2015考研真題

Section II Reading Comprehension

Part A

Directions:

Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing [A], [B], [C] or [D]. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)

Text 1

The decision of the New York Philharmonic to hire Alan Gilbert as its next music director has been the talk of the classical-music world ever since the sudden announcement of his appointment in 2009. For the most part, the response has been favorable, to say the least. “Hooray! At last!” wrote Anthony Tommasini, a sober-sided classical-music critic。

One of the reasons why the appointment came as such a surprise, however, is that Gilbert is comparatively little known. Even Tommasini, who had advocated Gilbert’s appointment in the Times, calls him “an unpretentious musician with no air of the formidable conductor about him。” As a description of the next music director of an orchestra that has hitherto been led by musicians like Gustav Mahler and Pierre Boulez, that seems likely to have struck at least some Times readers as faint praise。

For my part, I have no idea whether Gilbert is a great conductor or even a good one. To be sure, he performs an impressive variety of interesting compositions, but it is not necessary for me to visit Avery Fisher Hall, or anywhere else, to hear interesting orchestral music. All I have to do is to go to my CD shelf, or boot up my computer and download still more recorded music from iTunes。

Devoted concertgoers who reply that recordings are no substitute for live performance are missing the point. For the time, attention, and money of the art-loving public, classical instrumentalists must compete not only with opera houses, dance troupes, theater companies, and museums, but also with the recorded performances of the great classical musicians of the 20th century. There recordings are cheap, available everywhere, and very often much higher in artistic quality than today’s live performances; moreover, they can be “consumed” at a time and place of the listener’s choosing. The widespread availability of such recordings has thus brought about a crisis in the institution of the traditional classical concert。

One possible response is for classical performers to program attractive new music that is not yet available on record. Gilbert’s own interest in new music has been widely noted: Alex Ross, a classical-music critic, has described him as a man who is capable of turning the Philharmonic into “a markedly different, more vibrant organization。” But what will be the nature of that difference? Merely expanding the orchestra’s repertoire will not be enough. If Gilbert and the Philharmonic are to succeed, they must first change the relationship between America’s oldest orchestra and the new audience it hops to attract。

`譯文：

紐約愛樂樂團決定聘請Alan Gilbert作為下一任的音樂總監，這從2009年任命被宣佈之日起就在古典音樂界引起了熱議。別的不説，大部分人的反應是積極的。“好啊，終於好了!” Anthony Tommasini寫道，他可是一個以嚴肅著稱的古典音樂評論家。

但是，這個任命之所以一起人們驚訝的原因卻是Gilbert相對而言並不是很有名。甚至在時代雜誌上發文支持Gilbert任命的Tommasini都稱其為：低調的音樂家，在他身上找不到那種飛揚跋扈的指揮家的氣質。紐約愛樂樂團迄今為止都是由像Gustav Mahler(古斯塔夫•馬勒)和Pierre Boulez佈列茲那樣的音樂家領導的。這樣去描述這個樂團的下一位指揮，至少對於時代的讀者而言，這是一種蒼白的表揚。

就我看來，我不知道Gilbert是否是一個偉大的指揮家或者是一個好的指揮。但是我能確定的是，他能表現出很多有趣的樂章，但是我卻應該不會去Avery Fisher Hall或者其他地方去聽一場有趣的交響樂演出。我要做的事情就是去我的CD架上，或者打開的我的電腦從ITUNES上下載更多的唱片。

那些忠實的音樂會觀眾會講唱片並不能代替現場的演出，但是他們忽略了一些事情。當下為了獲得藝術愛好者的錢，時間，關注度，古典音樂的演奏家們(其實就是指交響樂團，同意複述)不僅要和劇院，舞蹈隊，演出公司和博物館競爭，而且還需要和那些記錄了20世紀的偉大的古典音樂演奏者表演的唱片競爭。唱片很便宜，那裏都能買到，並且比現在很多現場音樂會的藝術質量要高。進一步的講，聽眾能選擇聽唱片的時間和地點。這些到處可以獲得的唱片給傳統的`演出機構帶來了危機。

對於古典音樂演奏者而言，他們可能的一個迴應就是排練出唱片上沒有的曲目。Gilbert對新音樂興趣已經被廣泛的關注了：Alex Ross，一名古典音樂的批評家，就這樣描述道：他能夠把愛樂樂團變成一個完全不同，更加有活力的組織。但是那種不同的性質也是什麼呢?可能僅僅增加樂團演出的曲目是不夠的，如果Gilbert和他的樂團要進步的話，他們就必須首先改變美國最古老的樂團(就是紐約愛樂樂團)同他們想吸引的新觀眾間的關係。

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