Act Reading Test 1 Passage 3 Humanities

Mozart was most likely call a Child of the Sun (Paragraph 3) because:

• Most of his operas dealt with natural themes, like the glory of daybreak.

• Both he and his music embodied happiness, brightness, and freshness.

• He was very concerned with the stresses of everyday life.

• He began composing music at the age of five, and rapidly developed a unique style.

The author describes Mozart as all of the following EXCEPT:

• A musical genius.

• Carefree.

• Inhumane.

• A civilized man.

As it is used in line 7, the word prodigy most nearly means:

• A youthful state of mind.

• A system of musical thought.

• A person of exceptional talents.

• A leader with an unmistakable style.

When the author says that these Iwo were not just musfca/genfuses, but genuises of the humaness (lines 13-14), he most likely means that:

• Bach and Mozart expressed themselves through their music, which had little effect on their fellow Europeans.

• Bach and Mozart were working together to create the music for the Olympic Games.

• Bach and Mozart began composing works together that would later be performed by other very talented musicians.

• Bach and Mozart composed music that enhanced the concept of civilization and upheld the highest moral standards.

According to the passage, nineteenth-century composer Robert Schumann:

• Believed that Mozart's work was youthful and fresh.

• Did not believe that Mozart was a genius.

• Compared Mozart's work to that of Goethe.

• Believed that Beethoven's work was more appropriate for young people.

It can be reasonably inferred from the last paragraph (lines 75-84) that:

• Many of Mozart's works have yet to be discovered.

• Goethe believed Mozart's works were losing their freshness.

• The genius of Mozart's work will live on for many years.

• Goethe was the driving force behind Mozart's genius.

According to the passage, Mozart's main purpose in writing his music was to:

• Show his fellow Europeans that he was more talented than Bach.

• Tell a story about the concerns of daily living.

• Convince the listener that life could be very stressful.

• Create and spread the values and ideals of civilized societies.

The author implies that, compared to Mozart's music, Beethoven's is:

• Less popular.

• Less youthful.

• More inspiring.

• More complex.

Which of the following phrases from the passage most accurately describes the main idea?

• He defined in his music a system of musical thought...

• While all the world was still gazing expectantly upon him he vanished from the earth...

• So the name of Mozart in his mind is associated with the conception of things youthful, bright, and sunny.

• His predecessor Bach accomplished the Olympian feat of adding to the human concepts of civility and civilization.

5 10 15 - 20 - 25 30 35 -- 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 Passage Ill HUMANITIES: This passage is adapted from Mozart: The Man and the Artist.f, as Revealed in His Own Words, by Friedrich Kerst, and translated by Henry Edward Krehbiel in 1905.    The German composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart {1756-1791) was not only a musical genius but was also one of the pre-eminent geniuses of the Western world. He defined in his music a system of musical thought and an entire slate of mind that were unlike any previously experienced. A true child prodigy, he began composing al age live and rapidly developed his unmistakable style; by eighteen he was composing works capable of altering the mind-states of entire civilizations. Indeed, he and his predecessor Bach accomplished the Olympian feat of adding to the human concepts of civility and civilization. So these two were not just musical geniuses, but geniuses of the humanities   Mozart's music embodies civilization. It encom passes all that is humane about an idealized civiliza- tion. And it probably was Mozart's main purpose to create and propagate a concept of a great civilization through his music. He wanted to show his fellow Europeans, with their garbage-polluted city streets. their violent leaders, and their stifling, nonhumane bureaucracies, new ideas on how to run their civilizations properly. He wanted them to hear and feel a sense of civilized movement. of the musical expressions of man moving as he would if uphold- ing the highest values of idealized societies. Mozart was called a Child of the Sun. Filled with a humor truly divine, he strolled freely through life, oblivious to the concerns of daily living. Music was his talisman, his magic flute with which he could exorcise all the petty terrors that beset him. Has such a man and artist-one who was completely resolved in his works. and therefore still appeals with all his glorious qualities after the lapse of a century-has Mozart still something to say to us? Much; very much.    Through his music we are reminded of the man who could not forget the merry tune of the forest bird which he had heard as a boy. We gladly permit ourselves to be led, occasionally, out of the rude realities that surround us. into a beautiful world that knows no care but lies forever bathed in the sunshine of cloudless happiness. a world in which every loveliness dreamed of by fancy has taken life and form. It is because of this that we make pilgrimages to the masterpieces of the arts, that we give heed to the speech of Schiller, and listen to the music of Mozart. When wearied by the stress of life, we gladly rush to Mozart that he may tell us stories of that land of beauty and convince us that there are other and better occupations than the worries and combats of the fleeting hour. This is what Mozart has to tell us today, He has an individual mission to fulfill which will keep him immortal. There is something like the glory of daybreak in the tones of Mozart's opera, The Magic Flute; il is wafted towards us like the morning breeze which dispels the shadows and invokes the sun. Mozart remains ever young: one reason is because death laid hold of him in the middle of his career. While all the wo-rid was still gazing expect- antly upon him, he vanished from the earth and left no hope deceived. As the Gem1an thinks of Beet- hoven when he speaks the word symphony, so the name of Mozart in his mind is associated with the conception of things youthful, bright. and sunny. Nineteenth-century German composer Robert Schu- mann was fully conscious of a purpose when he called out. "Do not put Beethoven in the hands of young people too early: refresh and strengthen them with the fresh and lusty Mozart." Another time he wrote: “Does it not seem as if Mozart's works become fresher and fresher the oftener we hear them?" In the mind of the great philosopher, Goethe. genius was summed up in the name of Mozart. Goethe spoke these significant words: “What else is genius than that productive power through which deeds arise and are lasting? All the creations of Mozart are of this class: within them there is a generative force which is transplanted from genera- tion to generation. and is not likely soon to be exhausted or devoured.”