Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
1、 Music means different things to different people and sometimes even different things to the same person at different moments of his life. It might be poetic, philosophical, sensual, or mathematical, but in any case it must, in my view, have something to do with the soul of the human being. Hence it is metaphysical; but the means of expression is purely and exclusively physical: sound. I believe it is precisely this permanent coexistence of metaphysical message through physical means that is the strength of music. (46)【 It is also the reason why when we try to describe music with words, all we can do is articulate our reactions to it, and not grasp music itself.】 Beethoven’s importance in music has been principally defined by the revolutionary nature of his compositions. He freed music from hitherto prevailing conventions of harmony and structure. Sometimes I feel in his late works a will to break all signs of continuity. The music is abrupt and seemingly disconnected, as in the last piano sonata. In musical expression, he did not feel restrained by the weight of convention. (47) 【By all accounts he was a freethinking person, and a courageous one, and I find courage an essential quality for the understanding, let alone the performance, of his works.】 This courageous attitude in fact becomes a requirement for the performers of Beethoven’s music. His compositions demand the performer to show courage, for example in the use of dynamics. (48) 【Beethoven’s habit of increasing the volume with an extreme intensity and then abruptly following it with a sudden soft passage was only rarely used by composers before him.】 Beethoven was a deeply political man in the broadest sense of the word. He was not interested in daily politics, but concerned with questions of moral behavior and the larger questions of right and wrong affecting the entire society. (49)【 Especially significant was his view of freedom, which, for him, was associated with the rights and responsibilities of the individual: he advocated freedom of thought and of personal expression.】 Beethoven’s music tends to move from chaos to order as if order were an imperative of human existence. For him, order does not result from forgetting or ignoring the disorders that plague our existence; order is a necessary development, an improvement that may lead to the Greek ideal of spiritual elevation. It is not by chance that the Funeral March is not the last movement of the Eroica Symphony, but the second, so that suffering does not have the last word. (50) 【One could interpret much of the work of Beethoven by saying that suffering is inevitable, but the courage to fight it renders life worth living.】
正确答案：
46. 这也是为什么当我们试图用语言来描述音乐时，我们只能明确表达我们对于音乐的感受，而不能完全理解音乐本身。
47. 人们普遍认为，他（贝多芬）是个思想自由、充满勇气的人，我认为勇气这一品质，是理解他作品的关键，更不必说演奏他的作品了。
48. 贝多芬习惯最大限度来逐渐增高音量，然后突然跟上轻柔的乐段，在他之前，作曲家很少使用这种方式。
49. 尤为重要的是贝多芬对于自由的看法，他认为，自由是与个人的权利和责任联系起来的：他倡导思想自由和个人言论自由。
50. 我们可以这样解读贝多芬的大部分作品：苦难是不可避免的，但是与痛苦抗争的勇气才使得生命具有价值。
答案解析：
生词本：
articulate v. 明确表达
intensity n. 强度
grasp v. 抓住
passage n. 乐章
by all accounts 根据各方面所说
composer n. 作曲家
freethinking adj. 思想自由的
associate v. 与……有联系
courageous adj. 勇敢的
advocate v. 主张
let alone 更不必说
interpret v. 解读
volume n. 音量
inevitable adj. 不可避免的
abruptly adv. 突然地
render v. 致使
表达难点：
46. ①本句句子主干为It is the reason why...，主系表结构。why引导定语从句，修饰the reason。可译为“这就是为什么……”。②该定语从句中包含了when引导的时间状语从句，其中with words作状语，修饰describe，翻译时需调整语序到其修饰的to describe之前，可以表达为“当我们尝试用语言来描述音乐时”。③all we can do为定语从句，省略了that，修饰all，最后由and连接两个不定式作表语，省略了to。④all we can do is..., and not... 表示转折意义，可译为“只是……，而并非……”。⑤articulate可译为“清楚表达”， grasp表示“抓住；理解”。
47. ①本句是一个由and连接的并列句。第一个分句…he was a freethinking person, and a courageous one…，主系表结构。其中he指代贝多芬，one指代person。②freethinking可译为“思想自由”，句首的By all accounts为固定搭配，意思是“据说，人们说”。③第二个分句主干为I find courage an essential quality…，可译为“我认为勇气是一个关键品质”。 ④介词短语for the understanding, let alone the performance, of his works作quality的后置定语，可译为“我发现勇气这一品质，是理解，更不必说演奏他作品的关键”。⑤let alone意为“更不用说”。
48. ①本句主干为Beethoven’s habit…was…used by composers…，主语为Beethoven’s habit，后面的介词短语of increasing the volume with an extreme intensity and then abruptly following it with a sudden soft passage为其后置定语，修饰habit。②with an extreme intensity为介词短语作状语，翻译时需调整语序到其修饰的increasing the volume前，根据语境，volume意思为“音量”。这一部分可以翻译为“把音量逐渐加到最大”。③动名词短语then abruptly following it with a sudden soft passage中的it指代前面的increasing the volume with an extreme intensity，状语with a sudden soft passage需调整到following it前表达，其中passage根据语境，意思为“乐段”。可译为“然后突然跟上轻柔的乐段”。④was only rarely used by composers before him为被动语态，在翻译时可将被动译为主动。
49. ①本句为倒装句，句子主干的正常语序是his view of freedom was especially significant。在翻译时，顺译即可，其中his指代“贝多芬的”，主干可以表达为：尤为重要的是，他对于自由的看法……。②his view of freedom后是which引导的非限制性定语从句，修饰freedom，关系代词which在定语从句中作主语，可把which翻译为“自由”。③associated with 表示“和……联系起来” ④of the individual修饰the rights and responsibilities，可译为“个人的权利和责任”。⑤冒号后面的内容是对前面的定语从句进行解释说明，其中of thought and of personal expression是由and连接的两个介词短语作后置定语，修饰freedom，可译为“思想自由和个人言论自由”。
50. ①本句是一个包含宾语从句的复合句，句子主干为One could interpret much of the work of Beethoven，主语是one，可译为“人们”或者“我们”。句子主干可译为“我们可以解读贝多芬的大部分作品”。②之后的by saying that…为方式状语，修饰interpret，that引导宾语从句，从句是由but连接的两个并列句，作saying的宾语，inevitable意为“不可避免的”。③to fight it是动词不定式短语作后置定语，修饰courage，render意为“使变得”。
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