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Why a Concert Hall Is Built Like a Shoebox

7th grade nonfiction passage about concert hall acoustics: 275 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

7th grade nonfiction concert hall acoustics 275 words

Why a Concert Hall Is Built Like a Shoebox

Walk into a good concert hall, and the first thing you may notice is how ordinary the room looks. Many of the most admired halls are tall, narrow rectangles, shaped almost like a shoebox. The plain shape is no accident. It is the result of careful thinking about acoustics, which is how sound behaves indoors.

Sound spreads through a room in waves, and those waves bounce off walls, ceilings and floors. A listener hears the sound that comes straight from the stage, and then a moment later hears the same sound again after it has bounced. This lingering effect is called reverberation. Too little, and music seems dry and flat. Too much, and notes smear together until the melody is hard to follow.

A narrow room helps because the side walls are close. Sound that bounces off them reaches the audience a fraction of a second after the direct sound, which makes the music seem fuller and wrapped around the listener. A tall ceiling gives the sound room to spread and linger, and it keeps the lingering sound from feeling squeezed.

Designers also pay attention to the surfaces. Bumpy decorations, carved panels and statues scatter the sound waves in many directions, so that they mix more evenly. Soft materials such as heavy curtains and thick seat cushions soak up sound. A hall designer must balance them carefully, since a full audience also absorbs sound and changes the way the room responds.

Because of this, orchestras often test a hall by rehearsing in it empty and then again with people present. The goal is to make every seat sound good, not only those near the front.

Questions

  1. What shape are many of the most admired concert halls? in the text

  2. What is reverberation? in the text

  3. What happens when a room has too much reverberation? in the text

  4. What do bumpy decorations and carved panels do to sound? in the text

  5. Why does a narrow room make music seem fuller? think about it

  6. Why might a hall sound different when the audience arrives? think about it

Words to know

reverberation
the echo-like lingering of sound in a room
acoustics
the way sound behaves in a space
scatter
to spread out in many directions
absorb
to soak up instead of bouncing back
rehearse
to practice before a performance
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 222 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.6

Walk into a good concert hall and you may notice how plain it looks. Many of the best halls are tall, narrow rectangles, like a shoebox. The plain shape is no accident. People thought hard about how sound acts indoors.

Sound spreads in waves. The waves bounce off walls, ceilings and floors. A listener hears the sound that comes straight from the stage. A moment later, the listener hears it again after it bounces. This lingering is called reverberation. With too little, music seems dry and flat. With too much, the notes smear together and the tune is hard to follow.

A narrow room helps because the side walls are close. Sound that bounces off them reaches the audience a tiny bit after the direct sound. This makes the music seem fuller. A tall ceiling gives the sound room to spread and linger.

Designers also think about surfaces. Bumpy decorations, carved panels and statues scatter sound in many directions. So the waves mix more evenly. Soft things like heavy curtains and thick cushions soak up sound. A designer must balance them. A full audience also soaks up sound and changes the room.

So orchestras often practice in a hall when it is empty and again when people are there. The goal is for every seat to sound good, not only the front.

▲ This passage · 275 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.2

Walk into a good concert hall, and the first thing you may notice is how ordinary the room looks. Many of the most admired halls are tall, narrow rectangles, shaped almost like a shoebox. The plain shape is no accident. It is the result of careful thinking about acoustics, which is how sound behaves indoors.

Sound spreads through a room in waves, and those waves bounce off walls, ceilings and floors. A listener hears the sound that comes straight from the stage, and then a moment later hears the same sound again after it has bounced. This lingering effect is called reverberation. Too little, and music seems dry and flat. Too much, and notes smear together until the melody is hard to follow.

A narrow room helps because the side walls are close. Sound that bounces off them reaches the audience a fraction of a second after the direct sound, which makes the music seem fuller and wrapped around the listener. A tall ceiling gives the sound room to spread and linger, and it keeps the lingering sound from feeling squeezed.

Designers also pay attention to the surfaces. Bumpy decorations, carved panels and statues scatter the sound waves in many directions, so that they mix more evenly. Soft materials such as heavy curtains and thick seat cushions soak up sound. A hall designer must balance them carefully, since a full audience also absorbs sound and changes the way the room responds.

Because of this, orchestras often test a hall by rehearsing in it empty and then again with people present. The goal is to make every seat sound good, not only those near the front.

■ Harder · 283 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.1

Step into a fine concert hall, and the first thing you may notice is how unremarkable the room appears. Many of the most admired halls are tall, narrow rectangles, shaped almost like a shoebox. The unassuming form is no accident. It is the outcome of painstaking thought about how sound behaves indoors.

Sound travels through a room in waves, and those waves rebound from walls, ceilings and floors. A listener hears the sound that arrives directly from the stage, and then, a moment later, hears the same sound again after it has bounced. This lingering effect is called reverberation. If there is too little, music seems dry and flat. If there is too much, the notes smear together until the melody becomes difficult to follow.

A narrow room is beneficial because its side walls are close. Sound that rebounds from them reaches the audience a fraction of a second after the direct sound, which makes the music seem fuller and seems to wrap around the listener. A lofty ceiling gives the sound space in which to spread and linger, and it prevents the lingering sound from feeling cramped.

Designers also attend closely to the surfaces. Bumpy decorations, carved panels and statues scatter the sound waves in countless directions, so that they blend more evenly. Soft materials such as heavy curtains and thick seat cushions soak up sound. A hall designer must balance these features carefully, since a full audience also absorbs sound and alters the way the room responds.

For this reason, orchestras frequently test a hall by rehearsing in it empty and then again with people present. The aim is to make every seat sound wonderful, not merely those near the front.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put reverberation, acoustics, scatter, absorb and rehearse on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 3 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Why a Concert Hall Is Built Like a Shoebox"?

It was written for 7th grade. It has 275 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 7.2. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 3 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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