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 语义理解题。根据上下文判断。“When we lose music, an expression of a deep part of ourselves—from the soul—is lost.”当我们失去音乐，我们就好像失去了心灵深处的表达方式。即音乐是我们心灵，我们灵魂的一部分。所以，本题选C。