Drums
When we think of a drum we usually think of a musical instrument. The drum has also been used for years as an important tool for communication. The human voice is very good for communication, but it cannot be heard very far. As early humans began to live in groups, runners were sent from village to village with important messages, but that took a lot of time. It was discovered that beating on hollow logs could be heard for greater distances, and so a new form of communication called “talking drums” was born.
In many early communities, a large drum was set in the middle of the village to help send messages to nearby tribes. The drums could be hit with hands and sticks. Some of the larger drums could be heard up to sixteen miles away!
A group in West Africa made an amazing talking drum system. Their drums were made of round pieces of wood that were four to five feet long. A skin (often an elephant ear) was stretched over one end of the wood and was held in place by a rope. The skin was tightened or loosened to make higher and lower sounds. They had learned to use the drums so well that they could actually copy the language that they spoke! The drums sounded like a person speaking in a voice loud enough to be heard far away.
Most systems of drum communication used a series of beats that meant something. The messages usually told of danger, death, war, or other news of great importance. The message could be sent very far by a relay system. That is, one village would send a message and a nearby village would hear it. They would then repeat the message on their drums, sending it to their neighbors. Some relay systems worked so well that they could send a message about 200 miles very quickly.
Although “talking drums” became a good system of communicating over distances, it had one very big problem. Their enemies could understand the drum messages, so they would know what was being said or planned. Communication by drums certainly wasn’t perfect!
Question 1-4
True or False. Decide the following statements are true (T) or false (F).
1. The main idea of the passage is that drums can be heard over great distances.
2. Drums are only used as a musical instrument.
3. People in West Africa tightened the skin over the drum to make a lower sound.
4. Drums made by people in West Africa could speak.
Question 5-7
Select the meaning which most closely matches the word, as it is used in the text. Circle the correct letter.
5. communication
A. traffic B. speech C. intercourse
6. stretch
A. extend B. bounce C. run
7. relay
A. delay B. pass C. beat
Question 8-10
Passive and active verb forms
These sentences are in the passive form and are adapted from the text. Rewrite the sentences below using the active form.
8. It was discovered that beating on hollow logs could be heard for greater distances, and so a new form of communication called “talking drums” was born.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. A skin (often an elephant ear) was stretched over one end of the wood and was held in place by a rope.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. The message could be sent very far by a relay system.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
【答案】1. T 2. F
3. F 4. F 5. C 6. A 7. B
8. They discovered that beating on hollow logs could be heard for greater distances and so they invented a new form of communication called “talking drums”.
9. They stretched a skin (often an elephant ear) over one end of the wood and held it in place by a rope.
10. A relay system could send the message very far.
【解析】
【分析】这是一篇说明文。主要介绍了鼓在古代被用作通讯工具以及使用的方法。
【1题详解】
推理判断题。根据第一段关键句“It was discovered that beating on hollow logs could be heard for greater distances, and so a new form of communication called “talking drums” was born.”（人们发现，在更远的距离内可以听到敲打空心圆木的声音，于是一种新的交流方式“会说话的鼓”诞生了。）和第二段关键句“The drums could be hit with hands and sticks. Some of the larger drums could be heard up to sixteen miles away!”（鼓可以用手和棍子击打。一些更大的鼓可以在16英里外被听到！）可知，文章主要告诉我们，鼓声可以在更远的距离内被听到，一些更大的鼓可以在16英里外被听到，“The main idea of the passage is that drums can be heard over great distances.”意为“这段文章的主要讲的是鼓声可以在很远的地方听到。”题目内容与文章内容表述一致。故填T。
