Listening comprehension 1

W: So, one of the things that I really have trouble understanding is how jazz music developed to be so different from many other kinds of music? My class notes are terrible.

M: Well, what can't you understand from your notes?

W: Uh, one thing is I copied down the musical training from the blackboard. What did it mean by that?

M: Well, most people who became professional musicians have some kind of formal training in music. But the first people who play jazz music had almost none.

W: OK, but so what? Doesn't it just mean that they weren't very good musicians?

M: Well, it's not that the early jazz musicians weren't good; it's that they played their instruments differently. Let's say you are receiving formal instruction in the trumpet. First you would learn the right way to place your mouth, and the right way to use your fingers, and the right way to blow air. And then you will practice single notes and different combination of notes until you could do those correctly. And only after that, would your teacher give you a piece of music to play.

W: And the early jazz musician didn't learn to play this way?

M: No, the first people who play jazz music learned to play their instrument by actually trying to play a song the way they like. They were humanity, and tried to play themselves on their instruments. Because they were mostly teaching themselves, they began to express themselves in ways that formally traditionally trained musicians didn't. In traditional instruction, there is one correct way to play something, and everyone who plays tries to make the correct sound. But in jazz...

W: In jazz music, there isn't one right way to play. In fact, individual musicians are supposed to interpret the music in their own style. So you are saying that this aspect of jazz developed because the first people who play jazz didn't have any formal musical training?

M: Yes, I believe so.

Q1: What is the woman most probably according to the conversation?
Q2: What is the problem the woman has trouble understanding?
Q3: How did early jazz musicians learn to play their instrument?
Q4: Which of the following is true according to the conversation?
Q5: Why did jazz music develop to be so different from many other kinds of music?

【解析】

本文难度并不大，围绕着女生的疑问以及男生的解答，讲述了爵士是如何发展成一种与其他种类相距甚大的音乐的。
对话中，女生无法理解音乐训练这一点，于是男生回答说不同于其他正规音乐指导，比如想要吹喇叭，就要从嘴部、手指，以及吹气一步步训练起来。而最早玩爵士乐的人并没有如此的训练，而是单纯用自己的风格将音乐演奏出来，这也就造就了爵士乐与其他音乐的大不同。
上海中级口译通关课程>>
上海高级口译通关课程>>