8th form "Music" Reading / Test

"Playing the Bagpipes"

I. Read the text and define true or false the sentences are, perhaps they are not mentioned in the text at all.

1. The episode is taken from the book "Three Men in a Boat" by a famous English writer J. K. Jerome.

2. J. K. Jerome always wrote his stories in a serioys manner though the stories were humourous.

3.The episode is devoted to a young man who was studying to play the bagpipes to the request of his family members.

4. Bagpipes is a trditional Scottish musical instrument which sounds like a Ukrainian trombone.

5. The young man's first efforts were made early in the morning because his sister wanted him to practise.

6. The sounds of the bagpipes were pleasant for people, especially for those who were religious.

7. To play the bagpipes at night meant to make all the people passing by become suspicious.

8. All the Jeffersons' neighbours were afraid to pass by their house at night.

9. The gossips about the Jeffersons' house were quite negative all over the town.

10. The last place for the boy's practice was at the bottom of the garden.

11. The garden was too big and gave no opportunity to anybody to hear the sounds of the bagpipes.

12. The author encourages everybody to study to play the bagpipes.

II. Choose the correct word to complete the sentences:

13. Music has always been an essential ____ of Ukrainian folk culture.

14. Ukrainians have songs for every ___ .

15. Without doubt, they may break songs at the slightest _____.

16. They say, Ukrainians are born ____ the songs and with songs.

17. Ukrainian songs are very beautiful and mostly sad, and Ukrainian music has a well-established classic ____.

18. Since the 16th century songs and ballads were accompanied by a lute like ____ called a bandura.

19. Bandura players were called " the travelling news" as they described the ____ life in their songs.

20. One of the most outstanding ____ of the 19th century was Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko who incorporated folk songs into varied compositions.