英语听力精选进阶版 7234（在线收听）

Background: 世界上最名贵的小提琴是意大利提琴制造家，史特拉第瓦里(Stradivari)所制的提琴。这些古董琴以完美的音质著称，其中一把珍藏提琴去年创下了近1千万英镑的成交纪录。但在美国近期的一次试验中，结果显示名贵古董提琴未必比现代提琴好。这一结论引起了位于北意大利史特拉第瓦里故乡的不满。

For generations lovers of classical music have believed that when it comes to the violin, there is nothing finer than the sound of a Stradivarius. But research in America has challenged the mystique surrounding the famous old instruments.

Tests involving more than 20 professional violinists were conducted in a hotel in Indiana. The violinists were made to wear goggles that blinded them.

They couldn't tell whether they were playing an antique Stradivarius, or a brand new instrument. And most of the musicians decided that they liked the new ones best.

But they've been unimpressed by this in a place called Cremona, the home town of the Stradivarius violin. At the instrument museum there, a spokesman said the American survey was no more than "media hype".

He said that for hundreds of years the world of music had recognised the quality of the Stradivarius.

Glossary 词汇表

when it comes to (something) 谈起什么东西的时候

to challenge (something) 挑战什么

the mystique 神秘，奥秘

the goggles 眼罩

brand new 全新的

to like (something) best 最喜欢

to be unimpressed by (something) 未受感动的

the home town 家乡

media hype 媒体炒作

to be recognised 被认为是

Questions:

1: Where has the survey taken place?

In a hotel in Indiana, US.

2: What were the survey's findings?

Musicians didn't know if a violin playing was a Stradivarius or not.

3: True or false? Musicians taking part in the test were asked to look for a Stradivarius in the room but they couldn't find it because they were blindfolded.

False. What they couldn't do is identify which of the instruments - a Stradivarius or a brand new violin - was playing at the time just by the sound of it.

4: Who dismissed the importance of the test as an exaggeration by the media?

A spokesman for the Stradivarius museum in Cremona, Italy.