2014職稱英語理工類新增文章（B級）：補全短文第十篇

　　Most people think of Beethoven’s hearing loss asan obstacle to composing music. However, he produced his most powerful works inthe last decade of his life when he was completely deaf.

　　This is one of the most glorious cases of thetriumph of will over adversity1, but his biographer, MaynardSolomon, takes a different view. ____1____. In his deaf world Beethoven couldexperiment, free from the sounds of the outside world, free to create new formsand harmonies.

　　Hearing loss does not seem to affect the musicalability of musicians who become deaf. They continue to “hear” music with asmuch, or greater, accuracy than if they were actually hearing it being played.

　　____2____. He described a fascinating phenomenonthat happened within three months: “my former musical experiences began to playback to me. I couldn’t differentiate between what I heard and real hearing.2After many years, it is still rewarding to listen to these play backs, to ‘hear’ music which is new to me and to find many quiet accompaniments for all ofmy moods. ”

　　How is it that the world we see，touch，hear，and smell isboth “out there” and at the same time withinus? There is no better example of this connection between external stimulus andinternal perception than the cochlear implant3. ____3____. However,it might be possible to use the brain’s remarkable power to make sense of theelectrical signals the implant produces.

　　When Michael Edgar first “switched on” hiscochlear implant, the sounds he heard were not at all clear. Gradually, withmuch hard work, he began to identify everyday sounds. For example, “The insistentringing of the telephone became clear almost at once.”

　　The primary purpose of the implant is to allowcommunication with others. When people spoke to Eagar, he heard their voices “comingthrough like a long-distance telephone call on a poor connection.” But when itcame to his beloved music, the implant was of no help.4 ____4____.He said, “I play the piano as I used to and hear it in my head at the sametime. The movement of my fingers and the feel of the keys give added ‘ clarity’to hearing in my head.5”

　　Cochlear implants allow the deaf to hear again ina way that is not perfect，but which can change their lives. ____5____. Even the most amazingcochlear implants would have been useless to Beethoven as he composed his NinthSymphony at the end of his life.

　　詞匯：

　　obstacle/ ??bst?k(?)l /n.障礙

　　biographer/ bai??ɡr?f? / n.傳記作者

　　insistent/ ?n?s?st(?)nt / adj.連續(xù)的

　　adversity/ æd?v ?:s?t? / n.逆境;不幸

　　fascinate/ ?fæs?ne?t / vt. 使著迷，使神魂顛倒

　　accompaniment/ ??k?mp(?)nim(?)nt / n. 伴奏

　　注釋：

　　1.the triumph of will over adversity：the successful overcoming ofdifficulty through determination用意志力成功戰(zhàn)勝不幸

　　2.I couldn’t differentiate betweenwhat I heard and real hearing.我不能分辨我聽到的和真實的聲音有什么不同。

　　3.cochlear implant：a device, surgically placed in theear, that changes sounds into electric signals人工耳蝸;耳蝸植入

　　4.But when it came to his belovedmusic, the implant was of no help.但是，如果碰到鐘愛的音樂，人工耳蝸沒有任何幫助。(我不用人工耳蝸就能聽出來)

　　5.The movement of my fingers and thefeel of the keys give added “clarity” to hearing in my head.由于我手指在鋼琴上的飛動，我能感覺到琴鍵，因而使我聽到的東西在腦海里更加清晰。

　　練習：

　　A　No man-made device could replace the ability to hear.

　　B　When he wanted to appreciate music, Eagar played the piano.

　　C　Still, as Michael Eagar discovered, when it comes to musicalharmonies, hearing is irrelevant.

　　D　Michael Eagar, who died in 2003,became deaf at the age of 21.

　　E　Beethoven produced his most wonderful works after he became deaf.

　　F　Solomon argues that Beethoven’s deafness “heightened” hisachievement as a composer.

　　答案與題解：

　　1.F　本段的開頭講：貝多芬的例子是一個意志力戰(zhàn)勝耳聾的極好的例子。但是，他的傳記作家Maynard Solomon卻持不同的意見。貝多芬的耳聾不是一種災(zāi)難;相反，對他成為作曲家起到了促進作用。后一句解釋了耳聾如何使貝多芬更好地創(chuàng)作。

　　2.D　該句是本段的開頭，根據(jù)后一句：他描述了在三個月之內(nèi)發(fā)生的奇妙的現(xiàn)象：我先前的音樂經(jīng)歷開始在我的腦海里回放。再有后一句的what I heard and real hearing可以判定D是恰當?shù)摹?/p>

　　3.A　依據(jù)前一句：只有人工耳蝸才能使外部刺激和內(nèi)心感知聯(lián)系起來(耳聾的人通過人工耳蝸聽到外部的聲音)。人工耳蝸就是一種man-made device，后一句也是在講人工耳蝸的功能。所以A是對的。

　　4.B　依據(jù)后一句的play the piano呼應(yīng)When he wanted to appreciate music, Eagar played the piano，可以斷定答案為B。

　　5.C　前一句講人工耳蝸的作用：它能使耳聾的人聽到聲音，盡管不完美，但改變了他們的生活;Still表示轉(zhuǎn)折，該句承上啟下，雖然人工耳蝸能幫助耳聾的人，但談到音樂的韻律時，聽力是不相關(guān)的(聽力不起作用)。所以后一句講貝多芬在他生命的最后時刻創(chuàng)作第九交響樂時，無論多么完美的人工耳蝸對他來說都沒有用。