The New York Philharmonic(爱乐乐团) came to an unexpected stop on Tuesday night when an audience member’s cell phone started ringing and wouldn’t stop.
Conductor Alan Gilbert was nearing the end of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony(交响乐) when the interruption began. As eh New York Times writes, the symphony, “contains some of the most spiritual and peaceful music ever written.”
As the cell phone continued to ring, the iPhone’s signature ringtone, Gilbert stopped the entire performance. And yet shockingly the phone continued to ring. “Nothing happened,” Gilbert told the Times, “Nobody was to blame for it. It was unbelievable.”
Gilbert said minor cell phone interruptions have become common and rarely
interfere with a live performance. The Philharmonic does what it can to remind to audience to turn off their cell phones before the performance begins. But the audience and performers stood by in astonished silence as Gilbert asked the offender(肇事者) to silence the phone, only to hear it continue.
Mr Gilbert said audience pointed out two people sitting where the sound was coming from. “They were staring at me firmly,” he said of the couple. Eventually, the man put his hand in his pocket and the ringing stopped.
The conductor said he asked the man if he was sure the phone was quieted. “Then he nodded his head,” Mr Gilbert said.
People in the hall had been shouting for the sound to stop. Mr Pelkonen reported that they yelled: “Thousand-dollar fine!” “Kick him out!” “Get out!”
Once the phone was finally silenced, Gilbert apologized to the audience. They responded with cheers and applause(掌声). And the performance continued.
小题1:The underlined words “interfere with” in the third paragraph means “ ”.
| A．enjoy | B．attend | C．disturb | D．complete |
小题2:What do we know about the offender?
| A．He silenced the phone the moment he was reminded to. |
| B．He enjoyed the ringtone so he kept the phone ringing. |
| C．He quieted the phone after hearing people’s angry shouts. |
| D．He didn’t like the music so he wouldn’t silence the phone. |
小题3:What does the writer of this passage intend to imply?
| A．It’s not acceptable to carry an iPhone to a concert. |
| B．It’s rude to attend a concert with the phone ringing. |
| C．It’s necessary to quiet the phones when the performance is over. |
| D．It’s common for a conductor to make an apology to the audience. |
小题4:What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．iPhone ringtone bring New York Philharmonic to a stop |
| B．iPhone signature ringtone defeats New York Philharmonic |
| C．New York Philharmonic puts on a successful performance |
| D．New York Philharmonic stops the audience using iPhone |