1 . A music column by New Music Friday is from https: //www.npr.org, sharing the best albums released every Friday. Readers can enjoy and download the album’s title track online. The column is well enjoyed by the music explorers. Here are some recent hits.
The best releases out Sept. 30
By Stephen Thompson, Keanna Faircloth, Bob Boilen, Tarik Moody
It’s been five years since Björk last released an album, but now the Icelandic icon (偶像) is back with a deeply inventive set called Fossora. Every sound on the record feels as if it’s springing into the mix from a different direction, as her energetic voice shares space with everything from bass clarinets (低音单簧管) to the voices of Björk’s own creation. Fossora was inspired, at least in part, by the death of the singer’s mother, but joy also exists.
The best releases out Sept. 16
By Cyrena Touros, Christina Lee, Tarik Moody, Stephen Thompson
The superstar K-pop girl group BLACKPINK is one of the biggest pop juggernauts in the world, with billions of streams and massive world tours to its name. Born Pink, its second full-length album, promises to further promote BLACKPINK’s domination of the U.S. charts.
The best releases out Sept. 9
By Christina Lee, Ann Powers, Stephen Thompson, Cyrena Touros
Ari Lennox experienced a huge breakthrough with 2019’s much-loved Shea Butter Baby, but her new album age/sex/location promises to be even bigger. She’s been trying many her singles for many months now, and even dropped a five-song EP last Friday, but the album is finally here. It somehow sounds modern even if it recreates the most unforgettable R&B sounds of the’90s and early’00s.
1. Why is Björk’s mother mentioned?| A．She gave Björk an energetic voice. |
| B．She helped Björk to record the new album. |
| C．Her death gave Björk some inventive ideas. |
| D．Her leaving delayed the release of Fossora. |
| A．It is made up of five songs. |
| B．It is adapted from Shea Butter Baby. |
| C．It is intended for single music-lovers. |
| D．It is trying to make another breakthrough. |
| A．Stephen Thompson. | B．Tarik Moody. |
| C．Christina Lee. | D．Ann Powers. |
| A．The violin. | B．The piano. | C．The guitar. |
| A．Pop music. | B．Classical music. | C．Country music. |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在其下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
I admire the cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Born in Paris, France, in 1955, Ma started playing the cello the age of four. When he was seven, he moves with his family to New York City. They attended the Juilliard School, but then he studied at Harvard University. Ma performed very professionally that he started to become famously. Ma dreamed of connect people around the world through music. And in 1998, he set up a organization called the Silk Road Project, through which Ma gives cross-cultural music performances with musicians from places like Iran, Mongolia, and Italy. Through his work, Ma has been helped people all over the world appreciate various type of music.
5 . Are you interested in country music? I like it very much! It will take me away for a while after I am tired. The guitars and songs will take me to mountains and fields.
Country music usually talks of farmers’ everyday life and feelings. It's the spirit (精神) of America, easy to understand, slow and simple.
Country music developed in the Southern United States.It was the folk music of American countryside. Many of songs tell about the lives of farmers. They talk about love, crops or death.
The life of the countryside can be hard, so the words in country music are often sad.At first, people played the music only at family parties. But it became more popular later. In the 1920s, people played country songs on the radio, and they made them into records.
When people in the countryside moved to towns and cities to look for work, they took their music with them. Country music continued to change and became popular across America.
John Denver was one of America's most famous country singers in the 1970s. His song "Take Me home, Country Roads" is well-known and people still play it today.
1. Country music is usually about _______.| A．farmers’ everyday life and feelings | B．the people in cities |
| C．the lives of workers | D．workers' feelings |
| A．in John Denver's city | B．in the Southern United States |
| C．in the Northern United States | D．in the Western United States |
| A．in the 1920s | B．in 1920 | C．in the 1970s | D．in 1970 |
| A．A farmer in the countryside. | B．A person who moved to towns |
| C．John Denver | D．Denver John |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Yang Liping is a good dancer, which passion is dancing. After win a national competition in 1986 with her Spirit of the Peacock dance, she has been known to the “Peacock Princess”. The inspiration for her famous dances have come from the time which she spends in Xishuangbanna. As she once said, she felt very gratefully for the years in Xishuangbanna, which gave her chance to go deeper into the lives of various ethnic groups. The Dai people admired the peacock, represents the beauty of nature. His dance came from their traditional belief but aimed to bring out the Dai women's beauty.
7 . In all the world's cultures, people sing, play instruments, and celebrate with music. It plays such an important role in our lives that all fields focus on its study, including one looking at the biology of music. Experts find that because of the way our brains process music, learning to play an instrument or just listening to music can have a wide range of benefits.
Music education has received a lot of attention. Learning to play an instrument can help children improve math, science, and language skills. One study in Canada tracked children's IQ scores for nine months, discovering that children who studied music had the biggest test score improvements. The secret may lie in the way reading music and playing notes use several areas of the brain, increasing our ability to learn school subjects. For example, reading notes improves spatial (空间的) reasoning skills, which are helpful in solving math problems like fractions (分数).
Music is also used for medical purposes, such as the treatment of diseases which affect memories. The secret lies in the way the brain processes music. One area near the forehead, the medial prefrontal cortex(脑前额叶外皮), connects music with memories stored in two other areas: the amygdale(杏仁核) and hippocampus(海马体). That's why an old song can remind you of something that happened years ago. For patients suffering from diseases like Alzheimer's, listening to music can help unlock buried memories by strengthening musical pathways to memories.
With the evidence of music's benefits, it's no wonder some countries make music study a part of their education systems. People are recognizing that more than just a form of entertainment, music is also great for the brain.
1. According to the Canadian study, which children increased IQ scores?| A．Those who already had high IQ scores. |
| B．Those who had always played music. |
| C．Those who could not play any instrument. |
| D．Those who studied music for a period of time. |
| A．Spatial reasoning. |
| B．Alzheimer's. |
| C．The amygdale and hippocampus. |
| D．The medial prefrontal cortex. |
| A．Music and health |
| B．Music and education |
| C．Music and the mind |
| D．Music and instruments |
| A．music can be used for medical treatments |
| B．music plays a very important role in our lives |
| C．our brains can process music in different ways |
| D．music education has received a lot of attention |
8 . We hope you enjoy our list of the 4 best-selling albums of all time.
The Beatles—The White Album
US Albums Sold：24 Million
The While Album is English rock band, The Beatles, ninth studio album, which was released on the 22 November 1968. The album does not contain any images or text on the album cover, other than the band's name, as the band fell they wanted to make it different from their previous albums colourful artwork.
Eagles—Hotel California
US Albums Sold：26 Million
Hotel California is the fifth studio album by American rock band the Eagles, released in December 1976 and one of the best-selling albums of all lime. After Their Greatest Hits album, Hotel California became the biggest — selling American album. Hotel California won two Grammy Awards for Hotel California and New Kid In Town.
Michael Jackson—Thriller
US Albums Sold：33 Million
Thriller is the sixth studio album from a legendary singer, Michael Jackson. Thriller was released on November 30, 1982. The album produced seven hit singles, like Billie Jean, Beat It, Thriller and The Girl is Mine, which all reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. By the end of 1983, Thriller was the world's best-selling album, having sold 32 million copies worldwide.
Eagles—Their Greatest Hits
US Albums Sold：38 Million
The No. 1 best-selling album in the world of all time is, Their Great Hits, by the Eagles. This is their first compilation （汇编）album, released in 1976, which contains a group of songs from their first four albums, covering the period of 1971 - 1975.
1. Which album came out last?| A．The Beatles—The White Album |
| B．Eagles—Hotel California |
| C．Michael Jackson —Thriller |
| D．Eagles—Their Greatest Hits |
| A．It made the albums in Hotel California. |
| B．It had two albums in the same year. |
| C．sold 38 million copies of Their Greatest Hits in UK. |
| D．It had many songs better than The Beatles. |
| A．To attract a lot of people. |
| B．To show the band's special taste. |
| C．To let the buyers make it colourful artwork. |
| D．To differ from the band's other albums. |
