形式特征

内容特征

Passages are drawn from the physical sciences, the biological sciences, the social sciences, the arts and humanities, and everyday topics, and are based on material found in books and periodicals, both academic and nonacademic.

题型特征

(Official Guide, Sample Questions) ★

①Reviving the practice of using elements of popular music in classical composition, an approach that had been in hibernation in the United States during the 1960s, composer Philip Glass (born 1937) embraced the ethos of popular music in his compositions. ②Glass based two symphonies on music by rock musicians David Bowie and Brian Eno, but the symphonies’ sound is distinctively his. ③Popular elements do not appear out of place in Glass’s classical music, which from its early days has shared certain harmonies and rhythms with rock music. ④Yet this use of popular elements has not made Glass a composer of popular music. ⑤His music is not a version of popular music packaged to attract classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock rather than the classics.

(129 words)

ethos 精神特质

out of place: not suitable for a particular situation or occasion

high art: 高雅艺术

be steeped in 沉浸于，沉湎于

 

1. The passage addresses which of the following issues related to Glass’s use of popular elements in his classical compositions?

A. How it is regarded by listeners who prefer rock to the classics.

B. How it has affected the commercial success of Glass’s music.

C. Whether it has contributed to a revival of interest among other composers in using popular elements in their compositions.

D. Whether it has had a detrimental effect on Glass’s reputation as a composer of classical music.

E. Whether it has caused certain of Glass’s works to be derivative in quality.

derivative:  copied or adapted from others

 

2. The passage suggests that Glass’s work displays which of the following qualities?

Consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.

A. A return to the use of popular music in classical compositions.

B. An attempt to elevate rock music to an artistic status more closely approximating that of classical music.

C. A long-standing tendency to incorporate elements from two apparently disparate musical styles.

 

3. Select the sentence that distinguishes two ways of integrating rock and classical music.

（他不是想用流行音乐来吸引古典听众，而是用高雅艺术来吸引摇滚听众。意思是想让更多的人欣赏艺术。）