阅读理解 The Origin of the Song "Happy Birthday to You"
If there is one song that we all know it has to be the classic "Happy Birthday to You" song. We sing it each year and it has been translated into various languages making it a universal song. Here is a brief history of how this song came about.
The melody(旋律) and lyrics (歌词) were written by two sisters—Mildred J. Hill (born in 1859) and Patty Smith Hill (born in 1868). Patty was a schoolteacher who developed the " Patty Hill blocks" and was a faculty member (教职工) at Columbia University Teachers College. Mildred was also an educator who later on became a composer, organist(风琴手)and pianist. The melody was composed by Mildred and the lyrics were written by Patty, but it was originally for a classroom greeting song titled "Good Morning to All". The song "Good Morning to All" was part of the book Song Stories for the Kindergarten which the sisters co-wrote and published in 1893.
From then on, the lyrics were changed from its original form to "Good Morning to You" and then to "Happy Birthday to You". It is still unclear who changed the lyrics and turned it into a birthday song, but it was first published in 1924 on a book edited by Robert H. Coleman. Since then, the song became popular.
In 1934, Jessica Hill, another Hill sister, filed a lawsuit because of the unauthorized(未经授权的) use of the " Happy Birthday to You" melody which clearly resembles the melody of " Good Morning to All". In 1935, Jessica, who was working with publisher Clayton F. Summy Company, copyrighted and published "Happy Birthday to You".
In the 1930s the Clayton F. Summy Company was bought by John F. Sengstack and renamed it Birch Tree Ltd. In 1998, Birch Tree Ltd was in turn bought by Warner Chappell for $25 million. The company is now known as Summy-Birchard Music. It is reported that the birthday song earns $2 million a year in royalties (版税) with half going to Summy-Birchard and the other half to the Hill Foundation.
单选题 1.The song "Happy Birthday to You" is well known to people all over the world.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】本文讲述了《祝你生日快乐》这首歌的由来。题干要求判断《祝你生日快乐》这首歌是否在世界范围内众所周知。根据文中第一段第一句话“If there is one song that we all know it has to be the classic‘Happy Birthday to You’song”，意思是“如果有一首歌是所有人都知道的，这首歌一定是经典的《祝你生日快乐》歌”。所以题干是正确的。
单选题 2.This song has only an English version.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】题干要求判断这首歌是否只有英语版本。而根据文中第一段第二句话“it had been translated into various languages”，意思是“已经被译成各种语言”，所以题干表述是错误的。
单选题 3.Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill are two sisters, whose age difference is nine years.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】题干中出现的两个信息是 Mildred J．Hill和Patty Smith Hill是否是姐妹，她们的年龄是否相差了九岁。涉及这些信息的内容出现在文中的第二段，“…written by two sisters—Mildred J．Hill(born in 1859)and Patty Smith Hill(born in 1868)”，根据两位的出生年份可以算出两姐妹之间相差九岁。所以题干表述是正确的。
单选题 4.Patty and Mildred were both talented in music and writing.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】题干要求判断Patty和Mildred两姐妹是否都有音乐和写作上的天赋。文章中第二段提到了两姐妹的职业和创作情况，“Patty was a schoolteacher…and was a faculty member”，“Mildred was also an educator…later on became a composer，organist and pianist”，但是没有明确指出两姐妹是否都有音乐和写作上的天赋，所以无法判断题干中的信息是否正确。
单选题 5.The song " Happy Birthday to You" was originally for a classroom greeting song titled " Good Morning to All".
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】题干要求判断《祝你生日快乐》这首歌最初是否是一个教室问候歌曲，名为《大家早上好》。文中第二段提到了这个细节，“it was originally for a classroom greeting song titled‘Good Morning to All’”，这和题干表述一致，所以题干中的信息是正确的。
单选题 6.After 1893 , the lyrics of "Good Morning to All" were gradually changed into "Happy Birthday to You".
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】文中第三段讲到了《祝你生日快乐》这首歌的变化过程，先是“the lyrics were changed from its original form to‘Good Morning to You’”，“then to‘Happy Birthday to You’”，不是一开始就把歌词变成了《祝你生日快乐》，所以题干表述是错误的。
单选题 7.It is Robert H. Coleman who changed the original lyrics of "Good Morning to All" and turned it into a birthday song.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】题干要求判断是否是Robert H．Coleman改编了《大家早上好》原来的歌词并把它变成了一首生日歌曲。根据文中第三段第二句话“It is still unclear who changed the lyrics and turned it into a birthday song”，意思是“不清楚到底是谁改编了歌词并把它变成了一首生日歌”。而这首歌第一次正式出版是Robert H．Coleman在1924年编辑的一本书里。所以题干表述是错误的。
单选题 8.After it was first published in 1924, the song "Happy Birthday to You" became popular among the world.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】文中第三段最后一句话提到“Since then，the song became popular”．这里的“then”指的就是上文提到的第一次出版的时间，也就是说“自从第一次出版以来，这首歌曲就开始流行”，所以题干表述是正确的。
单选题 9.Jessica Hill filed a lawsuit because of the unauthorized use of the "Happy Birthday to You" melody, but finally in 1935 she lost the copyright of the song.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】题干要求判断Jessica Hill提起诉讼是否是因为《祝你生日快乐》这首歌的旋律使用未经授权，并且最终在1935年丢掉了这首歌的版权。根据文中第四段“In 1935，Jessica…copyrighted and published‘Happy Birthday to You’”可知，最终她胜利了，取得了这首歌的版权并且把它出版了。所以题干表述是错误的。
单选题 10.The Hill sisters were devoted to charity and set up a Hill Foundation.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】题干要求判断Hill姐妹们是否热衷于慈善事业并成立了Hill基金。最后一段提到了《祝你生日快乐》这首歌所获得的收益的一部分是给了Hill基金，但是没有明确指出Hill姐妹们是否热衷于慈善事业，并且也没有告诉读者这个基金是否是Hill姐妹们亲自设立的，所以无法判断题干信息是否正确。