研究生英语阅读教程基础级2版课本08.docx

研究生英语阅读教程基础级2版课本08.docx

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研究生英语阅读教程基础级2版课本08

READINGSELECTIONA

TheFunctionsandEffectsofMusic

BySamuelL.Becker

Givenname:

sirname/Christianname?

Familyname/lastname

[1]Youarewellawareof（=realize）thefactthatbooks,newspapers,magazines,motionpictures,radio,andtelevisionhavebeenusedforpersuasivepurposes:

tosellbeerandsoap,ideasandpoliticalcandidates;tobringabout（cause/leadto）socialchangeortoquellarevolution.Fewofusthinkaboutmusicorrecordingsbeingusedforthesepurposes,buttheyareandhavebeenforalongtime.

[2]Everywarhashaditssongsthatwhippedup（arouse）patrioticfervoror,inthecase（example）oftheVietnamWar,thatencouragedprotestagainstit.SometitlesofrecordspopularinthiscountryduringWorldWarIIsuggest（show）theextent（degree）ofthemobilizationoftherecordingindustryforthewareffort:

"RememberPearlHarbor","HavetoSlapThatDirtyLittleJap","There'saStarSpangledBannerWavingSomewhere","AnyBondsToday",and"'Roundand'RoundHitler'sGrave".

[Bonds:

[C]bond（betweenAandB）somethingthatformsaconnectionbetweenpeopleorgroups,suchasafeelingoffriendshiporsharedideasandexperiences:

e.g.Abondoffriendshiphadbeenforgedbetweenthem.E.g.Theagreementstrengthenedthebondsbetweenthetwocountries.E.g.thespecialbondbetweenmotherandchild]

[3]Theanti-Vietnamprotestsofthesixtiesandearlyseventiesbroughtforth（=broughtabout）quiteanotherkindofsong.Onewas"BigMuddy",aboutagroupofsoldiersblindlyfollowingtheircommandingofficerintoariverwheremanyweredrowned.Those（=thosepeople）whosangandheardthesongknewthatthe"BigMuddy"referredtoVietnamandthecommandertoPresidentLyndonJohnson,andtheirantiwarpassionswereintensified（=strengthened）."WhereHaveAlltheFlowersGone","TheTimes,TheyareA-Changin'",and"GivePeaceaChance"wereotherpopularsongswhoserecordingswerewidelyplayedandusedtobuild（arouse）resistancetothewar.

[4]Musicisusednotonlytoadd（increase）persuasivebitsofinformationforthemessagesinourheadsaboutwar.Persuasivemusicplaysanimportantrole（part）inpeacetimealso."WeShallOvercome"wasatremendously（great）importantforceinthecivilrightsmovement,justasthefolk（people）songsofJoanBaez,PeteSeeger,andWoodyGuthriehavebeenimportanttothepeacemovement.Inrecenttimes,musichasbeenusedtoraisemoneyaswellas（=and）consciousness（conscience）forvariouscauses.TheLiveAid（help）,FarmAid,BandAid,andUSAforAfricaconcerns（worries）andrecordingsessionsraisedfundsforsuchcausesasfaminereliefinAfricaanddestitute（poor）Americanfarmers.

[5]Somewhat（alittle/<-somehow=forreasonsunknown）furtherbackinthiscountry'shistory,theradicalleftadopted（used/madeuseof）manyoldNegrospirituals（songs）tocommunicateitsmessageeffectively."WeShallNotBeMoved",forexample,wasadoptedastheofficialsongoftheradicalSouthernTenantFarmersUnioninthe1930s.Inthe1930salso,"GimmeThatOldTimeReligion"wastransformedinto"GimmeThatNewCommunistSpirit".Thatsort（kind）ofadaptationofsongs—givingthemnewlyrics（words）--hasbeenafavoritetactic（strategy）ofmanygroupswhowanttousemusicforpersuasivepurposes.Theidea（belief）istotakeasongthatpeoplelikeorthathasparticularmeaningoremotionalassociationforthemanduseitwithnewwords,hopingthatsomeoftheliking,meaning,oremotionalassociationswilltransfertothenewideasbeingcommunicated.Anditoftenworks.

ThreatsofCensorship

[6]Suchpoliticalusesofmusichavenevercausedmuchcontroversyinthiscountry.Therehasbeensomepressureattimes（often）tokeepcertainanti-warsongsorsongsassociatedwiththeradicalleftofftheair,butthispressurehasbeenneitherstrongnorpersistent.Farmorepressureandcontroversy（Resistance）hasbeenarousedbythelyricsofsomeofthepopularsongsofthelasttwentyorthirtyyears.Manycriticshavecharged（beinchargeofsth.）thatcertainrock-and-rollsongsencouragesexualpromiscuityandtheuseofdrugs.Rightlyorwrongly,thedressandantics（unusualbehavior）ofsomeoftherockmusicstars,bothonandoffthestage,reinforce（confirm）thesebeliefs.Asaresult,anumberofcommunityandnationalgroupshaveappliedpressureonstationstokeepthesesongsandperformersofftheair.ThesechargesalsostimulatedinvestigationsbytheFederalCommunicationsCommission,theregulatoryagencychargedwithoverseeing（supervising）broadcastpractices.TheFCChastakentheposition,unpopularwithmanybroadcasters,thatthestationlicenseehasthesamepublicserviceresponsibilityinselectingandrejectingmusictobeplayedonthestationasithasinselectingandrejectinganyothercontentofthestation.TheFCCpositionisthatthestationshouldexercisethesamesupervisionofwhatissungonthestationasofwhatissaid.Inageneralsense（=generallyspeaking）,thisisareasonablepositionandtheonlyonetheFCCcouldtake,given（=ifconsiderationisgiventothefactthat…）presentlaw.Aproblemarises（occurs）withtheinterpretation（explanation）ofthisinjunction,however.Doesitmeanastationshouldpermitnolanguageorideasinasongthatitwouldnotpermitonthenewsorinasportsprogram?

Ordoesitmeanthestationshouldrecognize（realize）thatdifferentformsofcommunicationorentertainment,orprogramsdesignedfordifferentkindsofaudiences,shouldhavedifferentstandardsconcerning（about）languageandideas?

Thisissue（problem）isstillfarfrom（being）settled.

[7]Havingbeenlargelyunsuccessfulinkeepingsexuallysuggestivesongsorsongsthatseemtobepromotingdruguseofftheair,someparents'groupsinrecentyearshavebeenattempting（trying）toforce（make）companiestolabeltheirrecordingsinthesamewayfilmcompaniesnowlabelmotionpictures.Theassumption（belief）isthatsuchlabelswillprovideparentswithinformationtheyneedtocontrolthekindsofmusictowhichtheiryoungchildrenareexposed.Oneofthemajorpressuregroupsinvolvedinthisattempt（try）istheParentsMusicResourceCenterbasedinWashington,D.C.Theleadersinthisgroupincludethewivesofsomepowerfulcongressmenandothergovernmentofficials,soitistakenseriouslybyleadersinthemusicindustry.Theconcern（worry）ofmanypeopleinthemusicbusiness,though,isthatthelabelingbeingadvocatedcouldbejustafirststeptowardotherformsofcontrolorcensorship.

takesth.seriously

TheImpact（influence）ofRecordingsonOurPerceptions（perceive/understanding）

[8]Whateverthedirecteffectsofmusicalrecordingsonourattitudesandbehaviors（are）,theyarecertainlyanever-present（everlasting）andimportantpartofourcommunicationenvironment,andtheycontributetotherealitiesinourheads.Noonewholistenedtopopularmusicduringthe1980scouldescape（=avoid）theperception（understanding）thatdrugswereamajorfactorinthelivesofmanypeople.Popularmusicoftheearly1970scontributedto（ledto）thebeliefthatmostpeopleopposedthewarinVietnam.Thesemessages,sneakingintoconsciousnessfromthebackgroundmusicaroundus,formedanimportantpartofourcommunicationmosaics,justasthemessagesintoday'smusicformanimportantpartofourpresentcommunicationmosaics.

TheRoleofMusicinIdentificationandRebellion

[9]Popularmusichastwoothermajorfunctionsoreffects.Itprovideseachgenerationofyoungpeopleacommonandcherished（valued）experience.Yearslater,thesoundofthatmusiccanbringstrangerstogetherandstimulatememoriesofthatearlierera（time）.VividevidenceofthemeaningfulnessofsuchexperiencescanbeseenbywatchingthetouristswhoareattractedtoGraceland,ElvisPresley'sformerhomeandnowthesiteofhisgraveinMemphis.Acommonsightthereisthemiddle-agedmarriedcouplebringingtheirchildrentoseeand,theyhope,tofeelsomeofthespecialmagicPresleycreatedforthemduringtheircourtshipandearlymarriedyears.

[10]Anothermajorfunctionpopularmusicservesisthe（provide）provisionofarelativelyharmlesssourceofrebellionfortheyoung.Eachgenerationofyounghasitsownmusic,almostinvariably（always）unappreciated（unenjoyed）byparents,justasparents'favoritemusicwasunappreciatedbytheirparents.Thismusicisimportantinpart（=partially）becauseolderpeopledonotlikeit,andinpartbecausedemonstratingone'sloveofitispartoftheritualofaffiliation（connection）withpeers.

[11]Oneauthorhassuggested（said）thatpopularmusicalsoservesa"riteofpassage"functionforyounggirls.Theteenagesingingidolsmayserveasnon-threateningsubstitutesforactualboysuntilboys'maturationcatchesupwiththat（maturation）ofgirlsandsomesemblanceofeasyboy-girlrelationshipscanbeestablished.（1,316words）

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR

SamuelLBecker（Ph.D.UniversityofIowa）isaprofessorintheUniversityofIowaandthechairmanoftheUniversityofIowaFoundationandDistinguishedProfessorEmeritus（honorable）ofCommunicationStudies.Hisprofessionallifecenteredon（focuson）educationalprocess,andespeciallyonstudents.Alecturer-shipinhishonorwaslaunchedbytheUniversityin2001-2002.

Emeritus:

（oftenEmeritus）usedwithatitletoshowthataperson,usuallyauniversityteacher,keepsthetitleasanhonor,althoughheorshehasstoppedworking:

e.g.theEmeritusProfessorofBiology;InNAmEtheformEmerita / i'merɪtə / isusedforwomen:

ProfessorEmeritaMaryJudd.

processedfood

EXERCISES

I.ReadingComprehension

Answerthefollowingquestionsorcompletethefollowing.stateme