I am a hip-hop head for life. I have tagged my moniker-- "kepo1"--on walls; break-danced on cardboard; bumped elbows with fellow hip-hoppers at legendary clubs like The Rooftop, Union Square and Latin Quarter in New York City, and done everything from organizing rap shows to working as a hip-hop journalist and managing music producers. This culture has not only rescued the lives of countless masses who look like me, but it has empowered more young, working-class black and Latino cats than the civil-rights movement.

　　Yet something peculiar erupts when you've been around hip-hop for a while. Although you still love it, you look at its culture from a more critical perspective, particularly if you have studied other music genres, traveled widely and reflected intensely. You realize that what began as party music has come to be the soundtrack for post-civil-rights America. You realize that hip-hop is urban folk art, and as much an indication of the conditions in impoverished areas as bluesman Robert Johnson's laments in the 1930s. Naturally, you see a connection between the lives of Johnson and Tupac Shakur, not to mention a not-so-funny link between the mainstream hyping of Elvis and Eminem as innovators of black music forms. And, for sure, you wonder, loudly, if what happened to rock and roll will happen to hip-hop, if it hasn't already.

　　That is the external battle for hip-hop today: corporate control and cooptation. But there is also a civil war going on within the hip-hop nation. Part of it, unquestionably, has to do with this corporate stranglehold. Part of it has to do with the incredibly apolitical times in which we live: for some white Americans the current economic boom has created the myth that things are swell for all Americans. Not the case; 20 years after the Reagan backlash on civil rights, the influx of crack and guns and the acceleration of a disturbing class divide in black America, hip-hop has come to symbolize a generation fragmented by integration, migration, abandonment, alienation and, yes, self-hatred. Thus, hip-hop, once vibrant, edgy, fresh and def, is now as materialistic, hedonistic, misogynistic, shallow and violent as some of the films and TV shows launched from Hollywood.

　　It wasn't always that way. But, unfortunately, the golden era of hip-hop--that period in the late '80s and early '90s when such diverse artists as Public Enemy, N.W.A, Queen Latifah, MC Hammer, LL Cool J and De La Soul coexisted and there was no such thing as "positive" or "negative" rap--has long been dead. Gone as well is an embrace of hip-hop's four elements: graffiti writing, the dance element (or what some call break-dancing), DJing and MCing. The MC or "rapper" has been singled out to be his own man in this very male-centered arena, and the formula for a hit record is simple: fancy yourself a thug, pimp or gangster; rhyme about jewelry, clothing and alcohol; denigrate women in every conceivable way, and party and b.s. ad nauseam.

　　1.In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by
　　[A]posing a contrast.
　　[B]justifying an assumption.
　　[C]explaining a phenomenon.
　　[D]making a comparison.

　　2.Paragraph 2 implies that
　　[A]blues, rock and roll and hip-hop are all urban folk music.
　　[B]the fates of the music represented by these singers are quite similar.
　　[C]the singers with the same background have the same fate.
　　[D]a wide knowledge about the lives of singers makes you well understand their music.

　　3.The music the author has loved for his life has been ruined because of
　　[A]corporate control and apolitical times.
　　[B]the Reagan backlash.
　　[C]the degenerated generation.
　　[D]the influence of Hollywood’s films.

　　4.Today’s hip-hop and some of Hollywood’s films and TV shows are quite
　　[A]related
　　[B]opposite
　　[C]similar
　　[D]different

　　5.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
　　[A]The four elements of hip-hop have broken up.
　　[B]The hip-hop has lost its characteristics as vibrant, edgy, fresh and def.
　　[C]The MC or "rapper" is misleading for the youngsters.
　　[D]The hip-hop will regain its glory in the future.

　　答案：CBACB

　　篇章剖析

　　本文采用的是记叙文模式，讲述了作者作为一名嘻哈乐爱好者，亲眼目睹了公司控制和对政治冷漠的时代是如何侵犯了他一生所钟爱的音乐的。第一段作者以自己作为一名嘻哈乐爱好者的经历入手，着重说明嘻哈乐对于无数爱好者和年轻人的影响和意义；第二段指出嘻哈乐是一种城市民间音乐，以及它代表的音乐与其它音乐形式的联系；第三段指出是什么原因使嘻哈乐失去了往日的辉煌；第四段指出今日的嘻哈乐是怎样的一种情形。

　　词汇注释

　　Hip-Hop:街头说唱，中文翻译为“嘻哈乐”。嘻哈文化(Hip-Hop Culture)是一种源自rap(饶舌音乐)的文化运动，主要包含4个主要部分：打碟(DJing)、说唱(MCing)、breaking(跳霹雳舞)和街头涂鸦艺术(Graffiti或Writing)。这些同时代产生的黑人地下文化并称为嘻哈四大元素。从英文字面意义来看，hip是臀部，hop是单脚跳，所以可以理解为轻扭臀部摇摆，Hip-Hop含有rap(饶舌)和R&B(rhythm and blues节奏蓝调)的复杂的节奏以及电唱机的音效，它随意而又健康。大约近20年来，这种原为美国特有的文化现象已经风靡全世界。

　　encroach [In5krEJtF] vi. 侵犯，侵占；侵害

　　head n. 【俚语】经常服用毒品的人；狂热爱好者

　　for life 终生，直到生命终结

　　tag vt, vi. -gg- 加上标签，贴标签；尾随，紧随 (tag along with)；(常与on, on to连用)附上；给...起浑名，

　　tag sth. on [onto, to] 把某物附加于...上面

　　moniker [`mCnIkE(r)] n. 名字, 绰号

　　cat [美俚]娼妓; 流动工人; 爵士乐演奏者[爱好者]

　　soundtrack 电影配乐

　　bluesman [`blU:zmEn] n. 演奏(或演唱)布鲁斯音乐(或歌曲)的人

　　lament [lE5ment] n. 悲叹；哀悼；哀歌，挽歌

　　hype [haip] vt. 大肆宣传，大做广告；炒作；[俚](用刺激针剂等)强行刺激, 使兴奋(up)

　　cooptation招降，吸收，吸纳；增选

　　cooptate=co-opt vt. 增选，将…选为(指定为)新成员；指定…为新同事(或助手)；吸收，同化；强占，征用；拉拢，笼络(对手等)，招降，收买，

　　stranglehold [5strAN^(E)lhEJld] n. 掐住脖子；束缚; 压制, 严格控制

　　apolitical [eIpE5lItIk(E)l] adj. 不关心政治的，对政治不感兴趣，与政治无关的，无政治意义的

　　incredible [In5kredIb(E)l] adj. 不能采纳的；难以相信的，不真实而令人难以置信的；惊人的

　　swell n. 大浪，巨浪；声音的增强，音量的增加；肿胀，膨胀；丰满；

　　backlash [5bAklAF] n. 反冲; 后冲力; (政治等方面)强烈的反响; 对抗性的反应

　　influx [5InflQks] n. 流入(量), 注入(量); 汇集; 涌进

　　not the case 实际情况并非如此

　　crack n. 缺陷脑力或体力上的弱点；缺陷；试图，尝试；俏皮话，挖苦话；【俚语】快克(一种经过高度化学提纯的可卡因药丸，通过玻璃烟管吸取，很容易使人上瘾)

　　integration [9IntI`^reIFEn] n. [美]取消种族隔离; 给以种族上的平等待遇

　　abandonment [E5bAndEnmEnt] n. 放弃, 放荡, 断念，自暴自弃；放肆，放