Question

【题目】D

Max Vernon Mathews has been called the father of computer music. He created electronic tools so that people could use computers as musical instruments. He had a huge influence on the development of electronic music and how it is written, recorded and played.

In 1957, Max Mathews wrote the first computer program that enabled a computer to create sound and play it back. At the time, he was working as an engineer at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey. His computer program was called Music. It enabled a large IBM computer to play a seventeen-second piece of music that he had written.

The computer was so slow that it would have taken an hour to play the piece of music in seventeen seconds. For that reason, Mathews moved the work to a tape player, which could be sped up to play the music at a normal speed. He later said that the sound quality of the musical notes was not great, but the technical importance of the music was huge.

The science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke visited Bell Laboratories in the 1960s. He heard a computer “sing” the song “Daisy Bell” on devices and programs developed by Max Mathews and other engineers. Clarke noted this technology in his book “2001: A Space Odyssey,” which was later made into a movie.

Mathews continued creating other versions of the Music program. He became interested in how computers could help musicians outside recording studios.

Max Mathews had a long and productive career. He worked with composers like John Cage and Edgard Varese. He helped create a center for research in computer music in Paris. And he taught at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics in Stanford University in California.

Mathews believed modern musicians were not making full use of the power of computer music. He said a violin always sounds like a violin, but with a computer, the way a violin sounds is unlimited. He said he did not want computer sounds to replace live music. But he said he hoped laptop computers would one day be considered serious instruments.

【1】 How did the program Music work according to the computer?

A. It helped design a computer program.

B. It made sound and play it on a computer.

C. It could record a seventeen-second piece of music.

D. It enabled a large IBM computer to work faster.

【2】 Mathews was likely to think that .

A. the first computer music was technically important.

B. the first piece of computer music was too short

C. the IBM computer was fit for creating slow music

D. the first piece of computer music wasn’t music indeed

【3】Which of the following is true?

A. Clarke helped develop computer music.

B. Mathews became a character in a movie later on.

C. Computer music was mentioned in Clarke’s book.

D. Clarke saw Mathews operate a singing computer.

【4】 It is implied in the last paragraph that .

A. Mathew wanted computers to take the place of live music.

B. a violin does make much better sounds than a computer

C. a computer can help improve sounds of traditional musical instruments

D. laptops are more suitable to be used as serious musical instruments

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】A

【3】C

【4】C

【解析】

【语篇解读】本文是一篇记叙文。介绍了计算机音乐之父麦克斯·马修斯。

【1】细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句His computer program was called Music. It enabled a large IBM computer to play a seventeen-second piece of music that he had written.可知，它可以让电脑弹奏音乐。故 选B。

【2】细节理解题。根据第三段最后一句He later said that the sound quality of the musical notes was not great, but the technical importance of the music was huge可知，马修斯认为第一曲计算机音乐虽然不尽如 人意，但是其意义重大。故选A。

【3】细节理解题。根据第四段最后一句Clarke noted this technology in his book " 2001 ：A Space Odyssey," which was later made into a movie 可知，克拉克在他的书中提到了计算机音乐。故选C。

【4】推理判断题。根据最后一段句子He said a violin always sounds like a violin, but with a computer, the way a violin sounds is unlimited 和最后一句But he said he hoped laptop computers would one day be considered serious instruments.可推断，电脑有助于改善传统乐器的音效。故选C。