Young Taylor Swift
For a certain 11yearold, a spring break trip to Nashville, Tennessee, was lifechanging. Nashville was the center of the country music industry.
While her mom waited in the car, the girl walked into all the big record companies in town.
Because that girl was Taylor Swift.
Making music came easily to Taylor, but making friends did not.
You probably know how this turned out. Since her first album came out in 2006, Taylor has won 10 Grammy Awards. Her album, 1989, has sold more than 9 million copies.
| A．What kind of music does Taylor sing? |
| B．So what makes Taylor so popular? |
| C．Taylor’s parents knew she was talented. |
| D．She introduced herself and dropped off recordings of her singing. |
| E．Taylor’s parents have made her into a successful singersongwriter. |
| F．Taylor has been interested in singing since she was little. |
| G．Kids would move to a different table when she tried to sit with them at lunch. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Music streaming platforms (平台) such as Spotify and Apple Music have completely changed how people listen to music nowadays. By paying very affordable prices, people can access music very easily. However, while these platforms may provide benefits for some artists, up-and-coming artists are being left behind because they only focus on big names and creating profits.
Because of COVID-19, musicians have not been able to tour or perform live in many countries, which contributes to a large part of their income. In a YouTube interview, up-and-coming Texas artist Mobey mentioned that “The majority of my income comes from playing live shows. Usually that means around 50% — 70% of what we expect to make in a year”. With these factors, small artists are finding it increasingly difficult to make it in the industry due to the lack of investment (投资) into new talent.
Small artists on Spotify and Apple Music can expect to make little to nothing. An artist on Spotify can expect to earn an average of $0.003 per stream or around $3 per 1,000 streams for one of their songs. On Apple Music, artists can expect to make a little more with an average of $0.01 per stream, or around $10 with 1,000 streams. Even if they could hit around 1,000 streams, they have to pay music distribution (分发) platforms needed for their music to be shown on the streaming platforms such as DistroKid, whose cheapest plan is $20.
A new artist would find it very difficult to promote their music outside of their social media accounts which may not even have a large amount of followers. They probably cannot get large amounts of streams on their music since it is not being promoted due to the lack of exposure (宣传) they have on social media.
With the takeover of music streaming platforms, many artists are finding it increasingly difficult to make a sustainable (可持续的) living from their love for music. A simple way these platforms can enable new artists to keep making music is to increase their payouts per stream for their music. Hopefully the music streaming industry will make similar changes to improve the situation of their artists.
1. What is the problem with music streaming platforms?| A．They ignore small artists. | B．They are not user-friendly. |
| C．They are very difficult to manage. | D．They limit the number of small artists’ songs. |
| A．His lack of investment. | B．His total income in a year. |
| C．The main source of his income. | D．The reason for his fewer live shows. |
| A．How a music streaming platform works. |
| B．Small artists’ hope for music streaming platforms. |
| C．Small artists’ dislike for music streaming platforms. |
| D．Why small artists earn little on music streaming platforms. |
| A．Music streaming platforms: Do they really put profits first? |
| B．Music streaming platforms: Are they a chance or challenge to artists? |
| C．Music streaming platforms: Have they harmed the industry for artists? |
| D．Music streaming platforms: Could they offer music lovers better services? |
【推荐2】Since Neolithic (新石器时代的) times, sculpture has been considered the privilege of men as it was assumed that women were not suited for the hard manual labor required in sculpting stone, carving wood, or working in metal. It has been only during the twentieth-century that women sculptors have been recognized as major artists, and it has been in the United States that women sculptors have shown the greatest originality and creative power. By far the most outstanding of these women is Louis Nevelson, who in the eyes of many critics is the most original female artist alive today. One famous and influential critic Hilton Kramer, said of her work, “For myself, I think Ms. Nevelson succeeds where the painters often fail.”
Her works have been compared to the Cubist (立体主义的) constructions of Picasso, the surrealistic (超现实主义的) objects of Miro and the Merzhau of Schwitters. And she would be the first to admit that she has been influenced by all of these, as well as by African sculpture, and by Native American and pre-Columbian art. Nevelson says, “I have always wanted to show the world that art is everywhere, except that it has to pass through a creative mind.”
Using mostly thrown-away wooden objects like packing crates, broken pieces of furniture, and abandoned architectural ornaments, she makes architectural constructions of great beauty and power. Creating very freely, she glues and nails objects together, paints them black, or more rarely white or gold, and places them in boxes. These collections, walls, even entire environments create a mysterious, almost awe-inspiring atmosphere. Although she has refused to admit any symbolic or religious intention in her works, their three-dimensional grandeur (宏伟) and even their titles, such as Sky Cathedral and Night Cathedral, suggest such meanings.
1. The passage mainly focuses on ______.| A．a general tendency in twentieth-century art | B．the artistic influences on women sculptors |
| C．the work of a particular woman artist | D．critical responses to twentieth-century sculpture |
| A．She has the ability to combine sculpture and painting. |
| B．Her creativity and originality make her work unique. |
| C．Her work is so expressive that no painters can compete with her. |
| D．People turned their interest to sculpture instead of painting due to her talents. |
| A．they are uniquely American in style and sensibility |
| B．they show the influence of twentieth-century architecture |
| C．they do not have qualities characteristic of sculpture |
| D．they suggest religious and symbolic meanings |
| A．They are sometimes very large. | B．They are often painted in several colors. |
| C．They are meant for display outdoors. | D．They are built around a central wooden object. |
【推荐3】To the music of Verdi’s Ave Maria, Bulgarian-born soprano Raina Kabaivanska opened the funeral service for her longtime friend and colleague Luciano Pavarotti in the cathedral of Modena. Archbishop Benito Cocchi read a message of condolence from Pope Benedict. In it, the pope said Pavarotti had “honored the divine gift of music through his extraordinary interpretative talent.”
Pavarotti’s white maple casket was covered in sunflowers-his favorite-and laid before the altar. Since his death on Thursday, some 100,000 people of all ages have filed past his coffin in the cathedral, paying last respects to the maestro. Music resounded throughout the service. Tenor Andrea Bocelli sang Mozart’s “Ave Verum Corpus.” Family members, close friends as well as dignitaries and celebrities attended the invitation-only service. Among those attending were Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, U2 lead singer Bono, and film director Franco Zeffirelli.
Across Italy, admirers watched the service live on television, and thousands of ordinary citizens gathered in the square outside the cathedral and followed the service on a giant screen. One admirer outside the church said Pavarotti would never die. He’s said he is convinced that Pavarotti is not dead because he will continue to live with his voice, with his songs, and he will always remain in our hearts.
Applause broke out as the casket was carried outside the church as loudspeakers amplified a recording of Pavarotti singing arias by Verdi.
As a special honor for a man of humble origins who became Italy’s greatest cultural ambassador, an air force team flew over the cathedral, streaking the sky in the white, red and green colors of the Italian flag.
1. The music played throughout the service was sung by .| A．Raina Kabaivanska | B．Tenor Andrea Bocelli |
| C．Bono | D．Verdi |
| A．People of all ages filing past his coffin in the cathedral. |
| B．family members and close friends of Pavarotti. |
| C．Italian Prime Minister and former U.N Secretary General. |
| D．dignitaries and celebrities invited. |
| A．Pavarotti is Italy’s greatest cultural ambassador with extraordinary talent. |
| B．Pavarotti will always remain in the heart of his admirers across the country. |
| C．Tenor Andrea Bocelli attended Pavarotti’s funeral solemnly and respectfully. |
| D．To show people’s respect, the funeral was completed with an air force gun salute. |
