英语听力—环球英语 1267 Electric Guitars

 Voice 1

 

　　Welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Liz Waid.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　And I'm Adam Navis. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　This is the sound of a music instrument, the guitar. Versions² of the modern guitar have existed for almost one thousand years. People have used the guitar all over the world. But in the nineteen thirties, one thing changed guitar music: electricity.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Today's Spotlight is on the Electric Guitar. The Electric Guitar is at the centre of most popular music. It shaped modern music more than any other musical instrument. The sound of the electric guitar became THE sound of rock and roll music. Now, musicians use electric guitars without thinking about it. But only eighty years ago electric guitars did not even exist.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　In America in the nineteen thirties, swing music was popular. This is Duke Ellington. The song is called Jubilee³ Stomp⁴. Large musical groups would play to large groups of people. Listeners would dance to the music. Guitars were not the centre of this music. They were too quiet. Other instruments were louder; the guitar was overpowered by the other instruments. The guitar needed to get louder.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The problem was that it was not easy to make guitars louder. The only way was to make it bigger. This led to some very big guitars. But they were difficult to play. And sometimes they did not sound right.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　There were several people working to make guitars louder. The main design added magnets⁵ to guitars. These magnets sensed the movement of the steel guitar string. Then the magnets changed the movement into an electric signal. This signal was played through an amplifier, a device⁶ to make the sound louder.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　But the main problem was called feedback⁷. This happened for a simple reason. The magnets repeated the sound from the amplifier again and again. But one man, named Les Paul, solved this problem. He created a guitar made of solid wood. This stopped the feedback. And it created the modern electric guitar.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Some people debated if the new electric guitar was a real musical instrument. But it became so popular that people had to accept it. At first, the electric guitar was played much like an acoustic⁸, just louder. But soon, guitar players made an interesting discovery. Electric guitars were able to make new kind of sounds. It became the driving force behind music. This was the beginning of rock and roll music. One man who did this was Chuck Berry⁹. Here is an example of his music.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　By the nineteen sixties, there were two main makers¹⁰ of electric guitars. They were Fender and Gibson. Both made high quality guitars. But they did not cost a lot of money. This appealed to America's young people. The electric guitar became a way for people to express themselves.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　At this time, musicians were using the electric guitar in all kinds of music. But rock and roll music was the most popular music. Guitar players tried to use the different sounds of the electric guitar in their music. Some even used feedback from the amplifier. One guitar player who did this was Jimi Hendrix. Many people consider him the greatest guitar player ever. Let's listen to his style

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Jimi Hendrix did wild things when he would play the guitar. Sometimes he would break it or set it on fire. Many guitar players tried to do different things. They tried to develop their own sound. This permitted many different methods of guitar playing to develop.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　There are blues¹¹ players like B.B. King:

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　There are players like Eddie Van Halen. He hits the strings¹² with two hands. This permits him to play very fast.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　And there are players like The Edge from the Band U2. He adds different machines, or effects, to his guitar. This creates different sounds. He says:

 

　　Voice 3

 

　　"There is a difference between me and other guitar players. I do not use effects to color my parts. I create guitar parts using effects. They are an important element of what I do. They are a part of the art."

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Let's listen to how he uses the electric guitar to create his music.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Carlos Santana uses the electric guitar in music from Mexico.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　There are so many different kinds of players that we cannot list them all. Electric Guitars are now the centre of almost all popular music. It is played all around the world. It is difficult to find a kind of music that has not been influenced by the electric guitar. The electric guitar has changed modern music more than any other musical instrument. And it continues to shape music today.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　The writer and producer of this program was Adam Navis. The voices you heard were from the United States. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. Computer users¹³ can hear our programs, read our scripts¹⁴, and see our word list on our website at http://www.Radio.English.net This .program is called "The Electric Guitar."

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　If you have a comment or question for Spotlight you can email us. Our email address is [email protected]. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Thank you for listening. Goodbye!

 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 versions   

n.译本( version的名词复数 )；版本；（个人对事件的）描述；（原物的）变体

参考例句：

• There are two versions of the game, a long one and a short one. 这游戏有两个版本，一长一短。
• When both versions of the story were collated,major discrepancies were found. 在将这个故事的两个版本对照后，找出了主要的不符之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 jubilee   

n.周年纪念；欢乐

参考例句：

• They had a big jubilee to celebrate the victory.他们举行盛大的周年纪念活动以祝贺胜利。
• Every Jubilee,to take the opposite case,has served a function.反过来说，历次君主巡幸，都曾起到某种作用。

4 stomp   

v.跺（脚），重踩，重踏

参考例句：

• 3.And you go to france, and you go to stomp! 你去法国，你去看跺脚舞！
• 4.How hard did she stomp? 她跺得有多狠？

5 magnets   

n.磁铁，磁体( magnet的名词复数 )；有吸引力的人[物]；磁石；吸铁石

参考例句：

• We know about magnetism by the way magnets act. 我们通过磁铁的作用知道磁性是怎么一回事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The N pole and S pole of two magnets will attract each other. 两个磁体的N极和S极互相吸引。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。

7 feedback   

n.回授，反馈，反应

参考例句：

• I was getting great feedback from my boss.老板对我的评价很高。
• You need feedback to monitor progress.你需要利用反馈信息来监控进展。

8 acoustic   

adj.听觉的，声音的；(乐器)原声的

参考例句：

• The hall has a fine acoustic.这个大厅的传音效果很好。
• Animals use a whole rang of acoustic, visual,and chemical signals in their systems of communication.动物利用各种各样的听觉、视觉和化学信号来进行交流。

9 berry   

n.浆果(如草莓等)

参考例句：

• This kind of jam is made of berry.这种果酱是由浆果做的。
• Every berry and cherry carried in the ferry is very merry.渡船里载运的每一颗草莓和樱桃都很快乐。

10 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

12 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

13 users   

用户，使用者( user的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new software will prove a boon to Internet users. 这种新软件将会对互联网用户大有益处。
• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。

14 scripts   

剧本( script的名词复数 )； 文字； 笔迹； （一种语言的）字母系统

参考例句：

• Many felt he was prostituting his talents by writing Hollywood scripts. 许多人觉得他给好莱坞写剧本是滥用自己的才华。
• The scripts had a rather tired plot. 这部陈旧的剧本的情节是非常俗套的。