A
The Music of Ray Charles
Master of many styles
Ray Charles, a black singer and pianist, was born in 1930 in Georgia, USA. His relaxed style combined jazz, blues, pop and a type of black music called soul, which comes from the traditional music sung by slaves in the south of the USA. By the time Ray Charles died in 2004, he had won 12 Grammy Awards and performed at 10,000 concerts around the world. Many musicians called him simply “the Genius”.
Childhood poverty
Ray Charles was born into a poor family, without a father. When he was 5 years old, his younger brother died； and around the same time, Charles started to lose his sight. By the age of 7 he was completely blind. He had already been learning the piano for a year, and when he went blind, his mother knew this would be the only way he would earn any money in the future. All his life, Charles remembered her saying: “Do it right, or don’t do it at all”.
Becoming a musician
Later he went to a school for blind and deaf children where the teachers also encouraged him to study music. Sadly, while he was still at school, his mother died. He left school and in the early 1950s Charles formed a group of players. He sang, played the saxophone and the piano and composed music.
Three classic tunes
He made many recordings which are still classics: Georgia on my Mind, I Can’t Stop Loving You, and Hit the Road, Jack are the three best-known songs. He recorded CDs with famous artists like Elton John. Others, such as The Beatles, thought his music was wonderful and said that the music they composed used many of his techniques.
The film of his life
In 2003 a film biography of his life was produced, called Ray. The part of Charles was played by a young actor and musician called Jamie Foxx. The film director brought Foxx to meet Charles. After they had been playing together for two hours, Charles, then aged 73, jumped up and said, “He’s the one……he can do it.” A year later Charles died aged 74. The film of his life has been as popular as his songs and means that the memory of Charles’ music will live on.
1. Ray Charles was a black American singer ______.
A. who sang many different styles of music B. who mostly sang jazz
C. who mostly sang pop music D. who mostly sang soul music
2. Ray Charles’ mother encouraged him to play music because ______.
A. it would help him get used to being blind
B. it was a good way for a blind person to earn money
C. his father was a musician as well
D. she knew she would die soon
3. Ray Charles thought that Jamie Foxx ______.
A. was a good musician
B. was an excellent director
C. was the wrong person to play him in the film
D. was the right person to play him in the film
【答案】1. A 2. B 3. D
【解析】
这是一篇说明文。文章介绍了黑人歌手Ray Charles的成长经历以及他的经典歌曲和成就，而且他的生平被拍成了电影。
【1题详解】
细节理解题。根据第一段中Ray Charles, a black singer and pianist, was born in 1930 in Georgia, USA. His relaxed style combined jazz, blues, pop and a type of black music called soul, which comes from the traditional music sung by slaves in the south of the USA.“雷·查尔斯，1930年出生于美国乔治亚州，是一名黑人歌手和钢琴家。他的轻松风格结合了爵士乐、蓝调、流行音乐和一种叫做灵魂乐的黑人音乐，灵魂乐来自于美国南部奴隶唱的传统音乐。”由此可知，雷·查尔斯是一位美国黑人歌手，他演唱了许多不同风格的音乐。故选A。
【2题详解】
细节理解题。根据第二段第二行句子when he went blind，his mother knew this would be the only way he would make any money in the future．“当他失明的时候，他的母亲知道这将是他将来赚钱的唯一途径。”可知雷·查尔斯的母亲鼓励他演奏音乐，因为这是盲人赚钱的好方法。故选B。
【3题详解】
细节理解题。根据最后一段句子The part of Charles was played by a younger actor and musician called Jamie Foxx．“查尔斯的角色是由一个名叫杰米·福克斯的年轻演员和音乐家扮演的。”和 Charles，then aged 73，jumped up and said："He's the one…he can do it．"当时73岁的查尔斯跳了起来，说:“他就是那个人……他能做到。”可知Jamie是在电影中扮演他的合适人选。故选D。
