2016届高考英语高分冲刺特训听力素材1（word版）36_高考复习指南

2016届高考英语高分冲刺特训听力素材1（word版）36

　　Elvis Presley:

　　When Elvis Presley died on 16th August, 1977, radio and television programs all over the world were interrupted to give the news of his death. President Carter was asked to declare a day of national mourning. Carter said: ‘Elvis Presley changed the face of American popular culture.... He was unique and irreplaceable.’ Eighty thousand people attended his funeral. The streets were jammed with cars, and Elvis Presley films were shown on television, and his records were played on the radio all day. In the year after his death, one hundred million Presley LPs were sold.

　　Elvis Presley was born on January 8th, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi. His twin brother, Jesse Garon, died at birth. His parents were very poor and Elvis never had music lessons, but he was surrounded by music from an early age. His parents were very religious, and Elvis regularly sang at church services. In 1948, when he was thirteen, his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. He left school in 1953 and got a job as a truck driver.

　　In the summer of 1953 Elvis paid four dollars and recorded two songs for his mother’s birthday at Sam Phillips’ Sun Records studio. Sam Phillips heard Elvis and asked him to record “That’s All Right” in July 1954. Twenty thousand copies were sold, mainly in and around Memphis. He made five more records for Sun, and in July 1955 he met Colonel Tom Parker, who became his manager in November. Parker sold Elvis’s contract to RCA Records. Sun Records got thirty-five thousand dollars and Elvis got five thousand dollars. With the money he bought a pink Cadillac for his mother. On January 10th, 1956, Elvis recorded “Heartbreak Hotel”, and a million copies were sold. In the next fourteen months he made another fourteen records, and they were all big hits. In 1956 he also made his first film in Hollywood.