高考英语快速阅读训练（九）

It is understood that a ballad is a song that tells a story, but a folk song is not so easily defined. A ballad is a folk song, but a folk song is not a ballad until it tells a story. Folk song then has included many kinds of music. For example, a sailor's song of the sea is a folk song. The blues, a type of jazz popular in New Orieans, may be a folk song. In fact, there are folk songs for every job.

"Home on the Range" shows how a popular song may become a folk song. It was first picked up as a folk song in 1910 by John Lomax in San Antonio, Texas. Lomax heard tbe song from an old man who had been a cook many years before. The song was known all over the Midwest；though it did not come to national attention until the early 1930s. By 1947 "Home on the Range" was so popular that it became the official state song of Kansas.

Words: 172

Total Reading Time: _________

Words per minute: _________

l. True or False:

1. Folk song includes many kinds of music.

2. "Home on the Range" was once a folk song.

3. John Lomax wrote "Home on the Range".

II. Answer the Questions:

4. What is a folk song?

_______________________

5. Is a state song always a folk song?

_______________________

III. Multiple Choice:

6. According to the passage, which of the following is not a true folk song?

A. It is passed on orally.

B. It has different forms.

C. It may talk about work.

D. It is found only in the western states.

7. The author uses the example of "Home on the Range" to show that folk songs _________ .

A. always tells a story

B. are based on written forms

C. may come from popular songs

D. have become state songs

8. Tile main topic of the passage is the _________.

A. different kinds of folk songs

B. development of popular music

C. definition of a ballad

D. importance of folk songs in American life

% Comprehension: _________

参考答案：

1．T。

2．T。

3．F。这是一首民歌，只是由Lomax发现并使之流行起来。

4．A folk song is also a ballad when it tells a story．

5．No，but a folk song can became a state song．

6．D。民歌并不受地域限制。

7．C。由最后一段第一句可得知。

8．A。此文的中心是民歌有多种形式。