TEXT FOUR

　　With technology leased from the German company Tronical, Gibson has modified its classic Les Paul design to create a guitar that adjusts itself to one of six preset tunings. This is no instrument for beginners. Retailing for between $2,200 and $2,500, the Robot Guitar is courting serious hobbyists and professionals who demand precision tuning, or frequently switch between different tunings and don't want the hassle of lugging multiple instruments around. "It's a cool idea. Nobody likes tuning," concedes Dinosaur Jr. frontman J. Mascis. "But I have to wait for the drummer to rest anyway between songs." Another company, called TransPerformance, sells a similar tuning device that it will install in your nonrobotic guitar for you. But Gibson's is the first out-of-the-box self-tuning ax.

　　It sounds like a minor development in guitar technology, even rather gimmicky. But for an instrument that has barely evolved since the 1950s, the Robot Guitar is nothing short of magic: simply pull out the "master control knob" and strum the guitar. The knob lights up as a computer embedded in the back of the guitar measures each string's pitch. The tuning pegs turn by themselves, making a robotic whirring sound that enhances the wow. The control knob's lights flash blue when your instrument is locked into the tuning you select. If you're so inclined you can override the device and tune manually. But why would you? It takes all of 10 seconds for the Robot Guitar to do its thing—and blow your mind as it hasn't been blown since the first time you heard "Eruption."

　　In an industry that has been flat to sagging, the Robot Guitar could provide a welcome boost to retailers. After 10 years of brisk growth, guitar sales headed south in 2006, according to the April 2007 Music Trades Magazine industry census. Low-end beginner acoustic guitar sales dropped 24.4 percent last year; electric guitars fell 19.1 percent. Certainly there is a dearth of righteous shredding on today's Top 40 radio. And the wildly popular videogame "Guitar Hero" allows even the most tone-deaf nonmusician to simulate the experience of rocking out. Professional musicians account for 15 percent of instrument purchases in the country, according to George Van Horn, a senior analyst at IBISWorld. "Gibson is obviously aiming high, but it's worth chasing" the pros, he says.

　　Judging by all the buzz the Robot Guitar has generated, Gibson won't have a hard time chasing down anyone. "You don't see this kind of excitement often," says Norman Hajjar, the chief marketing officer at Guitar Center, which has stocked 1,000 of the 4,000 Robot Guitars hitting the market nationwide Dec. 7. "They're quite a draw. We let people touch and play with the guitars—they're putting them through their paces. It really charms people." As of Thursday morning, Guitar Center had already taken deposits on roughly a third of the 1,000 Robot Guitars they have in stock.

　　The very fact that "Guitar Hero" and now "Rock Band" are power-chording their way off store shelves this holiday season proves that the dream is alive. The reason that the odious song "Rock Star" is currently ubiquitous has nothing to do with quality songwriting. Truth is, we all want to be rock stars; the videogames and Nickelback's opus get us all a little closer to living the fantasy. But with the Robot Guitar, it's the musicians themselves who have gotten a long overdue leg up.

　　1.By saying “But I have to wait for the drummer to rest anyway between songs”, J. Mascis means_____

　　[A] that he could use this kind of device only when the drummer stops.

　　[B] that he has no necessity or urgency to use the self-turning guitar.

　　[C] that he make use of the self-turning guitar for precision tuning when the drummer takes a break.

　　[D] that he have to wait for the drummer to follow him if he use the self-tuning guitar.

　　2.The word “override” (Line 7, Paragraph 2) most probably means_____

　　[A] shift.

　　[B] close.

　　[C] set aside.

　　[D] disregard.

　　3. Which one of the following statement is NOT true of guitar sales?

　　[A] Guitar sales have been going up slowly in the past then years.

　　[B] Guitar sales has witnessed its switch to loss of margin in 2006.

　　[C] The fall of guitar sales is due to the drop of purchase by professional musicians.

　　[D] Guitar sales are pinched by the development of the music games.

　　4. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of George Van Horn’s opinions on the gimmicky?

　　[A] He thinks although Gibson’s plan is worth trying, it should lower its expectation.

　　[B] He thinks Gibson’s target group is too narrow and it should expand to larger clients.

　　[C] He thinks Gibson’s idea has its value and future though he thinks too highly of his invention.

　　[D] He thinks Gibson has made right choice in choosing future customers.

　　5. From the last paragraph, it can be inferred that _____

　　[A] guitar videogames will be a threat to the Robot Guitar.

　　[B] the Robot Guitar can not be mentioned in the same breath with “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Bank”.

　　[C] “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Bank” triumphs over the Robot Guitar.

　　[D] “Rock Star” will be defeated by the Robot Guitar.

　　篇章剖析：

　　这篇文章讲述了一种新发明的自动吉他。第一段讲述Gibson发明的新吉他的特点;第二段讲述这种吉他的工作原理;第三段讲述该发明对吉他行业的影响;第四段讲述目前这种新型吉他的预定情况;第五段讲述该吉他和其他游戏的区别。

　　词汇注释：

　　hassle n. 激战 nonrobotic adj.不是机器人的

　　gimmicky n. 小发明 knob n. 旋钮圆形的控制开关

　　override v. 跳过，不管 dearth n. 缺乏

　　ubiquitous adj. 普遍存在的 opus n. 作品

　　难句突破：

　　The very fact that "Guitar Hero" and now "Rock Band" are power-chording their way off store shelves this holiday season proves that the dream is alive.

　　[主体句式] The very fact that…proves that…

　　[结构分析] 这是一个复合句，fact后面that引导的是同位语从句;后面that引导的是宾语从句。

　　[句子译文] 而“吉他英雄”和现在的“摇滚乐队” 有望在这个假期从货架上买到这种新吉他，从而实现其梦想。

　　题目分析：

　　1.By saying “But I have to wait for the drummer to rest anyway between songs”, J. Mascis means_____1. J.Mascis说“但是我必须得等鼓手在两首歌之间休息的时候才能调音。” 他的意思是说_____

　　[A] that he could use this kind of device only when the drummer stops.[A]他只有在鼓声停止的时候才能使用这种装置。

　　[B] that he has no necessity or urgency to use the self-tuning guitar.[B]他不必要也不急于用这种自动调音的吉他。

　　[C] that he could make use of the self-tuning guitar for precision tuning when the drummer takes a break.[C]他可以在鼓手休息的时候用自动调音的吉他进行精确调音。

　　[D] that he have to wait for the drummer to follow him if he use the self-tuning guitar.[D]如果他使用自动调音的吉他，他必须得等鼓手跟上他。

　　[答案] B

　　[难度系数] ☆☆☆

　　[分析]推理题。根据第一段“"It's a cool idea. Nobody likes tuning," concedes Dinosaur Jr. frontman J. Mascis. "But I have to wait for the drummer to rest anyway between songs."”，J.Mascis这样说意思是反正鼓手要在两首歌之间休息，那我完全可以自己调音。因此，答案为B选项。

　　2.The word “override” (Line 7, Paragraph 2) most probably means_____2. “override” (第二段第七行) 最有可能的意思是_____

　　[A] shift.[A] 改变。

　　[B] close.[B] 关掉。

　　[C] set aside.[C] 放在一边。

　　[D] disregard.[D] 不理，忽略。

　　[答案] D

　　[难度系数] ☆

　　[分析] 猜词题。根据上下文“If you're so inclined you can override the device and tune manually”，如果你自己愿意，也可以忽略这个装置，自己手动调解。选项中只有D有这个意思。

　　3. Which one of the following statement is NOT true of guitar sales?3.关于吉他销售，下列陈述中哪个是错误的?

　　[A] Guitar sales have been going up slowly in the past decade.[A]吉他销售在过去十年中一直在缓慢地上升。

　　[B] Guitar sales has witnessed its switch to loss of margin in 2006.[B] 吉他销售在2006年开始损失。

　　[C] The fall of guitar sales is due to the drop of purchase by professional musicians.[C]吉他销售的下降是因为专业音乐人购买的减少。

　　[D] Guitar sales are pinched by the development of the music games. [D]吉他销售受到其他音乐游戏发展的冲击。

　　[答案] A

　　[难度系数] ☆☆☆

　　[分析] 细节题。根据第三段“after 10 years of brisk growth, guitar sales headed south in 2006, according to the April 2007 Music Trades Magazine industry census”。这里提到的10 years指的是2006年之前的10年，而这篇文章中提到了2006年和2007年，因此可以推测文章最早也是在2007年写的。因此A选项中所谓的“the past decade”就包括了2006年，因此和文章所指的10年不尽相同，可见该选项是错误的，因此答案为A选项。B选项谈到吉他销售在2006年掉头下降，这里的南指的是向下，因此，该选项是正确表述。C和D选项都能够比较容易地在文章中定位。

　　4. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of George Van Horn’s opinions on the gimmicky?4. 关于George Van Horn对于该发明的观点，下列哪个陈述是正确的?

　　[A] He thinks although Gibson’s plan is worth trying, it should lower its expectation.[A] 他认为Gibson值得尝试，但是应该降低预期。

　　[B] He thinks Gibson’s target group is too narrow and it should expand to larger clients.[B] 他认为Gibson的目标群体太窄，应该扩大客户群。

　　[C] He thinks Gibson’s idea has its value and future though he thinks too highly of his invention.[C] 他认为Giobson的主意自有其价值和未来，虽然他对于自己的发明过于乐观。

　　[D] He thinks Gibson has made right choice in choosing future customers.[D] 他认为Gibson在选择未来的顾客上做出了正确的选择。

　　[答案] C

　　[难度系数] ☆☆☆☆

　　[分析] 细节题。根据第四段“Professional musicians account for 15 percent of instrument purchases in the country, according to George Van Horn, a senior analyst at IBISWorld. "Gibson is obviously aiming high, but it's worth chasing" the pros, he says”，可见他认为Giboson意在高远，但值得去追求，选项中C符合。

　　5. From the last paragraph, it can be inferred that _____5. 从最后一段可以推导出_____

　　[A] guitar videogames will be a threat to the Robot Guitar.[A]吉他视频游戏是自动吉他的一个威胁。

　　[B] the Robot Guitar can not be mentioned in the same breath with “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Bank”.[B]自动吉他不能和“吉他英雄”和“摇滚乐队” 相提并论。

　　[C] “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Bank” triumphs over the Robot Guitar.[C]“吉他英雄”和“摇滚乐队”胜过了自动吉他。

　　[D] “Rock Star” will be defeated by the Robot Guitar. [D] “摇滚明星” 将会被自动吉他击败。

　　[答案] B

　　[难度系数] ☆☆☆

　　[分析] 推理题。根据最后一段“The very fact that "Guitar Hero" and now "Rock Band" are power-chording their way off store shelves this holiday season proves that the dream is alive…But with the Robot Guitar, it's the musicians themselves who have gotten a long overdue leg up”，视频游戏是给普通人玩的，让我们接近了梦想一点;但是自动吉他是音乐人自己的选择，不能相提并论。因此，答案为B选项。

　　参考译文：

　　Gibson利用从德国公司Tronical租借来的技术改造了古典Les Paul的设计，从而创造出一把可以自动调节到事先设好的六个调的吉他。这可不是给那些初学者用的吉他。自动吉他售价为2200美元至2500美元，其对象为真正的吉他爱好者或者专业人士、他们往往对音准有比较高的要求，或是那些要不停在各个谐音间变化的人，他们不希望把那么多的工具拖来拖去。“这个主意太妙了，没有人喜欢调音”，恐龙乐队初级乐队领唱人J. Mascis肯定了这一点，“但是我必须得等鼓手在两首歌之间休息的时候才能调音。” 另外一个名为TransPerformance的乐队也在出售类似的一种调音器，可以安装在非自动吉他上。但是Gibson发明的是第一个盒外自动调音的吉他。

　　听起来这好像是吉他技术的一个小小的进展，甚至可以说是个小发明。但是对于从这种上世纪50年代后再没有改进过的乐器来说，自动吉他绝对是个奇迹：只要把“大师控制的旋钮”拽出，然后就可以弹吉他了。这个按钮是发光的，好像是嵌在吉他背后的计算机一样，可以调节每根弦的音。调音栓会自己转动，发出自动运行的声音，从而增加了颤音。如果吉他被锁定在自己选择的谐音上，控制按钮就发出蓝光。如果你愿意，也可以不管这个装置而手动调节。但是为什么不用呢?只需要10秒钟自动吉他就设好了，你第一次听到了“爆发”时会受到很大的震动。

　　对于这么一个濒临衰败的产业，自动吉他能给销售商带来一定的推进。根据2007年4月音乐商业杂志进行的行业调查，在经历了10年快速成长后，吉他销售开始于2006年一路滑坡。低端的初学者声学吉他的销售去年下滑了24.4%, 电子吉他销售则下滑了19.1%。当然当今排名前四十的电台缺乏优秀的吉他音乐，而流行的视频游戏“吉他英雄” 可以让最五音不全的人模拟弹奏摇滚乐。IBIS世界资深分析家George Van Horn说，专业音乐人占到本国乐器购买的15%。“Gibson意在高远，但值得去争取”更多支持者，他谈到。

　　从自动吉他引发的广泛影响来看，Gibson要找到支持者不是件困难的事。“不可能经常看到这种令人兴奋的事情”， 吉他中心市场部门负责人Norman Hajjar说道，他已经囤积了4000把自动吉他中的1000把，计划于12月7日推向市场。“这确实挺吸引人的，我们让人们触摸并弹奏吉他，让人们感受节拍。这真的很吸引人。”自从周四早上开始，吉他中心已经接受了库存的1000把吉他中1/3的定金了。

　　而“吉他英雄”和现在的“摇滚乐队” 有望在这个假期从货架上买到这种新吉他，从而实现其梦想。现今难听的“摇滚之星”随处可见的原因与有品质的作曲不能扯上关系。实际上我们都希望成为摇滚明星，视频游戏和Nickelback的作品把我们与幻想拉近了一点。而自动吉他的发明是音乐人开始追赶自己长期以来拉下的路。