Reading comprehension -TOEFL- Lesson 28
Another common blues instrument that flourished in the rural South during the 1920s and 1930s was the blues harp or harmonica. It was played mainly in bands called jug bands that commonly performed on street corners, in saloons, and at country stores. Jug bands used a variety of instruments including the banjo, guitar, washboard, kazoo, fiddle, jugs, and blues harp. In these bands, the blues harp was used primarily for melodic and rhythmic support. The earliest evidence of the harp used as a solo or lead instrument in the jug bands was in the late 1920s, as heard in the recordings of George "Bullet" Williams. Other good harpmen, such as Sonny Terry, Little Walter, and Sonny Boy Williamson, followed Williams, revolutionizing the harp`s role as a lead instrument.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) twentieth-century music of the South
(B) a change in the role of the blues harp
(C) good harpmen of the traditional blues harp
(D) the variety of instruments in jug bands
2. The blues harp is another name for the
(A) harpsichord
(B) guitar
(C) harmonica
(D) banjo
3. The word "flourished" as used in line 1 could best be replaced by which of the following?
(A) began to burgeon
(B) was profound
(C) appeared
(D) entertained
4. The author uses the phrase "rural South" in line 1 to refer to the Southern
(A) landscape
(B) metropolis
(C) countryside
(D) nation
5. It can be inferred that George "Bullet" Williams
(A) was the best blues harp player
(B) became friends with later harpmen
(C) played lead guitar in his band
(D) influenced some of the later harpmen
6. As used in line 5, the word "primarily" could best be replaced by
(A) chiefly
(B) peculiarly
(C) favorably
(D) advantageously
7. According to the author, when was the harp first used as a lead instrument?
(A) 1920-1925
(B) 1925-1930
(C) 1930-1935
(D) 1935-1940
8. The word "lead" as used in line 6 is closest in meaning to which of the following?
(A) model
(B) only
(C) control
(D) principal
9. In line 7, the word "recordings" most likely refers to
(A) readings
(B) tapes
(C) records
(D) movies
10. The word "revolutionizing" in line 9 could best be replaced by which of the following?
(A) reforming
(B) fighting
(C) resisting
(D) turning
11. Which of the following would most likely be the topic of the previous paragraph?
(A) the use of instruments for rythmic support in rural southern music in the 1920s
(B) lead instruments in rural southern music of the 1920s
(C) music in the American rural South before 1920
(D) jug bands and their role in 1920s southern music
12. According to the passage, jug bands were likely to perform in all of the following places EXCEPT
(A) on street corners
(B) at country suppers
(C) in concert halls
(D) in saloons