Question

【题目】Movie Music

Accustomed though we are to speaking of the films made before 1927 as “silent”, the film has never been, in the full sense of the word, silent. From the very beginning, music was regarded as an indispensable accompaniment; when the Lumiere films were shown at the first public film exhibition in the United States in February 1896, they were accompanied by piano improvisations on popular tunes. At first, the music played bore no special relationship to the films; an accompaniment of any kind was sufficient. Within a very short time, however, the incongruity of playing lively music to a solemn film became apparent, and film pianists began to take some care in matching their pieces to the mood of the film.

As movie theaters grew in number and importance, a violinist, and perhaps a cellist, would be added to the pianist in certain cases, and in the larger movie theaters small orchestras were formed. For a number of years the selection of music for each film program rested entirely in the hands of the conductor or leader of the orchestra, and very often the principal qualification for holding such a position was not skill or taste so much as the ownership of a large personal library of musical pieces. Since the conductor seldom saw the films until the night before they were to be shown(if indeed, the conductor was lucky enough to see them then), the musical arrangement was normally improvised in the greatest hurry.

To help meet this difficulty, film distributing companies started the practice of publishing suggestions for musical accompaniments. In 1909, for example, the Edison Company began issuing with their films such indications of mood as ”pleasant”, “sad”, “lively”. The suggestions became more explicit, and so emerged the musical cue sheet containing indications of mood, the titles of suitable pieces of music, and precise directions to show where on piece led into the next.

Certain films had music especially composed for them. The famous of these early special scores was that composed and arranged for D.W Griffith’s film Birth of a Nation, which was released in 1915.

【1】When the Lumiere films were shown in the United States ___ .

A. a band was playing there

B. a cellist was playing there

C. a pianist was playing there

D. a violinist was playing there

【2】From the context of the passage we can know that with the development of films ___ and became more important.

A. the cinemas increased in number

B. the number of musicians grew

C. the time of concerts reduced

D. the conductor of a band was needed

【3】The musical cue sheet was used for ___ .

A. directing music accompaniments of silent movies

B. composing special music of a special movie

C. composing music for all kinds of concerts

D. showing directions how to get to a place

【4】What can be inferred from the passage about the majority of films made after 1927?

A. They were truly “silent”.

B. They were accompanied by symphonic orchestras.

C. They incorporated the sound of the actors’ voices.

D. They corresponded to specific musical compositions.

Answer 1

【答案】【1】C

【2】A

【3】A

【4】C

【解析】【1】细节理解题。本文第一段说这些影片在美国上映时有即席创作的钢琴曲伴奏。由此可知C正确。

【2】细节理解题。从第一段第二段的联系可以推断正是由于在影片中加入了音乐，才使电影业发展壮大。

【3】细节理解题。第三段最后一句说这样提示的作用是告诉乐队指挥该加入什么样的音乐，一个音乐片段应该放在什么地方承上启下，因此选择A。

【4】略