1 . 【课本改编题】

Imagine having the opportunity to sing together with hundreds of other people while you are at home alone. You can do this in a virtual choir. Virtual choir members record themselves while they perform alone on video. These videos are uploaded onto the Internet, and then they are put together into one video that you can see online—a virtual choir. Anyone can take part in a virtual choir from anywhere—all you need is a video camera and an Internet connection. You do not even need a studio. A virtual choir helps connect ordinary people together. Many people do not have close friends or contacts who have the same interest in music. Many others do not have the chance to join a local choir. A virtual choir enables them to add their voices to those of other individuals and become part of the global community. It has proved to be a positive influence on the lives of many people. As one virtual choir member said, “Music helps me to … forget my problems. With music, I become someone else.”

The virtual choir was the idea of award-winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre. Born in the USA on 2 January 1970, Whitacre began studying music at the University of Nevada in 1988. He fell in love with Mozart’s classical music when he sang for the university choir. Moved by this music, he said, “It was like seeing color for the first time.” He graduated from university in 1995, and then received a master’s degree in musical composition from the Juilliard School in New York in 1997. Over the next 10 years, Whitacre’s original compositions began to become quite popular among choirs and singers. This led to the creation of the virtual choir.

In 2009, Whitacre received a video of a girl who was singing one of his works. Inspired, he asked his fans to make videos, which he then joined together into one performance. His first virtual choir, “Lux Aurumque”, had 185 singers from 12 different countries. It has received millions of views on the Internet. Since then, the virtual choir has become a worldwide phenomenon. Whitacre’s next effort was the Virtual Youth Choir for UNICEF, which was first seen on stage on 23 July 2014 in the UK. Altogether, 2,292 young people from 80 countries joined in to sing Whitacre’s song “What If”.

The virtual choir is a wonderful way for people around the world to sing with one voice and thus make the world a better place.

1. Scan the text and find out the following information.

The man who came up with the idea for a virtual choir	____________________________
The place where he studied musical composition	____________________________
The name of his song	____________________________

Intensive reading
2. Activity 1　Read Paragraph 1 and find out the key elements of virtual choir.
_______________________________________________________________
3. Activity 2　Find out the differences between a virtual choir and a real choir.

	Virtual choir	Real choir
Form	____________	____________
Place	____________	____________
Identity of singers	____________	____________
Number of singers	____________	____________

4. Activity 3　Read Paragraph 2 and describe Eric Whitacre’s life experience according to the timeline.

_______________________________________________________________
5. Activity 4　Read Paragraph 2 again and answer the following questions.
(1)What can you learn from what Whitacre said?
_______________________________________________________________
(2)Why does the author mention Eric Whitacre’s studying experience and his achievements in music?
_______________________________________________________________
6. Activity 5　Read Paragraph 3 and 4 and answer the following questions.
(1)What gave him the inspiration to make his first virtual choir?
_______________________________________________________________
(2)Does the writer hold a positive attitude toward the virtual choir? How do you know?
_______________________________________________________________

2 . 【课本改编题】

Good morning! My name is Sarah Williams. It’s an honour to be here and to share with you the story of how music has had an impact on my life.

(A) Have you ever faced a time when things looked dark and you had no hope at all? Two years ago, I was told I had a serious disease which was difficult to cure. My body ached all the time and thus I thought I didn’t have much longer to live. I was very afraid and I felt so alone and discouraged. Then one day, I had to go through a two-hour medical treatment. The doctor wanted me to relax, so he had me listen to some music, and one of the songs was “Happy”. The song made me feel so much better that from then on I began to listen to music all the time. (B) John A. Logan said, “Music is the medicine of the mind.” And it’s true. Music helped me recover.

(C) Music gave me happiness. When I listened to music, (D) it made my spirits fly like a kite in the wind. (C) Music gave me strength and brought me relief. (E) It was the rock I leant on to become strong and to get through those hard times. Moreover, (C) music gave me hope and a sense of satisfaction. (F) It became my best friend. It spoke words of encouragement to the deepest part of my being.

Of course, I hope none of you have to go through the same kind of suffering that I did. At the same time, we all go through various periods when we feel sad or alone. During those times, music can help you in the same way that it helped me. I hope all of you will somehow begin to treasure music and make it a part of your life.

Thank you!

1. Reading for information
Read the speech and answer the questions.
(1) What was Sarah’s problem?
__________________________________________________________________________
(2) How did music help her during her difficult time?
__________________________________________________________________________
(3) What is her advice to others?
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Reading for structure
Read the speech again and figure out the structure.
3. Reading for language features
Match the names of rhetorical devices to the lettered sentences in the speech.
metaphor _______
personification _______
quote _______
repetition _______
rhetorical question _______
simile _______

8 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

One Direction was one of the most popular bands, and it     1    (make) up of five artists. After years of breaking records, the band started to slow down. In early 2015, it was announced on Facebook that Zayn Malik, one of the members, would be leaving the band. In his first interview after leaving the band, Zayn Malik said that the reason why he left was     2     it didn’t fit his style. And he said he “never    3     (true) spoke to Harry”, his former bandmate and that he had never been under the    4    (impress) they would keep in touch after Malik left the band. “Our relationships     5     (change) since we were in a band together, but I think that’s just life,” said Malik. This came as    6    surprise to fans because in the Facebook post announcing his departure, Malik wrote that he had “four friends for life”. In contrast to the typical pop music, Malik shared an R&B album in 2016 and his    7    (late) album Nobody Is Listening, in 2021.

    8     (speak) with Vogue UK, he referred    9    One Direction as a “machine”. He describes the band’s sudden rise to fame and busy touring plans by saying, “I wasn’t really ever able    10     (enjoy) the experience. The machine had gone too fast.”

9 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Living Heritage: Guqin

Wandering sounds, irregular rhythms and a carrier of gentle emotions. This is the musical language of guqin, a seven string instrument     1       (create) in ancient China.

The earliest piece of guqin in China, unearthed in Hubei province in 2016,     2     (date) back to the Zhou Dynasty. The body of a guqin is made     3     painted wood and the strings of twisted silk. Unlike its seemingly simple appearance, making a guqin is     4     (extreme) demanding. An outstanding piece can take anywhere from two to several decades to craft. It is a crystallization of art and time.

The guqin     5     (favor) by the literati (文人) in ancient China. The most renowned guqin     6     (music) was Yu Boya in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. As he played his guqin in the mountains, a woodcutter named Zhong Ziqi heard the music and understood exactly     7     Yu wanted to express. This deep understanding formed a strong bond between them, and they became close friends. This is     8     famous tale behind the guqin masterpiece, Flowing Water, High Mountains. The piece has been passed down through generations and is considered one of the most famous and important     9     (composition) in Chinese guqin music.

This graceful dialogue,     10       (flow) from brushed fingertips and travelling for thousands of years, is continuing to this day.

10 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1 个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式，并将答案填写 在答题卡相应的位置上。

The Goddess of the Luo River comes alive in a video, which was shared by Henan TV Station on social media platform Sina Weibo. The ancient tale of romance is given    1    new setting (背景) and still provides attractive viewing for a modern audience. The tale is presented in    2    seems like slow motion. Not    3    (surprise), it became popular and has been viewed more than 20 million times.

The story of the Goddess of the Luo River has been the    4    (inspire) for countless contemporary artists, who have described the goddess of unmatched beauty through    5    (variety) art forms, like movies and dance dramas.

But the reason why the video,    6     runs for around two minutes and is titled Rhapsody on the Luo River Goddess, created such an impression and has generated such a wave of publicity, is that it    7    (shoot) underwater. He Haohao plays the role of goddess. She masters not only her art but the technique of holding her breath as her lungs struggle to carry out    8    (they) function. All this is done    9    the most peaceful facial expression.

It’s not the first time that Henan TV Station has gained attention with its appealing videos    10    (highlight) traditional Chinese culture. On Feb 13th, a dance piece, titled A Tang Dynasty Banquet, which is less than six minutes long, was staged during a gala aired on Henan TV Station to mark Spring Festival.