阅读理解

    There’s a world of difference between a horror movie and a comedy—the former scares you half to death while the latter leaves you rolling on the floor with laughter. But try watching them without the background music and you just might decide they’re not so different after all. Music and movies have been closely connected since the beginning of the film industry—even before the voices of actors were recorded. In movies, music helps to provide a sense of time and place, convey ideas about the characters and, most importantly, stir up emotions of the audience.

    Studies have long shown that our heart rates and anxiety levels rise and fall depending on the tempo of the music we hear. Using this knowledge, composers use sudden changes in the music to create fear among the audience.A slow tempo will have the opposite effect, bringing about a sense of peace or a dreamlike quality. The use of dissonant(不谐和的) tones and sounds is another technique to increase tension. We naturally become anxious when hearing dissonant sounds because such noises are usually associated with danger, like those that animals make to warn against predators(捕食者).

    Crucial as it is, the best film music is subtle. All that the audience are supposed to feel is a heightened sense of emotion—they couldn’t realize what’s causing it. Only when the music is taken out of the film could the audience understand its effects.

    In keeping with this principle, some filmmakers are even using what’s called "infrasound"(次声) to arouse fear. While we may not be able to hear it because its frequency is below the audible range of the human ear, infrasound has proven to cause anxiety, trembles and even sorrow. For example, infrasound was used in the soundtrack of the 2007 horror movie Paranormal Activity, and the audience showed extremely high fear levels despite the lack of action throughout the movie. "It doesn’t affect everyone equally," said British writer Philip Ball, author of The Music Instinct, but he predicted that we would see more of it used in movies in the future.

1.What is the difference between a horror movie and a comedy?

A.Their history. 

B.Their actors. 

C.Their background music.

D.Their sense of time and place.

2.What causes fear among the audience?

A.The theme of the music. 

B.The slow tempo of the music.

C.The knowledge of the music. 

D.The unexpected changes in the music.

3.What does the underlined word "subtle" in the third paragraph mean?

A.Gentle. 

B.Wonderful.

C.Not very obvious. 

D.Not extremely attractive.

4.What do we know about "infrasound" from the last paragraph?

A.It can’t be known to people.

B.It makes the audience relaxed.

C.It is within the audible range of the human ear.

D.It will be used more in movies in the future.

【答案解析】

电影和音乐关系密切，音乐对电影的影响很大。本文说明了电影制作者如何用音乐来渲染气氛。

1.C 推理判断题。由第一段中的"But try watching them without the background music and you just might decide they’re not so different after all"可知，如果没有背景音乐，恐怖电影和喜剧电影就没那么不同了，故推断出恐怖电影和喜剧电影的区别在于它们的背景音乐。

2.D 细节理解题。由第二段中的"Using this knowledge, composers use sudden changes in the music to create fear among the audience"可知，作曲家利用音乐中意想不到的变化给观众制造恐惧，所以音乐中意想不到的变化会使观众恐惧。

3.C 词义猜测题。由第三段中画线词后的内容可知，最好的电影音乐是不易被观众察觉的，故C项正确。

4.D 细节理解题。由最后一段中的"but he predicted that we would see more of it used in movies in the future"可知，我们将来会看到更多的电影使用次声，故D项正确。