托福tpo54聽力lecture3 William Wheatley and Broadway Theaters

托福tpo54聽力lecture3 William Wheatley and Broadway Theaters，那么接下來就跟著中國教育在線的小編詳細(xì)了解一下吧。

William Wheatley and Broadway Theaters托福聽力原文翻譯及問題答案

一、William Wheatley and Broadway Theaters托福聽力原文：

NARRATOR:Listen to part of a lecture in a theater history class.MALE PROFESSOR:One of the things New York City is known for is its Broadway theaters—big productions,elaborate musicals.A lot of money goes into producing a musical—with the actors,costumes,scenery…and so on—the shows are designed to appeal to large audiences,to make the production financially viable.But theater didn't always appeal to the masses.In the middle of the nineteenth century,it was mostly wealthy residents who were going to Broadway—they would see an opera that was probably written and produced in Europe before making its way over to New York.It was a scene for,uh,well…the socially prominent,the upper class—who attended these functions perhaps because they felt obligated rather than because of a genuine interest in theater. 

But,in the 1860s,something else started to occur:the middle-class population began to grow—and they were looking for a source of entertainment.Keep that in mind while I talk about a theater owner named William Wheatley.In 1866,William Wheatley had this show,uh…and it was different from most shows on Broadway at the time because it wasn't an opera.And,it was developed right here in the United States…in English,unlike the operas,which were typically in Italian or French.Wheatley also decided to incorporate some fancy production techniques—stage effects.The show also included music to make it more entertaining.And,through a stroke of luck,a world-renowned ballet troupe became available just as Wheatley's show was about to open,so he didn't hesitate to include the ballet dancers in his production.Along the lines of those special effects I mentioned,Wheatley redesigned the entire stage for this show:every floorboard on the stage could be lifted up or pushed down—they were all moveable.This allowed for trap doors to be placed anywhere on the stage,so pieces of the set—uh,of the scenery—could easily be stored beneath the stage…and these trap doors also gave performers another,less traditional way to enter and exit the stage.While today we might not think much of it—things like this are standard nowadays—the concept was quite novel at the time of Wheatley's show…and was one of the things that made the show a hit with audiences.Another innovative element in the show was a scene called the"transformation scene."During this scene,the audience watched in amazement as the setting on stage changed from a moonlit cave to a throne room in a palace.Normally to have this type of major scene change,the curtains would close,the stage crew would remove the previous set and replace it with the new one,and then the curtains would open again.In this instance,though,the transformation took place in front of the audience using simple machinery.And this effect…it left a lasting impression on everyone who saw Wheatley's production.

In fact,those people were probably disappointed when they saw another show that didn't contain something as,well…as elaborate or exciting.So look,when it premiered,Wheatley's show took audiences by surprise…it appealed to large crowds,including the growing middle class.The show ran for almost two years straight in New York City,an achievement unheard of at a time when productions typically lasted weeks or months—not years.It also went on tour,visiting different cities across the United States for over 25 years.So…the show was quite a success.And with all that in mind,some people call Wheatley's show the first musical on Broadway.Now,our current definition of a musical is that it tells a story through dialogue and song.In Wheatley's show,the musical sections,well,they didn't necessarily integrate well with the story,giving an overall impression of something more like a variety show.Yes,everything was loosely focused around a central theme…so maybe it's fair to say,then,that this show gave audiences a hint of a new form of musical theater that would ultimately appear on Broadway in the decades to follow.

二、William Wheatley and Broadway Theaters托福聽力中文翻譯：

旁白：在戲劇歷史課上聽講座的一部分。男教授：紐約市以百老匯劇院的大制作和精心制作的音樂劇而聞名。大量資金用于制作演員、服裝、布景等音樂劇。這些節(jié)目旨在吸引大量觀眾，使制作在經(jīng)濟(jì)上可行。但戲劇并不總是吸引大眾。在十九世紀(jì)中葉，大多數(shù)去百老匯的富人都會(huì)去看一部歌劇，這部歌劇可能是在歐洲創(chuàng)作和制作的，然后才傳到紐約。這是一個(gè)場(chǎng)景，呃，嗯……參加這些活動(dòng)的社會(huì)名流和上層階級(jí)可能是因?yàn)樗麄兏械接辛x務(wù)，而不是因?yàn)樗麄冋嬲龑?duì)戲劇感興趣；

但是，在19世紀(jì)60年代，其他事情開始發(fā)生：中產(chǎn)階級(jí)人口開始增長(zhǎng)，他們正在尋找娛樂的來源。當(dāng)我談?wù)撘晃幻型せ萏乩膭≡豪习鍟r(shí)，請(qǐng)記住這一點(diǎn)。1866年，威廉·惠特利（William Wheatley）舉辦了這場(chǎng)演出，呃……它與當(dāng)時(shí)百老匯的大多數(shù)演出不同，因?yàn)樗皇歉鑴?。而且，它是在美國這里用英語發(fā)展的，不像歌劇，歌劇通常用意大利語或法語?；萏乩€決定加入一些花哨的制作技術(shù)舞臺(tái)效果。該節(jié)目還包括音樂，以使其更具娛樂性。幸運(yùn)的是，就在惠特利的演出即將開幕之際，一個(gè)世界著名的芭蕾舞團(tuán)也出現(xiàn)了，所以他毫不猶豫地將芭蕾舞演員納入了他的作品中。按照我提到的那些特效，惠特利重新設(shè)計(jì)了這場(chǎng)演出的整個(gè)舞臺(tái)：舞臺(tái)上的每一塊地板都可以升降，它們都是可移動(dòng)的。這樣就可以在舞臺(tái)上的任何地方放置活板門，所以布景的碎片可以很容易地存放在舞臺(tái)下面……這些活板門也給了表演者另一種不太傳統(tǒng)的進(jìn)出舞臺(tái)的方式。雖然今天我們可能不認(rèn)為像這樣的東西是現(xiàn)在的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，但在惠特利的節(jié)目中，這個(gè)概念是相當(dāng)新穎的……這也是使該節(jié)目在觀眾中大受歡迎的一件事。節(jié)目中的另一個(gè)創(chuàng)新元素是一個(gè)稱為“轉(zhuǎn)變場(chǎng)景”的場(chǎng)景。在這個(gè)場(chǎng)景中，觀眾驚奇地看到舞臺(tái)上的場(chǎng)景從月光下的洞穴變成了宮殿中的王室。通常情況下，這種類型的主要場(chǎng)景會(huì)發(fā)生變化，幕布會(huì)關(guān)閉，舞臺(tái)工作人員會(huì)移除之前的場(chǎng)景并用新的場(chǎng)景替換，然后幕布會(huì)再次打開。然而，在這種情況下，這種轉(zhuǎn)變是在觀眾面前通過簡(jiǎn)單的機(jī)械實(shí)現(xiàn)的。而這種效果……它給每個(gè)看過惠特利作品的人留下了持久的印象。

事實(shí)上，當(dāng)這些人看到另一個(gè)節(jié)目沒有包含什么內(nèi)容時(shí)，他們可能會(huì)感到失望。所以看，當(dāng)它首映時(shí)，惠特利的節(jié)目讓觀眾大吃一驚……它吸引了大批觀眾，包括日益壯大的中產(chǎn)階級(jí)。該劇在紐約市連續(xù)上演了近兩年，在制作通常持續(xù)數(shù)周或數(shù)月而非數(shù)年的時(shí)候，這是前所未聞的成就。它還進(jìn)行了巡回演出，訪問了美國各地的不同城市超過25年。所以……演出非常成功。有鑒于此，有些人將惠特利的演出稱為百老匯首部音樂劇?，F(xiàn)在，我們目前對(duì)音樂劇的定義是，它通過對(duì)話和歌曲講述故事。在惠特利的節(jié)目中，音樂部分不一定與故事結(jié)合得很好，給人的總體印象更像綜藝節(jié)目。是的，一切都是圍繞著一個(gè)中心主題展開的……所以，也許可以公平地說，這部劇給觀眾們帶來了一種新形式的音樂劇的暗示，這種音樂劇將在接下來的幾十年里最終出現(xiàn)在百老匯。

三、William Wheatley and Broadway Theaters托福聽力問題：

1.What is the main purpose of the lecture?

A.To describe the influence of opera on Broadway productions

B.To explain how new technology allowed for enhancements to Broadway productions

C.To evaluate financial decisions made by theater owner William Wheatley

D.To examine elements that set a particular theatrical production apart from earlier ones

2.What was typical of theatrical productions in the United States before the 1860s?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.The productions originated outside of the United States.

B.Only a limited segment of society attended the productions.

C.People attended the productions because they were interested in the plots.

D.The themes of the productions were typically related to the upper class.

Q3:3.According to the professor,what was a reason for a change in theatrical productions in the United States during the 1860s?

A.A growing middle class was in need of entertainment.

B.Wealthy theater advocates provided additional funding for new productions.

C.The interest of theatergoers shifted from opera to ballet.

D.A new artistic movement was founded by a group of actors.

Q4:4.Why does the professor mention moveable floorboards on the stage in Wheatley's production?

A.To explain the reason for an unexpected technical problem

B.To highlight one of the production's innovative features

C.To point out a similarity between early and modern theater in the United States

D.To give an example of a modification that was made for the ballet troupe

Q5:5.What was the audience's reaction to the transformation scene in Wheatley's production?

A.The audience was disappointed by the scene's short duration.

B.The audience was confused by the scene's unfamiliar elements.

C.The audience was amazed by the scene-changing process.

D.The audience was impressed at how quickly the stage crew moved objects onto the set.

6.According to the professor,what is one way in which Wheatley's production was different from modern musicals?

A.The performers in Wheatley's production performed more than one role.

B.Wheatley's production was created for the upper class.

C.The songs in Wheatley's production did not include lyrics.

D.The musical numbers in Wheatley's production did not correspond with the plot.

四、William Wheatley and Broadway Theaters托福聽力答案：

A1:正確答案：D

A2:正確答案：AB

A3:正確答案：A

A4:正確答案：B

A5:正確答案：C

A6:正確答案：D

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