THE SOUNDS OF THE WORLD
There is a world of music out there! What we hear on the radio or see on TV is only a small part of all the wonderful music that is waiting for us. Most of us probably like pop music and have our favorite performers, stars or bands, but many of us also want to discover new sounds and rhythms. Here is a brief look at some of the exciting musical styles from around the world.

Blues music has a long history. The blues is a way for people to show who they are and what is in their heart. People have been playing the blues for many years, but the music has kept many of its characteristics. The blues comes from African songs that people used to sing when they worked and during festivals. The African songs met American music when African slaves were brought to the US. The blues has been part of African-American culture since then, and it is still an important part of American culture. Other musical styles, like jazz and rock music, have all come from blues music.

Today’s American culture contains many different musical styles. People still listen to blues and rock, but they also listen to hip-hop and rap. Hip-hop and rap have much in common with blues and rock, but they also have their own characteristics. Hip-hop music often combines parts of other styles to create music that will help people hear new things in old music. Perhaps the most important characteristic of rap music is the way the artists sing. In rap music, the singer or “rapper” will speak or “rap” the words along with the beat.

Another important style in today’s world of music is Latin music. Latin music—music that uses traditional styles from Latin America—has spread all over the world. In the US, where there are many Spanish-speaking people, Latin music is a big part of the culture. It has always been popular in Spanish-speaking countries and today stars like Santana and Ricky Martin are known throughout the world.

There are of course many other interesting styles of music. There is a wide variety of new music to be discovered in every corner of the world, so the next time you look for a tape or a CD, don't just look for Chinese or American music—open your ears to the sounds of the world!

剖析
1. There is a world of music out there!
重点词组：a world of … 无数……，大量……，许多……。其后接名词。
例句：The old man collected a world of stamps.
　　　那个老人收集了许多邮票。
　　　Reading newspapers has done me a world of good.
　　　阅读报纸对我非常有益。

2. Hip-hop and rap have much in common with blues and rock, but they also have their own characteristics.
重点词组： in common with… 与……一样
例句：In common with many other girls, she likes beautiful dresses.
　　　她和许多其他的女孩一样喜欢漂亮的衣服。
　　　The two brothers have much in common with each other.
　　　这两个兄弟有很多共同之处。
　　　Beijing dialect has nothing in common with Shanghai dialect.
　　　北京话和上海话没有任何共同之处。

3. There is a wide variety of new music to be discovered in every corner of the world, so the next time you look for a tape or a CD, don’t just look for Chinese or American music--- open your ears to the sounds of the world!
在这个句型中，动词不定式的被动形式to be discovered作的是定语，用来修饰名词短语a wide variety of music，表示未来的动作。动词不定式与其所修饰的中心词之间存在着逻辑上的受动关系。但是在“there be”句型中，也可以使用不定式的主动形式来表示被动意义。其区别在于：主动形式表示“必须”，被动形式表示“可能”。
例句：There is a lot of work to do.
　　　有许多事情要做。
　　　There is a lot of work to be done.
　　　有许多事情可做。
重点词组：a variety of… 种种的，形形色色的。介词of之后的名词是可数的话，其名词要用复数形式。
例句：He takes interest in collecting a variety of pencil boxes.
　　　他喜欢搜集各式各样的铅笔盒。
　　　There are a wide variety of people on the earth.
　　　地球上有各种不同的人。
　　　look for vt. 寻找，寻求；期待；惹起，招来（困难等）。
例句：The villagers were looking for the missing child.
　　　村民们正在寻找那个失踪的孩子。
　　　I’m looking for my mother to arrive any day now.
　　　我在期待着母亲，她说不定哪天就到。
　　　You are looking for trouble if you say things like that to him.
　　　你如果对他说那样的话，那是自找麻烦。

4. What we hear on the radio or see on TV is only a small part of all the wonderful music that is waiting for us.
在这个句子中，what we hear on the radio or see on TV是一个主语从句，它由名词性关系代词what引导。所谓名词性关系代词是指它不像wh-疑问词那样具有疑问意义，而又有别于其它关系词。它的特点在于：它本身是先行词与另一个关系代词的结合，因而它引导的名词性从句是先行词与定语从句的结合。比如：what=the thing that / which; who=the person who; which=the one that; whatever=anything that; whomever=anyone whom
例句：What will be, will be.
　　　要发生的事情总是要发生的。
　　　Who is not for us is against us.
　　　不赞成我们的人就是反对我们的人。
　　　Whatever I do is for your good.
　　　我所做的任何事情都是为你好。

5.Hip-hop music often combines parts of other styles to create music that will help people hear new things in old music.
在这个句子中，动词不定式短语to create music that will help people hear new things in old music做目的状语，而这个不定式短语中又包含一个定语从句，由关系代词that引导，修饰先行词music.
动词不定式做动词help的宾语补语的学习：
在动词help后面，做宾语补语的不定式有带to和不带to的两种情况：当help的动作执行者参与做宾语补语的不定式所表示的行为时，不定式可不带to，特别是在美国英语中。反之，不定式则带to.
例句：Will you help me clean the room?
　　　帮我一起打扫房间好吗？
　　　The money helped him to complete his education.
　　　这笔钱帮助他完成了学业。