It may seem to be a hard task to trace back the history of rap music, though you often see the informal music associated with highly informal dance style. As far as the origin of rap music is concerned, most people agree that it is from Afro-American and Latino Street culture of New York City. Not only in this city but in the surrounding areas there is the influence of African people and their culture.
Rap is a vocal (口头的) style in which the performer speaks rhythmically and in rhyme, generally to a beat. The term of rap music is the same with hip-hop music typically-consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rap. If we see it carefully, then we will definitely notice that the music usually is sung at higher pitches (调). Most of the time rap music is associated with chorus. Though rap music was primarily an American music style with African influence over its music and lyrics, recently it has been spread to almost the entire world.
There is hardly any country or nation where rap music cannot be seen in some form or another, and it is one of the most popular music styles among the youngsters. However, when it comes to its history, it is believed that hip-hop or rap music started in the early 1970s，and gained much popularity throughout the world during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The history of rap music and hip-hop music is full of controversies (争议) and bans, as the lyrics sometimes relate to drugs and crime; even most famous pop stars and hip-hop musicians and singers were found to be associated with the controversies in their life. For that reason, no matter how popular this music style was or still is, it has always had a bad reputation in the eyes of mainstream society.
小题1:The passage is mainly about _____.
A．when rap music started
B．how rap music develops
C．what rap music is like
D．why rap music is popular小题2:The characteristics of rap music are _____.
A．solo, rhymes，beats and pops
B．speaking, rhythms，beats and solo
C．repeating, speaking, pops and chorus
D．speaking, rhymes, beats and chorus小题3:Rap music is now one of the music styles mostly run after by _____.
A．the teenagers in Africa
B．all kinds of people in the world
C．the youngsters all over the world
D．the young people in the US小题4:Rap music is often not well thought of by the mainstream because _____.
A．it comes from the lower class
B．it has a short history
C．it is associated with crimes and drugs
D．its music is full of controversies
小题1:B
小题2:D
小题3:C
小题4:C
题目分析：文章探究了说唱音乐历史是如何发展的，同时对说唱音乐的普及进行了描写。对于说唱音乐不入主流的原因也进行了阐述。
小题1:主旨题。纵观全文，本文主要讲解了说唱音乐的历史，从文章第一句话就可知。故选B。
小题2:细节题。从文章第二自然段Rap is a vocal (口头的) style in which the performer speaks rhythmically and in rhyme, generally to a beat.以及Most of the time rap music is associated with chorus.可知，说唱音乐的特点是说、押韵、敲击及合唱形式。
小题3:细节题。从第三自然段There is hardly any country or nation where rap music cannot be seen in some form or another, and it is one of the most popular music styles among the youngsters.及第二自然段的最后一句话可知，说唱音乐在全世界的年轻人中都很流行。故选C。
小题4:细节推断题。从最后一段The history of rap music and hip-hop music is full of controversies (争议) and bans, as the lyrics sometimes relate to drugs and crime;可知，之所以不能被主流社会所接纳的原因是它的歌词涉及到一些犯罪事件和毒品问题。
点评：本文属于说明文中较容易的文体。说明文是历年高考很常见的文体，对于科技类的说明文比较难，而对于说物的文体较容易。本文中，把握好一个中心即说唱音乐的发展史。同时，此类文章细节题居多，在对文章看懂了的基础在仔细对比选项和文章，即可得出答案。