Shi Jing, also called the Book of Songs, is the oldest existing     1     (collect) of Chinese poetry. When Chinese musician Fang Jinlong read Shi Jing, he was interested in the stories in the poems. Because he couldn't     2     (full) understand the ancient Chinese language     3     (use) in the poems, he turned to experts to explore the poems.

Then he decided to portray the poems with musical language by inviting composer Ma Jiuyue     4     (create) an album. Titled Music and the Book of Songs, the album was released on Jan. 18, 2021,     5     (feature) 10 original songs composed by Ma. They     6     (perform) by Fang and won great popularity.

The 10 songs are based     7     10 poems from Shi Jing, including Qiong Yao, which conveys gratitude to people who are eager to help others, and Swallows, which sends farewell messages to friends.

“Young people gave warm feedback about traditional Chinese music     8     they had watched my performance. It has inspired me to create more works for them, which helps popularize traditional Chinese music,” says Fang.

“The 10 pieces sound     9     (enjoy) and easy. For the listeners, it's a fresh way to comprehend poems from Shi Jing,” says Ma. “We spent three years working on     10     project. There are so many meanings in the poems and we want to display them as deep as possible with music," Ma says. "It's our mutual goal to have traditional Chinese music reach a wider audience.”

There was a girl named Emily. Although her singing was pleasant to hear, lacking of courage, she never sings in front of strangers.

One summer, the neighborhood would hold a singing competition. Her best friend, Lucy, came to invite her to participate in the competition, but Emily said, “I’m afraid to take part in it.” Her mother said, “It’s okay; just do it bravely.” Emily followed her mom’s ad vice and decided to have a try. The day came. Emily and Lucy went to the competition site. But she was too timid (胆小的) to walk onto the stage. She had been waiting until others finished singing. She shakily forced herself to stand on the stage. She started to sing, but her voice was so low. What’s worse, she was so nervous that she forgot the lyrics (歌词) after singing a few words. Being laughed at by others, embarrassed and shy, she ran away from the stage.

Some boys ran after her and said, “Emily, coward (胆小鬼)! Emily, coward!” Emily didn’t argue with them. What she wanted was to go back home as quickly as she could. Finally, she rushed into the house, hugged her mom and cried sadly.

“Well, my poor girl, don’t cry. Tell me what happened to you,” asked her mom. Emily told her mother what she had experienced.

Listening to her, her mom cupped her face and said, “It doesn’t matter, girl. As long as you practice singing more in front of strangers, you will become braver little by little. So, my girl, don’t be beaten by a failure. You can go out to practice singing every day. No matter who is listening to you, go on singing and never stop. I believe there will be a harvest for you.”

Emily listened to her mother carefully and followed her mom’s suggestion.

Going on singing, she walked into the park.

Lily has finally become a good dancer now, all thanks to Shanda’s presence. Of all the people in Lily’s life, Shanda in particular stands out. As Lily thinks of Shanda, a smile spreads across her face, She feels loved and grateful more than ever that she has such a teacher and friend.

Eleven years of dance and going on twelve that year, she doubted it would end up like any other year. She might be stuck in any empty spot and didn’t know what to do with her next dance move. Little did she know that year would change her completely.

That year, Lily felt lucky that Shanda would choreograph (编舞) for her dance, Lily expected to work with Shanda, a young talented dancer, to have an okay dance, but she never expected she would have such an impressive impact on her way to dance.

The moment Lily walked into the marble floored, wall-to-wall mirrored rooms, she already felt like Shanda had faith in her. Shanda smiled at her with appreciative eyes. In the following days, Shanda always encouraged her, “Work to the best of your ability and keep going.” When she wanted to give up, Shanda told her that the real importance of dance was to love it.

Throughout their hard work and devotion, not only did Lily’s ability to dance grow, but also their friendship grew. Shanda became more than a teacher to Lily. She was also a close friend that Lily could turn to for anything. Shanda gave her encouragenent when Lily needed edit the most, and Shanda was always there to cheer Lily up when she felt down.

As the year quickly came to an end, it was high time for Lily to show her dance to the audience. As she walked to the backstage filled with other dancers warming up and expecting their performance, she prayed for a good performance that would convey her improvement. The rhythmic music before her rang in her ears. She waited anxiously for her turn. Finally, after what seemed like days, the hostess announced “Lily”.

Lily had butterflies in her stomach as she stepped onto the big stage.

Lily felt very excited when the hostess asked her to make a speech.

Music has been playing a major role in the lives of teenagers for decades and today’s teens are no    1    . Teens listen to over 2.5 hours of music per day. Earbuds, MP3 players, and smartphones make it easy for teens to listen to music while they go about much of their daily lives.

The digital world also means that parents must face new challenges when it comes to a teen’s music. In the past-when music was    2     through audio tape or CDs, it was much easier for parents to be aware of a teen’s musical    3    . But now that teens get free songs and music videos through the Internet, parents are less likely to be    4     of what their teens are listening to.

Today, it’s hard to believe that today’s over-50-year-old people used to be    5     against Elvis Presley’s dance moves. Fast-forward to the present day and society has certainly become more    6     of many strange forms of art.

As for parents, music is a powerful tool and certainly music with pro-social or warm lyrics(歌词)can have a(n)     7     influence on teens. It’s important to be supportive when    8     your teen’s musical interests. Get your teen to talk to you. Ask questions without passing    9    . Always be curious and ask about what your teen looks for in music and talk about what    10     can be found in certain songs.

8 . People who listen to indie bands are miserable shaggy-haired layabouts(懒惰的人)while fans of rap music are brave and full of self-confidence.

_________ mere narrow-minded opinions, these are the results of an extensive psychological survey of more than 36,000 music lovers, which confirms, once and for all, that our musical tastes really do_________ our personality. But the study’s most remarkable discovery is that lovers of classical music share a high number of personality traits (特征) with those who prefer rocking out to a heavy metal.

The research asked people worldwide to describe their personality and then to list their favourite styles of music. The results show a distinct _________ between people’s personality traits and the style of music they enjoy.

Fans of indie music, for instance, were found to have low self-respect and little_________ but described themselves as creative. Rap enthusiasts, _________, tend to feel good about themselves and are extremely outgoing. Those who love dance music are_________ outgoing but are more likely to be unfriendly and slightly self-centred.

Professor Adrian North, who led the study, suggested that the results explain why so many people bond over music and also why some of us are very_________ about the music we listen to, since it is likely to be closely linked to the person we are.

According to Professor North, both heavy metal and classical fans are_________ by a shared “love of the grandiose”, which means that a Metallica fan is far more likely to listen to Mahler than an indie kid is to give reggae a try.

“Aside from their age difference, they’re_________ the same kind of person,” he said. “Lots of heavy metal fans will tell you that they also__________ Wagner, because it’s big and loud. There’s also a sense of theatre in both heavy rock and classical music, and I__________ that this is what they’re really looking to experience when they listen.”

John Gregson, 23, a classically-trained musician with a passion for heavy metal, __________. “As an instrumentalist, out of all of the main styles of music, heavy metal and classical are the ones which require the most__________ to play---they’re technically very difficult and involve playing at inhumanly fast speeds,” he said. “You feel like you’re in on a secret---you__________ it personally. It also feels like you know something that other people don’t because you__________ a style of music which is often underestimated.”