The Structure Of Theater托福聽力原文翻譯及問題答案

The Structure Of Theater托福聽力原文翻譯及問題答案

一、The Structure Of Theater 托福聽力原文：

NARRATOR: Listen to part of a lecture in an introduction to drama class.

MALE PROFESSOR: One thing that distinguishes plays from other literary genres—novels, for example, or short stories or poems—is that plays aren't written primarily to be read, but to be performed. Now, throughout the history of drama, there's been a, well, a relationship between the structure of a play and the structure of the space where the play was performed. And this goes all the way back to the ancient Greeks…

The Greeks built the first theaters in the fifth century B.C.E. These were outdoor theaters—the architects looked for sites where you had a natural bowl-like formation on the side of a hill, and that's where they set the theater. All Greek theaters were pretty much the same... There was some natural variation to accommodate the size and shape of the site, but as far as the basic elements went, those remained constant.

Have a look at this diagram…Let’s start with the area where the actors performed... like what we call the “stage” today... The Greeks referred to this space as the “skene”. Um, there's some confusion about the use of the word “skene” by different scholars. Some authors use it to refer only to a structure behind the stage, while others use it to refer to the structure and the stage together. And that’s how I'll use the term… to refer to both the stage and the building.

Um, so, anyway, the skene started as a simple wooden platform, but eventually it became much more elaborate. The front wall of the building was decorated like a palace or temple and served as background scenery for the play. The building was also a storage place for costumes, props, things like that. …

Yes, Robert?

MALE STUDENT: So did they decorate the skene for each play…or, uh, change the scenery during the play, like we do today? Or did the whole story take place in one setting?

MALE PROFESSOR: Well, everything the audience saw happened in that one setting, usually in front of either a temple or a palace. But the audience didn't witness all the events in the story—some events couldn't be presented convincingly, so the playwrights had them take place somewhere offstage, where the audience couldn't see them, and then news of the event would be reported by one of the characters. Diane?

FEMALE STUDENT: Last summer I saw Hippolytus.

MALE PROFESSOR: Excellent, I hope you enjoyed it.

FEMALE STUDENT: Definitely. So, at one point, you see Hippolytus being sent off by his father. Then a little later, a messenger arrives and describes how Hippolytus was riding in his chariot when a giant bull appeared out of the ocean and caused the chariot to crash. And then, after we hear what happened to Hippolytus, he's carried back onstage, where he dies.

MALE PROFESSOR: Exactly. I mean, can you imagine trying to show all that action, a giant animal rising out of the sea?

Um, OK, the next area was the space the ancient Greeks called the “orchestra.”The orchestra was either round, as you see here … or a semicircle. Um, in ancient Greek, the word “orchestra” actually meant “the dancing place,” because this is where the chorus danced and sang.

But to understand Greek plays, you need to understand an additional function of the chorus. Yes, the ancient Greek chorus did most definitely sing and dance, like choruses do today. But the chorus' most important role was commenting on what the characters onstage were doing and thinking…In fact, Aristotle—the Greek philosopher—thought the chorus should be considered as acting out a role in the play.

MALE STUDENT: Yeah, I read that a chorus could have a distinct personality—just like a person…

MALE PROFESSOR: Absolutely. In fact, you'll see an excellent example of that in the first play we'll be studying.

OK, the last space was the seating area for the audience. This was called the “theatron”.In ancient Greek, “theatron” means “seeing”—that’s S-E-E-I-N-G— “seeing place.” The theatron was shaped in a semicircle, with rows of seating rising up the sides of the bowl. It was designed to take advantage of the natural acoustic benefits of the setting.The shape of the bowl captured sound and funneled it upwards, so that even in the top rows, spectators were able to hear the performers very clearly.

Actually, that the name “theatron” means “seeing” place is kind of ironic—some theaters had 50 or more rows of seats—accommodating up to 14,000 spectators—ascending way up the hillside. And this was long before theater binoculars were invented.

二、The Structure Of Theater 托福聽力中文翻譯：

旁白：在戲劇導(dǎo)論課上聽一節(jié)課的一部分。

男教授：戲劇與其他文學(xué)體裁（例如小說、短篇小說或詩(shī)歌）的一個(gè)區(qū)別在于，戲劇的創(chuàng)作主要不是為了閱讀，而是為了表演。現(xiàn)在，縱觀戲劇史，在戲劇的結(jié)構(gòu)和表演空間的結(jié)構(gòu)之間存在著一種關(guān)系。這可以追溯到古希臘…

希臘人在公元前五世紀(jì)建造了第一批劇院。這些都是室外劇院。建筑師們尋找的地點(diǎn)是在山坡上有一個(gè)自然碗狀結(jié)構(gòu)的地方，這就是他們?cè)O(shè)置劇院的地方。所有的希臘劇院都差不多。。。有一些自然變化來適應(yīng)場(chǎng)地的大小和形狀，但就基本元素而言，這些保持不變。

看看這張圖……讓我們從演員表演的區(qū)域開始。。。就像我們今天所說的“舞臺(tái)”。。。希臘人把這個(gè)空間稱為“skene”。嗯，不同的學(xué)者對(duì)“skene”這個(gè)詞的用法有一些混淆。一些作者使用它僅指舞臺(tái)后面的結(jié)構(gòu)，而其他人使用它來指代結(jié)構(gòu)和舞臺(tái)。這就是我用這個(gè)詞來指舞臺(tái)和建筑的方式。

嗯，所以，不管怎樣，skene一開始只是一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單的木制平臺(tái)，但最終它變得更加精致。這座建筑的前墻裝飾得像宮殿或寺廟，作為這出戲的背景風(fēng)景。這座建筑也是存放服裝、道具之類的東西的地方…

什么事，羅伯特？

男學(xué)生：那么，他們是為每一場(chǎng)戲都裝飾場(chǎng)地……還是像我們今天一樣，在戲中改變風(fēng)景？還是整個(gè)故事都發(fā)生在一個(gè)場(chǎng)景中？

男教授：嗯，觀眾看到的一切都發(fā)生在這一場(chǎng)景中，通常是在寺廟或?qū)m殿前。但觀眾并沒有目睹故事中的所有事件，有些事件無(wú)法令人信服地呈現(xiàn)，因此劇作家將其安排在臺(tái)下某個(gè)觀眾看不到的地方，然后由其中一個(gè)角色報(bào)道事件的消息。黛安？

女學(xué)生：去年夏天我看到了希波呂圖斯。

男教授：太好了，希望你喜歡。

女學(xué)生：當(dāng)然。所以，在某一點(diǎn)上，你會(huì)看到希波呂圖斯被他的父親罰下。過了一會(huì)兒，一位信使來了，他描述了希波呂圖斯是如何坐在他的戰(zhàn)車上的，當(dāng)時(shí)一頭巨牛從海上出現(xiàn)，導(dǎo)致戰(zhàn)車墜毀。然后，在我們聽到希波呂圖斯的遭遇后，他被抬回舞臺(tái)，在那里死去。

男教授：沒錯(cuò)。我的意思是，你能想象一只巨大的動(dòng)物從海里冒出來，試圖展示所有這些動(dòng)作嗎？

嗯，好的，下一個(gè)領(lǐng)域是古希臘人稱之為“管弦樂隊(duì)”的空間管弦樂隊(duì)要么是圓形的，如你所見……要么是半圓的。嗯，在古希臘，“管弦樂隊(duì)”這個(gè)詞實(shí)際上是指“跳舞的地方”，因?yàn)檫@里是合唱團(tuán)跳舞和唱歌的地方。

但要理解希臘戲劇，你需要理解合唱的另一個(gè)功能。是的，古希臘合唱團(tuán)確實(shí)像今天的合唱團(tuán)一樣唱歌跳舞。但合唱團(tuán)最重要的作用是評(píng)論舞臺(tái)上的角色在做什么和思考什么……事實(shí)上，希臘哲學(xué)家亞里士多德認(rèn)為合唱團(tuán)應(yīng)該被視為在劇中扮演一個(gè)角色。

男學(xué)生：是的，我讀到合唱團(tuán)可以像人一樣有獨(dú)特的個(gè)性…

男教授：當(dāng)然。事實(shí)上，在我們將要學(xué)習(xí)的第一個(gè)劇本中，你會(huì)看到一個(gè)很好的例子。

好的，最后一個(gè)空間是觀眾的座位區(qū)。這被稱為“劇院”。在古希臘語(yǔ)中，“theatron”的意思是“看”——即s-E-E-I-N-G——“看的地方”劇院呈半圓狀，一排排座位從碗的兩側(cè)升起。它的設(shè)計(jì)是為了利用環(huán)境的自然聲學(xué)優(yōu)勢(shì)。碗的形狀捕捉到聲音并向上漏斗狀排列，因此即使在最上面的一排，觀眾也能非常清楚地聽到表演者的聲音。

事實(shí)上，“theatron”這個(gè)名字的意思是“看”的地方，這有點(diǎn)諷刺，有些劇院有50排或更多的座位，可以容納14000名觀眾沿著山坡上升。這是早在戲劇雙筒望遠(yuǎn)鏡發(fā)明之前。

三、The Structure Of Theater 托福聽力問題：

Q1:1.What is the lecture mainly about?

A. The dramatic structure of an ancient Greek play.

B. The influence of ancient Greek theater design on modern theaters.

C. The design of ancient Greek theaters.

D. The role of plays in ancient Greek society.

Q2:2.What were two purposes served by the skene? [Click on 2 answers.]

A. It provided extra seating for the audience.

B. It served as the location for the play's action.

C. It was used to store items needed for the play.

D. It was where the chorus performed.

Q3:3.Why is the play Hippolytus discussed?

A. To give an example of a strategy used by ancient Greek playwrights.

B. To give an example of how animals were used in ancient Greek plays.

C. To identify the first use of a messenger in an ancient Greek play.

D. To point out that ancient Greek plays typically involved tragic events.

Q4:4.What point does the professor make about the chorus in ancient Greek plays?

A. It performed only at the beginning of the play.

B. It interpreted what was happening on the stage.

C. It did relatively little singing and dancing.

D. it was less important than it is in modern plays.

Q5:5.How did Aristotle view the chorus?

A. As the author of the play.

B. As a distraction from the story.

C. As a messenger reporting news.

D. As a character in the play.

Q6:6.Why does the professor say this: (PROFESSOR) some theaters had 50 or more rows of seats—accommodating up to 14,000 spectators—ascending way up the hillside. And this was long before theater binoculars were invented

A. To emphasize the popularity of plays in ancient Greece

B. To praise the creativity of the ancient Greeks

C. To point out that every seat in an ancient Greek theater had a clear view of the stage

D. To suggest that audiences in ancient Greece could hear plays better than they could see them

四、The Structure Of Theater 托福聽力答案：

A1:正確答案：C

A2:正確答案：BC

A3:正確答案：A

A4:正確答案：B

A5:正確答案：D

A6:正確答案：D

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