The United States of America.
Arts and Music
Task: choose the right variant.
1. America's fine arts developed under conditions ... from those in many other countries.
a) much different; b) far different; c) much better; d) more different.
2. The U.S. began as a group of colonies; its settlers were drawn from many places with differing customs and traditions. All of these customs and traditions had to be ... to life in a strange and difficult environment.
a) adopted; b) adapted; c) addicted; d) adored.
3. Making patchwork ... was a popular American folk art. It was practiced by the country's ordinary people.
a) skirts; b) quilts; c) kilts.
4. In order to survive and ... museums, art galleries, symphony orchestras, chamber music societies and theaters have all had to depend private benefactors, university endowments and ticket sales as the primary means of raising money.
a) expend; b) expect; c) except; d) expand.
5. American arts have always been tied to American commerce. Perhaps these ... are best seen in the development and creativity of the motion picture industry and in the worldwide influence of American popular music.
a) trains; b) trails; c) traits; d) triads.
6. The arts in America have grown rapidly, especially over the past 20 years. One major ... has been the expansion of the universities' role as centers in which the arts were created and performed. a) trend; b) trap; c) tread; d) treat.
Task: choose the appropriate Russian equivalent for the underlined word.
7. In the years following World War II, a group of young New York artists emerged with a fierce drive to remake the goals and methods of art. Their movement known as Abstract Expressionism, became the first American art movement to exert major influence on foreign artists.
а) прогулка; b) спешка; с) большая энергия, сила; d) (общественная) кампания.
Task: choose the necessary.
8. Artistic creativity in the colonial period and the early decades of the new nation generally found expression in the production of useful, everyday implements such as simple, elegant furniture or colorful patchwork quilts. For the busy, practically-minded Americans, ... were the only kind of "fine" art and that seemed necessary.
a) landscapes; b) portraits; c) genre pictures; d) still life pictures.
9. The 1970s and 1980s have seen an explosive of forms, styles and techniques. Artists are no longer confined to their studios, or even to the creation of the objects. An artist's work might be an empty gallery, or a huge drawing cut into the western ... .
a) desert; b) dessert; c) deserve; d) descend.
10. America's earliest settlers brought their music—folk songs and dances, psalms, hymns and some formal music—with them to their new homeland. Among these, it was the ... music that dominated.
a) orchestra; b) religious; c) symphonic; d) vocal.
11. The melodies for the hymns were handed down largely in ... tradition, and served as the basis of much colonial music.
a) written; b) oral; c) singing; d) dancing.
12. Of all forms of popular singing and theater to emerge in early nineteenth century America, none was as influential—or so characteristically American—as the minstrel show. In these shows, which appeared in the 1820s and lasted well into this century, white performers in costumes impersonated ... song, story telling and dance.
a) black; b) white; c) yellow; d) red.
13. By the late 1800s America was a rich country, and for many people these were happy times. A ... was one sign of success.
a) flute; b) violin; c) piano; d) guitar.
14. At home, usually only ... played the piano. Their favorite songs were church songs (hymns), and slow romantic songs (ballads).
a) girls; b) ladies; c) musicians; d) priests.
15. Piano music was printed on sheets of paper, called ... music.
a) sheaf; b) sheet; c) shear; d) sheer.
16. During this time black musicians started to play a new kind of piano music called ... . ... had a new beat. It made people laugh and dance.
a) ragtag; b) ragtime; c) ragwheel; d) rugger.
17. Marching music first came to America from ... . But in 1880s a Portuguese-American band leader, John Philip Sousa (1854—1932), began writing American marches. He was the leader of the U.S. Marine Band. He wrote the famous marches like The Stars and Stripes Forever.
a) South America; b) South Africa; c) Europe; d) Australia.
18. The blues was born on the ... River Delta in the early 1900s. After the Civil War, the slaves were free but life was still not easy. They had to find new work. In the South, work camps were formed. Black people from these camps worked on farms.
a) Missouri; b) Mississippi; c) Amazon; d) Nile.
19. Blues was a new kind of music. In blues songs some notes were flattened. These notes were called "blue notes". They made the music sound ... and different.
Sometimes the blues singers had song contests. Each singer sang new words or a new style of the blues songs. They made up the music as they played. In this way they created new music. This is called improvization. Later, improvization became a very important part of jazz music.
a) gay; b) fluently; c) sad; d) quickly.
20. Some people say that America's greatest contribution to the theater is ... . This kind of performance is a play in which music, lyrics, and dance help to tell a story.
a) cartoon; b) musical comedy; c) western.
21. In New York most musical shows were ... . These shows became very big and expensive.
a) on Broadway; b) in Manhattan; c) in Metropolitan Opera.
22. In the 1920s America fell in love with dancing and popular jazz music. One of the most famous musicians of this time was ... . He became famous for his trumpet playing and his low rough voice.
a) Louis Armstrong; b) Tom Jones; c) Ray Charles; d) Frank Sinatra.
23. The 1930s in America was the time of the big bands and a new kind of jazz called the swing. This new music had ... rhythm. Big band leaders like Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller played in New York's halls. People came and danced the foxtrot and the jitterbug.
a) no special; b) a special; c) a fast; d) a slow.
24. The 1950s were an exciting time for music in America. A new group of people became important— American .... a) teenagers; b) workers; c) artists; d) singers.
25. For the first time in history young people had money to spend. They had a new style of dressing, new hair styles and new dances.
Teenagers wanted dance music with a good beat, and so they began to listen to R & В (rhythm and blues) on the black radio stations. A white disc jockey, Alan Freed, began to play R & В on the radio for white teenagers. He was the first person to call this new music ... .
a) blues; b) rock'n'roll; c) jazz; d) rap.
26. About the same time, the owner of Sun Record Company, Sam Phillips said, 'If I could find a white man who had the Negro [black] sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars.' He found his wish in ..., the king of rock'and'roll.
a) Prince; b) Elvis Presley; c) Michael Jackson; d) Whitney Houston.
27. In ..., a black musician named Berry Gorby started an all black record company. It was called Motown. Motown or "motor town" is another name for ... where cars are made.
a) Madison; b) Montgomery; c) Detroit; d) Des Moines.
28. Closely linked to the development of modern American music was a new art form—modern dance—that emerged in the early years of this century. Rejecting classical ballet techniques, its innovators sought to express the most basic and immediate expression of human feelings in new styles to the modern age.
Among the earliest American champions of this attitude was ... .
a) George Balanchine; b) Sergei Diaghilev; c) Isadore Duncan; d) Rudolph Nurejev.
Task: choose the appropriate Russian equivalents for the underlined words.
29. Younger choreographers kept searching for new movements and new methods. Alvin Ailey blazed new trials in his exploration of African dance elements and black music.
а) злоключения; b) разбирательство; с) пробы, попытки; d) стажировка.
30. Today, popular projects, programs and events in modern America frequently combine performing arts, music, visual arts and literature. Some of these explorations not only involve all art disciplines, they also draw heavily from science and technology.
а) сонно; b) неуклюже; с) главным образом; d)тягостно.
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