雅思阅读Unit 9 Music

Unit 9 MusicPassage 55When students and parents are asked to rate subjects according to their importance, the arts are unavoidably at the bottom of the list. Music is nice, people seem to say, but not important. Too often it is viewed as mere entertainment, but certainly not an education priority(优先). This view is shortsighted. In fact, music education is beneficial and important for all students.Music tells us who we are. Because music is an expression of the beings who create it, it reflects their thinking and values, as well ad the social environment it came influence that George Gershwin and other musicians introduced into their music is obviously American because it came from American musical traditions. Music expresses our character and values. It gives us identity as a society.Music provides a kind of perception(感知)that cannot be acquired any other way. Science can explain how the sun rises and sets. The arts explore the emotive(情感的)meaning of the same phenomenon. We need every possible way to discover and respond to our world for one simple but powerful reason: No one way can get it all.The arts are forms of thought as powerful in what they communicate as mathematical and scientific symbols. They are ways we human beings “talk” to each other. They are the language of civilization through which we express our fears, our curiosities, our hungers, our discoveries, our hopes. The arts are ways we give form to our ideas and imagination so that they can be shared with others. When we do not give children access to an important way of expressing themselves such as music, we take away from them the meanings that music expresses.Science and technology do not tell us what it means to be human. The arts do. Music is an important way we express human suffering, celebration, the meaning and value of peace and love.So music education is far more necessary than people seem to realize.小试牛刀：Question1-5:Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the passage?Choose fromYES if the statement agrees with the writer’s claimsNO if the statement contradicts the writer’s claimsNOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this1. People all seem to know that music is not only an entertainment ,but also a kind ofbeneficial education to students.2. Music is actually a representation of creators’ thinking and values.3. Comparing with science,the art can express human beings’ needs better.4. Science and arts explore different aspects of things, and both of them areindispensable for us to discover and respond to our world.5. Music education is far more necessary than science and technology education.Passage 56It has been thought and said that Africans are born with musical talent. Because music is so important in the lives of many Africans and because so much music is performed in Africa, we are inclined to think that all Africans are musicians. The impression is strengthened when we look at ourselves and find that we have become largely a society of musical spectators (旁观者). Music is important to us, but most of us can be considered consumers rather than producers of music. We have records, television, concerts, and radio to fulfill many of our musical needs. In most situations where music is performed in our culture, it is not difficult to distinguish the audience from the performers, but such is often not the case in Africa. Alban Ayipaga, a Kasena semiprofessional musician from northern Ghana, says that when his flute (长笛) and drum ensemble (歌舞团) is performing, “anybod y can take part". This is true, but Kasena musicians recognize that not all people are equally capable of taking part in the music. Some can sing along with the drummers, but relatively few can drum and even fewer can play the flute along with the ensemble. It is fairly common in Africa for there to be an ensemble of expert musicians surrounded by others who join in by clapping, singing, or somehow, adding to the totality of musical sound. Performances often take place in an open area (that is, not on a stage) and so the lines between the performing nucleus and the additional performers, active spectators, and passive spectators may be difficult to draw from our point of view.小试牛刀：Question1-5:Complete the table below using information from the above text.Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.Different Viewpoints on MusicRoles Played in Music Appreciation of MusicCommon People Musical spectators,1, ratherthan producershave records,television,concerts,andradio to 2, musicalneeds.Not difficult to distinguish the audienceFrom the 3,Africans All people are equally capableof 4, themusicAudience join in the playing by5, ,singing, orsomehow adding to the totality ofmusical sound.。