9501 托福阅读真题.doc

95年1月TOFEL阅读 EXERCISE TWENTY-EIGHT (251) C Passage 1 The Cajun people, descendants of the French Acadians who resettled in south Louisiana in the mid-1700s, have been producing their own traditional style of music for nearly two centuries. However, by the late 1940s, commercially recorded Cajun music had begun to lose its individual character in favor of new sounds heavily influenced by hillbilly music and western swing. Then, in 1948, Iry Lejeune recorded La Valse du Pont dAmour. Greatly inspired by the recordings of Amede Ardoin and by his own relatives and neighbors in Pointe Noire, Louisiana. Lejeune went against the grain to perform in the old, traditional style long forced underground. Some said the young singer from rural Louisiana who carried his accordion in a flour sack didnt know better, but crowds rushed to hear his highly emotional music. His unexpected popular success focused attention on cultural values that Cajuns had begun to fear losing. Iry Lejeune became a pivotal figure in the revitalization of Cajun music; his untimely death in 1955 only added to his legendary stature. Following his lead, musicians like Joe Falcon, Lawrence Walker. Austin Pitre, and Nathan Abshire dusted off long - abandoned accordions to perform and record traditional - style Cajun music. Interest and demand were especially strong after the Second World War among returning soldiers, tired of foreign wars and foreign affairs, who wanted only to get back to the comfort and security of their own culture. Local music store owners pioneered their own local recording industry since national record companies had abandoned regional traditional styles and were only producing music with a broader, national appeal. 1. Cajun music recordings in the 1940s were (A) imitations of Amede Ardoins work (B) performed in the traditional style (C) influenced by other forms of American music (D) a huge commercial success 2. To say that Lejeune went against the grain (line 7) when performing in