Africa
New Horizon English Course 3 pg. 38-41
| Africa | |
|---|---|
| アフリカ | |
| Details | |
| Word count | 311 |
| Book | New Horizon |
| Grade | 3 |
| Year | ? |
No date was printed in this book; 英語 901 was on the cover.
What do you know about Africa? Probably you know something about the pyramids or the great deserts.
For a long time, people called Africa the "Dark Continent," because they knew litle about it. But Africa has changed much since the end of World War II. It is rich in natural resources, and African people are learning to use them. We should study more about Africa and its people.
African people are great musicians. When they were taken to America as slaves, they took their songs and dances with them. They did not know how to play the piano or the guitar. But they soon mixed their own music with the American music that they heard in the New World. This was the beginning of jazz. It is a lot of fun to play jazz or listen to it.
African people are great artists, too. But people in other parts of the world discovered the beauty of African art only in this century.
A story is told about a great artist whose works changed the history of art. The artist is Picasso. One evening he was having dinner in the house of another great artist, Matisse. There he saw a fine piece of sculpture. It was from Africa. Picasso was very interested in it. As soon as he got home, he began to draw a picture. He wanted to capture the beauty he found in African art.
The first great stone buildings in history were made in Egypt. The early kings in Egypt thought that after their death they would need a kind of permanent home. They wanted it to be very strong. So they told their people to build great pyramids.
The first pyramid was built about 2600 B.C. It was about as high as a twenty-story building. The great pyramids which the kings built still stand after almost 5,000 years.
