2. 职称英语
  3. The United States Makes Use of Music to Develop Cultural Diplomacy

The United States Makes Use of Music to Develop Cultural Diplomacy

游客2023-11-14  11
问题           The United States Makes Use of Music to Develop Cultural Diplomacy
    In 1956, when the cold war was at its peak, America deployed a "secret sonic weapon", as a newspaper headline put it at the time.That weapon was Dizzy Gillespie, a famed jazz musician, who was given the task of changing the world’sview of American culture through rhythm and beat. Crowds poured into the street todance. Cultural diplomacy died down after the cold war ended. But the attacks of September 11th 2001 convinced the State Department to send out America’s musicians once again to woo hearts and minds with melody.
    Rhythm Road, a program run by the State Department and a non-profit organization, Jazz at Lincoln Centre, has made informal diplomats out of bothmusicians and audiences. Since it began in 2005, musicians have travelled to 96 countries. One band went to Mauritania, a country in northwestern Africa, after last year’s coup; many depart for countries that have strained relationships with America. The musicians travel to places where some people have never seen an American.
    Jazz, so participants in the program, is well-suited to diplomacy. It is collaborative, allowing individuals both to harmonize and play solo—much like a democracy, says Ari Roland, who plays bass for a band that left New York to tour the Middle East on March 31st. Jazz is also a reminder of music’s power.lt helped break down racial barriers, as enthusiasts of all colors gathered to listen to jazz when segregation was still the law of the land.
    The State Department spent 10 million US dollars on cultural diplomacy programs in the year to September 30th 2008. But most expect funding for the initiative to increase under Barack Obama, who pledged his support for cultural diplomacy during his campaign. Rhythm Road now sends out hip-hop and bluegrass bands as well.
    There are some dissenters. Nick Cull, the director of the Diplomacy Program at the University of Southern California, thinks that these diplomatic projects would be more productive if they were not administered by the same agency that oversees the country’s foreign-policy agenda. And there is also clamor for Mr. Obama to appoint a secretary of culture in his cabinet. What good, they ask, is sending American culture abroad, when the country is not giving it proper attention at home? [br] The Rhythm Road program______.
选项 A、only involves professional musicians
B、is a cultural and political program
C、aims at America’s opponent countries
D、sends out mainly bands of Jazz music
答案 B
解析 事实细节题。根据Rhythm Road定位到第二段。该段中提到这项计划是由国务院和一家非赢利组织林肯中心爵士乐社共同开展的，从而使得音乐家以及观众共同成为了民间的外交家，故可以合理推得Rhythm Road这一项目既涉及文化，又涵盖政治，故选[B]项。根据原文所述，该项计划不仅涉及职业音乐家，还包括听众在内。故[A]项“只涉及职业音乐家”的论断错误；此外文中提到音乐家前往的很多国家与美国关系紧张，但并不能就此推断这些国家就是美国的敌对国家，[C]项推断过度；在第四段中指出Rhythm Road又增派了嘻哈乐团和乡村音乐乐团进行文化交流，故[D]项中主要指派爵士乐团进行文化交流的判断是错误的。
转载请注明原文地址:http://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3187486.html
相关试题推荐
随机试题
最新回复(0)