Grammy Awards are one of the most famous prizes in the world. They are givenannually in the United States by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences( NARAS) for excellence in the recording industry. The name is derived from an earlyphonograph called a gramophone. Grammy Awards are presented each May forrecordings released during the previous year . They recognize outstanding performancesof various types of music,including rock,folk,jazz,country,gospel,rhythm andblues,popular,and classical. In addition,NARAS gives honors for music videos,spoken-word recordings,motion picture or television scores,album packaging andalbum notes,and promising new artists,as well as for composition,musicalarrangement,engineering,and production. New categories are added and oldcategories are dropped as the industry changes and grows.
The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences was created in 1957 andthe following year gave out the first Grammy Awards. Voting for Grammy occurs inthree stages. First,record companies and NARAS members ( who include musicians,record producers,and other professionals active in this field) enter recordings releasedduring the year. The entries are then screened by music experts to guarantee eligibilityand to ensure that recordings are classified in the proper category. Next,theacademy??s voting membership,made up of creative or technical professionals whohave contributed to several commercial recordings,nominates five entries in eachcategory as finalists. The winners are selected from the list of finalists,again by thevoting members of NARAS. Several special prizes,voted on by NARAS trustees,honor those who have made substantial contributions over many years. These honorsare the Lifetime Achievement Award,Trustees Award,Technical Grammy Award,Grammy Legends Award,and Hall of Fame Award.
1. The purpose of the passage is to .
A. introduce NARAS
B. introduce Grammy Awards
C. introduce Grammy Awards winners
D. give names of different prizes
2. The first Grammy Awards were given in .
A. 1957 B. 1958 C. 1956 D. 1959
3. Which of the following is NOT one of the three stages of voting for GrammyAwards?
A. Selecting the recordings.
B. Nominating the five entries.
C. Voting by the audience.
D. Voting by the NARAS members.
4. What is the proper meaning of the underlined word“promising”in paragraph 1?
A. likely to succeed B. keeping the promise
C. honest D. obedient ( 顺从的)
5. What is the proper meaning of the underlined word“screened”in paragraph 2?
A. viewed B. put on screen
C. sifted ( 筛选) D. inspected
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The first jazz musicians played in New Orleans during the early 1900 ??s. After1917,many of the New Orleans musicians moved to the south side of Chicago,wherethey contributed to play their style of jazz. Soon Chicago was the new center for jazz.Several outstanding musicians emerged as leading jazz artists in Chicago. DanielLouis“ Satchmo ” Armstrong,born in New Orleans in 1900,was one. Anotherleading musician was Joseph “ King ” Oliver ,who is also credited with havingdiscovered Armstrong when they were both in New Orleans. While in Chicago,Oliverasked Armstrong,who was in New Orleans,to join his band.
In 1923,King Oliver??s Creole Jazz Band made the first important set ofrecordings by a Black band in the history of jazz. The Red Hot Peppers band led byJelly Roll Morton and the Hot five and Hot Seven bands under Louis Armstrong alsomade recordings of special note.
Although Chicago??s South Side was the main jazz center,some musicians in NewYork were also demanding attention in jazz circles. In 1923 ,Fletcher Hendersonalready had a ten-piece band that played jazz. During the early 1930??s,the number ofplayers grew to sixteen. Henderson??s band was considered a leader in what somepeople have called the Big Band Era.
By the 1930??s,big dance bands were the rage. Large numbers of people went toballrooms to dance to jazz music played by big bands.
One of the most popular and long a very famous jazz band was the DukeEllington. Edward“Duke”Ellington was born in Washington,D. C. ,in 1889 anddied in New York City in 1974 . He studied the piano as a young boy and later beganwriting original musical compositions.