An American musician, singer and songwriter Bruce Springsteen is one of the world’s most popular artists, with a career that covers 40 years. He is known for his poetic songs that deal with social and political issues, as well as personal subjects. His energetic live performances are also famous.
Springsteen’s childhood in a New Jersey working class family was a major influence on his music. He has never been shy about writing about the social and political issues. These issues were included in his album called Darkness on the Edge of Town. His music grew even darker in the 1982 album Nebraska. Those songs showed people pushed to the edge of poverty and criminal activity. Thirteen years later Springsteen released The Ghost of Tom Joad. The album was a direct discussion of issues like immigration, hunger and poverty. Then in 2012, in the album Wrecking Ball, Springsteen found people to blame for some of those social problems.
Springsteen also wrote about personal relationships. Brilliant Disguise is from the 1987 album Tunnel of Love. It’s basically a couple who are putting on disguises for each other because they don’t reveal their true selves.
Springsteen’s album company was thinking of terminating business with him after poor sales of his first two albums. But then Born to Run hit the stores and airwaves in 1975. It saved Springsteen’s career. The lyrics leave us the idea that maybe we never can actually get free from our pasts, from our home towns, and the like, but we have to give it a shot, and take our chance. It cost a lot of money to produce. Had it failed, we might not be talking about Bruce Springsteen today.
But we are talking about him, and listening to him. The musician’s ability to stay true to himself and to express the concerns of ordinary people is what has made him a living legend(传奇人物).
1. What is Bruce Springsteen famous for? (no more than 8 words)2. Which of Springsteen’s album is about immigration? (no more than 6 words)
3. What does the underlined word “terminating” in Paragraph 4 mean?(one word)
4. What made Springsteen a living legend?(no more than 12 words)
5. In your opinion, what qualities should be possessed to be a successful person? (no more than 15 words)
2 . What is an orchestral (管弦乐) musician’s job? To show up in glamorous concert halls, give the best performances humanly possible, then pack up and go home? Or is it something more than that?
To cellist (大提琴演奏家) Yo-Yo Ma, what happens in gilded venues such as Orchestra Hall, home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), is but one facet of what a classical musician can do. The rest occurs beyond the spotlight, when musicians venture out into neighborhoods and try to change the world. That’s what Ma and young colleagues have done during his decade-long tenure as the CSO’s creative consultant.
Ma has tried to influence a generation of young musicians. When Ma wasn’t performing alongside the Civic Orchestra, he was visiting Chicago Public Schools, giving “Concerts for Peace,” helping design a Symphony concert series for ages 3 to 5 and inspiring Civic musicians to bring their art to correctional facilities, homeless shelters, violence-plagued Chicago neighborhoods and other places where they’re desperately needed. The idea has been to persuade gifted young musicians to think beyond the rigors (艰苦) of their instruments and the lure of the limelight, to envision how their music can change people’s lives.
The question is whether Ma’s passion for using music to serve society — and to address its many ills — has compelled the Civic Orchestra musicians to do likewise on their own. The best indications come from the young artists themselves, particularly those who have become Civic Fellows, a program launched in 2013 to propel them into “teaching, community engagement and program planning,” according to the orchestra.
Violist Helen Hess was in the first wave of Civic Fellows. “The visit to the homeless shelter was the first time I’d been anywhere like that. It opens your eyes to things you might never have been exposed to. It’s taught me to find common ground and interact with different kinds of people,” Hess said.
1. What has Yo-Yo Ma been inspiring young musicians to do?| A．Put true feelings into their music. |
| B．Make a difference through music. |
| C．Attract more children to learn music. |
| D．Show the best of themselves on stage. |
| A．It is a result of Yo-Yo Ma’s influence. |
| B．It was founded by Yo-Yo Ma in 2013. |
| C．It aims to build confidence in young artists. |
| D．It encourages artists to learn from each other. |
| A．It inspired her to practice her performance skills. |
| B．It helped her see her own weaknesses. |
| C．It caused her to treasure her own life. |
| D．It enabled her to relate to others. |
| A．Caring. | B．Demanding. |
| C．Ambitious. | D．Humorous. |
