托福tpo57听力lecture1 Sentimental Comedy

托福tpo57听力lecture1 Sentimental Comedy，那么接下来就跟着中国教育在线的小编详细了解一下吧。

Sentimental Comedy托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

一、Sentimental Comedy托福听力原文：

NARRATOR:Listen to part of a lecture in a theater history class.The class is discussing 18th-century plays in Europe and the United States.

MALE PROFESSOR:By far the most popular genre of plays during the 18th century was the sentimental comedy.Now,in order to sort of get our heads around what a sentimental comedy is,where it came from,and why on earth it was so popular,we need to understand what sentimentality was,as a philosophical movement.So,uh,during the 18th century,some thinkers,uh,philosophers,political theorists uh came up with this idea of sentimentality.The main point in sentimentality is that-that people are inherently good,people are good by nature.In the past,in other times,some people had believed or claimed that men and women are naturally selfish,or naturally evil;during the seventeenth century there was a very popular theory,known as-as the“social contract,”set out by thinkers like Thomas Hobbes,which argued that people are naturally selfish….Eh,during the eighteenth century,on the other hand,eh thinkers associated with sentimentality came along and said no,no,no,people are naturally good.Yes,Diane,question?

FEMALE STUDENT:Yeah,sorry to interrupt,but…why was it called—that first one,uh,the“social contract”—why was it called that?I mean,if people are supposed to be naturally selfish,isn’t that the opposite of being social?

MALE PROFESSOR:Uh.the emphasis was more on the contract part.If people are naturally inclined to do what’s in their own self-interest,then,in order to have people living together in peace,you-you needed to develop some kind of a social contract,a sort of agreement—I won’t hit you over the head and take your stuff if you don’t hit me over the head and take my stuff...But,in the eighteenth century,the sentimental theorists came along and said that people are naturally good.

FEMALE STUDENT:Hard to believe sometimes if you watch the evening news.

MALE PROFESSOR:Okay.If you try to argue that people are naturally good,you’re going to have to answer the question:“What about the fact that bad things happen?How do we account for the fact that people do bad things?”Sentimental theorists claimed that evil deeds happen because people are led astray by bad influences.That is,people can be pressured,or seduced,or tricked into doing something wrong.And,uh,the other question that comes up in relation to sentimentality is:“If you are led astray,how can you be redeemed?Can you be brought back to your state of natural goodness?”What do you think?

MALE STUDENT:I think,yeah,if you think people are basically good,then you probably also think they can be,you know,brought back to being good again.

MALE PROFESSOR:That’s right.And they said you do this by appealing to a person’s natural instincts,trying to return them or connect them to their natural state,especially via the emotions.Making someone cry,then,could make them good again.Uh,picture,for example,uh,the evil villain,smirking at his latest,uh,robbery and theft,who happens to see a lost child,walking down the street,sobbing,and he starts to sniffle and cry and maybe his heart goes out to this,this lost child,and he wants to he the child and somehow he realizes that he’s been bad—or rather,been behaving badly—since according to sentimentalist theory,he was never truly bad to begin with.

Alright,that’s sort of the hallmark of sentimentality,and it’s what became the driving force behind sentimental comedies.

MALE STUDENT:I,I don’t get why they’re comedies—they don’t sound funny…

MALE PROFESSOR:You’re right,a sentimental comedy is not specifically funny.The goal isn’t to make the audience laugh;in fact,the goal’s to make the audience cry.Thus,a sentimental comedy will usually depict someone virtuous,but in some sort of distress.Perhaps a good virtuous man or woman who,who’s suffering financial hardships,and uh,we see them desperate for food,barely able to survive,tempted to,to rob someone.But they resist that temptation and still triumph in the end.And again,seeing this,the audience is expected to cry,and thus reconnect with their natural emotional state…

二、Sentimental Comedy托福听力中文翻译：

旁白：在戏剧历史课上听讲座的一部分。这个班正在讨论18世纪在欧洲和美国的戏剧。

男教授：到目前为止，18世纪最流行的戏剧类型是伤感喜剧。现在，为了弄清楚什么是伤感喜剧，它从哪里来，为什么它在地球上如此流行，我们需要理解什么是伤情，作为一种哲学运动。所以，呃，在18世纪，一些思想家、哲学家、政治理论家提出了感伤的概念。多愁善感的主要观点是人天生善良，人天生善良。过去，在其他时候，有些人相信或声称男人和女人天生自私，或天生邪恶；在十七世纪，有一种非常流行的理论，被称为“社会契约”，由托马斯·霍布斯等思想家提出，认为人天生自私…。嗯，另一方面，在十八世纪，与多愁善感相关的思想家出现了，他们说，不，不，人天生就是好人。是的，黛安，有问题吗？

女学生：是的，很抱歉打断一下，但是……为什么它叫第一个，呃，“社会契约”？为什么叫它？我的意思是，如果人们天生自私，这不是社交的反义词吗？

男教授：嗯。重点更多地放在合同部分。如果人们天生倾向于做符合自己利益的事情，那么，为了让人们和平共处，你需要建立某种社会契约，一种协议——如果你不打我的头，拿走我的东西，我不会打你的头，我不会拿走你的东西……但是，在十八世纪，多愁善感的理论家们走了过来，说人天生善良。

女学生：如果你看晚间新闻，有时很难相信。

男教授：好的。如果你试图辩称人天生是好人，你就必须回答这个问题：“坏事发生的事实如何？我们如何解释人们做坏事的事实？”感情用事的理论家声称，坏事之所以发生，是因为人们受到不良影响而误入歧途。也就是说，人们可能会受到压力，或受到诱惑，或被骗做错事。还有，呃，另一个与多愁善感有关的问题是：“如果你误入歧途，你怎么能被救赎？你能回到你的自然善良状态吗？”你怎么认为？

男学生：我认为，是的，如果你认为人们基本上是好的，那么你可能也认为他们可以，你知道，重新变得好。

男教授：没错。他们说，要做到这一点，你需要吸引一个人的自然本能，试图回报他们或将他们与自然状态联系起来，尤其是通过情感。那么，让某人哭泣，可以让他们重新振作起来。呃，举个例子，这个邪恶的恶棍，对他最近的抢劫和偷窃行为嗤之以鼻，他碰巧看到一个迷路的孩子，在街上走着，哭泣着，他开始抽泣和哭泣，也许他的心都在为此，这个迷路的儿童，他想把孩子交给他，但不知何故，他意识到，根据感伤主义理论，自从那以后，他一直很坏，或者更确切地说，一直表现不好，他从一开始就不是真正的坏人。

好吧，这是多愁善感的标志，也是多愁善觉喜剧背后的驱动力。

男学生：我，我不明白为什么它们听起来不好笑…

男教授：你说得对，伤感喜剧并不特别有趣。目的不是让观众发笑；事实上，目标是让观众哭泣。因此，一部伤感喜剧通常会描绘一个品德高尚，但却有某种痛苦的人。也许是一个善良善良的男人或女人，他们正在遭受经济困难，嗯，我们看到他们渴望食物，几乎无法生存，被诱惑，去抢劫。但他们抵制住了这种诱惑，并最终取得了胜利。再次，看到这一点，观众会哭，从而重新连接他们的自然情感状态…

三、Sentimental Comedy托福听力问题：

Q1:What is the lecture mainly about?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.Story elements that make comedies funny

B.A type of play that was popular in the past

C.Opposing theories about human nature

D.Theories about roles that people play in society

Q2:Why does the professor mention social contract theory?

A.To provide the historical setting for the development of sentimental theory

B.To give an example of a theory proposed by sentimental philosophers

C.To explain the basic concept underlying all sentimental comedies

D.To offer one explanation for the influence sentimental comedies had on society

Q3:According to the professor,what two questions did sentimental theorists need to answer about their theory?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.Why do people do bad things?

B.How can people resist bad influences?

C.How is it possible for people to feel good when they do bad things?

D.Can people who do bad things become good again?

Q4:According to the professor,what is a typical sentimental comedy usually about?

A.A good person who tries to help others

B.A good person in a desperate situation

C.A person who encourages others to behave badly

D.A bad person who is punished in the end

Q5:What does the professor imply is the fundamental objective of sentimental comedies?

A.To make people aware of social problems

B.To remind people that money does not always bring happiness

C.To help people forget about their problems

D.To encourage people to be true to their inner nature

Q6.What does the professor imply when he says this?

A.Sentimental comedies preceded the development of sentimental theory.

B.Sentimental comedies were surprisingly funny.

C.It is difficult to understand why sentimental comedies were once so popular.

D.It is not known exactly where the first sentimental comedies were presented.

四、Sentimental Comedy托福听力答案：

A1:正确答案：BC

A2:正确答案：A

A3:正确答案：AD

A4:正确答案：B

A5:正确答案：D

A6:正确答案：C

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