Part I Reading Comprehension(30%)
Passage 1
Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage:
(S1)The development of jazz can be seen as part of the development of American popular music
especially dance music. I the twenties, jazz became the hottest new thing in dance music, much as ragtime had at the turn of the century, and as would rhythm(节奏) and blues in the forties, rock in the
fifties, and disco in the seventies.
(S2)But tow characteristics distinguish jazz from other dance music.
The first is improvisation(即兴演奏), the changing of music according to the player’s inspiration(灵感). Lick all artists, jazz musicians strive(奋斗) for an individual style, and improvised solo(独奏) is a jazz musician’ s main opportunity to display his or her individuality. In early jazz, musicians often improvised melodies collectively, thus creating a kind of polyphony (复调音乐). There was little soloing as such, although some New Orleans players, achieved local fame for their ability to improvise a solo. Later the idea of the chorus-long solo took hold. Louis Armstrong’s instrumental brilliance, demonstrated through extended solos, was a major influence in this development.
Even in the early twenties, however, some jazz bands had featured soloists. Unimprovised, completely structured jazz does exist, but the ability of the best jazz musicians to create music of great beauty during a performance has been a hallmark (特点) of the music and its major source of inspiration and change.
The second distinguishing characteristic of jazz is a rhythmic drive that wax initially called “hot” and later“swing”. In playing hot, a musician consciously departs from strict meter to create a relaxed sense of phrasing that also emphasizes the underlying rhythms. Not all jazz is hot, however, many early to play hot distinguished the jazz musician from other instrumentalists.
1. The passage answers which of the following question?
A. Which early jazz musicians most influenced rhythm and blues music?
B. What are the differences between jazz and other forms of music?
C. Why is dancing closely related to popular music in the United States?
D. What instruments comprised atypical jazz band of the 1920’s?
2. The topic of the passage is develop primarily by means of .
A. dividing the discussion into two major areas
B. presenting contrasting(对比) points of vies
C. providing biographies of famous musicians
D. describing historical events in sequence
3. The underlined word“ragtime” refers to .
A. pollution B. music C. person D. war
4. In the writer’s opinion, disco in the seventies must be .
A. pollution B. out-of-date C. children’s game D. popular
5. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the test?
A. Jazz is one of American popular music.
B. Jazz isn’t dance music.
C. Improvisation only can be seen in jazz.
D. Rhythm is not important in jazz.
解析一：[生词] be seen as:被视为；especially=particularly=in particular:尤其是；ragtime:拉格泰姆爵士乐；at the turn of the century:丗纪之交；blues:布鲁斯音乐；rock:摇滚乐；disco:迪斯可；
character:性格 特色；characterise:特征；distingguish…from…:把---和---区别开；individually style:个人风格；improvesed:经改进的；opprtunity to display:展露的机会；individuality:个性；melodies:旋律；collectively:集体地；create:创造；New Orleans：新奥尔良；local：本地的；
the chorus-long:唱诗班；brilliance:杰出的;demonstrated:演示; influence:有影响力的人;featured:主演的;unimprovised:即兴表演的; structured:营造的；performance: 表演 ；source: 来源； rhythmic drive: 节奏发展趋向；initially:最初的；consciously:有意地；departs from:背离；emphasizes：强调；
解析二：[答案] 1.B 该题考的是主旨论点题，题眼在（S2）句上。
2.B 该题涉及作者写作方法的文体题。着眼点同样在（S2）句上。
3. B 这是一道词义推断题。推断依据在第一段中的三个“as”和四个“in”上。从略读中获知的文章大意
上也可判定。
4．D 这道题考的是作者的主观态度或情感倾向题。答案在第一段。
5．A 这是一道事实判断题。答案同样在第一段。
Passage2
Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:
It is not too much to say of him, as Robert Schumann did, that“music owes as much to Bach as Christianity to its Founder”.
Bach wrote a library of music ax incomparable for its extensiveness as for its artistic merit.
(S3) It is indeed curious that this uniquely productive genius should have been neglected for almost a century following his death in 1750, and other manuscripts were disposed of by his sons for about ten each. The manuscripts of his solo sonatas were discovered on their way to a butcher shop to be used as wrapping paper. And his music remained virtually unperformed for some eighty years.
The rediscovery of Bach began in 1802, when the German musicologist Forkel published a biography of Bach. “This sublime genius,”wrote Forkel,“this prince of musicians dwarfs all others from the heights of superiority.” With the launching in 1850 of the complete edition of Bach’s works, music lovers were gradually to arrive at a full appreciation of his contribution to music.
Bach can be called the founder of the art of modern piano playing, for he taught that the fingers should be equally developed to play the organ, the lower joints held curved and the wrist and arm kept flexible. Before his time, organists had played with only the four fingers of the hand, but Bach used the thumb as well, and the results were such that other musicians soon followed his example.
6. The words“music owes as much to Bach as Christianity to its Founder”implies Bach .
A. is a music genius
B. is among the founders of music
C. has made extremely important contribution to the art of music
D. is the god of music to music-lovers
7. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. It was not until eighty years after his death that people were able to fully understand Bach’s contribution to music.
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