四方舞源于欧洲，兴于美国，既秉承了欧洲宫廷舞中犹如绅士、淑女般优雅高贵的气质，又渗透了美国西部牛仔热情奔放的激情。美国前总统里根于1984年签署法案，将四方舞定为美国国家舞蹈，每年在各州轮流主办国际四方舞大会。

When early colonial（殖民的） settlers came to America，they brought many forms of dance to their new home.Square dancing，one of the oldest forms of American folk dancing，developed from several different Old World group dances， mainly the English country， and the French quadrille（方阵舞）.

In the American version， a square is formed by four couples who stand facing the center of the square.Each couple stands on one side of the square，the boy on the left and the girl on the right.An American addition to square dancing is the caller.

The caller—someone who calls out the dance steps in time to the music—was a completely American invention.At first dancers memorized all the steps for a particular dance，but eventually the dances became so complicated that it was necessary to have someonecall out cues（暗示）.Thus， dancers didn't have to remember so many steps.The caller didn't just call out “do-se-do your partner”； a good caller also came up with colorful sayings or witty lines that he would say in between the cues such as “Don't be bashful（害羞的）and don't be afraid.”A caller might also come up with new dance steps and routines.

Although popular for years，square dancing seemed to be going out of style and fading away until the early 1930s，when Henry Ford helped revive（唤起）interest in it.Ford，theautomobilemanufacturer，used to vacation at the Wayside Inn in Massachusetts，where he enjoyed the dance program run by a man named Benjamin Lovett.Ford asked Lovett to come to Detroit and teach dances，but Lovett said he couldn't because he had acontractwith the inn.Ford solved that problem by buying the inn and Lovett's contract.He took Lovett back to Detroit，where together theyestablisheda program for teaching square dancing.Square dancing was updated and groups began forming all over the country.

Reading Check

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A.The different steps of square dance.

B.The origin and development of square dance.

C.Who was the inventor of square dance.

D.Why square dance went out of style.

2.Why does the author mention Henry Ford in the last paragraph?

A.Because he was the man who made the first car.

B.Because he was fond of dancing very much.

C.Because he helped make the dance popular again.

D.Because he taught people how to learn square dance.

Language Study

Vocabulary

1.memorize vt.记住

2.eventually adv.最终

3.complicated adj.复杂的

4.automobile n.汽车

5.contract n.合同

6.establish vt.建立Difficult sentence

At first dancers memorized all the steps for a particular dance，but eventually the dances became______complicated ______it was necessary to have someone call out cues.

起先，舞者会记住某一特定舞蹈的所有舞步，但最终舞蹈变得如此复杂，以至于有必要让人喊出提示。

【点石成金】本句总体上是一个由连词but引导的并列句，在第二个分句中有一个结果状语从句。所填的词为结果状语从句的连接词。