Most people want to know how things are made. They honestly admit, however, that they hardly know a thing when it comes to understanding how a piece of music is made. Where a composer begins, how he manages to keep going – in fact, how and when he learns his trade – all are covered in complete darkness. The composer, in short, is a man of mystery .
One of the first things the common man wants to know about is the part inspiration plays in a composer’s work. He finds it difficult to believe that composers are not much interested in that question. Writing music is as natural for the composer as eating or sleeping for all. Music is something that the composer happens to have been born for.
The composer, therefore, does not say to himself: “Do I feel inspired?” He says to himself: “Do I feel like working today?” And if he feels like working, he does. It is more or less like saying to himself: “Do I feel sleepy?” If you feel sleepy, you go to sleep. If you don’t feel sleepy, you stay up. If the composer doesn’t feel like working, he doesn’t work. It’s as simple as that.
小题1:What would be the best title for the text?
A．Composer: a man of mystery
B．Practice makes good music
C．Relation between sleeping and music
D．Music: product of nature小题2:Most people seem to think that a composer ____.
A．finds it difficult to write music
B．considers it important to have a good rest
C．should like to talk about inspiration
D．never asks himself very simple questions小题3:The author will most probably agree that composers ____.
A．are born with a gift for music
B．are people full of mystery
C．work late at night for their music
D．know a lot about eating and sleeping
小题1:A
小题2:C
小题3:A
题目分析：作曲家是从哪里开始作曲的，怎样继续下去的，怎样学会这一技巧的，都是个谜，没有人知道，由此可以推断出答案。
小题1:主旨大意题。第一段的最后一句The composer, in short, is a man of mystery .
是主题句，选A。
小题2:细节理解题。根据短文第二段He finds it difficult to believe that composers are not much interested in that question.可知“普通人首先知道的事情之一就是灵感在作曲家的工作中所起的作用。他认为作曲家想要谈论这个问题”选C。
小题3:细节理解题。根据短文第二段倒数一二句“ Writing music is…have been born for”可知作曲家是天生的，A项正确。
点评：考查细节题较多，本文所设试题主要考察细节查找，对于文章中的细节题，要注意文本内容的理解。关键是找出原文的根据，认真核查题支和原文的异同，常犯错误有：绝对化语言，范围扩大或缩小，以偏概全，张冠李戴等。带着问题，再读全文，找出答题所需要的依据，完成阅读。