填空题Paris 1 Paris, the capital and the largest city of the country, is in north central France. The Paris metropolitan area contains nearly 20% of the nation's population and is the economic, cultural, and political center of France. The French governments have historically favored the city as the site for all decision making, thus powerfully attracting nearly all of the nation's activities. 2 Paris has grown steadily since it was chosen as the national capital in the late 10th century. With the introduction of the Industrial Revolution, a great number of people moved to the city from the country during the 19th century. The migration was especially stimulated by the construction of railroads, which provided easy access to the capital. After World War II more and more immigrants arrived. 3 The city is the centralized control point of most national radio and television broadcasting. It is a place of publication of the most prestigious newspapers and magazines and an international book publishing center. With more than 100 museums, Paris has truly been one of the greatest concentrations of art treasures in the world. The Louver, opened as a museum in 1793 ,is one of the largest museums in the world. 4 In the late 1980s about 4. l million pupils annually attended about 47,000 elementary schools. In addition, about 5.4 million students attended some 11,200 secondary schools. Approximately 1.2 million students were enrolled annually at universities and colleges in France in the late 1980s. French centers of learning have served as academic models throughout the world. 5 Paris is the leading industrial center of France, with about one quarter of the nation's manufacturing concentrated in the metropolitan area. Industries of consumer goods have always been drawn to Paris by the enormous market of the big population, and modern, high - technology industries also have become numerous since World War II. Chief manufactures are machinery, automobiles, chemicals and electrical equipment.A. History of the cityB. Industries of the cityC. Population grownD. EducationE. Cultural centerF. Immigration

填空题A. Safe parking B. Increase in car theft C. Opportunities for non-professionals D. Anti-theft organizations E. divers' carelessness: a factor in promoting ear stealing F. car stealing mostly by professional criminals

填空题Carl Sagan 1 "No one has ever succeeded in conveying the wonder and joy of science as widely and few as wells." That praise was given on Carl Sagan when he was honored with the Public Welfare Medal, the highest award given by the National Academy of Science. On 20 December 1996, Carl Sagan died at age 62 of pneumonia. In my experience, he was much more than a prominent popularizer. He was a brilliant scientist with solid achievements. 2 I first met Sawn at a meeting of the AAAS, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, were he took part in a session on the Viking Mars Project. When Viking landed on Mars in 1976, it was at a site he had helped select. Then I interviewed him in Washington, D.C., after Mariner had sent back spectacular pictures of the Martian surface. Sagan had acted as a head of one of Mariner's imaging teams. The interview, "Close-up Photos Reveal a Turbulent Mars," appeared in Popular Sciences in September 1976. 3 I had originally headlined the story "The Red Planet Isn't Dead," but Sagan asked me to change it. "I'm in enough hot waters with some of my colleagues as it is," he said, referring to the anger felt by some scientists over his growing fame as a popularizer. That fame reached a zenith during his 1980 television series "Cosmos," with an audience of 400 million people in 60 countries. Along the way, he captured Pulitzer Prize for his book The Dragons of Eden. 4 He was noted for the vigor of his logic style, especially when criticizing some piece of pseudoscience. I remembered a 1973 AAAS meeting at which he destroyed the theories of Immanual Velikovsky, who was maintaining that only a few thousands of years ago, Venus had repeatedly collided with Earth and Mars; events well noted, Velikovsky said, in the bible. 5 Sagan was often heard observing that drawings of flying saucers never included a door. "How did those creatures of outer space get in and out?" he once asked. Once he said that pseudoscience is embraced in exact proportion as real science is misunderstood. A Satan as a Science Popularizer B Honor Sagan Enjoyed C Sagan's Publications D Description of tie First Meeting with Sagan E Sagan's Criticism on Pscudoscience F Sagan in Trouble with Other Scientists

填空题Things to Know about the UK From Buckingham Palace to Oxford, the UK is loaded with wonderful icons (标志) of past eras. But it has also modernized with confidence. It"s now better known for vibrant (充满活力的) cities with great nightlife and attraction. Fashions, fine dining, clubbing, shopping—the UK is among the world"s best. Most people have strong preconceptions about the British. But if you"re one of these people, you"d be wise to abandon those ideas. Visit a nightclub in one of the big cities, a football match, or a good local pub and you might more readily describe the English people as humorous and hospitable. It"s certainly true that no other country in the world has more bird-watchers, sports supporters, pet owners and gardeners than the UK. Getting around England is pretty easy. Budget (廉价的) airlines like Easyjet and Rynnair fly domestically. Trains can deliver you very efficiently from one major city to another. Long distance express buses are called coaches. While coaches and buses run on the same route, coaches are more expensive (though quicker) than buses. London"s famous black cabs are excellent but expensive. Minicabs are cheaper competitors, with freelance (个体的) drivers. But usually you need to give a call first. London"s underground is called the Tube. It"s very convenient and can get you to almost any part of the city. The UK is not famous for its food. But you still need to know some of the traditional English foods. The most famous must be fish and chips. The fish and chips are deep fried in flour. English breakfast is something you need to try. It is fried bacon, sausages, fried eggs, black pudding, fried tomatoes, fried bread and baked beans, with toast and a pot of tea. Other things like shepherd"s pie and Yorkshire pudding are also well-known as a part of English food culture. Pubbing and clubbing are the main forms of English nightlife, especially for the young. Pubbing means going to a pub with friends, having drinks, and chatting. Clubbing is different from pubbing and includes going to a pub, or a place of music, or a bar, or any other places to gather with friends. Clubbing can be found everywhere. Usually there is some kind of dress code for clubbing, such as no jeans, no sportswear, or smart clubwear, while pubbing is much more casual.

填空题A. to discover sentence patterns and grammatical rulesB. to expand vocabularyC. to use the target languageD. to encourage unsuccessful language learners to learn independently, actively and purposefullyE. from cluesF. to say strange things

填空题The Paper Chase 1. "Running a house is a lot like running a business." says Stephanie Denton, a professional organizer based in Cincinnati, Ohio, who specializes in both residential and commercial paperwork and record keeping. To get a successful grip on organizing documents, bills, and other materials, Denton suggests the following tips: 2. Create a space in which you can always do your paperwork. This is perhaps the most important element of a successful system. If you can"t devote an entire desk to the task, at least invest in a rolling file cart to store active paperwork and a two-drawer file cabinet for family records. Store the rolling file cart wherever it is most convenient and comfortable to do your work, whether that is the kitchen, office, or family room. 3. When in doubt, throw it out. The first step to implementing a workable filing system is to eliminate paper you don"t use, don"t need, or that you could easily access again elsewhere. Throw out duplicate statements, old catalogs, and all of the coupons, mailings, or offerings you"ll never have an opportunity to use or even read. 4. Set aside two days a month to pay bills. If a monthly due date doesn"t fit into your cycle, call up the creditor and suggest a more convenient date. Keep two manila folders at the front of your system for current bills—one to correspond with each bill-paying day—and file all incoming bills. Keep a list in the front of each folder of what needs to be paid in ease the invoice never arrives or gets misplaced. 5. Think of your filing system not as a rigid tool, but as a living, breathing system that can accommodate your changing needs. A good filing system is both mentally and physically flexible. Everyone"s needs are different, says Denton, but when devising a filling system, ask yourself: "Where would I look for this?" Create main headings for your filing system, such as Investments, Taxes, Children, and so forth, and file individual folders under the main headings. Never overstuff your files.

填空题阅读下面这篇短文，短文后有2项测试任务：(1)第23～26题要求从所给的6个选项中为第2、4、5、6段每段选择1个正确的小标题；(2)第27～30题要求从所给的6个选项中选择4个正确选项，分别完成每个句子。 {{B}} DVD for Rent{{/B}} 1．A pay-for -play system for video DVD (digital versatile disc) will emerge by summer as an alternative, and possibly a competitor, to the DVD format currently available. 2．The new system called Digital Video Express (Divx),operates like a DVD player, except for the specially coded discs. These will cost $ 5 for initial viewing over a 48-hour period and can be viewed again for additional fees and even purchased for unlimited viewing. 3．Divx combines the service of a video rental store with the operation of a pay-per-view TV channel. Unlike a rented videotape, though, the Divx disc needn't he returned. The 48-hour viewing period doesn't begin until the disc is first played. Customers can retain the disc for replay in the future at an additional fee, or simply discard it. (Divx plans a collection and recycling programme.) 4．Subsequent plays, or the purchase of unlimited-viewing rights, are billed to the customer's Divx account and charged to a credit card. The player's built-in memory keeps track of all Divx plays, and relays this information by toll-free phone modern to the Divx record-keeping centre. Each Divx disc and player has a unique identification code, so the system knows which discs have been played and where—something that may raise concerns over privacy. 5．Some Divx discs could be converted for unlimited play at a price likely to be lower than buying a conventional DVD. Others, called Divx Gold, would be sold from the beginning for unlimited play without further charge. Although conventional DVDs will run in a Divx players, conventional DVD player will lack the decoding and communications ability to play Divx discs. Divx players will be offered by Panasonic, RCA and Zenith. 6．About 100 discs will be available initially from Disney, Dreamworks, Paramount, and Universal, growing to 500 titles within a year. Most of these will be released in the 4:3 pan-and- scan mode rather than in the 16:9 letterbox format. Other filmmakers have yet to adopt the Divx system. Which is owned by retailer Circuit City, the 350-store electronics chain that bankrolled its development.

填空题I heard many parents complaining that their teenage children are rebelling, I wish it were so. At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents. You should be learning to stand on your own two feet. 1 It seems that teenagers are taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents. Instead of striking out boldly on their own, most of them are clutching at one another"s hands for reassurance. They claim they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music. 2 Their reason for thinking or acting in thus-and-such a way is that the crowd is doing it. They have come out of their cocoon(蚕茧)—into a larger cocoon. It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and to go his or her own way. Industry has firmly carved out a teenage market. 3 And many of today"s parents have come to award high marks for the popularity of their children. All this adds up to a great barrier for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path. But the barrier is worth climbing over. The path is worth following. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records. 4 Well, go to it. Find yourself. Be yourself. Popularity will come with the people who respect you for who you are. 5 . A Most teenagers claim that they want to do what they like to, but they are actually doing the same. B. That"s the only kind of popularity that really counts. C. But some how they all end up crowded round listening to the same record. D. You may have some thoughts that you don"t care to share at once with your classmates. E. These days every teenager can learn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be. F. But take a good look at the present rebellion.

填空题 阅读下面这篇短文，短文后有2项测试任务：(1)1～4题要求从所给的6个选项中为第 2～5段每段选择1个正确的小标题；(2)第5—8题要求从所给的6个选项中选择4个正确的选项，分别完成每个句子。请写在相应的横线上。 {{B}}Earthquake{{/B}} Every year earthquakes are responsible for a large number of deaths and a vast amount of destruction in various parts of the world. Most of these damaging earthquakes occur either in a narrow belt which surrounds the Pacific Ocean or in a line which extends from Burma to the Alps in Europe. Some of the destruction is directly caused by the quake itself. An example of this is the collapse of buildings as a result of the quake itself. Other damage results from landslides or major fires which are initiated by the quake. These are about a million quakes a year. Fortunately, however, not all of them are destructive. The intensity of an earthquake is measured on the Richter Scale, which goes from upward. The highest scale recorded to date is 8.9. Major damage generally occurs from quakes ranging upward from 6.0. The actual cause of the quake itself is the breaking of rocks at or below the earth's surface. This is produced by pressure which scientists believe may be due to a number of reasons, two of which are the expansion and contraction of the earth's crust and continental drift. In order to limit the damage and to prevent some of the suffering resulting from earthquakes, scientists are working on ways to enable accurate prediction. Special instruments are used to help people record, for example, shaking of the earth. Scientists are trying to find methods that will enable them to indicate the exact time, location and size of an earthquake. Certain phenomena have been observed which are believed to be the signs of imminent earthquakes. These include strange behaviors of some animals, the changes in the content of mineral water, etc. The magnetic properties of rocks may also display special pattern before earthquakes happen.

填空题Feed the World with Potatoes 1 As food prices continue to rise rapidly, there is growing concern about the effect it will have among the world"s poor. 2 Increasingly, experts are looking to the potato as a possible low-cost solution to feeding the hungry. To emphasize the issue, the United Nations has called the potato "a hidden treasure", and named 2008 the International Year of the Potato. Here"s how potatoes could end the food crisis. 3 The potato matures more quickly, on less land and in harsher climates than most other major crops. Up to 85 percent of the plant is eatable, compared with around 50 percent of cereals. Its broad adaptability to a wide variety of farming systems is also noteworthy. 4 Potatoes are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates ( 碳水化合物), which release their energy slowly, and have only 5 percent of wheat"s fat content. They contain only a quarter of the calories of bread and, according to the Potato Center, when boiled, potatoes have more protein and nearly twice the calcium (钙) as corn. Additionally, they are good sources of vitamin C, iron, potassium (钾) and zinc (锌). 5 The Food and Agricultural Organization recently surveyed food price inflation in over 70 of the poor countries. Cereal price inflation was much higher and far more widespread than for potatoes. A significant factor behind the potato"s affordability is the fact that unlike other agricultural products, the potato is not yet a global commodity, and has therefore not attracted speculative investors. Raw potatoes are heavy and can rot during transit, so global trade has been slow to take off. Also, potatoes are susceptible (易受影响的) to infection with disease, hindering (阻碍) export. According to analysts" estimates, less than 5 percent of potatoes are traded internationally, with prices driven primarily by local tastes instead of international demand.

填空题How Human"s Personalities and Behaviors Are Formed 1 People have wondered for a long time how their personalities and behaviors are formed. It is not easy to explain why one person is intelligent and another is not, or why one is cooperative and another is competitive. 2 Social scientists are, of course, extremely interested in these types of questions. They want to explain why we possess certain characteristics and exhibit certain behaviors. There are no clear answers yet, but two distinct schools of thought on the matter have developed. As one might expect, the two approaches are very different from each other. The controversy is often conveniently referred to as "nature vs. nurture". 3 Those who support the "nature" side of the conflict believe that our personalities and behavior patterns are largely determined by biological factors. That our environment has little, if anything, to do with our abilities, characteristics and behaviors is central to this theory. Taken to an extreme, this theory maintains that our behavior is pre-determined to such a great degree that we are almost completely governed by our instincts. 4 Those who support the "nurture" theory, that is, they advocate education, are often called behaviorists. They claim that our environment is more important than our biologically based instincts in determining how we will act. A behaviorist, B.F. Skinner, sees humans as beings whose behavior is almost completely shaped by their surroundings. The behaviorists maintain that, like machines, humans respond to environmental stimuli as the basis of their behavior. 5 Let us examine the different explanations about one human characteristic, intelligence, offered by the two theories. Supporters of the "nature" theory insist that we are born with a certain capacity for learning that is biologically determined. Needless to say, they don"t believe that factors in the environment have much influence on what is basically a predetermined characteristic. On the other hand, behaviorists argue that our intelligence levels are the product of our experiences. Behaviorists suggest that the child who is raised in an environment where there are many stimuli which develop his or her capacity for appropriate responses will experience greater intellectual development.

填空题 阅读下面这篇短文，短文后有2项测试任务：(1)第23～26题要求从所给的6个选项巾为第2～5段每段选择1个正确的小标题；(2)第27～30题要求从所给的6个选项中选择4个正确选项，分别完成每个句子。 {{B}} Even Intelligent People Can Fail{{/B}}1 The striking thing about the innovators who succeeded in making our modern world is how often they failed. Turn on a light, take a photograph, watch TV, search the Web, jet across the Pacific Ocean; talk on a cellphone (手机). The innovators who left us these things had to find the way to success through a maze (错综复杂) of wrong turns.2 We have just celebrated the 125th anniversary of American innovator Thomas Edison's success in heating a thin line to white-hot heat for 14 hours in his lab in New Jersey, US. He did that on October 22, 1879, and followed up a month later by keeping a thread of common cardboard alight (点亮着的) in an airless space for 45 hours. Three years later he went on to light up half a square mile of downtown Manhattan, even though only one of the six power plants in his design worked when he turned it on, on September 4, 1882.3 "Many of life's failures," the supreme innovator said, "are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." Before that magical moment in October 1879, Edison had worked out no fewer than 3,000 theories about electric light, but in only two cases did his experiments work.4 No one likes failure, but the smart innovators learn from it. Mark Gumz, the head of the camera maker Olympus America Inc, attributes some of the company's successes in technology to understanding failure. His popular phrase is: "You only fail when you quit."5 Over two centuries, the most common quality of the innovators has been persistence. That is another way of saying they had the emotional ability to keep up what they were doing. Walt Disney, the founder of Disneyland, was so broke after a succession of financial failures that he was left shoeless in his office because he could not afford the US$1.50 to get his shoes from the repair shop. Pioneering car maker Henry Ford failed with one company and was forced out of another before he developed the Model T car.6 Failure is harder to bear in today's open, accelerated world. Hardly any innovation works the first time. 'But an impatient society and the media want instant success. When American music and movie master David Geffen had a difficult time, a critic said nastily that the only difference between Geffen Records (Geffen's company) and the Titanic (the ship that went down) was that the Titanic had better music. Actually, it wasn't. After four years of losses, Geffen had so many hits (成功的作品) he could afford a ship as big as the Titanic all to himself.

填空题American Dreams There is a common response to America among foreign writers: the U.S. is a land of extremes where the best of things are just as easily found as the worst. This is a cliche(陈词滥调). In the land of black and white, people should not be too surprised to find some of the biggest gaps between the rich and the poor in the world. But the American Dream offers a way out to everyone. 1 No class system or government stands in the way. Sadly, this old argument is no longer true. Over the past few decades there has been a fundamental shift in the structure of the American economy. The gap between the rich and the poor has widened and widened. 2 Over the past 25 years the median U.S. family income has gone up 18 per cent. For the top 1 per cent, however, it has gone up 200 per cent. Twenty-five years ago the top fifth of Americans had an average income 6.7 times that of the bottom fifth. 3 Inequalities have grown worse in different regions. In California, incomes for lower class families have fallen by 4 per cent since 1969. 4 This has led to an economy hugely in favor of a small group of very rich Americans. The wealthiest 1 per cent of households now control a third of the national wealth. There are now 37 million Americans living in poverty. At 12.7 per cent of the population, it is the highest percentage in the developed world. Yet the tax burden on America"s rich is falling, not growing. 5 There was an economic theory holding that the rich spending more would benefit everyone as a whole. But clearly that theory has not worked in reality. A. Nobody is poor in the U.S. B. The top 0.01 per cent of households has seen its tax bite fall by a full 25 percentage points since 1980. C. For upper class families they have risen 41 per cent. D. Now it is 9.8 times. E. As it does so, the possibility to cross that gap gets smaller and smaller. F. All one has to do is to work hard and climb the ladder towards the top.

填空题Virtual Driver Driving involves sharp eyes and keen ears, analyzing with a brain, and coordination between hands, feet and brain. A man has sharp eyes and keen ears,analyzes through his brain, and maintains coordination between his hands and brains. He can control a fast-moving cat with different parts of his body. (46) Apparently there isn't anyone in the driver's cab, but there is in fact a virtual driver. This virtual driver has eyes,brains,hands and feet too. The minicameras on each side of the car are its eyes and are responsible for observing the road conditions ahead of it as well as the traffic to its left and fight. If you open the boot,you can see the most important part of the automatic driving system:a built-in computer. (47) The brain of the car is responsible for calculating the speeds objects surrounding the car are moving at analyzing their position on the road, choosing the fight path, and giving orders to the wheel and the control system. In comparison with the human brain, the virtual driver's best advantage is that it reacts quickly. (48) However, it takes the world's best racecar driver at least one second to react, and this doesn't include the time he needs to take action. With its rapid reaction and accurate control, the virtual driver can reduce the accident rate on expressways considerably. In this case,is it possible for us to let it have the wheel at any time and in any place? (49) With its limited ability to recognize things, the car can now only travel on expressways. The intelligent car determines its direction by the clear lines that mark the lanes clearly and recognizes vehicles according to their regular shapes. (50) This being the case, people still have high hopes about driverless cars, and think highly intelligent cars are what the cars of the future should be like. A．Experts say that we cannot do that just yet. B．In the near future,intelligent cars will be put into commercial operation. C．This is the brain of the car. D．But how does an intelligent car control itself? E It completes the processing of the images sent by the cameras within 100 milliseconds. F However, it cannot recognize moving people and bicycles on ordinary roads that have no clear markings on them.

填空题To improve education and the environment is ______.

填空题Team Building Means More Than Throwing a Few People Together "Team working" is found everywhere within just about every organization. You can"t get away from "teams" that are supposed to be able to create something that is much better than the simple sum of its parts. There are four measures that need to be taken before you can get the most out of a team. There must be a clear reason for the team to exist. And the team members should commonly realize what they are going to achieve as a team. What they are hoping to achieve should be something achievable but at the same time tough and inspiring enough to attract the members and keep their motivation alive. What is more, they should also be well prepared for the possible difficulties they may come across in the process. Team members must be able to express their opinions freely without fear of being criticized. This is an important point so that the team can resolve some complex or thorny (棘手的) issues. For example, it may discuss a sensitive topic. Should they keep their conclusion within the team or share it with other employees? This is an issue in itself that all the members should agree on and frank discussion is required. It is easy to think that a junior team member may have less to contribute than more experienced ones. This is not only demoralizing (不民主的) or discouraging. It also makes no sense—people that have nothing to contribute should not have been selected for the team in the first place. Since they have become members of your team, you need to make sure that each of them has an opportunity to add his or her thoughts to discussions. Most excellent teams are well organized by an outstanding leader. A good organizer should be able to play to individuals" strengths and help them overcome their weaknesses. It should be someone who can act as a promoter and a constant reminder of what the team needs to achieve. He must, above all, be skilled in sharing responsibility and setting tasks to others, coaching them to achieve tasks, and providing constructive feedback (反馈) on how the tasks went.

填空题The Importance of Agriculture in China The development of agriculture and the balance between food and population are China's fundamental economic problems. The classical histories praise emperors for devotion to agriculture and much of China's modern history is (46) , which has been growing steadily. Today, although agriculture accounts for only a quarter of the Gross National Product, it is still the main determinant of the standard of living and the principal occupation of at least 70 percent of the population. Agriculture also (47) because industry needs both agricultural raw materials and food for its work force. The failure of agriculture to supply raw materials and food halted and later reversed the industrial progress of the 1950's. After 1960 new emphasis was placed on agriculture, and the slogan "Agriculture is the foundation of the economy" has remained a central Chinese economic policy ever since. (48) , there is an indirect link due to the relationship between agriculture and foreign trade. Many of China's exports are (49) or consumer goods based on them. Flourishing agriculture, therefore, promotes exports. It also reduces the need to spend foreign exchange on imports of grain and cotton, therefore (50) .A．determines the progress of industryB．the story of the unfolding struggle to feed a peasant populationC．either agricultural raw materialsD．enlarging the capacity of the economy to import machinery and commodities for industryE．In addition to the direct links between agriculture and industryF．thus promoting both import and export

填空题Old Man Myths and Realities 1. When does a middle-aged man become an old man? Officially, of course, it"s when we reach retirement age. But, as we all know, this is a fairly blunt (生硬的) method of decision making. As life expectancy (预期寿命) increases, retirement planning needs to be changed. This is because being an old man today is very different from what it was a generation or so ago. 2. Sixty-five is the new middle-aged man. These days people are talking about the young-old, that is ages 70—75, and those over 75 as the old-old. The young-old frequently continue in good health and maintain strong links with friends and family. The old-old have a much higher chance of poor health and social isolation. 3. Although men are living longer, there are still more old women than old men. This fact alone should arouse interest as to why. Relatively little is actually known about why this is the case or about the experiences of the old man. Sure, we are aware that the old man experiences anxiety, financial problems, loneliness, etc., but that"s really about all we know. 4. It is usually believed that the old man often complains about their health. In fact, most old man think their health is good even though most are diagnosed with at least one chronic illness. The physical health of the old man is strongly affected by their health behavior when they were younger.

填空题 A．what you say B．a pair of sunglasses C．the listening machine D．a visual sensor E．who have disabilities F．living forever in a computer

填空题The Blues—the Song of the Walking Wounded 1 Jazz is the art of surprise, producing always the sudden and unexpected. But the blues is something else. Jazz has been developed into one of those intellectual art forms that scares people away. The blues can be faked. It is faked more today than even before. But it is an emotional song and even the finest of blues singers cannot always possess true emotions, the real grief which is at the heart, in the soul. 2 Of course, I had heard the blues all my life. I had heard it all as a teenage jazz fan in America, travelling long distances to sit, perfectly still, listening with religious reverence to the great progressive jazzmen of the day. But I was never moved by the blues until I was a young soldier, marching along one long, desperately hot afternoon under a south Texas sun. We were marching four abreast, rifles slung, singing as we swung along. 3 An officer marched at the head of us. He did not sing. God knows how we hated them, the officers. We all hated them. The officer was only there for show. Like a fancy motor car radiator cap. Suddenly on our left there appeared this ghostly vision. All in white. Pure white. It was men. A prison work-gang. All black men dressed in white. They sang as they worked. They were not in chains, but men on horseback watched over them. 4 The men on horseback were unmoved, bored by the singing of the prison work-gang. Maybe they heard too much of it. But the beauty of their singing stirred us. We stopped singing our own silly song as we drew near them. Many of us were university graduates. Being soldiers in the infantry was the closest we could ever come, with luck, to joining the down-trodden of the earth. 5 The prison gang were singing some work-song. We all, all of us felt it; knew the feeling of the song for we were prisoners too and knew something at least of the longing that went into that song. 6 Without ever stopping their work the black convict gang saw us. The scene, the beauty of their singing, of these black men who were the grandsons of kidnapped African men and women, the descendants of slaves, burned our eyes. The blues, sung like this, in the condition of penal servitude which was its true roots, and set against this dusty lonesome Southern backdrop, was the real thing. All the concerts, jazz sessions and recordings I had listened to again and again--none of them was like this. A A jazz fan since teenager B Be moved by blues while being a soldier C Heard black men singing blues D Compliments on the singing E Stirred by the beauty of the singing F Jazz is American's contribution to popular music