We’ve all turned to sad music to make us feel
A new study sheds light on what’s going on inside our brains
In terms of social psychology, one way of
Another theory from social psychology is that people like to listen
2 . 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. |
Liu Qingyao is a famous pipa player in China. She began her pipa learning
As
Since 2019, Liu Qingyao
When ancient Chinese music meets pop culture, Liu has become a representative of the new generation of Chinese style music players. To her, devoting
| A．He surely wants the signature. |
| B．He will go to Gaga’s concert. |
| C．He has a dog named Gaga. |
5 . A valuable musical instrument was played recently in its first public performance (表演) since being rediscovered in 2015. The instrument, a Stradivarius violin, had been stolen and was missing for 35 years.
The violin has a long history. It was made in the 18th Century. Later, the instrument belonged to Roman Totenberg, a Polish-born violinist. He died before the violin was rediscovered. Now, the violin belongs to one of his daughters and its sound is again being heard.
This week, one of Totenberg's former students, Mira Wang, played the instrument for the first time since its rediscovery.
Totenberg's three daughters all agreed that Mira Wang should perform with the Stradivarius. Amy Totenberg says the former student was close to her father.
Antonio Stradivari made the instrument in 1734. Roman Totenberg played the violin for almost 40 years. He performed on many famous concert stages around the world. Totenberg died in 2012 at the age of 101.
The Stradivarius was taken from his dressing room after a show. Daughter Nina Totenberg remembers what happened. " He was greeting well-wishers afterwards and when he turned around to go back and get the violin, it was gone. And they found the case thrown down the stairs in the place where the concert had been and they called the police and the FBI came.”
The disappearance of the violin remained a mystery (谜)for 35 years. Then, the former wife of the man who stole the instrument tried to sell it to a violin specialist who identified it. The former husband had once been a student of Totenberg.
In 2015, the Stradivarius violin was returned to Totenberg's three daughters. They had it repaired to playing condition.
The Totenberg sisters say they will sell the violin to a performer or a group. They want the instrument to be heard again by listeners around the world. Rare instruments also are musical treasures. In 2011, a Stradivarius violin was sold for more than $ 15 million.
1. Why was the performance unique?| A．It was played by a Chinese musician. |
| B．It was played to honour a former violinist. |
| C．It was played with a lost - and - found valuable violin. |
| D．It was organized by a famous musician's daughters. |
| A．She has the best skill to play the violin. |
| B．She will show the violin to the world. |
| C．She is familiar with the daughters. |
| D．She was related closely to its former owner, her teacher. |
| A．A violin specialist. | B．A student of Totenberg's. |
| C．The former wife of a thief. | D．One of the well-wishers at a concert. |
| A．It will change hands. | B．It will be donated to a group. |
| C．It will be played only once. | D．It will be kept in a museum. |
6 . Have you ever wondered why certain pop songs just make you feel so good? Researchers studying the question found that uncertainty and surprise give listeners the most pleasure. The study included 80,000 chords（和弦）in 745 pop songs between 1958 and 1991.
Each song was stripped of its melody（旋律）and lyrics（歌词）so that only chords were left and the results couldn’t be misunderstood by other imaginations of the songs that listeners might have had.
They found two things. Listeners got great pleasure from unexpected chords when they knew what would happen. However, they still found it pleasant to hear familiar chords when they did not know what would follow.
Vincent Cheung, the lead researcher, said, "Pleasant songs are likely those which keep a good balance（平衡）between knowing what is going to happen next and surprising us with something we did not expect. Understanding how music starts our pleasure system in the brain could explain why listening to music might help us feel better when we are feeling blue.”
Cheung told CNN that pleasure in music is connected to expectation. The study before had looked into the effects of surprise on pleasure, but his team's study also paid attention to the uncertainty of listeners' expectations.
1. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Removed. | B．Added. |
| C．Played. | D．Recorded. |
| A．They listened to lots of pop songs. |
| B．They focus on the chords in popular songs. |
| C．They imagined the songs that can make people pleased. |
| D．They found lots of songs and then compared each other. |
| A．Pleasant music can explain human nature. |
| B．Listening to music might make people feel blue. |
| C．Music can improve the pleasure system of people. |
| D．Pleasant music comes from the balance of expectation and surprise. |
| A．His study only paid attention to chords in songs. |
| B．His study focused on the effects of surprise on pleasure. |
| C．His study took time to how music starts the pleasure system. |
| D．His study paid attention to the uncertainty of listeners' expectations. |
7 . On April 30. 2020, the world's most famous musicians met online to celebrate the tenth International Jazz Day. with the hope to revive jazz music and explore its possibility as a unifying voice across cultures.
Despite the celebrations, though, the jazz audience continues to grow older because the music has failed to attract the younger generations. It's their job to help change that.
Jason Moran, the Kennedy Center's artistic adviser for jazz, was one of the musicians. He hopes to widen the audience for jazz and make the music more accessible and enjoyable.
“Jazz seems like it's not really a part of the American appetite （胃 口）. " Moran tells National Public Radio's reporter Neal Conan. "I hope that the younger generations understand that jazz is not black anymore. It's actually colorful, and it's actually digital.
Moran says one of the problems with jazz today is that the fun side of the music has been lost. “Today, the music can't be presented the way it was in 1908 or 1958. It has to continue to move, because the way the world works is not the same. " says Moran.
Last year, Moran worked on a project that arranged Fats Waller's music for a dance party, “I just wanted to put it back in the mind that Waller is dance music as much as it is concert music. says Moran. “For me, it's just to re — contextualize. Sometimes we lose sight that the music has a wider context. It can be adapted to（适应）different situations.
During the interview, he asked- "In music, where does the feeling lie? Are we, as humans, gaining any insight（感悟）on how to talk about ourselves and how a Fats Waller record gets us into a dialogue about our emotions and our thoughts?”
He added that most of the musicians have recognized the need and agreed to continue those dialogues for the year.
1. Why did the musicians meet online on April 30?| A．To celebrate the Jazz Day. | B．To show the value of jazz. |
| C．To remember the birth of jazz. | D．To protect different jazz cultures. |
| A．To mix jazz with other music. |
| B．To adapt to different situations. |
| C．To be performed by different bands. |
| D．To play with more advanced instruments. |
| A．It will disappear gradually. | B．It should be black and white. |
| C．It has to keep up with the times. | D．It has become more popular. |
| A．The Rise and Fall of Jazz | B．Goals Set for Jazz Day 2020 |
| C．The Story of a Jazz Musician | D．The New Problems With Jazz |
鼓励她报名参加；2. 帮助分析参加的意义； 3. 给她提几点建议
注意：1. 字数100字左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.开头已经给出，不计入总字数。
Dear Kathy,
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Yours,
Li Hua
| A．It’s boring. | B．It’s interesting. | C．It’s relaxing. |
1. How does the woman know so much about the 57th Annual Grammy Awards?
| A．She was present. | B．She watched it online. | C．She saw it on TV. |
| A．81. | B．82. | C．83. |
| A．Tony Bennett. | B．Paul McCartney. | C．Rihanna. |
