Violinprodigies(神童),Ilearned,havecomeindistinctwavesfromdistinctregions.Mostofthegreatperformersifthelate19thandearly20thcenturieswerebornandbroughtupinRussiaandEasternEurope.IaskedIsaacStern,oneoftheworld’sgreatestvioliniststhereasonforthisphenomenon.Itisveryclear,hetoldme.TheywereallJews(犹太人)andJewsatthetimewereseverelyoppressedandilltreatedinthatpartoftheworld.Theywerenotallowedintotheprofessionalfields,buttheywereallowedtoachieveexcellenceonaconcertstage.Asaresult,everyJewishparent’sdreamwastohaveachildinthemusicschoolbecauseitwasapassporttotheWest.
Anotherelementintheemergenceofprodigies,Ifound,isasocietythatvaluesexcellenceinacertainfieldtonurture(培育)talent.Nowadays,themostnurturingsocietiesseemtobeintheFarEast.“InJapan,amostcompetitivesociety,withstrongerdisciplinethanours.”saysIsaacStem,childrenarereadytotesttheirlimitseverydayinmanyfields,includingmusic.WhenWesternmusiccametoJapanafterWorldWarⅡ,thatmusicnotonlybecamepartoftheirdailylives,butitbecameadisciplineaswell.TheKoreansandChineseasweknow,arejustashighlymotivatedastheJapanese.
That’sagoodthing,becauseevenprodigiesmustworkhard.Nexttohardwork,biologicalinheritanceplaysanimportantroleinthemakingofaprodigy.J.S.Bach,forexample,wasthetopofseveralgenerationsofmusicians,andfourofhissonshadsignificantcareersinmusic.
练习题：
Choosecorrectanswerstothequestion:
1.JewishparentsinEasternEuropelongedfortheirchildrentoattendmusicschoolbecause______.
A.itwouldallowthemaccesstoabetterlifeintheWest
B.Jewishchildrenarebornwithexcellentmusicaltalent
C.theywantedtheirchildrentoenterintotheprofessionalfield
D.itwouldenablethefamilytogetbettertreatmentintheirowncountry
2.Nurturingsocietiesasmentionedinthepassagerefertosocietiesthat______.
A.enforcestrongdisciplineonstudentswhowanttoachieveexcellence
B.treasuretalentandprovideopportunitiesforitsfulldevelopment
C.encouragepeopletocompetewitheachother
D.promisetalentedchildrenhighpositions
3.Japanisdescribedinthepassageasacountrythatattachesimportanceto______.
B.thelearningofWesternmusic
C.stricttrainingofchildren
D.varietyinacademicstudies
4.Whichofthefollowingcontributestotheemergenceofmusicalprodigiesaccordingtothepassage?
B.Extensiveknowledgeofmusic.
D.Aprejudice-freesociety.
5.Whichofthefollowingtitlesbestsummarizesthemainideaofthepassage?
A.JewishContributiontoMusic.
B.TrainingofMusiciansintheWorld
1.[A]原文首段最后一句提到，所有犹太人父母的梦想就是让孩子上音乐学校，由because引导的从句解释了原因，即因为这是通往西方世界的通行证。A项为原文的同义改写，故选A。B、D在文中没有提及，原文中说进入professionalfield是不被允许的,故C不符合。
2.[B]nurturingsocieties出现在文中第2段第2句，很显然nurturingsociety指的是前一句说的“重视在某一特定领域中的优异表现，能培养才能的社会”,B与原文相符。
3.[C]日本在文中作为典型的nurturingsociety的例子，之后提到日本社会竟争激烈，注重规范和纪律，结合这两点可知，C正确。
4.[A]最后一段第2句提到，遗传在天才的产生上也起很重要的作用，即天赋，故选A。其他三项在文中并未提及。
5.[D]本文中，prodigies是一个关键词，四个选项中只有D包含了这一关键词。其他三个选项都只是文中的局部信息，不是文章主旨，均排除。
U633687664
U582121265
