Question

In 1935, the clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman, aged just twenty?six, left New York with his fourteen?piece “swing” band and, traveling in a ragtag group of cars, headed for the huge Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles. It was not an easy trip. ?There were half a dozen dismal, sparsely attended one?nighters and three weeks at a dance hall in Denver, where the band was forced to play waltzes, tangos, and novelty numbers. On the opening night at the Palomar, the band played ballad numbers in the first set, and there was little response from the dancers. Then one of the musicians said, if they were going to bomb again they might well do it in style. So Goodman called for his hot, often uptempo arrangements, many of them by the ingenious black bandleader and arranger Fletcher Henderson, and the kids stopped dancing, clustered around the bandstand, and began roaring. ?Before the weeks at the Palomar were over, it was clear that Goodman had suddenly made jazz—still a suspect and largely subliminal American folk music, despite the brilliant inventions during the previous decade of Jelly Roll Morton and others—into a popular music.

Goodman?s surprising ways continued. In 1936, he shook up the white entertainment establishment by hiring two black musicians—the elegant pianist Teddy Wilson and the plunging vibraphonist Lione Hampton. (To be sure, Wilson and Hampton did not play in the band; instead, they appeared with Goodman and the drummer Gene Krupa during intermissions.) A year later, when the band went into the Paramount Theater in New York for three weeks, legions of kids appeared, and a screaming, dancing riot nearly took place. ?It was the first great American show frenzy, and it prepared the way for the Sinatra frenzy of 1947, and for all the Beatles frenzies, and for all the mindless rock?borne frenzies of the Seventies and Eighties.

Then, on the night of January 16, 1938, Goodman, challenging the long?hairs, took his band into a sold?out Carnegie Hall. The big band played a dozen numbers, the trio two numbers, and the quartet five numbers. ?Despite the immediate rumblings from Olin Downes, the Times?s classical music critic (“The playing last night, if noise, speed and beat, all old devices, are heat, was “hot” as it could be, but nothing came of it all, and in the long run it was decidedly monotonous”), Goodman?s concert moved jazz even further up the American popular register. ［412 words］

1. This passage is mainly

A a general review of Jazz music.

B a biography of Benny Goodman.

C about the origin of American folk music.

D about how jazz became popular in America.

2. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A The band?s first music show in Los Angles was an immediate success.

B Goodman is considered the father of Jazz music.

C Benny Goodman was unknown to public when he left New York.

D The band scheduled to play waltzes, tangos and novelty numbers at a dance hall in Denver.

3. It could be inferred from the passage that

A Jazz is a style of music native to America.

B Classic music had become outdated at Goodman?s time.

C Morton and Goodman were contemporaries.

D Goodman was the first bandleader who hired Black musicians in 1930s.

4. The phrase “shake up” (Line 1,Paragraph 2) in the context probably means

A to give a very unpleasant shock.

B to make changes to an organization.

B to get rid of a problem.

D to point out, designate.

5. Towards Goodman?s music show frenzy, Olin Downes, the classical music critic has

A approving attitude. B satirizing attitude.

C regretting mind. D exaggerated tone.

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.C

3.A

4.B

5.B

【解析】 “if noise, speed and beat, all old devices, are heat”是插入语。despite: 介词，意为：不管，不顾；the Times: 美国《时代》杂志；in the long run: 最后，终究；register 此处意为：记录。

【译文】 尽管美国《时代》杂志古典乐评论家Olin Downes 立即发出批评怨言，（“如果噪音、快速的音乐节奏和节拍以及所有的旧乐器就意味着热烈，昨天晚上的演出很‘热’，却毫无意义，终究无疑是单调乏味”），Goodman 的音乐会推进了爵士乐在美国通俗乐中的地位。

■全文精译

爵士乐的流行

1935年，只有26岁的单簧管演奏者兼乐队指挥 Benny Goodman率领由14件乐器组成的“摇摆”乐队，乘坐不甚显耀的车队离开纽约，前往（head for）洛杉矶巨大的巴罗默演奏厅。这是一次艰难的跋涉（be not an easy trip）。有六、七场（half a dozen）沉闷的（dismal）夜间演出，观众寥寥无几（sparsely attend）。乐队又在丹弗的一家舞厅演出了三个星期，不得已（be forced to）演奏了华尔兹、探戈及一些新奇的乐曲。在巴罗默首场演出晚会上，乐队首先演奏了芭蕾曲，却没有得到舞友的回应。一位乐师说：要想制造爆炸性效果就制造点新花样吧！Goodman便要求（call for）乐队演奏狂热、快速的改编乐曲，其中许多曲子是这位天才的黑人乐队指挥和乐曲改编者Fletcher Henderson演奏的。年轻人们都不跳舞了，他们全欢呼着围到了演奏台周围。很清楚，在帕罗马几个星期的演出结束前，Goodman突然将爵士乐——尽管在此前10年中Jelly Roll Morton和其他人都有卓越的创作，爵士乐当时仍然没有为人们所接受、在很大程度上仍然是潜意识的美国民间音乐——变成了一种通俗音乐。

Goodman令人惊奇的方式继续着。1936年，他邀请两位黑人乐师——优雅的钢琴演奏家（the elegant pianist）和专注的（the plunging）电颤琴演奏家Lione Hampton——加盟，这极大地影响了（shake up）白人娱乐圈。（而事实上（to be sure），两位黑人乐师都没有在乐队中演奏，只是在演奏间歇时同Goodman和鼓手Gene Krupa一起露露面。）一年后，当乐队入驻纽约市派拉蒙剧院演奏三周，大群年轻人到场，他们尖叫着、狂舞着，几乎发生了混乱。那是美国第一次由于演出引发的狂热现象（show frenzy），它为后来出现的1947年的西纳特拉狂热、披头士合唱队狂热和70、80年代忘我的摇滚乐产生的狂热铺平了道路。

接着，1938年1月16日晚，Goodman率领乐队进入已卖出的卡耐基大厅，对古典音乐发起挑战。庞大的乐队演奏了十多首乐曲、两曲三重奏、五曲四重奏。尽管美国《时代》杂志古典音乐评论家Olin Downes立即提出批评（“昨天晚上的演奏，如果噪音、快速的音乐节奏和节拍以及所有的旧乐器就意味着热烈，昨天晚上的演出很“热”，却毫无意义（nothing come of it all），终究无疑是单调乏味（monotonous）”）， Goodman的音乐会进一步提高了爵士乐在美国通俗乐中的影响