Nowadays the virtual choir is popular with people. They have the opportunity to sing together with hundreds of other people. Anyone can take part in a virtual choir from anywhere—    1     you need is a video camera and     2     Internet connection. They record themselves when     3    (perform) alone on video. These videos     4    (upload) onto the Internet, and then put together into one video. The virtual choir which helps connect ordinary people together has proved to be a positive influence     5     the lives of many people.

The     6    (create) of the virtual choir, Eric Whitacre, fell in love with music when singing for the university choir. In 1997, he received a master’s degree in     7    (music) composition. Over the next 10 years, Whitacre’s original compositions began to become popular among choirs and singers,     8     led to the creation of the virtual choir. In 2009, Whitacre received a video of a girl who was singing one of his works.     9    (inspire), he founded his first virtual choir. Since then, the virtual choir has become a worldwide phenomenon. It is so wonderful for people around the world     10    (sing) with that it is making the world a better place.

3 . I was 11 years old when I asked my mom for piano lessons in 2010. We were in the economic crisis. She said a polite “ no ”.

That didn’t stop me. I googled the measurements for a keyboard, drew the keys on a piece of paper and stuck it on my desk. I would click notes on an online keyboard and “ play” them back on my paper one—keeping the sound they made on the computer in my head. I spent six months playing without touching a real piano. Once my mom saw that I was serious, she borrowed money and bought me 10 lessons.

I still remember the first one. I was struck by how real the sound of the piano was. I sat my grade one after eight lessons. Once I started secondary school, we couldn’t afford lessons again. I passed grade three, and then grade five, practicing only on my piece of paper.

One evening, when I was about 13, my mom said she had a surprise for me; it was an electronic keyboard, bought with more borrowed money. It was the first time I’d played for her. She was in shock.

My school didn’t offer music A-level. I found the Purcell School for young musicians. But I had to pass a difficult test. Some of the questions involved an evaluation of the composer or when some piece was written. I felt stressed. To my amazement, I was offered a place.

At Purcell, I spent two years working as hard as I could. I performed to raise money and save enough to buy my first piano. When I left Purcell, I was awarded the senior piano prize and senior academic music prize. I am now at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. I feel proud: it’s been 10 years since I drew my paper piano, and I’m at one of the world’s leading music schools.

The irony is that I continue to do a lot of my practice away from the piano---what we call mental practice. The paper piano helped arouse my curiosity about how music works, the building blocks that form the pieces.

4 . A few extraordinary female singer-songwriters from the 1970s helped form music as we know it today, and continue to inspire so many with their soulful melodies(旋律).

Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell’s influence goes beyond her own generation. Her earnest songwriting continues to be a source of inspiration for many, who acknowledge her position as a pioneer of female expression in music.

The 1971 album Blue showed Joni’s truthful self, telling the stories of her experiences in life and in love. Blue was later chosen by the New York Times as one of the 25 albums that represented “turning points and the highest points in 20th-century popular music”.

Carole King

Carole King wrote or co-wrote over 118 hits between 1955 and 1999, making her the most successful female songwriter in the second half of the 20th century. However, King initially found herself less recognized than her husband and writing partner at the time, Gerry Goffin.

As the 1970s arrived, so did Carole King in full bloom. Now pursuing a solo career, 1971 saw the release (发行)of her album Tapestry. The album was highly significant, not only commercially but symbolically.

Joan Armatrading

Still in the 1970s but putting in the work on this side of the pond, Joan Armatrading became the first black British female artist to achieve international praise.

Joan’s place as a female pioneer in music continued as she became the first UK female artist to be nominated (提名)for a Grammy in the blues category, going on to receive two further nominations. An artist who is confident with who she is and what she wants to create, Armatrading famously keeps her private life to herself and lets her music do the talking.

6 . My history with music was not good. I still remembered when I took my short-lived piano lessons, my grandfather said _____ to my grandfather, “Why didn’t he make any progress with much practice?” I______ to make my piano performance attractive, but my efforts were______ .

So I gave up playing any musical instrument until my old friend Leroy ______ me to play the violin with him when I was 57. It made me enjoy the joy of playing music again. One day, Leroy sent a text________ me that there was a music performance and he wanted me to join him. Thinking of my past, I _________ his invitation. I expected to hear his words that I would become_______ with practice on stage. But he said, “OK, only play if you want to.” I was totally_______by the unexpected answer and made no reply except to tell him goodbye.

No one was_______ me to participate, but I faced a special ______. Should I play on stage or just watch a movie? I had chosen the “movie route” too many times and this time I was_______ to grasp the opportunity. After a long and careful______, I played my violin with Leroy. ThoughI didn’t lose all my nervousness, it was enough for me to overcome ________ fear. Finally, I________ a full performance in front of the audience.

A short time later, my friend Leroy passed away, but his ______ stayed. It helped me not only in music, but in all aspects of life. When I focus on what I wanted to do, fear is replaced with joy.

10 . There is a tendency to think of each of the arts as a separate area of activity. Many artists, ________, would prove that there has always been a warm relationship between the various areas of human activity. ________, in the late nineteenth century the connections between music and painting were particularly________. Artists were invited to design clothes and settings for operas and ballets, but sometimes it was the musicians who were inspired (给……以灵感) by the work of contemporary painters. Of the musical compositions that were considered as ________ to the visual arts, perhaps the most famous is Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Mussorgsky ________ the piece in 1874 after the death, at the age of 39, of the artist Victor Hartmann. Though their friendship had not been a particularly long-lasting one, Mussorgsky was shocked by Hartmann’s ________ death. The following year the critic, Vladimir Stasov, who decided to hold an exhibition of Hartmann’s work, suggested that Mussorgsky try to ________ his grief by writing something in memory of Hartmann.

The exhibition served as Mussorgsky’s inspiration. The ten pieces that make up Pictures at an Exhibition are intended as ________ rather than representations of the paintings in the exhibition. Between each is a promenade (舞曲中的行进), as the composer walks from one painting to another. The music is sometimes witty and playful, sometimes almost ________ and frightening. Through a range of surprising ________, Mussorgsky manages to convey the spirit of the artist and his work.