Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:
Material culture refers to the touchable, material “things”—physical objects that can be seen, held, felt, used—that a culture produces. Examining a culture’s tools and technology can tell us about the group’s history and way of life. Similarly, research into the material culture of music can help us to understand the music-culture. The most vivid body of “things” in it, of course, are musical instruments. We cannot hear for ourselves the actual sound of any musical performance before the 1870s when the phonograph was invented, so we rely on instruments for important information about music-cultures it the remote past and their development. Here we have two kinds of evidence: instruments well preserved and instruments pictures in art. Through the study of instruments, as well preserved Paintings, written documents, and so on, we can explore the movement of music from the Neat East to China over a thousand years ago, or we can outline the spread of Near eastern influence to Europe that results in the development of most of the instruments on the symphony orchestra.
Sheet music or printed music, too is material culture. Scholars once defined folk music-cultures as those in with people learn and sing music by ear rather than from print, but research show mutual influence among oral and written sources during the past few centuries in Europe, Britain, and America, printed versions limit variety because they tend to standardize any song, yet they stimulate people to create new and different songs. Besides, the ability to read music notation has a far-reaching effect on musicians and, when it becomes widespread, on the music-culture as a whole.
One more important part of music’s material culture should be singled out the influence of the electronic media-radio, record player, tape recorder, television, and videocassette, with the future promising talking and singing computers and other developments. This all part of the “information revolution,” a twentieth century phenomenon as important as the industrial revolution was in the nineteenth. These electronic media are not just limited to modem nations; they have affected music-cultures all over the globe.
21. Research into the material culture of a nation’s of great importance ________.
A) it helps produce new cultural tools and technology
B) it can reflect the development of the nation
C) it helps understand the nation’s Fast and present
D) it can demonstrate the nation’s civilization
22. It can be learned from this passage that ________.
A) the existence of the symphony was attributed to the spread of Near Eastern and Chinese music
B) Near Eastern music had influence on the of the instruments in the symphony orchestra
C) the development of the symphony shows the mutual influence of Eastern and Western music
D) the musical instruments in the symphony basis of Near Eastern music
23. According to the author, music notation is important because ________.
A) it has a great effect on the music-culture as more and more people are able to read it
B) it tends to standard folk sings when it is used by folk musicians
C) it is the printed version of standardized folk music
D) it encourages people to popularize printed versions of songs
24. It can be concluded from the passage that the introduction of electronic media into the world of music ________.
A) has brought about an information revolution
B) has speeded up the arrival of a new generation of computers
C) has given rise to new forms of music culture
D) has given to the transformation of traditional musical instruments
25. Which of the following best summarized the main idea of the passage?
A) Musical instruments developed through the years will sooner later be replaced by computers.
B) Music cannot be passed on to future generation unless it is recorded.
C) Folk songs cannot spread far unless they are printed on music sheets.
D) The development of music culture is highly dependent or its material aspect.
   Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
The question of whether war is inevitable is one which has concerned many of the world’s great writers. Before considering this question, it will useful to introduce some related concepts. Conflict, defined as opposition among social entities directed against one another is distinguished from competition, defined as opposition among social entities independently striving for some thing which is in inadequate supply. Competitors may not be aware of one another, while the parties to a conflict are. Conflict and vice of one another.
Opposition is thus contrasted with cooperation, the process by which social entities function in the service of one another. These definitions are necessary because it is important to emphasize that competition between individuals or groups is inevitable in a world of limited resources, but conflict is not. Conflict, nevertheless, is very likely to occur, and is probably an essential and desirable element of human societies.
Many authors have argued for the inevitability of war from the premise that in the struggle for existence among animal species, only the fittest survive. In general, however this struggle in nature’s competition, not conflict. Social animals, such as monkeys and cattle, fight to win or maintain leadership of the group. The struggle for existence occurs not in such fights but in the competition for limited feeding areas and for the occupancy of areas free from meet-eating animals. Those who fail in competition starve to death or become victims to other species. This struggle for existence does not resemble human war, but rather the competition of individuals for jobs, markets, and materials. The essence of the struggle is the competition for the necessities of life that are insufficient to satisfy all.
Among nations there is competition in developing resources trades, skills, and a satisfactory way of life. The successful nations grow and prosper; the unsuccessful decline. While it is true that this competition may induce efforts to expand territory at the expense of others, and thus lead to conflict, it cannot be said that war-like conflict among nations is inevitable, although competition is.
26. In the first paragraph, the author gives the definitions of some term in order to ________.
A) argue for the similarities between and human societies
B) smooth out the conflicts in human societies
C) distinguish between two kinds of opposition
D) summarize the that characteristic features of opposition and cooperation
27. According to the author, competition differs from conflict in that ________.
A) it results in war in most cases
B) it induces efforts to expand territory
C) it is kind of opposition among aria entities
D) it is essentially a struggle for existence
28. The phrase “function in the disservice of one another” (Para. 1) most probably means “________”.
A) betray each other
B) harm one another
C) help to collaborate with each other
D) benefit on another
29. The author indicates in the passage that conflict ________.
A) is an inevitable struggle resulting from competition
B) reflects the struggle among social animals
C) is an opposition among individual social animals
D) can be avoided
30. The passage is probably intended to answer the question “________”.
A) Is war inevitable?
B) Why is there conflict and competition?
C) Is conflict desirable?
D) Can competition lead to conflict?