Ex. 2. Read the paragraph of definition and answer the questions after it.

 

This is how one might define jazz: it is a new music of a certain distinct rhythmic and melodic character, one that constantly involves improvisation – of a minor sort in adjusting accents and phrases of the tune at hand, of a major sort in creating music extemporaneously, on the spot. In the course of creating jazz, a melody or its underlying chords may be altered. The rhythmic valuations of notes may be lengthened or shortened according to a regular scheme, syncopated or not, or there may be no consistent pattern of rhythmic variations so long as a steady beat remains implicit or explicit. The beat is usually four quarter-notes to the bar, serving as a solid rhythmic base for the improvisation of soloists or groups playing eight or twelve measures, or some multiple or dividend thereof.

                                              Barry Ulanov History of Jazz in America

at hand – под рукой

extemporaneously – экспромтом

chord – аккорд

alter – изменять

valuation – оценка

scheme – замысел

syncopate –смещение музыкального ударения

 

1 What is the dictionary meaning of jazz?

2 How does the writer define what jazz is?        

3 What type of basic material is used?

4 What is the order of the development?

 

Ex. 3. Read the passage as a paragraph of definition and then answer the questions that follow it.

I caught the disease known to college freshmen as homesickness. Like raindrops forming a puddle, the causes for my homesickness came one by one. I woke that fateful morning with the symptoms of a head cold. My nose was stuffy, my mouth felt dry, and my eyes were watery. The drizzly weather outside depressed me as I shuffled through the soggy leaves to my 9 o’clock class in Recitation Hall. Mr. Wolfe’s lecture dealing with myth in early Biblical stories left me confused, for it contradicted religious beliefs I had cherished since Sunday School days. I found it hard to believe that the story of Adam and Eve was a theological legend; and I couldn’t understand how Joseph, Abraham, and Isaac were personifications of tribes. Then, after class, unaware of the sorority period of silence, I felt dejected when upper class coeds whizzed by me on the campus without their usual smile or friendly hello. Supported by the knowledge that I had studied for eight hours for my western civ exam on the Romans, I eagerly hurried to my ten o’clock class to learn my test result. I was stunned by the “D” scrawled in red ink across my paper. In shame I trudged back to the dorm for lunch. There I found a letter from Mother waiting for me in my mailbox. I tore it open. “Dear Carol,” it began. “We all miss you so much.” As I read the word “miss”, the writing began to blur. I hurried to my room and locked the door. My throat ached and tears filled my eyes. “The house” – the words wouldn’t hold still – “seems empty without you”. Clutching the letter, I threw myself across the bed and buried my tears in the pillow.

                                                                                        Carol Masley

 

puddle – лужа

freshmen – первокурсники

head cold – простуда

shuffle – волочить ноги

soggy – сырой, мокрый

tribe – племя

sorority – университетский женский клуб

coed – студентки учебного заведения для лиц обоего пола

whiz – проноситься со свистом

civ – civilization

trudge – идти с трудом

dorm – dormitory – общая комната

blur – расплываться

 

1 Is the term to be defined clearly stated?

2 Is there a controlling idea?

3 What basic material is used?

4 What is the order of the development?

5 Does the writer make any specific use of the dictionary meaning of the term being defined?

6 Is the paragraph definition of the word more meaningful than the dictionary meaning? If so, why?

7 How much of the total interpretation of the word depends on the dictionary meaning and how much on the writer’s own conception of the subject?

8 Is the paragraph effective? Why?