Passage Three

The blues was born on the Mississippi River Delta in the early 1900s. After the Civil War, the slaves were free but life was still not easy. They had to find new work. In the South, work camps were formed. Black people from these camps worked on farms and on building up the Mississippi River banks. During the week the people worked long and hard. They often lived alone, without their families, far from home. On the weekends, the workers got together at picnics or drinking places. Travelling black musicians with guitars entertained them. The musicians sang songs about the difficult life of the workers. These songs were called the blues.

If you have the blues it means you feel very sad. You can have the blues because you have no money, no job, no lover, or no home. But blue songs were not always sad. Some of them were happy and many of them were funny.

Sometimes the blues singers had song contests. Each singer sang new words or a new style of the blues song. They made up the music as they played. In this way they created new music. This is called improvisation. Later, improvisation became a very important part of jazz music.

Blues began in the country in the South. As blacks moved into the big cities to work, the blues went with them. There, they sang about life in the cities. W. C. Handy, a black band leader from Memphis made the blues popular all over America. In 1914 he wrote the most famous blues song of all, “The St. Louis Blues”.

26. After the Civil War, the Black people _________.

A. were mostly slaves

B. still led a hard life

C. enjoyed their new life with families

D. worked on their own farms

27. At the very beginning, the blues were _________.

A. not performed on formal occasions

B. traditional songs of the Black people

C. about the life of travelling musicians

D. very popular throughout the nation

28. What kind of emotion does the blues express?

A. Sadness

B. Happiness

C. Joking

D. All of the above

29. How did “improvisation” come into being?

A. The blues singers gathered to have contests.

B. New words were added into old songs.

C. New styles were played with guitars.

D. The blues singers created music while playing.

30. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. The blues were born in the country in the South.

B. The blues soon disappeared in big cities.

C. W. C. Handy is the first blues singer in US.

D. The most well-known blues song is “The St. Louis Blues”.

参考答案：

26. B 27. A 28. D 29. D 30. B