小站备考
托福
托福听力
Official44听力真题

OFFICIAL44 Why is the play Hippolytus discussed?

展开
Tip:单击查看句义;划选/双击查生词

[00:00.00]NARRATOR: Listen to part of a lecture in an introduction to drama class.
[00:04.47]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. [00:13.91]And this goes all the way back to the ancient Greeks…
[00:17.19]The Greeks built the first theaters in the fifth century B.C.E. [00:21.06]These were outdoor theaters—[00:23.04]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. [00:29.91]All Greek theaters were pretty much the same... [00:32.63]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.
[00:41.90]Have a look at this diagram…[00:44.72]Let’s start with the area where the actors performed... like what we call the “stage” today... [00:50.68]The Greeks referred to this space as the “skene”. [00:53.83]Um, there's some confusion about the use of the word “skene” by different scholars. [00:58.67]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.
[01:12.72]Um, so, anyway, the skene started as a simple wooden platform, but eventually it became much more elaborate. [01:20.17]The front wall of the building was decorated like a palace or temple and served as background scenery for the play. [01:27.03]The building was also a storage place for costumes, props, things like that. …
[01:31.93]Yes, Robert?
[01:32.75]MALE STUDENT: So did they decorate the skene for each play…or, uh, change the scenery during the play, like we do today? [01:41.04]Or did the whole story take place in one setting?
[01:43.58]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—[01:54.63]some events couldn't be presented convincingly, so the playwrights had them take place somewhere offstage, where the audience couldn't see them, [02:02.00]and then news of the event would be reported by one of the characters. Diane?
[02:06.62]FEMALE STUDENT: Last summer I saw Hippolytus.
[02:09.66]MALE PROFESSOR: Excellent, I hope you enjoyed it.
[02:11.61]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.
[02:31.48]MALE PROFESSOR: Exactly. I mean, can you imagine trying to show all that action, a giant animal rising out of the sea?
[02:38.55]Um, OK, the next area was the space the ancient Greeks called the “orchestra.”[02:44.20]The orchestra was either round, as you see here … or a semicircle. [02:49.04]Um, in ancient Greek, the word “orchestra” actually meant “the dancing place,” because this is where the chorus danced and sang.
[02:57.76]But to understand Greek plays, you need to understand an additional function of the chorus. [03:04.01]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…[03:18.60]In fact, Aristotle—the Greek philosopher—thought the chorus should be considered as acting out a role in the play.
[03:26.37]MALE STUDENT: Yeah, I read that a chorus could have a distinct personality—just like a person…
[03:30.86]MALE PROFESSOR: Absolutely. In fact, you'll see an excellent example of that in the first play we'll be studying.
[03:36.36]OK, the last space was the seating area for the audience. [03:40.73]This was called the “theatron”.[03:43.34]In ancient Greek, “theatron” means “seeing”—that’s S-E-E-I-N-G— “seeing place.” [03:51.12]The theatron was shaped in a semicircle, with rows of seating rising up the sides of the bowl. [03:57.30]It was designed to take advantage of the natural acoustic benefits of the setting.[04:01.47]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.
[04:10.64]Actually, that the name “theatron” means “seeing” place is kind of ironic—[04:16.57]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.

3.Why is the play Hippolytus discussed?

你的答案:
正确答案:A
题目解析:
 后才能查看题目解析,还没有账号? 马上注册
原文中教授先说一些事件不能让人信服地所呈现,所以剧作家没有让其发生在舞台上,观众们就看不到它们,接着学生根据教授的问题提到了Hippolytus来印证。选项A通过故希腊剧作家的一个策略的来例证,与原文用意相符;选项B为了给出在古希腊戏剧中动物是如何被表现的例子,与原文用意不符;选项C中的first use of a messenger在原文中没有被提到;选项D的涉及tragic events悲剧的细节在原文中并未被提及。

学习页面

Medi

terr

anean

加强 + 政府 + 名词后缀

加强的政府——管理

原文例句

加入生词

本文生词 0

色块区域是你收藏过的生词;

查询次数越多,颜色越深哦~

显示文中生词

登录后才能收藏生词哦,现在登录注册>

本文重点词 45

文中加粗单词为本文重点词;

根据词频与核心词范围精心挑选,托福考试必掌握词汇。

显示文中重点词
学习本文词汇

文中划选/双击的生词、加粗重点词已收纳至词盒

可随时点击词盒查看哦~

只有在词句精学模式下才能开启词盒功能哦~

我知道了

词盒
收藏
笔记
我的笔记
5000
保存
反馈