新東方：大學英語四級考試閱讀講義(三)

　　One more important part of music's material culture should be singled out: the influence of the electronic media — radio, record player, tape recorder, television, and videocassette, 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 was in the nineteenth. These electronic media are not just limited to modern nations; they have affected music-cultures all over the globe.

　　21. Research into the material culture of a nation is of great importance because .

　　A) it helps produce new cultural tools and technology

　　B) it can reflect the development of the nation

　　C) it helps understand the nation's past and present

　　D) it can demonstrate the nation's civilization

　　22. It can be learned from this passage that .

　　A) the existence of the symphony was attributed to the spread of Near Eastern and Chinese music

　　B) Near Eastern music had an influence on the development of the instruments in the symphony orchestra

　　C) the development of the symphony shows the mutual influence of Eastern and Western music

　　D) the musical instruments in the symphony orchestra were developed on the basisof Near Eastern music

　　23. According to the author, music notation is important because .

　　A) it has a great effect on the music-culture as more and more people are able to read it

　　B) it tends to standardize folk songs when it is used by folk musicians

　　C) it is the printed version of standardized folk music

　　D) it encourages people to popularize printed versions of songs

　　24. It can be concluded from the passage that the introduction of electronic media into the world of music .

　　A) has brought about an information revolution

　　B) has speeded up the arrival of a new generation of computers

　　C) has given rise to new forms of music culture

　　D) has led to the transformation of traditional musical instruments

　　25. Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

　　A) Musical instruments developed through the years will sooner or later be replaced by computers.

　　B) Music cannot be passed on to future generations unless it is recorded.

　　C) Folk songs cannot be spread far unless they are printed on music sheets.

　　D) The development of music culture is highly dependent on its material aspect.

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:

　　The question of whether war is inevitable is one which has concerned many of the world's great writers. Before considering this question, it will be useful to introduce some related concepts. Conflict, defined as opposition among social entities directed against one another, is distinguished from competition, defined as opposition among social entities independently striving for something which is in inadequate supply. Competitors may not be aware of one another, while the parties to a conflict are. Conflict and competition are both categories of opposition, which has been defined as a process by which social entities function in the disservice of one another. Opposition is thus contrasted with cooperation, the process by which social entities function in the service of one another. These definitions are necessary because it is important to emphasize that competition between individuals or groups is inevitable in a world of limited resources, but conflict is not. Conflict, nevertheless, is very likely to occur, and is probably an essential and desirable element of human societies.

　　Many authors have argued for the inevitability of war from the premise that in the struggle for existence among animal species, only the fittest survive. In general, however, this struggle in nature is competition, not conflict. Social animals, such as monkeys and cattle, fight to win or maintain leadership of the group. The struggle for existence occurs not in such fights, but in the competition for limited feeding areas and for the occupancy (占有) of areas free from meat-eating animals. Those who fail in this competition starve to death or become victims to other species. This struggle for existence does not resemble human war, but rather the competition of individuals for jobs, markets, and materials. The essence of the struggle is the competition for the necessities of life that are insufficient to satisfy all.