参考答案

正确答案：C
听力材料：Forcenturies，peoplehavebeenamazedbychildrenofunusualtalent．PianistandcomposerFelixMendelssohnhascomposedafairamountofmusicbythetimehewaseleven．HisfourthoperawasproducedinBerlin，whenhewasonlyeighteen．JohnStewartMill，thenineteenthcenturyBritishphilosopher，readGreekatthreeandhadworkedhiswaythroughelementarygeometryandalargebodyofliteratureandhistorybythetimehewastwelve．Eventhoughtherehasbeenafascinationwithprodigiesforcenturies，therehasbeenlittleseriousstudyofthemuntilrecently．Somesurprisingcommoncharacteristicshavebeenidentified．Thevastmajorityareboys．Theyareusuallyfirstbomchildrenofmiddle-classfamilies．Oftentheirparentsarepasttheusualchild-bearingage．Manyarebornbyoperationratherthanbynaturalchildbirth．Theyoftenhaveparentswhoseemtobetryingtorealizetheirownambitionsthroughtheiramazingchildren．Andprodigiesusuallyhaveastrangesenseofhumor．Althoughachildmaybebornwithoutstandinggeneticpotential，thispotentialwillnotnecessarilydevelop．“Justhavingthegeneisnotenough．”saysHarvardUniversitypsychologistHowardGardener．“Somethingintheenvironmentmustnourishthepotential．”Andalthoughmanyprodigiesenjoythesatisfactionoftheextraordinaryachievement，publicpraise，andmaterialwealth，eventhemostsuccessfulsometimesquestionthevalueoftheirlivesandtheaccomplishment．“IhavealongingwhichgrowsstrongerasIgetolder．”confessesthefamousAmericanconcertpianistEugeneEastman，“tobeordinary．”独自第四句中提到了JohnStewartMill这个人物，并用同位语指出了他的身份：thenineteenthcenturyBritishphilosopher(19世纪的英国哲学家)，故本题选[C]。注意JohnStewartMill和前面的FelixMendelssohn都属于prodigies(神童)的例子。