Accustomed though we are to speaking of the films made before 1972 as “silent”, the film has never been, in the full sense of the word, silent. From very beginning, music was regarded as an indispensable accompaniment(伴奏)；when the Lumiere films were shown at the first public film exhibition in United States in February 1896, they were accompanied by piano improvisations on popular tunes. At first, the music played bore no special relation to the films; an accompaniment of any kind was sufficient. Within a very short time, however, the _ incongruity ___ of playing lively music to a solemn film became apparent, and film pianists began to take some care in matching their pieces to the mood of the film.
As movie theaters grew in number and importance, a violinist, and perhaps a cellist, would be added to the pianist in certain cases, and in the larger movie theater movie theaters small orchestras(管弦乐队) were formed. For a number of years the selection of music for each film program rested entirely in the hands of conductor or leader of the orchestra, and very often the principal qualification for holding such a position was not skill or taste so much as the ownership of a large personal library of musical pieces. Since the conductor seldom saw the films until the night before they were to be shown(if indeed, the conductor was lucky enough to see them then), the musical arrangement was normally improvised(临时准备) in the greatest hurry.
To help meet this difficulty, film distributing companies started the practice of publishing suggestions for musical accompaniments. In 1909, for example, the Edison Company began issuing(发行) with their films such indications of mood as “pleasant”, “sad”,“lively”. The suggestions became more explicit, and so emerged the musical cue sheet containing indications of mood, the titles of suitable pieces of music, and precise directions to show where one piece led into the text. Certain films had music especially composed for them. The most famous of these early special scores(乐谱) was that composed and arranged for D.W.Griffith’s film Birth of Nation, which was released in 1915.
1. What can be inferred from the passage about the majority of films made after 1927?
A. They were truly “silent”.
B. They were accompanied by symphonic orchestras.
C. They incorporated the sound of actors’voices.
D. They corresponded to specific musical compositions.
2. Who did the most in the development of movie music?
A. Conductors B. Pianists. C. D.W.Griffith. D. Film companies
3. It can be inferred from the passage that________.
A. there were no movie music composers at the very beginning
B. the Edison Company had its own orchestras
C. movie music is a kind of music with a history of one hundred years
D. conductors paid much attention to the mood of a film
4. The underlined word “incongruity” in Paragraph 1most probably means “_________”.
A. being different B. being inharmonious
C. being dull D. being unwise
5. In the writer’s opinion,________________.
A, the skill at playing music is more important than the taste in the mood of a film
B. the taste in the mood of a film should be basically important
C. a pianist is more important than a violinist when accompanying
D. a conductor is more important than a pianist when accompanying
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