In the town of Lampang in northern Thailand, there is an unusual group of musicians. They play many different {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (种类) of music-everything from traditional Thai songs to music by Beethoven. Both children and adults love this group. What makes them so {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (受欢迎的)? Is it their music? Their looks? Yes, it's both of the things, but it's {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (也) something else: they're elephants.

    These musical elephants started at the TECC (泰国大象保护中心) in Lampang. The TECC protects elephants. It teaches people to understand and love them. And, like many zoos {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (遍及) the world, the TECC encourages elephants to paint.

    Richard Lair {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (工作) for the TECC. He loves his job there and knows a lot about elephants. He says some of the animals' paintings are very good. However, in fact, elephants {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (听见) better than they see. And so he had an idea: if elephants are {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (聪明的) and they have good hearing, maybe they can play music. To test his idea, Lair and a friend started the Thai Elephant Orchestra. During a performance (表演), the elephants play a number of {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (乐器), including the drums and the xylophone (木琴).

    But can elephants really make music properly? "Yes," says Lair. "They are very creative." Humans {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (鼓励) the animals to play, but the elephants make their own songs；they don't just copy their trainers {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (或者) other people. There are now CDs of the group's music which make money for the TECC. And the music these artists create is pretty amazing.