The Structure Of Theater托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

The Structure Of Theater托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

一、The Structure Of Theater 托福听力原文：

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 托福听力中文翻译：

旁白：在戏剧导论课上听一节课的一部分。

男教授：戏剧与其他文学体裁（例如小说、短篇小说或诗歌）的一个区别在于，戏剧的创作主要不是为了阅读，而是为了表演。现在，纵观戏剧史，在戏剧的结构和表演空间的结构之间存在着一种关系。这可以追溯到古希腊…

希腊人在公元前五世纪建造了第一批剧院。这些都是室外剧院。建筑师们寻找的地点是在山坡上有一个自然碗状结构的地方，这就是他们设置剧院的地方。所有的希腊剧院都差不多。。。有一些自然变化来适应场地的大小和形状，但就基本元素而言，这些保持不变。

看看这张图……让我们从演员表演的区域开始。。。就像我们今天所说的“舞台”。。。希腊人把这个空间称为“skene”。嗯，不同的学者对“skene”这个词的用法有一些混淆。一些作者使用它仅指舞台后面的结构，而其他人使用它来指代结构和舞台。这就是我用这个词来指舞台和建筑的方式。

嗯，所以，不管怎样，skene一开始只是一个简单的木制平台，但最终它变得更加精致。这座建筑的前墙装饰得像宫殿或寺庙，作为这出戏的背景风景。这座建筑也是存放服装、道具之类的东西的地方…

什么事，罗伯特？

男学生：那么，他们是为每一场戏都装饰场地……还是像我们今天一样，在戏中改变风景？还是整个故事都发生在一个场景中？

男教授：嗯，观众看到的一切都发生在这一场景中，通常是在寺庙或宫殿前。但观众并没有目睹故事中的所有事件，有些事件无法令人信服地呈现，因此剧作家将其安排在台下某个观众看不到的地方，然后由其中一个角色报道事件的消息。黛安？

女学生：去年夏天我看到了希波吕图斯。

男教授：太好了，希望你喜欢。

女学生：当然。所以，在某一点上，你会看到希波吕图斯被他的父亲罚下。过了一会儿，一位信使来了，他描述了希波吕图斯是如何坐在他的战车上的，当时一头巨牛从海上出现，导致战车坠毁。然后，在我们听到希波吕图斯的遭遇后，他被抬回舞台，在那里死去。

男教授：没错。我的意思是，你能想象一只巨大的动物从海里冒出来，试图展示所有这些动作吗？

嗯，好的，下一个领域是古希腊人称之为“管弦乐队”的空间管弦乐队要么是圆形的，如你所见……要么是半圆的。嗯，在古希腊，“管弦乐队”这个词实际上是指“跳舞的地方”，因为这里是合唱团跳舞和唱歌的地方。

但要理解希腊戏剧，你需要理解合唱的另一个功能。是的，古希腊合唱团确实像今天的合唱团一样唱歌跳舞。但合唱团最重要的作用是评论舞台上的角色在做什么和思考什么……事实上，希腊哲学家亚里士多德认为合唱团应该被视为在剧中扮演一个角色。

男学生：是的，我读到合唱团可以像人一样有独特的个性…

男教授：当然。事实上，在我们将要学习的第一个剧本中，你会看到一个很好的例子。

好的，最后一个空间是观众的座位区。这被称为“剧院”。在古希腊语中，“theatron”的意思是“看”——即s-E-E-I-N-G——“看的地方”剧院呈半圆状，一排排座位从碗的两侧升起。它的设计是为了利用环境的自然声学优势。碗的形状捕捉到声音并向上漏斗状排列，因此即使在最上面的一排，观众也能非常清楚地听到表演者的声音。

事实上，“theatron”这个名字的意思是“看”的地方，这有点讽刺，有些剧院有50排或更多的座位，可以容纳14000名观众沿着山坡上升。这是早在戏剧双筒望远镜发明之前。

三、The Structure Of Theater 托福听力问题：

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 托福听力答案：

A1:正确答案：C

A2:正确答案：BC

A3:正确答案：A

A4:正确答案：B

A5:正确答案：D

A6:正确答案：D

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