8．When students and parents are asked to rate subjects according to their importance，the arts are unavoidably at the bottom of the list．Music is nice，people seem to say，but not important．Too often it is viewed as entertainment，but certainly not an education priority （优先）．This view is shortsighted．（52）E
Music tells us who we are，because music is an expression of the beings who create it．It reflects their thinking and values，as well as the social environment it came from．Rock music represents a lifestyle just as surely as does a Schubert song．The jazz influence is obviously American because it came from American musical traditions．Music expresses our character and values．（53）A
Music provides a kind of perception（感知）that cannot be acquired any other way．（54）B The arts explore the emotive（情感的） meaning of the same phenomenon．We need every possible way to discover and respond to our world for one simple but powerful reason：No one way can get it all．
The arts are forms of thought as powerful in what they communicate as mathematical and scientific symbols．They are the language of civilization through which we express our fears，our curiosities，our hungers，our discoveries，our hopes．They are ways we give form to our ideas and imagination so that they can be shared with others．When we do not give children access to an important way of expressing themselves such as music，we take away from them the meanings that music expresses．
（55）F
A．It gives us identity as a society．
B．Science can explain how the sun rises and sets．
C．They are ways we human beings"talk"to each other．
D．Science and technology do not tell us what it means to be human．
E．In fact，music education is beneficial and important for all students．
F．So music education is far more necessary than people seem to realize．
分析 文章讲述了音乐在教育孩子上的重要价值，但是很多人都没有意识到这点．
解答 52-55 EABF
52．E 考查上下文理解力．根据Music is nice，people seem to say，but not important可知，前面讨论音乐似乎排名不错，但也不是重要的，所以总结句为In fact，music education is beneficial and important for all students，故答案为E．
53．A 考查上下文理解力．根据Music expresses our character and values这句话推出，音乐表达我们的性格和价值观，所以It gives us identity as a society．音乐给我们提供一个社会身份符合该语境，故答案为A．
54．B考查上下文理解力．在第三段The arts explore the emotive（情感的） meaning of the same phenomenon．以及We need every possible way to discover 可知，我们需要各种各样的途径来发现我们的世界，如科学解释太阳升起落下，艺术探测情感，故答案为B．
55．F 考查上下文理解力．根据最后一句话When we do not give children access to an important way of expressing themselves such as music，we take away from them the meanings that music expresses当我们不给孩子提供表达情感的途径时，我们也就是剥夺来音乐的意义，所以此处强调了音乐的教育价值，故答案为F．
点评 考察学生的推理判断能力和联系上下文的能力，在做推理判断题不要以个人的主观想象代替文章的事实，要根据文章事实进行合乎逻辑的推理判断．此类的填空题一定要联系上下文，根据上下文的内容加上自己的理解，再作出正确的判断
