单选题 Material culture refers to the touchable, material "things"—physical objects that can be seen, held, felt, used—that a culture produces. Examining a culture's tools and technology can tell us about the group's history and way of life. Similarly, research into the material culture of music can help us to understand the music-culture.
The most vivid body of "things" in it, of course, is musical instrument. We cannot hear for ourselves the actual sound of any musical performance before the 1870s when the phonograph was invented, so we rely on instruments for important information about music-cultures in the remote past and their development. Here we have two kinds of evidence: instruments well preserved and instruments pictured in art. Through the study of instruments, as well as paintings, written documents, and so on, we can explore the movement of music from the Near East to China over a thousand years ago, or we can outline the spread of Near Eastern influence to Europe that resulted in the development of most of the instruments on the symphony orchestra.
Sheet music or printed music, too, is material culture. Scholars once defined folk music-cultures as those in which people learn and sing music by ear rather than from print. But research shows mutual influence among oral and written sources during the past few centuries in Europe, Britain and America. Printed versions limit variety because they tend to standardize any song, yet they stimulate people to create new and different songs. Besides, the ability to read music notation has a far-reaching effect on musicians and, when it becomes widespread, on the music-culture as a whole.
Music is deep-rooted in the cultural background that fosters it. We now pay more and more attention to traditional or ethnic features in folk music and are willing to preserve the folk music as we do with many traditional cultural heritages. Musicians all over the world are busy with recording classic music in their country for the sake of their unique culture. As always, people's aspiration will always focus on their individuality rather than universal features that are shared by all cultures alike.
One more important part of music's material culture should be singled out: the influence of the electronic media—radio, record player, tape recorder, and television, with the future promising talking and singing computers and other developments. This is all part of the "information-revolution", a twentieth century phenomenon as important as the industrial revolution in the nineteenth. These electronic media are not just limited to modern nations; they have affected music-cultures all over the globe.

单选题 All of the following can be included in the material culture of music except
A. phonograph. B. music book.
C. television. D. symphony.

单选题 Examining musical instruments can tell us about
A. the early history of immigration.
B. music activities of ancient people.
C. the actual musical performance.
D. the spread of classical music.

单选题 The disadvantage of printed music lies in it
A. gives a fixed form to songs.
B. limits the imagination of musicians.
C. puts an end to the existence of oral music.
D. slows down the spread of music culture.

单选题 What can we infer from of Paragraph 4?
A. Folk music is a part of the traditional music culture.
B. Priority is given to the protection of traditional music.
C. The universal features of culture are limited to modern music.
D. Classic music is more valuable for the study of culture.

单选题 Which of the following is the main idea of the text?
A. The study of the material culture of music.
B. The research into the musical instruments.
C. The influence of culture on music.
D. Information revolution of the musical culture.