BEST IELTS General Reading Test 516

Table of Contents

IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 516 – PASSAGE – 3

IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 516

READING PASSAGE – 3

PIANO

A. The piano of today is, unquestionably, the most perfect (till date), and consequently the most popular and beloved of all musical instruments. The untiring efforts of geniuses over centuries have succeeded in producing a musical instrument that falls little short of perfection. Yet more inventions and improvements are sure to come, for we are never content with “good enough.”

B. This instrument was known centuries before the Christian era. First effort to interpose a mechanical contrivance between the performer and the strings was made about four hundred years ago whereby it would only be necessary to strike the keys to produce tone from the strings, thereby decreasing the difficulty in finding the strings and picking them with the fingers, and greatly increasing the possibilities in musical rendition.

IELTS General Reading Test

C. History gives credit to Italy for the first productions of this kind, about 1600 A.D., when the faculty of music was beginning to manifest itself more boldly. Scientists saw that wonderful developments were possible, and we have reason to believe that experiments were made in England, France, Germany and all civilised countries about this time, for the production of the instrument which we call, in this day, a Pianoforte.

D. In the first attempts at piano building, the difficulties to be overcome may be enumerated as follows: The frames were not strong enough to resist the tension of the strings; they were made almost entirely of wood which yields to the pull of the strings and is subject to climatic changes; the scale was very imperfect, that is, the length, tension and weight of the strings were not properly proportioned,

the result being a different quality of tone from different portions of the keyboard; the actions were either heavy and imperfect, or too light to produce sufficient vibration; the proper point upon the strings for the hammers to strike and for the dampers to bear had not yet been ascertained; the preparation and seasoning of the wood for different parts of the instrument had not received sufficient attention.

IELTS General Reading Test

E. Probably the most important and essential step in piano building is the production of a frame of such strength and stability that the enormous tension of the strings is completely resisted in all parts of the scale. In many of the cheaper pianos of this day, the lack of this essential step manifests itself in an annoying degree to the piano tuner.

In tuning, the workman “brings up” his temperament in the middle of the instrument; in most cases, the temperament stands all right. He next tunes the treble, then the bass; after doing his work perfectly he will often find that the treble fell somewhat while he was bringing up the bass; or, in a few cases, he may find that the treble sharpened, thus showing that there was yielding of the frame.

IELTS General Reading Test

Of course, this defect might be overcome by using an extremely heavy metal plate and wooden frame; but the commercial side of the question, in this day, calls for lightness in the instrument as a check to the expense of production, and, consequently, pianos that are “made to sell” are often much too light to fulfil this requirement.

F. In the upright piano, the back frame of wood is first made; at the top of this is the pin-block, sometimes called the wrest-plank. This is composed of several layers of wood firmly glued together with the grain running in different directions to prevent splitting and warping. Into this plank the tuning pins are driven. The sound-board is fitted firmly into this frame of wood below the pin-block.

Next, the strong metal plate is secured to the frame by large bolts and screws. Openings are left in the plate for the bridges, which project from the sound-board beyond the metal plate; also for the tuning pins, action bracket bolts, etc. At the lower end of the plate, and just below the bridges, the hitch pins are driven firmly into holes drilled to receive them. Their purpose is to support the lower ends of the strings. The bass strings are separate, and each has a loop with which to fasten it to the hitch pin.

IELTS General Reading Test

G. In the treble, one piece of wire forms two strings; the two ends are secured to the tuning pins above, and the string is simply brought around the hitch pin. The bridges communicating with the sound-board are at the lower end of the sound-board. Notice, there is a portion of the length of each string between the bridge and the hitch pin.

At the upper end of the strings, a “bearing-bar,” situated between the tuning pins and upper bridge, is attached to the pin-block by screws which draw it inward; its function is to hold the strings firmly in position. You will notice that the lengths of the strings, above the bearing-bar, vary considerably, even in the three strings comprising the unison. After that portion of the case is completed which forms the key-bed or action frame, we are ready to set in the action.

IELTS General Reading Test

Questions 28 – 34

The text has seven sections. Choose the correct heading i-x for each section.

28. Paragraph A

29. Paragraph B

30. Paragraph C

31. Paragraph D

32. Paragraph E

33. Paragraph F

34. Paragraph G

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List of headings

i. Lowering the Bridge and the Hitch Pin

ii. Cross-national Forerunners

iii. Fastening the Strings

iv. Importance of Temperament

v. Early Hassles

vi. Ancient Origins

vii. The Purpose of Hitch Pin

viii. Improvement Bound to Come

ix. The Role of Frame for Tuning in

x. The Story of the Upright Piano

IELTS General Reading Test

Questions 35 – 40

Choose TRUE if the statement agrees with the information given in the text, choose FALSE if the statement contradicts the information, or choose NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

35. The provision of keys in a piano reduces the effort of picking the string at the right place.

36. If the piano’s frame is not well-built, it can create problems in tuning of the piano.

37. The piano frame should resist tension of the strings.

38. The tuning pin prevents splitting and warping.

39. The sound-board helps reduce the background noise.

40. In the upright piano, the hitch pins are placed in the lower end of the plate.

IELTS General Reading Test

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