2014职称英语考试理工C级真题阅读理解2

【新】2014年职称英语考试试题及答案（全套）

　　The Magic of Sound

　　原文出处：教材补全短文第五篇

　　Music is one of the most beautiful forms of artistic expressions ever invented. In movies and plays， music has an added function1： it not only moves people but also can shock people. Is it true that an ordinary musical instrument can be so powerful?

　　Our eardrums can withstand sound within 20 to 80 decibels. Once sound exceeds this limit2， even beautiful music will become ear-splitting noise3 and harm health. A strong blast of high sound can twist and break a solid iron sheet. ____1____

　　The noise from a plane's engine is over 140 decibels. However， the sound of a flute is at most a few decibels. ____2____ It has been proven that people who have worked in an environment with a high sound intensity for a long time suffer varying degrees of heart disease or altered brain waves.

　　In movies， sometimes the hero can produce a sound that ordinary people can't hear and only those who have the same ability can feel. In nature， there is actually sound that is beyond our hearing. In physics， the sound that exceeds 20，000 Hz is called ultrasonic. ____3____ It does no harm to health.

　　Sound less than 20 Hz is called infrasonic waves. When we move， the air will vibrate. ____4____ As the frequency of infrasonic waves is close to that of people's internal organs， infrasonic wave may cause resonance in human bodies. As a result， people's vision may weaken and internal organs4 may rupture. However， whether an infrasonic wave can be used as a weapon depends on its intensity5. If its intensity is very low， it won't damage internal organs or a person's health. ____5____ When wind blows at a force of 3 or 4 over the sea6， it will produce infrasonic waves of several decibels. Only typhoons can produce infrasonic waves of over 100 decibels. At present， scientists can only produce infrasonic weapons in the lab with the help of advanced scientific tools and powerful electric power.