Many musicians meet and form a band because they like to write and play their own music. They may start as a group of high-school students, for whom practicing their music in someone’s hours is the first step to fame. Sometimes they may play to passers-by in the street or subway so that they can earn some extra money for themselves or to pay for their instruments. Later they may give performances in pubs or clubs, for which they are paid in cash. Of course they hope to make records in a studio and sell millions of copies to become millionaires!
However, there was one band hat started in a different way. It was called the Monkees and began as a TV show. The musicians were to play jokes on each other as well as play music, most of which was based loosely on the beatles. The TV organizers had planned to find four musicians who could act as well as sing. They put an advertisement in a newspaper looking for rock musicians, but they could only find one who was good enough. They had to use actors for the other three members of the band.
As some of these actors could not sing well enough, they had to rely on other musicians to help them. So during the broadcasts they just pretended to sing. Anyhow their performances were humorous enough to be copied by clubs in order to get more familiar with them. Each week on TV, the Mondees would play and sing songs written by other musicians. However, after a year or so in which they became more serious about their work, the Monkees started to play and sing their own songs like a real band. Then they produced their own records and started touring and play their own music. In the USA they became even more popular than the Beatles and sold even more records. The band broke up about 1970, but happily the reunited in the mid-1980s. they produced a new record in 1996, with which they celebrated their former time as a real band.
FREDDY THE FROG(II)
Not long after Freddy and the band became famous,they visited Britain on a brief tour.Fans showed their devotion by waiting for hours to get tichkets for their concerts.Freddy was now quite confident when he went into a concert hall.He enjoyed singing and all the congratulations afterwards!His most exciting invitation was to perform on a programme called \of the Pops.\had to go to London,wear an expensive suit and give a performance to a TV camera.It felt very
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strange.But as soon as the programme was over,the telephones which were in the same room started ringing.Everybody was asking when they could see Freddy and his band again. They were truly stars.
Then things went wrong.Freddy and his band could not go out anywhere without being followed.Even when they wore sunglasses or beards people recognized them. Fans found them even when they went into the toilet.They tried to hide in the reading rooms of libraries,but it was useless.Someone was always there!Their personal life was regularly discussed by people who did not know them but talked as if they were close friends. At last feeling very upset and sensitive,Freddy and his band to which they were never to return,and went back to the lake.
必修3 unit1
Festivals and celebrations
Festivals and celebrations of all kinds have been held everywhere since ancient times.Most ancient festivals would celebrate the end of cold weather,planting in spring and harvest in autumn.Sometimes celebratewould be held after hunters had caught animals.At that time people would starve if food was difficult to find,especially during the cold winter months.Today’s festivals have many origins ,some religious,some seasonal, and some for special people or events.
Festivals of the Dead
Some festivals are held to honour the dead or to satisfy the ancestors,who might return either to help or to do harm.For the Japanese festival.Obon,people should go to clean graves and light incense in memory of their ancestors.They also light lamps and play music because they think that this will lead the ancestors back to earth.In Mexico,people celebrate the Day of the Dead in early November.On this impoutant feast day,people eat food in the shape of skulls and cakes with”bones”on them.They offer food,flowers and gifts to the dead.The Western holiday Halloween also had its origin in old beliefs about the return of the spirits of dead people. It is now a children’s festival,when they can dress up and to to their neighbours’homes to ask for sweets.Ifthe neighbours do not give any sweets,the children might play a trick on
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them.
Festivals to Honour People
Festivals can also be held to honour famous people .The Dragon Boat Festival in China honours the famous ancient poet,Qu Yuan.In the USA Columbus Day is in memory of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in New World.India has a national festival on October 2 to honour Mohandas Gandhi,the leader who helped gain India’s independence from Britain.
Harvest Festivals
Harvest and Thanksgiving festivals can be very happy events.People are grateful because their food is gathered for the winter and the agricultural work is over.In European countries,people will usually decorate churches and town halls with flowers and fruit,and will get together to have meals.Some people might win awards for their farm produce,like the biggest watermelon or the most handsome rooster.China and Japan have mid-autumn festivals,when people admire the moon and in China,enjoy mooncakes.
Spring Festivals
The most energetic and important festivals are the ones that look forward to the end of winter and to the coming of spring.At the Spring Festival in China,people eat dumplings,fish and meat and may give children lucky money in red paper.There are dragon dances and carnivals,and families celebrate the Lunar New Year together.Some Western countries have very exciting carnivals,which take place forty days before Easter,usually in February.These carnivals might include parades,dancing in the streets day and night,loud music and colourful clothing of all kinds.Easter is an important religious and social festival for Christians aroud the world.It celebrates the return of Jesus from the dead and the coming of spring and new life.Japan’s Cherry Blossom Festival happens a little later.The country, covered with cherry tree flowers, looks as thought it is covered with pink snow.
People love to get together to eat , drink and have fun with each other.Festivals let us enjoy life,be proud of our customs and forget our work for a little while
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A SAD LOVE STORY
Li Fang was heart-broken.It was Valentine’s Day and Hu Jin had said she would meet him at the coffee shop after work. But she didn’t turn up. She could be with her friends right now laughing at him.She said she would be there at seven o’clock, and he thought she would keep her word. He had looked forward to meeting her all day, and now he was alone with his roses and chocolates, like a fool. Well, he was not going to hold his breath for her to apologize. He would drown his sadness in coffee.
It was obvious that the manager of the coffee shop was waiting for Li Fang to leave-he wiped the tables, then sat down and turned on the TV-just what Li Fang needed! A sad Chinese story about lost love.
The granddaughter of the Goddess of Heaven visted the earth. Her name was Zhinü,the weaving girl. While she was on earth she met the herd boy Niulang and they fell in love.(“Just like me and Hu Jin,”thought Li Fang.)They got married secretly, and they were very happy.(“We could be like that,”thought Li Fang.)When the Goddess of Heaven knew that her granddaughter was married to a human, she became very angry and made the weaving girl return to Heaven.Niulang tried to follow her, but the river of stars,the Milly Way, stopped him.Finding that Zhinü was heart-broken, her grandmother finally decided to let the couple cross the Milky Way to meet once a year. Magpies make a bridge of their wings so the couple can cross the river to meet on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. People in China hope that the weather will be fine on that day, because if it is raining, it means that Zhinü is weeping and the couple won’t be able to meet.
The announcer said,”This is the story of Qiqiao Festival.When foreigners hear about the story, they call it a Chinese Valentine’s story.It’s a fine day today, so I hope you can all meet the one you love.”
As Li Fang set off for home, he thought,”I guess Hu Jin doesn’t love me .I’ll just throw these flowers and chocolates away. I don’t want them to remind me of her.” So he did.
As he sadly passed the tea shop on the corner on his way home, he heard a voice
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