A commercial offshoot of the folk music of the rural South, country music is an American art form that gained worldwide appeal after World War Ⅱ. Originally known as hillbilly or mountain music, country music grew from the folk music that was brought to North America by Anglo-Celtic settlers in the 1700s and 1800s. The music changed as it came in contact with ethnic music--Acadian (Cajun) in Louisiana, Latin in the Southwest, African throughout much of the South--and such popular music as that found in vaudeville, minstrel shows, and Hawaiian tent shows. It was also called country and Western music because of its popularity with cowboys.
Traditionally country musicians have been most proficient on stringed instruments. The violin, or fiddle, was the most popular instrument on the frontier because of its easy portability. To this day fiddle contests remain a feature of the country music scene. The banjo was adapted from the African American culture, and the five-siring model is now universally popular among performers of the style known as bluegrass. The guitar has long been a staple of country music bands and singers. String bass and Hawaiian guitar have been used since the 1920s, and their modern descendants are the electric bass and the pedal steel guitar. Drums, pianos, and electrified instruments, used as early as the 1930s by Western swing bands, are heard on country recordings from the 1950s.
In 1922 radio stations WBAP in Fort Worth, Tex. , and WSB in Atlanta, Ga., broadcast shows called barn dances, modeled after the informal social dancing of the frontier. Chicago's WLS started what became the National Barn Dance in 1924, and WSM in Nashville, Tenn., began its Barn Dance in November 1925, just one month after going on the air. Record companies also discovered the commercial possibilities of this music. Fiddler Eck (A.C.) Robertson traveled to New York City and in 1922 made the first hillbilly records, "Arkansas Traveler" and "Sallie Goodin". The Georgia fiddler John Carson had the first sales success the next year with his Okeh record of "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane". A Texas native who actually had voice training and light opera experience, Vernon Dalhart (his real name was Marion Slaughter) sold millions of records in the 1920s for dozens of different companies. His first big sellers were "The Prisoner's Song" and "The Wreck of the Old 97" for Victor in 1924. In 1927 Jimmie Rodgers, originally a yodeler, made his first recordings. Because Rodgers, Victor records inspired numerous men to become country entertainers, he became known as the Father of Country Music.
Hollywood's singing cowboys won for country music national and international audiences during the later 1930s. Even though record sales for country and other types of music slipped during the Great Depression, radio continued to broadcast a large array of live country music talent, usually in the early morning, noon, or late night hours. New barn dances were heard on the airwaves, and two of the local shows gained network radio audiences during the 1930s.
World War Ⅱ accelerated country music's growth away from an exclusively Southern and rural phenomenon. Southern servicemen took the music with them to far-flung parts of the nation and the world, while civilian defense workers from the South brought their love of the music into the various centers of war production.
The postwar years brought a newfound national prosperity, which boosted country music to greater commercial heights. Singers and business executives closely tied to the music sought and won a new respectability from trade papers and national media. The old terms hillbilly and mountain were replaced by country, and even for a time by country and Western, in recognition of the new popularity of the cowboy singers on television.
Enduring a temporary eclipse of market share and popularity because of the impact of rock and roll in the late 1950s, country music came back strong during the 1960s and 1970s with new performers and styles. Network, syndicated, and local television programming boosted the fortunes of country music generally and such artists as Porter Wagoner, Jimmy Dean, Loretta Lynn, and Dolly Patton in particular. The number of radio stations programming country music records full time rose from a low point of fewer than 60 in 1961 to more than 2,500 in the 1980s.
Respectability and national acceptance are still by-words with country music industry leaders. Beyond doubt country music has broadened its audience by adapting stylistic elements both vocal and instrumental--of rock and other popular music. The crossover phenomenon came to the fore in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when such pop-country stars as Kenny Rogers, Crystal Gayle, Barbara Mandrell, Alabama, Larry Gatlin, and the Oak Ridge Boys attained success with younger, urban, pop-music fans.
In fact, country music's newest star performers the ones who dominate the industry in sales of recordings and the ones who win the industry awards--are largely traditional in "their" sound, style, and themes. Older traditional artists remain popular, while night-clubs and outdoor festivals ring with the sounds of bluegrass.

单选题 The word "appeal" in the passage is closest in meaning to ______.
A. claim B. reputation
C. petition D. attraction

单选题 The word "proficient" in the passage is closest in meaning to ______.
A. accomplished B. efficient
C. knowledgeable D. professional

单选题 According to paragraph 2, why was violin the most popular instrument on the frontier? ______
A. Because its tune catered to the Westerners very much.
B. Because the Westerners were familiar to this music instrument when entertaining classic music.
C. Because it is a relatively cheap music instrument.
D. Because it is easy to carry from one place to another.

单选题 According to paragraph 2, electric bass is developed from ______.
A. string bass B. Hawaiian guitar
C. fiddle D. pedal steel guitar

单选题 According to paragraph 3, what can be inferred about WSM?
A. It started to broadcast programs in October 1925.
B. It is the first radio station that broadcast barn dance.
C. The program of barn dance had won many audiences for WSM.
D. WSM discovered commercial potentials of barn dance.

单选题 According to paragraph 3, why was Rodgers known as the Father of Country Music?
A. Because he was the first man to perform country music.
B. Because he inspired admiration and respect from many country music fans.
C. Because many singers followed his suit and started to perform country music.
D. Because he achieved substantial economic success from country music.

单选题 What can be inferred about the popularity of country music from paragraph 5?
A. Country music was not spread into Northern or urban areas until World War Ⅱ.
B. Country music was already popular in Northern or urban areas before World War Ⅱ.
C. During World War Ⅱ, country music was the only entertainment available to servicemen and civilian defense workers.
D. As World War Ⅱ was brought to an end, country music had regained its popularity in Southern and rural areas.

单选题 The word "eclipse" in the passage is closest in meaning to ______.
A. shadow B. decline C. darkness D. obliteration

单选题 Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A. In the late 1950s, rock and roll achieved considerable market share and popularity.
B. In the late 1950s, country music achieved considerable market share and popularity.
C. In the 1960s and 1970s, country music witnessed new development after a short period of decline in market share and popularity.
D. In the 1960s and 1970s, new performers and styles of country music came into the stage.

单选题 The highlighted word "their" in paragraph 9 refers to ______.
A. country music recordings
B. country music performers
C. country music industry awards
D. country music fans

单选题 According to the passage, which of the following is not true about country music?
A. Folk music is derived from country music and Western music.
B. Radio programs had contributed substantially to the popularity of country music.
C. Country music is featured by the use of fiddle.
D. Country music became popular all over the world after the World War Ⅱ.

单选题 Look at the four squares, , , and

填空题 Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage.
Country music is an American art form derived from folk music.
·______
·______
·______

A. The newest star performers inherited traditional styles of country music and adopted new stylistic elements to enhance its development as well.
B. Varieties of music instruments besides traditional string instruments are gradually adopted by country musicians.
C. Rodgers was known as the Father of Country Music because his Victor records had inspired numerous men to become country entertainers.
D. Before World War II, country music was often played on radio programs which had contributed substantially to its popularity and economic success.
E. The late 1950s witnessed a temporary eclipse of market share and popularity of country music.

F. World War Ⅱ accelerated country music growth, and the postwar years witnessed new achievements of country music to greater stylistic and economic heights.