单选题 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 The 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. These 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 widespread 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 wilt 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.

单选题 We learn from Para. 1 that Gilbert's appointment has ______
A. incurred criticism. B. raised suspicion.
C. received acclaim. D. aroused curiosity.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】本题为归纳题。根据文章第一段第一句“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”可知纽约爱乐乐团决定聘请Alan Gilbert作为下一任的音乐总监，从2009年任命被宣布之日起这就在古典音乐界引起了热议。由此可以看出，人们对Gilbert's appointment是众说纷纭，充满了好奇，所以正确答案为D。

单选题 Tommasini regards Gilbert as an artist who is ______
A. influential. B. modest.
C. respectable. D. talented.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】本题为细节题。根据第二段的第一、二句“One of the reasons why the appointment came as such a surprise, however, is that Gilbert is comparatively little known. Even Tom-masini, who had advocated Gilbert's appointment in The Times, calls him 'an unpretentious musician with no air of the formidable conductor about him'.”可知这个任命让人们惊讶的原因之一是Gilbert相对而言并不是很有名。甚至在时代杂志上发文支持Gilbert任命的Tommasini都称其为：低调的音乐家。由此可知既然Gilbert并不是很有名那他的影响力、受人尊敬以及有才气也就无从谈起了，所以四个选项中只有modest和这个名气大小相关，因此正确答案为B。

单选题 The author believes that the devoted concertgoers ______
A. ignore the expenses of live performances.
B. reject most kinds of recorded performances.
C. exaggerate the variety of live performances.
D. overestimate the value of live performances.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】本题为细节题。根据定位词“devoted concertgoers”可定位到文章第四段，在此段中作者认为忠实的音乐会观众忽略了一些事情，就是唱片很便宜，哪里都能买到，并且比现在很多现场音乐会的艺术质量要高。进一步讲，听众能选择听唱片的时间和地点。这些到处可以获得的唱片给传统的演出机构带来了危机。四个选项中A项所表述的忽略了现场演奏的费用和B项的拒绝大多数的唱片演奏，这两个属于未提及选项。C项有一定的干扰性：the variety of live performances，第三段中是有variety这个单词的，并且在段落中出现了好多并列的成分，这样对于很多没有读懂原文的同学其实是会产生视觉干扰的。但是the variety of live performances这个宾语和动词exaggerate是没有原文依据的。作者一直在说唱片的好，而前面又说concertgoers认为现场演奏不会被唱片代替。这样就是论点上的正话反说了。通过排除法我们直接可以把答案定位到最后一个：高估了现场表演的价值。

单选题 According to the text, which of the following is true about recordings?
A. They are often inferior to live concerts in quality.
B. They are easily accessible to the general public.
C. They help improve the quality of music.
D. They have only covered masterpieces.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】本题为细节题。文章倒数第二段“These 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 widespread availability of such recordings has thus brought about a crisis in the institution of the traditional classical concert”这其中一连串的描述都是在说唱片的好处：价格便宜，容易购买，比现场音乐会的艺术质量高等，由此可知B为正确选项。A项的They are often inferior to live concerts in quality和原文表述相反；C项和D项原文没有提及。而且D项中only的表意太过绝对。故正确答案为B。