When the noise stopped, when the blasting, digging, chiseling, splitting, loading and [----1----]in the slate quarries and caverns ceased, miners in North Wales sang. Their music resounds generations later in dozens of choirs in this mountainous region in the western U.K. and in a recording by one group that shook the music world.

Powerful male voice in a tide of harmony swirl over a rapt audience. The Fron Male Voice Choir is [----2----] on riser in the 13th century cathedral at St. Asaph in northern Wale. Visitors are welcome to observe at most choirs’ practices, and choral groups are found throughout Wales. Listeners simply walk in and steep themselves in a delectable draft of Welsh heritage.

Voice from the depths
In North Wales, the song arose in the 19th century from the chill, dark corners of mines, the yawning maws of slate quarries and the din of their workshops. Men whose jobs took them underground were too far from the surface to return during their half-hour for lunch. Those who hung on ropes to lever sheets of slate from [----3----] walls couldn’t get home to eat. Cutters and dressers of the stone had to stay near their tool.

So some men retreated to cabins – huts where a lamp pushed back gloom and a stove [----4----] hot, strong tea. Cabins competed, groups formed, and many villages had choirs of their own. Railroads came, and dingers carried the music beyond the valleys. Most choristers were part of the slate industry. But as mechanization slashed Welsh mining jobs from a peak of about 17,000 to today’s 300, choirs turned elsewhere for voice.

Now, “a professor may stand beside a street sweeper,” says baritone Idwal Jones, a 30-year member of the Bethesda-based Penrhyn Male Voice Choir. “It’s a great leveler . You’re as good as your voice.”

Vocabulary Focus

rapt (adj)---giving complete attention, or showing complete involvement
steep（somebody）in(something) (phr v)---to be completely surrounded by or involved in something
leveler (n)---something that affects people of every class and rank in the same way, making everyone seem equal

Specialized terms

slate quarry (n phr) 板岩采石场 a large pit where dark grey rock that can easily be cut into thin pieces and used for building material is dug out of the ground.
risers (n)梯级；台阶a group of steps on which people sit or stand to see or be seen better
draft (n)通风 a current of air blowing through a room; a serving of a beverage
maw (n)无底洞，深渊 something that seems to surround and absorb everything near it

Exercises for Today:

听写&翻译练习：（奖励50HY）
a) 听写填空：补全课文中的空白处。
b) 翻译：翻译文本中高亮的句子（注意联系上下文哦）
讨论问题：（奖励100HY~200HY）
今日话题讨论点击进入
c) New：每日Skit听写：奖励50HY ~ 250HY（猫头鹰听力剧院改版中！更多奖励活动哦~）点击进入

说明：

1.本栏目由空中英语教室授权沪江网制作.
2.更新频率：周一至周六。
3."讨论"话题全新改版至小组讨论，奖励升级，凡参与者奖励100HY，积极参与者奖励200HY。
4.参考答案、译文及课文讲解音频回复可见。
5.课文音频下载

6.多重参与方式：1)小组讨论 2)节目订阅 3)Skype每日在线语音讨论

7.Skype每日在线语音讨论特别说明：彭蒙惠语音讨论群详细图解说明
安装skype后，加每日语音主持人xy_chouchou@163.com和dantekung@gmail.com
时间: 周一至周六, 周日Free Talk 19:00-20:00
内容: 对课文词汇和文章进行讨论