蔣建平

The secrets of Cremona violins

難詞探意

1. varnish /vɑn/ n. 清漆;罩光漆;指甲油

2. shiny /ani/ adj. 光亮的;锃亮的;有光澤的

Most musicians agree that the best violins were made in Cremona， Italy， about 200 years ago because they sound better than violins made today. Violin makers and scientists try to make instruments like the old Italian violins. But they aren？t the same. Why are these old Italian violins so special？

Some people think it is the age of the violins. But there is a problem here. Not all old violins sound wonderful. Only those from Cremona are special. So age cannot be the answer.

Other people think the secret of those violins is the wood. It must be from certain kinds of trees. It must not be too young or too old. Perhaps the violin makers of Cremona knew something special about the wood for violins.

But the kind of wood may not be so important. It may be more important to cut the wood in a special way. Wood for a violin must be cut into the right size and shape. The smallest difference will change the sound of the violin. Musicians sometimes think that this is the secret of the Italians.

Size and shape may not be the answer either. Scientists make new violins that are exactly the same size and shape. But the new ones still do not sound as good as the old ones. Some scientists think the secret may be the varnish， which covers the wood of the violin and makes it look shiny. It also helps the sound of the instrument. Since no one knows what the Italian violin makers used in their varnish， no one can make the same varnish today.

There may never be other violins like the violins of Cremona. And there are not many of the old violins left. So these old violins are becoming more and more precious.

1. What？s the main purpose of the first para？graph？

A. To list some facts.

B. To lead in the topic.

C. To give an opinion.

D. To answer a question.

2. What is still unclear about Cremona violins according to the author？

A. The size.

B. The shape.

C. The wood.

D. The varnish.

3. What can we learn about Cremona violins from the text？

A. They are special for their sizes.

B. They are famous for their age.

C. They are rare and precious.

D. They are made of old trees.

Useful expressions

the secret of... ……的秘密

cut sth into... 把某物切成……（形狀）

小提琴的故鄉(xiāng)——意大利克雷莫納

意大利北部城市克雷莫納（Cremona）以制造高品位的小提琴馳名國(guó)際?，F(xiàn)在，它面臨來(lái)自世界各地的廉價(jià)小提琴的挑戰(zhàn)。一把全新的克雷莫納小提琴售價(jià)高達(dá)12，000歐元，但亞洲出產(chǎn)的小提琴只售數(shù)百歐元。

克雷莫納16世紀(jì)就開(kāi)始在小提琴制造市場(chǎng)崛起，當(dāng)?shù)卦烨偌野數(shù)僭?566年為法國(guó)國(guó)王制造過(guò)一把小提琴，頗受稱贊，這促使克雷莫納逐漸成為設(shè)計(jì)并制造現(xiàn)代小提琴的中心。繼阿瑪?shù)僦?，克雷莫納人才輩出，他們皆擅長(zhǎng)制造小提琴，最為音樂(lè)界熟悉的名字包括斯特拉迪瓦里和瓜爾內(nèi)里。

大多數(shù)音樂(lè)家都認(rèn)為最好的小提琴是大約200年前在意大利克雷莫納制造的，它們發(fā)出的聲音甚至比今天的小提琴都要好。為什么這些古老的意大利小提琴如此特別？答案最后鎖定在了它們所使用的清漆上。