From reluctance to recognition:The journey of a suona player從遲疑到認可：嗩吶演奏家的旅程

劉同功

主題語境：中國民樂 篇幅：353詞 建議用時：7分鐘

1 As a child， Liu Wenwen hated suona， a“ loud， high?pitched” traditional Chinese musical instrument， anancestral heritage of her family that was to becomeher career.

2 Her peers at primary school laughed at her， sayingher whole family was engaged only in “weddingsand funerals”. Liu felt ashamed. Despite her reluc?tance， she followed her parents into the trade atthree years old. What would you expect otherwisefrom a child whose parents both play suona， andwho falls asleep and wakes up to the loud musicday in day out？

3 Music takes root in Liu's DNA， but it takes time and hard work to become a successfulsuona player. The instrument is so loud that it annoyed the neighbors when she prac?ticed it at home. So her parents would wake her up at 4 am every day and take her topractice outside in a park.

4 While she followed her parents to play suona as a child， she only fell in love with the in?strument at university. The first suona player to study for a doctors degree， Liu is alsoteaching at her alma mater （母校） in Shanghai. Liu said she is delighted to see thesuona music regaining popularity among young people， sometimes even combined withjazz， opera and other art forms. This is a reverse（ 逆轉） from its decline in the 1990s.

5 In 2017， alongside award?winning composer Tan Dun， Liu performed at a concert inSydney. For her debut on the international stage， she was playing Hundreds of BirdsPaying Homage to Phoenix 《（ 百鳥朝鳳》）， a masterpiece that often represents excel?lence in suona performance.

6 The audience was truly impressed. The Westerners were amazed by the loud， unfami?liar instrument and its exotic， colorful music.“ It was a direct dialogue between a hill?billy Chinese instrument and a Western orchestra， loved by the musicians and audi?ence alike，” she said.“ I felt my hard work had paid off. I have trained for over 20years， probably just to win cheers and applause for traditional Chinese music on the in?ternational stage.”

Reading

Check

1. Why was Liu laughed at by her peers at school？

A. She was from a poor family.

B. Her school performance was bad.

C. She could not play suona well.

D. Her family was doing special business.

2. What was Liu's trouble while practicing suona at home？

A. She might disturb her neighbors.

B. She had no one to learn from.

C. She would wake up her parents.

D. She couldn't fix her mind on it.

3. What happened to the suona art in the 1990s？

A. It was mixed with other art forms.

B. It lost popularity among the young.

C. It was rejected by the general public.

D. It was back on track of rapid development.

4. Which words can best describe Liu Wenwen as a musician？

A. Talented and devoted. B. Modest and far?sighted.

C. Proud and experienced. D. Honest and open?minded.

Language

Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

What would you expect otherwise from a child whose parents both play suona， and whofalls asleep and wakes up to the loud music day in day out？ 對于一個父母都演奏嗩吶，并且日復一日在嘹亮的嗩吶聲中入睡又醒來的孩子， 你會有什么期望呢？

【點石成金】本句是一個主從復合句。What would you expect otherwise from a child是主句，先行詞child后跟有兩個分別用whose和who 引導的定語從句，這兩個定語從句由and連接。

Ⅱ. Text?centered chunks

be engaged in 從事

day in （and） day out 日日夜夜

take root in 扎根于

fall in love with 愛上

be combined with 與……結合

pay off 得到回報；付清