The kind of music, song, and dance a people generates, with its characteristic rhythm and beat, forms one of the best indexes of its cultural style, and in America, the dominant musical styles are blues, swing and jazz. The lyrics to this music are often foolishly sentimental and sometimes non-sensical, but frequently they embody a wild and earthy humor, or a sad and tragic strain. As distinguished from most American popular tunes, American hot music is not written to be danced to. Yet there is an internal beat in jazz which relates deeply to dance: the movements of the body interpret the music s intent better than words can. When there is dancing, however, the dances break away from a formal pattern and, at their bat, keep with the improvisation (即兴) of the music. Unlike earlier American folk dances, which are collective, so-called ballroom dancing is performed by couples. Each couple is comparatively alone, not being well enough acquainted with the other couples on the dance floor to join them. But, in the swing dancing, as the music mounts the partners separate to execute complicated solo variations and then rejoin each other. As the music approaches one of its climaxes, the dancers pay the musicians the tribute(赞美) of gathering around to cheer them on. In popular dance and music, Americans come closer to reaching a native idiom of religious feeling than they do in any other aspect of their lives.
11. The main idea of the passage is that _____. [A] popular dance and music are an important aspect of American life [B] the American hot music is different from most American popular tunes [C] modern dancing is different from earlier American folk dances [D] all of the above
12. The difference between American hot music and most American popular tunes is that _____. [A] the lyrics to hot music are nonsensical [B] most American popular tunes are written to be danced to [C] there is not internal beat in hot music [D] hot music can not be interpreted by dance
13. According to the passage,the swing dancing _____. [A] collective [B] performed by couples [C] individual improvising [D] gathering around the musician
14. Which is the relationship between jazz and dance? [A] Both the music and the dance have formal pattern. [B] The dances always keep the music to interpret it. [C] Jazz has nothing to do with dance. [D] Jazz can be interpreted by dance,though not so well as by words.
15. In the swing dancing,the musicians _____. [A] cheer the dancers on [B] gather around the dancers [C] execute complicated variations [D] were gathered around by the dancers