Music plays an important role in our life. Do you like pop music _____ rock music? A study shows music lessons can make children _____ better memories(记忆) than others. A Canadian study (调查) shows that after one year of training in music, children ____ get better grades in a memory test than others.

There _____ two groups of children aged at four and six in the study. One group of children took music lessons outside school, and _____ group didn’t take any lessons. In one year, they took four tests at different times. The results showed that ______ taking music lessons not only did better in music listening, but also _____much progress (进步) in other subjects, such as English and math.

Many people like music. They feel _____ when they are listening to their favorite music. _____ great thing for people to enjoy their favourite music!

We are sure ______more in the wonderful world of music.

Country music is very popular in America. It is a kind of traditional ________ from the southern states of America. At first, people ________ country music only at family parties. When people in the countryside ________ to towns and cities to look for jobs, they took their music with them. With country music continuing (继续) to change, it became ________ throughout America. John Denver was one of the most famous country ________ in America 50 years ago. His ________ Take Me Home, Country Roads is well-known and people still play it today.

Pop music is another kind of musical style. Pop ________ popular. Pop music can make people feel ________ and comfortable. Pop music has been popular since the 1950s. In China, Jay Chou is liked by a large number of ________ of all ages. He sang many songs about the world we ________. One of them is Dao Xiang, which encourages (鼓励) people not to give up even when life is difficult.

Beatboxing is now very popular. More and more people like to try it. Beatboxing is making drum sounds just by using your mouth and voice.

※Where did beatboxing begin?

Beatboxing is an art form of Hip-hop which began on the streets of New York. The idea of making sounds with our mouths came from African music. African singers often made sounds with their bodies. However, it was on the streets of Harlem where people first used the word beatbox (or two words: beat box). Beat box was drum machines (机器) around the time.

※Beatboxing over the years

Beatboxing became a popular art form between the 1980s and 1990s. Nowadays, people can watch beatboxers on the talent show programs (才艺表演节目) and on YouTube. The Beatbox Battle World Championships (世界锦标赛) first took place in Germany in 2005 and it takes place every three years. In August 2018 it took place in Berlin.

※Try it yourself

There are many good YouTube tutorials on how to beatbox. You can learn a lot. And there’s the old trick of saying “boots and cats” very quickly to make a beat. Go on! You can try it.

What power(力量) does music have? Band of Hope is a student band in the US. They play music for young patients(病人) at a children’s hospital.   

Students at Hopewell Junior High School started the band about six months ago. The band’s 27 members meet once a week for a two-hour practice after school.

On May 27, they played their sixth concert for 20 children in hospital. The band members also told stories for the patients and brought small instruments(乐器) for them to play.

Liam Watters, 13, plays the baritone(男中音) in the band. During one concert, he learned that one of the patients liked to listen to the singing, so he and a few other band members went back to the patient’s room and sang to him. “That was really cool,” Liam said. “They had big smiles on their faces.”

“We’re hoping that we can give more concerts here,” said Kerry Wilson, the head of the band. “It helps them to feel happy and enjoy being a part of our community(社区).”

Music plays an important part in our life._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________