Billie Holiday was one of the greatest jazz(爵士音乐) singers in America. Her life was just a mixture of success and tragedy. Her singing expressed her experiences and feelings.
Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan in 1915 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her parents were Sadie Fagan and Clarence Holiday. They were young when their daughter was born. Their marriage failed because Clarence Holiday was often out. He traveled as a musician with some of the earliest jazz bands and inspired his daughter.
Sadie Fagan cleaned people’s houses to make a living. But she could not support her family with the money she earned. So she moved to New York City where the pay was higher. She left her daughter in Baltimore with one of her distant relatives.
The young girl Eleanora Fagan changed her name to Billie, because she liked a movie star, Billie Dove. The talented Billie Holiday loved singing. She sang and listened to music whenever she could. In one place near her home there was a machine that played records. The building was a theater where many famous singers also performed their newly-made songs for free.
Billie cleaned floors and did other jobs for the theater so that she could listen to the records. It was there that young Billie first heard the records of some famous black American blues artists of the 1920s. she heard Bessie Smith sing the blues. And she heard Louis Armstrong play the horn. Both musicians had a great influence on her.
Billie Holiday once said, “I do not think I’m singing. I feel like I am playing a horn. What es out is what I feel. I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That is all I know.”
【小题1】Billie Holiday’s parents divorced because .A．Sadie Fagan wanted to move to New York CityB．the family couldn’t support itselfC．Clarence Holiday spent too much time in workingD．Clerence Holiday was a strange person【小题2】Who might originally have had an influence on Billie Holiday’s career in music?A．Sadie FaganB．Clerence Holiday.C．Bessie Smith.D．Louis Armstrong【小题3】From the passage, we can learn that .A．Sadie Fagan was fond of living in New YorkB．Clerence Holiday didn’t love his wife at allC．Billie lived a happy childhoodD．Billie had a gift for music【小题4】The underlined sentence “ What es out is what I feel” means .A．Billie Holiday doesn’t like to sing for others B．Billie Holiday’s songs reflect her unhappy childhoodC．Billie Holiday is fond of the songs written for herselfD．Billie Holiday’s music is greatly determined by her emotions【小题5】In order to listen to the records in the theater, Billie Holiday .A．cleaned floors for the theater B．changed her name C．moved to New York D．separated from her parentsC
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(答案→)C
解析：本文介绍了Billie Holiday的出生，家庭，对音乐的热爱和独特的才能。
【小题1】推理题：从文章的第二段的句子：Their marriage failed because Clarence Holiday was often out. He traveled as a musician with some of the earliest jazz bands 可知答案是C。
【小题2】细节题：从第二段的句子：He traveled as a musician with some of the earliest jazz bands and inspired his daughter.可知Billie Holiday是受Clerence Holiday的影响。选B。
【小题3】推理题：从第四段的句子：The talented Billie Holiday loved singing. She sang and listened to music whenever she could.可知Billie 很有音乐天赋。选D
【小题4】句意理解题：从最后一段的句子：I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That is all I know.”可知她唱歌是受自己的情绪影响。选D。
【小题5】推理题：从第五段的句子：Billie cleaned floors and did other jobs for the theater so that she could listen to the records.可知答案是A