Name__________________________

Date____________Class________ TEST

I.Read the text and answer the questions.

MISSISSIPPI DELTA BLUES AND HERITAGE

Think about all the emotions expressed in the music you listen to: joy, happiness, loneliness,
nervousness, and, of course, sadness. Music with sad themes is often called the ‘blues’.
Blues music developed in the United States among Southern blacks after the Civil War. When
slaves were brought to America from Africa, they brought their musical traditions with them.
Blended with folk and popular music of whites, these African musical traditions developed into
the blues.
The blues is believed to have originated in the Mississippi Delta, a wedge-shaped region in
northern Mississippi between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. This is a rural area where the
poorest and most disadvantaged black people lived – this lifestyle created a need for the
expression of sadness that is so often sung in the blues. The conditions in this area – poverty,
racism, and inhumane working situations – led many blacks to go north, to cities such as
Memphis, Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit.
The blues did not vanish from the Mississippi countryside, however, and in 1978, the
Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival was founded to celebrate and promote the blues
and the culture of the Mississippi Delta people. What started out on the back of a flatbed truck is
now the oldest and largest blues festival in the South, with 20,000 visitors and performances on
three festival stages.
(Taken from the Internet)
1.What kind of music is called the ‘blues’?
_____________________________________________________________________________________

2. How and where did the blues develop?

____________________________________________________________________________
3. Whose musical traditions formed the foundation for blues?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
4.Where did poor conditions in this area lead black people to go?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

5. When was the Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival founded?
_____________________________________________________________________________________

6. What was the aim of this festival?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

iSLCollective.com
 II.Choose the correct variant .
The 1)____ in an orchestra have to play
together. A 2)____stands in front of the
orchestra. He or she directs the players
with hand movements to keep them in
time. Most conductors hold a short
white stick called a baton. The baton makes it easier for players to see the conductor’s
movements. The conductor decides where everyone in the 3)____ will sit. The usual seating
arrangement has the string section at the front. The violins sit to the left of the conductor. The
violas, 4)___ ,and double basses sit to the conductor’s right. The woodwind and brass sections
sit behind the strings. The percussion section is at the back.

A B C
1) musicians conductors composers
2) audience instrumentalist conductor
3) stage orchestra stalls
4) cellos reggaes violins

III. Put the verbs in the brackets into the Passive Voice.
1. A new song by this group__________________________(to record) a week ago.

2. What concert ________________________________(to show) on TV tomorrow?

3. ___________ this symphony ____________________(to listen) to already?

4. The tickets for the cinema_______________________(not/ to buy) by my brother yet.

5. Music programmes_________usually______________(to watch) by thousands of fans.

6. What instruments___________________________ (to play) in the orchestra?

IV. Write a short letter (35–45 words) to your friend and tell him/her about the concert of your
favourite band or singer you have recently attended or watched on TV. Tell your friend about:
• your impressions of music, special effects and atmosphere;
• your positive or negative opinion.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Grade____________

iSLCollective.com