考研英语阅读理解-(七)
(总分：100.00，做题时间：90分钟)
一、{{B}}Section Ⅰ Reading Comprehension{{/B}}(总题数：4，分数：100.00)扶危救困
Music is a mystery. It is unique to the human race: no other species produces elaborate sound for no particular reason. It has been, and remains, part of every known civilization on Earth. Lengths of bone fashioned into flutes were in u 40,000 years ago. And it engages people's attention more comprehensively than almost anything el: scans show that when people listen to music, virtually every area of their brain becomes more active.
Yet it rves no obvious adaptive purpo. Charles Darwin, in "'The Descent of Man", noted that "neither the enjoyment nor the capacity of producing musical notes are faculties of the least direct u to man in reference to his ordinary habits of life." Then, what is the point of nmsic. Steven Pinker, a cognitive psychologist, has called music "auditory cheecake, an exquisite confection crafted to tickle the nsitive spots of at least six of our mental faculties." If it vanished from our species, he said "the rest of our lifestyle would be virtually
unchanged." Others have argued that, on the contrary, music, along with art and literature, is part of what makes people human; its abnce would have a brutalizing effect.
Philip Ball, a British science writer and an avid music enthusiast, comes down somewhere in the middle. He says that music is ingrained in our auditory, cognitive and motor functions. We have a music instinct as much as a language instinct, and could not rid ourlves of it. He goes through each component of music to explain how and why it works, using plentiful examples drawn from a refreshingly wide range of different kinds of music, from Bach to the Beatles, and from nurry rhymes to jazz.
His basic message is encouraging and uplifting: people know much more about music than they think. They start picking up the rules from the day they are born, perhaps even before, by hearing it all around them. Very young children can tell if a tune or harmony is not quite right and most adults can differentiate between kinds of music even if they have had no training.
Music is completely {{U}}sui generis{{/U}}. It should not tell a non-musical story; the listen
er will decode it for himlf. Many, perhaps most, people have experienced a sudden rush of emotion on hearing a particular piece of music; a thrill or chill, a n of excitement or exhilaration, a feeling of being swept away by it. They may even be moved to tears, without being able to tell why. Musical analysts have tried hard to find out how this happens, but with little success. Perhaps some mysteries are best prerved.（分数：25.00）
入团志愿书格式(1).It can be inferred from the first paragraph that
∙ A. except mankind species produce sounds with specific purpos.
∙ B. the earliest flutes were made of bones 40,000 years ago.
∙ C. people's attention is more attentively attracted by music.
∙ D. people's brains go inactive in an environment with no music.
（分数：5.00）
A.
B.
C. √
D.
解析：
(2).To which of the following statements would Steven Pinker most probably agree?
∙ A. Music lves no facility for the formation of people's habits.
∙ B. Music and exquisite desrt share great similarities.
∙ C. The abnce of music brings little effect to human life.
∙ D. Music helps to era the brutal characteristics in human.
（分数：5.00）
A.
B.
C. √
D.
解析：
(3).According to Philip Ball's rearch, which of the following is true?
∙ A. Human beings are born to be professional musicians.
∙ B. There exist no sharp differences among various types of music.
∙ C. People usually learn music by means of hearing around.
∙ D. Mankind poss a natural music instinct and can't wipe it off.
（分数：5.00）
数学教学反思 A.
B.
C.
D. √
解析：
(4).The saying "sui generis" (Line 1, Para. 5) is clost in meaning to
∙ A. unique.
∙ B. touching.
∙ C. overwhelming.
∙ D. mysterious.
（分数：5.00）
A. √
B.
C.
D.
解析：
(5).Which of the following would be the best title of the text?
∙ A. Sounds Wonderful-The Science of Music
∙ B. Mission Impossible-The Mystery of Music
∙ C. Touching Always-The Power of Music
∙ D. Anti-Brutalization-The Effect of Music
（分数：5.00）
A. √
B.
C.
D.
解析：
As people in rich countries know very well, eating too much food and burning too few calories is why a substantial number of us are overweight or obe. Now, however, a remarkable change in perspective has come from the discovery that obesity actually provides people with temporary protection from the harmful effects of fat.
The insight has come from re-examining the common assumption that fatness itlf drives the development of metabolic syndrome, which is what caus so much of the actual damage. The syndrome comes with a mixture of fife-threatening effects, with cardiovascular dia (dias relating to the heart and blood vesls) and type 2 diab
etes being among the most rious. In fact, it now ems that body fat may be a barrier that stops millions of Americans and fatty citizens elwhere from going on to develop the syndrome. And the real damage is caud by the inflammatory effect of high levels of fat in the bloodstream. And ironically, it's fat cells that protect us from this by rving as toxic dumps, locking away the real villains of the modem diet.
The problem is that this protection only lasts so long, until there is simply no more room inside the fat cells. That's when they start to break down, leading to a toxic spill into the bloodstream. This ts off an inflammatory respon that caus various kinds of damage to body tissues. In this way, every excess calorie takes people clor to metabolic syndrome.
So what can we do to stop a superabundance of fat triggering the syndrome? Of cour there's no substitute for a healthy diet and exerci, but incitation to this effect em to be of limited u. As with cigarettes and alcohol, a tax on calories-pricing foods by their energy content-is increasingly en as another "lever" to change behaviour by malting obesity too costly.
The new rearch may even suggest treatments to combat metabolic syndrome, such as antiinflammatory drugs. One promising candidate is salsalate, an arthritis drug related to aspirin, and the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston is now considering large-scale trials.
What might be more helpful, though, is simply a wider recognition that fatty and sugary foods are more directly toxic than we had assumed. Ideally, people should be as well informed about the harmful effects of what they eat as, for example, pregnant women are about drinking and smoking.
There is a consolation-you have your fat tissue to protect you when you consume that extra burger or sweetened soda. But now you know the perils of pushing your friendly fat cells beyond their natural limits.（分数：25.00）
(1).It's implied in the first paragraph that the reasons for obesity include overeating and
∙ A. lacking exerci.
∙ B. absorbing fats.
∙ C. keeping unhealthy diets.
∙ D. burning calories.
（分数：5.00）
A. √
B.
眷顾的意思 C.
D.
解析：
(2).From Paragraph 2 we know that the real villain of actual damages is
∙ A. fat cells.
∙ B. metabolic syndrome.
∙ C. cardiovascular dia.
脚上掉皮
∙ 雪霰学校陪餐制度D. bloodstream fats.
（分数：5.00）
A.
B. √
C.
D.
解析：
(3).The protective function of fat cells stop working once
∙ A. their capacity reaches a limit.
∙ B. toxin spills into the bloodstream.
∙ C. an inflammatory respon appears.
∙ D. metabolic syndrome is developed.
（分数：5.00）爱好与特长
A. √
B.
C.
D.
解析：
(4).The author indicates in the text that obesity can be restricted by
∙ A. putting fat's protective function to full u.
∙ B. unifying people's diet and exerci habits.
∙ C. raising the prices of cigarettes and alcohol.
