The Sound of Music Part-I- Passages for Comprehension

The Sound of Music Part-I- Passages for Comprehension edumantra.net

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

BY: Deborah Cowley I

PART-I

MPQRTANT PASSAGES FOR COMPREHENSION

Read the following passages and answer the questions given at the end of each :

PASSAGE 1

 Evelyn Glennie’s loss of hearing had been gradual. Her mother remembers noticing something was wrong when the eight-year-old Evelyn was waiting to play the piano. ‘They called her name and she didn’t move. I suddenly realised she hadn’t heard,’ says Isabel Glennie. For quite a while Evelyn managed to conceal her growing deafness from friends and teachers. But by the time she was eleven her marks had deteriorated and her headmistress urged her parents to take her to a specialist. It was then discovered that her hearing was severely impaired as a result of gradual nerve damage. They were advised that she should be fitted with hearing aids.

Questions :

(I) At what age was her deafness sighted first?

(ii) For what her name was called?

 (iii): What was Evelyn’s response when her name was called?

 (iv) When was her deafness confirmed?

 (v) From whom did she try to conceal her deafness?

 Answers :

 (i) At the age of eight years.

 (ii) Her name was called to play the piano.

(iii) She did not move at the call of her name.

 (iv) Her deafness was confirmed when she was eleven years old.

(v) From her teachers and friends.

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PASSAGE 2

But Evelyn was not going to give up. She was determined to lead a normal life and pursue her interest in music. One day she noticed a girl playing the xylophone and decided that she wanted to play it too. Most of the teachers discouraged her but percussionist Ron Forbes spotted her potential. He began by tuning two large drums to different notes. ‘Don’t listen through your ears,’ he would say, ‘try to sense it some other way.’ Says Evelyn, ‘Suddenly I realised I could feel the higher drum from the waist up and the lower one from the waist down.’ Forbes repeated the exercise, and soon Evelyn discovered that she could sense certain notes in different parts of her body. had learnt to open my mind and body to sounds and vibrations.’ The rest was sheer determination and hard work.

 Questions :

(i) What had happened to Evelyn?

 (ii) What was she determined to?

 (iii) Who was Ron Forbes?

(iv) What did he inspire Evelyn for?

 (v) How did he ask Evelyn to hear music?

 Answers :

(I) Her hearing capacity had gone completely.

 (ii) She was determined to lead the normal life.

(iii) He was a famous percussionist of Evelyn’S school.

(iv) He inspired Evelyn to pursue her music.

(v) He asked Evelyn to hear music not through her ears but other pans of her body.

PASSAGE 3

She never looked back from that point onwards. She toured the United Kingdom with a youth orchestra and by the time she was sixteen, she had decided to make music her life. She auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music and scored one of the highest marks in the history of the academy. She gradually moved from orchestral work to solo performances. At the end of her three-year course, she had captured most of the top awards.

Questions :

 (1) Why did she tour the United Kingdom?

(ii) What did she decide to make her life?

(iii) What was her performance in the audition for the Royal Academy of Music?

(iv) From orchestra what did she decide to move?

(v) What was her performance during the course in the Royal Academy of Music

Answers :

 (i) With a young orchestra for giving music performances.

 (ii) Music.

 (iii) She scored the highest marks in them. history of the academy.

 (iv) She decided to move to solo:

(v) She had captured most of the top awards.

PASSAGE 4

Not surprisingly, Evelyn delights her audiences. In 1991 she was presented with the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious Soloist of the Year Award.”Says master percussionist James Blades, ‘God may have taken her hearing but he has given her back something extraordinary. What we hear, she feels—far more deeply than any of us. That is why she expresses music so beautifully.’

Questions :

(I) How do Evelyn’s audiences feel?

(ii) What award did she win in 1991?

 (iii) Who was James Blades?

(iv) The things what we hear, what does Evelyn do with them?

 (v) How does she express her music?

 Answers :

 (i) Her audiences feel delighted.

(ii) ‘Soloist of the Year Award’ by Philharmonic Society.

(iii) He was a master percussionist.

(iv) She feels them.

 (v) She expresses her music beautifully.

PASSAGE 5

Evelyn Glennie has already accomplished more than most people twice her age. She has brought percussion to the front of the orchestra and demonstrated that it can be very moving. She has given inspiration to those who are handicapped, people who look to her and say, ‘If she can do it, I can.’ And, not least, she has given enormous pleasure to millions.

Questions :

(i) What has Evelyn Clennie achieved?

(ii) What has he done for percussion?

 (iii) To whom has she given inspiration?

(iv) What has she done for millions?

 (v) Name the chapter and the author.

Answers :

(i) Evelyn Glennie has achieved more than most people twice her age.

 (ii) She has brought percussion to the front of the orchestra.

(iii) She has given inspiration to disabled,

(iv) She has given pleasure to millions.

(v) The name of the chapter is ‘The Sound of Music’ and its author is ‘Deborah Cowley’

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