Cremonese Violins托福聽力原文翻譯及問題答案

2023-07-10 11:20:52 來源：中國教育在線

Cremonese Violins托福聽力原文翻譯及問題答案

一、Cremonese Violins托福聽力原文：

NARRATOR:Listen to part of a lecture in a history of musical instruments class.MALE PROFESSOR:So,musical instruments evolved in ways that optimized their acoustical properties,how the instrument vibrates and sends those vibrations through the air to our eardrums.Now,professional musicians are very particular about their instruments.They want instruments that help them fully express the intent of the composer...which,of course,translates into a more enjoyable listening experience for the audience members.Yet,most audience members probably aren't even aware of how much the instrument matters.I mean...OK,think about the last concert you attended.When you applauded,what went through your mind?FEMALE STUDENT:I recently heard a violinist who totally blew me away.Uh so,when I applauded,I guess I was showing my appreciation for his skill,the hours of practice he must've put in.MALE PROFESSOR:And his violin...?FEMALE STUDENT:Didn't really think about it.It looked exactly like mine,uh,which is inspiring,in a way,knowing my violin could also produce such beautiful tones,that maybe I'll sound that good someday.MALE PROFESSOR:I hope you do.But if your violin isn't as good as his...FEMALE STUDENT:Y'mean he might not sound as good playing my violin?MALE PROFESSOR:As I said,tone quality differs from instrument to instrument.The question is...why?Why does one instrument sound more beautiful than another,even if they look identical?

There's a particularly interesting case with an extraordinary generation of violins made in northern Italy...in the city of Cremona,back in the late 1600s,early 1700s.These vintage Cremonese violins are considered the best in the world.But it's not like the makers of those violins were any more skilled than their modern-day counterparts; they weren't.Today's top violin makers can pretty much replicate all of the physical attributes of a Cremonese violin.But it's generally thought that the acoustical quality of modern violins doesn't live up to the quality of the vintage ones.

FEMALE STUDENT:So,what of the old violins have been replicated?MALE PROFESSOR:Oh,their dimensions,shape...their fingerboard height,uh,general craftsmanship.For a long time,people thought the varnish used to coat and protect the violins was special.But research showed it was the same ordinary varnish used on furniture.However,researchers have discovered that there's something special about the wood the violins were made from,and recently,they've been able to replicate that,too.FEMALE STUDENT:How...unless the trees the Cremonese used are still alive....MALE PROFESSOR:The trees weren't replicated,just the wood...specifically the wood's density.Density's determined by how trees grow.Trees,all trees that don't grow in the tropics,grow seasonally.They grow faster early in the year,in the springtime,than they do later in the year.So early-growth wood is relatively porous;late-growth wood is denser,less porous.And this variation shows up in the tree's growth rings.

The denser layers are generally darker than the less-dense layers.We call this variation the"density differential."MALE PROFESSOR:Variations in wood density affect vibrations,and therefore,sound.When scientists first analyzed the wood of vintage Cremonese violins and compared it with the modern violin wood,they calculated the average density and found no difference.Later,other researchers measured the density differential and found a significant difference:modern violins had a greater variation...larger differential.

FEMALE STUDENT:So you mean the density of the wood in the Cremonese violins is,is more uniform?MALE PROFESSOR:Correct.FEMALE STUDENT:But northern Italy isn't in the tropics!MALE PROFESSOR:No,but climate matters.Turns out the Cremonese violins were made from trees that grew during a"little ice age,"a period when temperatures across Europe were significantly lower than normal.So the trees grew more evenly throughout the year,making the density differential relatively small.FEMALE STUDENT:But you said someone replicated the Cremonese wood.MALE PROFESSOR:The density differential was replicated.FEMALE STUDENT:What did they do,try to simulate an ice-age climate in a greenhouse and grow some trees in there?MALE PROFESSOR:No.What happened was a materials scientist figured out a way to process wood to make it acoustically similar to the Cremonese wood.He basically exposed the wood to a species of fungus,a mushroom.In the forest,fungi are decomposers;they break down dead wood. But this particular fungus nibbles away only at certain layers in the wood,leaving other layers alone.As a result,the density differential of the fungi-treated wood approached that of the Cremonese wood.

二、Cremonese Violins托福聽力中文翻譯：

旁白：聽樂器歷史課的一部分講座。男教授：所以，樂器以優(yōu)化其聲學特性的方式進化，樂器如何振動，并通過空氣將這些振動發(fā)送到我們的耳膜?，F在，專業(yè)音樂家對他們的樂器非常挑剔。他們希望樂器能幫助他們充分表達作曲家的意圖……當然，這會為觀眾帶來更愉快的聆聽體驗。然而，大多數觀眾可能甚至不知道樂器有多重要。我是說…好吧，想想你參加的最后一場音樂會。當你鼓掌時，你腦子里想的是什么？女學生：我最近聽說一位小提琴家完全把我迷住了。嗯，當我鼓掌的時候，我想我是在表達我對他的技巧的贊賞，他一定花了很多時間練習。男教授：他的小提琴。。。？女學生：我真的沒想過。它看起來和我的一模一樣，從某種程度上說，這是鼓舞人心的，因為我知道我的小提琴也能發(fā)出如此美妙的音調，也許有一天我會聽起來如此美妙。男教授：我希望你這樣做。但是如果你的小提琴不如他的…女學生：你的意思是說他拉我的小提琴聽起來可能不如我？男教授：正如我所說，不同樂器的音質不同。問題是…為什么？為什么一種樂器聽起來比另一種更美，即使它們看起來相同？

有一個特別有趣的例子，在意大利北部的克雷莫納市，在17世紀末、17世紀初制造了一代非凡的小提琴。這些古典克雷蒙小提琴被認為是世界上最好的。但這并不是說這些小提琴的制造者比他們的現代同行更熟練&nbsp；他們沒有。今天的頂級小提琴制造商幾乎可以復制克雷蒙小提琴的所有物理屬性。但人們普遍認為現代小提琴的音質不如古典小提琴。

女學生：那么，哪些舊小提琴被復制了呢？男教授：哦，他們的尺寸、形狀……他們的指板高度，呃，一般的工藝。很長一段時間以來，人們認為用來覆蓋和保護小提琴的清漆很特別。但研究表明，它與用于家具的普通清漆相同。然而，研究人員發(fā)現，小提琴所用的木材有一些特殊之處，最近，他們也能夠復制。女學生：如何……除非克雷蒙人使用的樹木還活著……男教授：樹木不是復制的，只是木頭……特別是木頭的密度。密度取決于樹木的生長方式。樹木，所有不生長在熱帶的樹木，都是季節(jié)性生長的。它們在一年中的早春比一年中晚些時候生長得更快。所以早期生長的木材是相對多孔的；后期生長的木材密度更高，多孔性更小。這種變異表現在樹木的年輪上。

密度較高的層通常比密度較低的層暗。我們稱這種變化為“密度差異”。男教授：木材密度的變化影響振動，因此影響聲音。當科學家們第一次分析古董克雷蒙小提琴的木材并將其與現代小提琴木材進行比較時，他們計算了平均密度，發(fā)現沒有差異。后來，其他研究人員測量了密度差異，發(fā)現了一個顯著的差異：現代小提琴有更大的變化……更大的差異。

女學生：那么你的意思是克雷蒙小提琴的木材密度更均勻？男教授：對。女學生：但是意大利北部不在熱帶！男教授：不，但氣候很重要。事實證明，克瑞蒙小提琴是由生長在“小冰河時期”的樹木制成的，當時歐洲各地的氣溫明顯低于正常水平。因此，樹木全年生長更加均勻，使得密度差異相對較小。女學生：但是你說有人復制了克瑞蒙木。男教授：復制了密度差異。女學生：他們做了什么，試圖在溫室里模擬冰河時期的氣候，并在那里種一些樹？男教授：不。發(fā)生的事情是，一位材料科學家找到了一種方法來處理木材，使其在聲學上與克雷蒙木材相似。他基本上把木材暴露于一種真菌，一種蘑菇。在森林里，真菌是分解者；他們分解枯木&nbsp；但這種特殊的真菌只會啃掉木材的某些層，而不會啃掉其他層。因此，真菌處理的木材的密度差異接近于Cremonese木材。

三、Cremonese Violins托福聽力問題：

Q1:1.What does the professor mainly discuss?

A.Some special techniques used by the makers of vintage Cremonese violins

B.How the acoustical quality of the violin was improved over time

C.Factors that may be responsible for the beautiful tone of Cremonese violins

D.Some criteria that professional violinists use when selecting their instruments

Q2:2.What does the professor imply about the best modern violin makers?

A.They are unable to recreate the high quality varnish used by Cremonese violin makers.

B.Their craftsmanship is comparable to that of the Cremonese violin makers.

C.They use wood from the same trees that were used to make the Cremonese violins.

D.Many of them also compose music for the violin.

Q3:3.Why does the professor discuss the growth cycle of trees?

A.To clarify how modern violin makers select wood

B.To highlight a similarity between vintage and modern violins

C.To explain why tropical wood cannot be used to make violins

D.To explain what causes variations in density in a piece of wood

Q4:4.What factor accounts for the particular density differential of the wood used in the Cremonese violins?

A.The trees that produced the wood were harvested in spring.

B.The trees that produced the wood grew in an unusually cool climate.

C.The wood was allowed to partially decay before being made into violins.

D.The wood was coated with a local varnish before it was crafted into violins.

Q5:5.The professor describes an experiment in which wood was exposed to a fungus before being made into a violin.What point does the professor make about the fungus?

A.It decomposes only certain parts of the wood.

B.It was found only in the forests of northern Italy.

C.It was recently discovered in a vintage Cremonese violin.

D.It decomposes only certain species of trees.

Q6:6.Why does the professor say this:

A.To find out how much exposure students have had to live classical music.

B.To use student experiences to support his point about audience members.

C.To indicated that instruments are harder to master than audience members realize.

D.To make a point about the beauty of violin music.

四、Cremonese Violins托福聽力答案：

A1:正確答案：C

A2:正確答案：B