Child drummer earns certificate from Berklee

湖南 何高倫

男孩獲伯克利音樂學院錄取通知書，未來可期。

主題語境：音樂 篇幅：377詞 建議用時：7分鐘

1Seba Stephens is only 11 years old, but he's a very talented musician.He plays the drums, bass, guitar, and piano.Recently, he earned a professional certificate(證書)in music through the Berklee Online program at the famous Berklee College of Music.

2Seba and his family live in Memphis,Tennessee—a place famous for music.He grew up with music all around.Before he turned three, his parents had asked him what he wanted for his birthday.“Drums!”he answered.His parents weren't sure, but after seeing him play the drums at a local music store, they decided he was serious.They bought him a junior drum kit.It was a huge step.He didn't stop playing ever.His parents signed him up for lessons.In just a few months, his drum teacher reported that Seba was learning extremely quickly and needed a higher level of training.He was still four.

3Seba's parents encouraged him to explore music in other ways.Seba learned the bass,guitar,and piano.He faced challenges—some related to his size.“I couldn't see over my drum set,”he said.He also had trouble finding a good bass that was small enough.

4In 2020,Everett,Seba's father,got special permission (許可)for Seba to join a summer music program at Berklee as an 8-year-old.Seba studied the bass in an online program.To keep up,he had to practice up to 36 hours a week.After the intense summer,Everett thought Seba might want a break.He was wrong.Instead, Seba asked his parents to home-school him so he could keep going to Berklee during the school year.His parents had to make some big changes to make the plan work,but they agreed.Seba did school work in the morning.In the afternoon,he worked on music.And at night,he usually worked on music some more.He studied with several well-known drummers, and learned many drumming styles.

5In 2021, Seba spent four months in Utah, performing in“School of Rock the Musical”.Since he played so many instruments, he was in almost every scene.In May 2021,Seba became the youngest person ever to receive a professional certificate from Berklee.The certificate is equal to about four college-level classes.

Reading Check

Detail 1.What can be known about Seba?

A.He prefers the guitar most.

B.He shows a great talent for music.

C.He got his first drums when he was eleven years old.

D.He earned a professional certificate through a live competition.

Gist 2.What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A.Seba's music lessons.

B.Seba's family background.

C.Seba's challenges of exploring music.

D.Seba's interest in finding a good bass.

Inference 3.What's Seba's parents'attitude to his learning music?

A.Negative.

B.Unclear.

C.Tolerant.

D.Supportive.

Vocabulary 4.What does the underlined word“he”in paragraph 4 refer to?

A.Seba.

B.Everett.

C.Seba's music teacher.

D.Everett's friend.

Language Study

I.日積月累

talentedadj.有天賦的

seriousadj.認真的

extremelyadv.極度地

encouragev.鼓勵

sign up for 報名參加

get special permission 得到特殊的許可

up to 多達

make some big changes 做出一些大的改變

work on 致力于

be equal to 等于；相當于

Ⅱ.單句填空

1.Can I sign up ________this course in advance?

2.He is a ________(talent)player.

3.She found it ________(extreme)difficult to get a job.

4.My parents have always ________(encourage)me to make decisions by myself.

5.This country is roughly equal ________France in size and population.

6.Up ________half of the students took part in this activity.