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1Deep in the British Library lie the priceless treasures for pop music lovers.Housed across the main building in St Pancras and the Library's Boston Spa site are more than 350,000 CDs and 250,000 LPs(密紋唱片),as well as around a quarter of a million 78 RPM discs and numerous cassette tapes.

2Andy Linehan,the Library's Curator(館長(zhǎng))of Popular Music Collections,feels he and his team are not only preserving pop,but they're also honoring history.“One of the British Library's functions is to be the cultural memory of the nation.We do that with books,journals and newspapers and it's absolutely right that we should also do it with music,”he said.

3The treasures in the British Library rely on donations from record labels,artists and members of the public.As Andy noted,“If you publish a book,newspaper or magazine in the UK,you're legally obliged to send a copy to the British Library,but that law does not apply to sound recordings.”

4Among the treasures are an early voice recording of Florence Nightingale and a cassette tape that was sold at gigs(現(xiàn)場(chǎng)演唱會(huì))in the early 1980s by a sixth-form band called On A Friday.There are also old blues,rare LPs from the 1950s and promotional copies of Beatles singles that only had a couple of hundred pressings.

5When it comes to preservation,the team is tirelessly transferring music from media that's vulnerable and digitising(數(shù)字化)it for generations to come.“If anyone can save anything from an old tape which is not in very good condition,it's our engineers.Because they have equipment and know how to play back everything,”Andy explained.

6Private companies and specialist record labels are also trying their best to ensure music is safeguarded for generations to come.Iron Mountain Entertainment Services offers digital transfer and preservation services for music as well as other media.Cherry Red Records Chairman Iain McNay said,“It's about looking after all that material and letting it see the light of day.We're music fans who are also protectors.”

Reading Check

1.What does Andy think of preserving pop?

A.It is a tiring job.

B.It is significant in the long term.

C.It needs workers with good memories.

D.It needs support from the local government.

2.What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about?

A.Some sound recording treasures in the British Library.

B.A voice recording of Florence Nightingale.

C.Some publication laws in Britain.

D.A famous band called On A Friday.

3.Who contributes a lot in the process of saving old tapes?

A.Members of the public. B.Law makers.

C.Engineers. D.Singers.

4.What does the underlined word “safeguarded” in the last paragraph mean?

A.Defended. B.Preserved. C.Changed. D.Written.

Language Study

Useful expressions

cassette tape盒式磁帶

rely on依賴

be obliged to do(法律規(guī)定)必須做

apply to適用于

when it comes to當(dāng)談及

play back播放