Read first and then discuss the questions.

　　Where did jazz originate? What musical, social, and cultural ingredients (n. 成分, 因素) combined to form jazz? These questions, and their respective answers, are important for the student of jazz history to investigate.

　　Jazz is the only indigenous American art form and it is truly a cultural product of the United States. Western and African musical culture were the seeds of jazz, but America was the soil where jazz grew and prospered (V．成功, 興隆, 昌盛). Jazz is neither a music of Blacks nor the music of Whites, but jazz is actually a blending of a variety of traditions, heritages, and philosophies (n. 哲學(xué), 哲學(xué)體系) .

　　During the early history of America, slavery was a standard social practice. Slaves were forcibly brought from Africa to America. While in America, the displaced African’s (including African musicians who brought their musical traditions and talents with them) would learn from already established Western musical theories and performance practices. At the same time, Western musicians would learn African (Eastern) musical theories and performance practices from the African musicians.

　　Primitive (原始的) African culture places a great emphasis on music, much more so than Western societies. Music is an important aspect (n. 方面) of many of the day-today activities of the primitive African societies. As a primitive musical expression, early African music placed a great emphasis on rhythmic (adj. 節(jié)奏的, 合拍的) activity with a more simple use of melody (n. 悅耳的音調(diào)) and harmony (n. 協(xié)調(diào), 融洽). African rhythms are quite complex and very advanced, yet the melodies and harmonies are simple. This strong emphasis on musical tradition and usage was brought with the African populations during their forced exile of slavery to America.

　　While in America, these new Black Americans still expressed themselves through their musical traditions. Since they were in America, their old musical traditions could not be reproduced exactly for many reasons, including not being allowed to use traditional African instruments. To understand a comparable situation, let us assume (vt. 假定, 設(shè)想) that we have a fictional American rock band who are forcibly taken to a foreign country. While in slavery, the rock musicians still desire to create their music. Unfortunately, their new “owners” give them permission to perform their rock music, but the rock band is not allowed to use any electric guitars, an electric bass, a drum set, keyboards, or any type of electronic instruments. This would cause quite a problem for the rock band, but if they have a strong enough desire to create their music, they would have to find a way to do so with the resources (instruments etc. ) that were available to them. This imaginary (adj. 假想的, 想象的) scenario (劇情概要, 或是某一特定情節(jié)) was exactly what the African musicians faced as slaves in America.

　　Along with finding new instruments, the African musicians were being exposed to the Western musical culture. This exposure was a vital essence to the evolution of jazz. These new Western melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, and aural traditions affected the African musicians tremendously. Of course, White musicians were also being affected by what they head from the African musicians. As time passes, the give and take between the African and Western musical traditions would blossom into what would be called Jazz.

　　To this day, elements that started with the African slaves can still be heard in jazz and rock. One example still in use is the African “call and response” method of early African songs. In a call and response, the soloist sings a portion of a melody while the group responds afterwards (much like a musical question and answer) .

　　Another example is “pitch-bending”. During the advent of jazz, the musicians would bend pitches for expressive purposes. This bent pitch catches our ears because the ear does not know where the pitch will actually end up, thus creating a musical surprise. Countless jazz and rock musicians use this technique today. Listen to a rock lead-guitar solo and count all the pitch-bends utilized. Most of today's synthesizers even have a pitch-bend device built in.

　　The roots of jazz are from African and Western musical traditions blended together. Over a period of many years, these traditions exchanged musical qualities and slowly evolved into jazz. The African emphasis on rhythm combined with Western theoretical musical thought created a new music for all musicians and audiences to enjoy. As the jazz musical tree grew, other sub-styles of music grew from the trunk of jazz. Music styles such as Rhythm and Blues (n. 節(jié)奏和布魯斯) Soul, Funk, Rap, and Rock and Roll are all descendants (n. 子孫, 后裔, 后代) of jazz and the jazz heritage.

Questions For Discussion:

1．Does Jazz come from Africa?

2．Does Jazz come from Blues?

閱讀理解

　　Imagine a sports stadium filled with national soccer team colors. They are on flags, on fan's clothing, and even painted on faces and hair. Imagine the roar of the crowd when the ball flies past the goalkeeper to score. Imagine victory parties in streets and restaurants.

　　All this is more than just imagination for nearly a million World Cup ticket holders. Fans have paid between US $300 and US $750 to watch their teams perform all sorts of fancy footwork this month. When it's all over, only one team will become the new world soccer champion.

　　The world has been gearing up for the World Cup for two years. National teams from every continent competed first in their own regions. Then World Cup action kicked off on May 31 in Seoul before a crowd of almost 65, 000.

　　For a whole month, 32 teams will compete. They'll play in 10 cities in Korea and in 10 cities in Japan. On June 30, more than 70, 500 fans will pack Yokohama's International Stadium to watch the best two teams vie for the World Cup trophy.

　　But the playing field isn't the only battleground. Contending for TV rights is just as hard a game. Kirch, a German company, owns the rids. They sold the rights among various South American countries for a total of US $944 million. And the United Kingdom may have paid up to US $240 million(the price was not revealed).

　　So if you're not lucky enough or rich enough to be a ticket holder, just turn on the 1'V. See the colors, hear the roar, watch the footwork, and imagine being there yourself.

1．They in the first paragraph refers to ________.

[　　]

A．many football players

B．the teams from all over the world

C．different colors of each team

D．many football fans

2．The competition will last for ________.

[　　]

A．two months

B．one month

C．less than one month

D．less than two months

3．The final will be held ________.

[　　]

A．in Seoul

B．in Yokohama

C．between Seoul and Yokohama

D．in a unknown stadium

4．From the passage we know ________.

[　　]

A．competitions for TV rights is no less fierce than football ones

B．UK has paid $240 million to Germany for TV rights

C．only Germany has got the TV rights

D．Kirch is interested in football

5．Which of the following is right?

[　　]

A．It took Japan and Korea two years to get ready for the World Cup.

B．Nearly one million football fans have been waiting for two years.

C．The competitions began two yeas ago in each region.

D．It is the same to enjoy the World Cup by watching TV.