Passage 1

Questions to 5 are based on the following passage.

Country music star Kenny Rogers, known for classics like "The ambler" and "Islands in the Stream", died Friday night. He was 81. He died of natural causes at home in Sandy Springs, Georgia.

During his six-decade career, the popular singer sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, won three Grammy Awards and was given a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame. (76)He also published several photography books, donated time and money to noble causes, appeared in a number of made-for-television movies and launched a restaurant chain.

Kenneth Donald Rogers was born in Houston on Aug. 21, 1938. The fourth of Edward and Lucille's eight children, Rogers grew up in a government housing project. He was the first person in his family to receive a high school diploma.

"As early as elementary school, I began to see music and singing as a relief from all the awkwardness and embarrassment of growing up poor, shy and often an outsider," Rogers wrote in his 2012 book, Luck or Something Like it: A Memoir. He entered his first talent contest when he was 10. His version of "Lovesick Blues" won him the grand prize: a half-gallon of ice cream and a meeting with a country music star.

In high school, he formed a vocal group called the Scholars. They recorded a few forgettable songs, then went their separate ways. As a solo artist, Kenneth Rogers recorded a song called "That Crazy Feeling", which was released to the public.

In 1959, jazz pianist Bobby Doyle heard Rogers play at a club and asked him to join the Bobby Doyle Three as a bassist(贝斯手) and harmony singer. Rogers wasn't a bass player but signed on anyway. The group disbanded(解散) in the mid-1960s. By then, Rogers had “learned how to be a musician from Bobby Doyle,“ as he wrote half a century later.

以《赌徒》和《溪中之岛》等经典歌曲闻名的乡村音乐明星肯尼·罗杰斯于周五晚去世,享年81岁。他在位于佐治亚州桑迪斯普林斯的家中自然死亡。

在他60年的音乐生涯中,这位流行歌手的专辑销量在全球超过1亿张,获得了三次格莱美奖,并在乡村音乐名人堂中占有一席之地。他还出版了几本摄影方面的书,为慈善事业投入时间和金钱,并出演了多部电视电影,创办了一家连锁餐厅。

1938年8月21日,肯尼斯·唐纳德·罗杰斯出生于休斯敦。罗杰斯在爱德华和露西尔的八个孩子中排行第四,在政府出资修建的住宅区中长大。他是家里第一个获得高中文凭的人。

“早在上小学的时候,我就开始把音乐和唱歌看作一种摆脱尴尬和难堪的方式,因为我从小贫穷、害羞,而且常常觉得自己是个局外人。”罗杰斯在2012年出版的《回忆录:运气或类似的东西》中这样写道。10岁时,他第一次参加才艺比赛。他演唱的《相思布鲁斯》为他赢得了大奖:半加仑的冰激凌以及与一位乡村音乐明星的会面。

高中时,他成立了一个叫“学者”的声乐小组。他们录了几首容易被遗忘的歌曲,然后各奔东西。作为一名独唱艺人,肯尼斯·罗杰斯录制了一首名为《疯狂的感觉》的歌曲,并公开发行。

1959年,爵士乐钢琴家鲍比·道尔在一家俱乐部听了罗杰斯的演奏,邀请他加入Bobby Doyle Three乐队,担任贝斯手兼和声歌手。罗杰斯不是贝斯手,但他还是签约了。这个组合在20世纪60年代中期解散。正如罗杰斯在半个世纪后所写的那样,他那时已经“从鲍比·道尔那里学会了如何成为一名音乐家”。