GCT英语强化阅读和完型.doc

Passage 1 Some pieces of evidence lend support to those who hold a very high opinion of the average level of culture among Athenians雅典人 of the great age. The funeral speech of Pericles is the most famous indication from Athenian literature that its level was indeed high. Pericles was, however, a politician, and he may have been flattering his audience. We know that thousands of Athenians spent hour after hour in the theater listening to the plays of the great Greek dramatists. These plays, especially the tragedies, are at a very high intellectual level. There are no letdowns, no concessions to low tastes or to demands of realism, such as the scene of the gravediggers in Hamlet. The music and dancing in these plays were almost certainly at an equally high level. European opera--the controlled, difficult opera of the 18th century--is probably the best modern parallel. The comparison is no doubt dangerous, but can you imagine that almost the entire population of a middle-sized American city sitting through performances of Mozart Don Giovanni or Glucks Orpheus? Perhaps the Athenian masses went to these plays because of a lack of other amusements. They could at least understand something of what went on since the subjects were part of their folklore 传说 while for the American people, the subjects of grand opera are not part of their folklore. 1. The famous speech of Pericles well demonstrates ________________. that the Athenian culture was on quite a high level that the speaker was a famous politician that Athenians loved listening to plays that tragedies were preferred to comedies in the 18th century It can be inferred from the passage that the authors attitude towards Greek plays is one of _____________. A) reluctant admiration B) intentional indifference C) partial hostility D) qualified approval The author seems to suggest that the average American people __________. A) would rather enjoy the realistic drama than 18th music