Part Ⅳ Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)

Section A

Direction: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete stamens. Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words. Please write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.

Question 47 to 51 are based on the following passage

Highly proficient musicianship is hard won. Although it’s often assumed musical ability us inherited, there’s abundant evidence that this isn’t the case. While it seems that at birth virtually everyone has perfect pitch, the reasons that one child is better than another are motivation and practice.

Highly musical children were sung to more as infants and more encouraged to join in song games as kids than less musical ones, long before any musical ability could have been evident. Studies of classical musicians prove that the best ones practiced considerably more from childhood onwards than ordinary orchestral players, and this is because their parents were at them to put in the hours from a very young age.

The same was true of children selected for entry to specialist music schools, compared with those who were rejected. The chosen children had parents who had very actively supervised music lessons and daily practice from young ages, giving up substantial periods of leisure time to take the children to lessons and concerts.

The singer Michael Jackson’s story, although unusually brutal and extreme, is illumination when considering musical prodigy(天才). Accounts suggest that he was subjected to cruel beatings and emotional torture ,and that he was humiliated (羞辱) constantly by his father, What sets Jackson’s family apart is that his father used his reign of terror to train his children as musicians and dancers.

On top of his extra ability Michael also had more drive. This may have been the result of being the closest of his brothers and sisters to his mother. “He seemed different to me from the other children — special,” Michael’s mother said of him. She may not have realized that treating her son as special may have been part of the reason be became like that.

All in all, if you want to bring up a Mozart or Bach, the key factor is how hard you are prepared to crack the whip. Thankfully, most of us will probably settle for a bit of fun on the recorder and some ill-executed pieces of music-on the piano from our children.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

47．According to the author, a child’s musical ability has much to do with their .

48. In order to develop the musical ability of their children, many parents will accompany them during their practice sacrificing a lot of then own .

49. Because of their father’s pressure and strict training, Michael Jackson and some of his brothers and sisters eventually became .

50. Michael’s extra drive for music was partly due to the fact that he was

by his mother.

51. To bring up a great musician like Mozart or Bach, willingness to be strict with your child is