Activity of text interpretation, aimed at students in the seventh year of elementary school, about the violin. The acoustics of the sharpest of strung string musical instruments have been studied by physicists for a long time. Are we going to learn more about the relationship between science and the violin? So, carefully read the interesting text “Physics and the violin: the duet”! Afterwards, be sure to answer the various interpretative questions proposed!
This reading comprehension activity is available for download in an editable Word template, ready to print to PDF, as well as the completed activity.
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Carefully read the text. Then answer the proposed interpretative questions:
What's science about the violin? Much more than you think. The acoustics of the sharpest of strung-string musical instruments have been studied by physicists for a long time. How sounds are produced, how they amplify and how the wood used in the variation influences the instrument's sound are some of the aspects studied by scientists.
Thanks to the various contributions of researchers over time, it is now known that, in making the bow, it makes the strings vibrate through friction, the ideal wood is pau-brasil, because it has the most adequate characteristics of density, strength and ability to maintain the curvature.
Although the amplitude of the violin strings vibration is considerable, the sound released to the air is very weak. The strings are very thin and, when vibrating, displace a small amount of air. Therefore, it is necessary to transfer this vibration to a very large surface, so that, when vibrating, it displaces an appreciable volume of air and increases the intensity of the sound. On the violin, the piece that transfers the vibrations from the strings to the speaker is the easel, and the large tops of this box are very efficient to move the air in the surroundings and increase the sound radiation, acting in the same way as the cone of a speaker. On the top of the violin speaker's top there are two holes, in the shape of a stylized 'f', with well-defined acoustic functions.
Many other features of the instrument help to compose its sound. It is they – and a good interpreter, of course – that allow us to appreciate the virtuosity of the violin. Understanding its acoustics is still a challenge these days.
“Science Today Magazine”. January/February 2010. p.1. Available in: .
Question 1 - In the segment “Acoustics of the sharpest of strung string musical instruments has been studied by physicists for a long time.”, the highlighted part:
( ) evaluates the violin.
( ) defines the violin.
( ) describes the violin.
Question 2 - In the phrase “[…] it has been studied by physicists for a long time.”, the verb “haver” has the meaning:
( ) of “doing”.
( ) of “exist”.
( ) of “happening”.
Question 3 - In “[…] to make the bow, which makes the strings vibrate by friction, the ideal wood is brazilwood, because it has the most suitable characteristics […]", the underlined excerpt:
( ) explains the previous fact.
( ) concludes the previous fact.
( ) contradicts the previous fact.
Question 4 – In the sentence “How sounds are produced […]”, the word “how”:
( ) points to a cause.
( ) expresses a comparison.
( ) indicates a mode circumstance.
Question 5 - In the passage “[…] so that it, when vibrating, displaces an appreciable volume of air and increases the intensity of the sound.”, the pronoun “esta” resumes:
( ) “small amount of air”.
( ) “vibration”.
( ) “a very large surface”.
Question 6 – Identify the violin piece that "makes the strings vibrate by friction":
( ) the arch.
( ) the easel.
( ) the speaker.
Question 7 – In the fragment “[…] the large tops of this box are quite efficient […]”, the term “quite” was used to:
( ) determine the direction of a feature of the large lids.
( ) intensify the sense of a characteristic of the large tops.
( ) complement the meaning of a characteristic of the large tops.
Question 8 – The text "Physics and violin, the duet" is of nature:
( ) didactic.
( ) scientific.
( ) journalistic.
By Denyse Lage Fonseca
Graduated in Languages and specialist in distance education.
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