Reading 8th form Music

Reading 8^th form

Music in our life

People cannot live without music. They listen to music, dance to music or learn to play musical instruments. There is music everywhere: at home, in a concert hall, in the park, at the seaside, in the forest and even in the street.

Music is not only a combination of pleasant sounds. It is an art which reflects life. Music reflects people's ideas and emotions. In this world of ours, filled with conflicts, tragedies, joys and hopes, music strives to speak to people of what is most important, urgent and poignant.

Music in the lives of different people is different: some compose music, others play music, and others only listen to it. A lot of people who cannot play any musical instrument love to listen to music either at home or at a concert. Different people like different kinds of music. You may prefer pop or rock music, country or folk music, classical music or jazz, but you certainly cannot think of a day without music.

As for me, I prefer ... music. I have a lot of cassettes (CDs, records). I try to watch all the programmes dealing with it on TV and to go to the concerts as often as possible. My favourite composer (singer, musician) is... I think he (she) is very talented. I can (not) play an instrument (the piano, the guitar, the violin). It is a great pleasure to be able to play an instrument and I like it a lot.

Vocabulary and Grammar Exercises

Task 1. Match the words with their definitions.

1. instrument a) to give attention to someone or something in order to hear him, her, or it;

2. combination  b) something that you can hear or that can be heard;

3. idea   c) a person who sings;

4. concert d) an object, such as a piano, guitar, or flute, which is played to produce musical sounds;

5. pop music e) the kind of music with words and a strong rhythm that many young people enjoy listening and dancing to;

6. composer   f) to move the body and feet to music;

7. listen g) the mixture you get when two or more things are combined;

8. dance   h) a suggestion or plan for doing something;

9. sound i) a performance of music by one or more musicians or singers;

10. singer   j) a person who writes music.

Task 2. Put the verbs in the brackets into the correct tense form and voice (Present Simple Passive or Past Simple Passive).

1. A new album by Tina Karol … (to record) this month.
2. Two tickets to the concert (to buy) yesterday.
3. The cinema (to invent) in France in 1878.
4. The song (to write) by this composer last month.
5. Music (to listen) by people every day.

Task 3. Answer the questions.

1. Are you fond of music?
2. What kind of music do you prefer?
3. What kinds of modern music do you know?
4. What is your favourite style of music?

Task 4. Write plural forms of nouns.

Combination, person, sound, tragedy, program, composer.

Task 5. Define the Tenses of the sentences.

1. People like listening to music.

2. I listened to music yesterday.

3. Many people will buy tickets to the concert.

4. She has written a new song.