Unit 9

Unit 9Sentence UnderstandingS1: A special glamor is attached to everything (connected with it)—its arias, singers and roles, [not to mention its opening nights].歌剧的独特魅力在于其构成因素—咏叹调、歌唱家以及他们所扮演的角色，更别提（特别是）歌剧的首映夜。

S2: what characters in fact or fiction can claim, generation after generation, so constant a public?在现实和故事中，什么样的人物能拥有着一代又一代忠实的观众呢？S3: It combines the resources of vocal and instrumental music—soloists, ensembles, chorus, orchestra and ballet with poetry and drama, acting and pantomime, scenery and costumes.它(歌剧）将声乐和器乐的各种手法——独唱、合奏，合唱团、乐队、芭蕾等——与多种艺术结合起来，包括诗歌、戏剧、表演、哑剧、舞台场景和戏装等。

S4: To combine the diverse elements into a unity is a problem (that has exercises some of the best minds in the history of music).如何将多种元素融为一体曾一直困扰者音乐史上的精英们。

(注：但歌剧解决了这个问题)S5: At first glance opera would seem to make impossible demands on the credulity of the spectators.乍一看，歌剧似乎不太可能让观众那么轻易地接纳。

S6: It presents us with human beings (caught up in dramatic situations) (who sing to each other instead of speaking.)它向我们呈现的是处在戏剧场景中的人物, 这些人物不是用对话而是用歌声来交流。

S7: The reasonable question is (and it was asked most pointedly throughout the history of opera by literary men): how can an art form based on so unnatural a procedure be convincing?这么一种不自然的艺术形式怎么会让人欣然接受呢？人们有理由问这样一个问题（这也是在整个歌剧史上，文人们曾问过的尖锐问题）S8: The question ignores what must always remain the fundamental aspiration of art: not to copy nature but to heighten our awareness of it.这个问题忽略了一点，即艺术一直以来的基本追求：不去复制自然，而去提高我们对自然的觉识。

S9: People in real life do not sing to each other. Neither do they converse in blank verse, [as Shakespeare’s characters do]; nor live in rooms (ofwhich one wall is conveniently missing[ so that the audience may look in]) .现实中的人们不会对唱，也不会像莎士比亚笔下的人物那样用无韵诗对话，他们也不会住在为了让观众能够看到房间里面就把一面墙轻易去除掉的房间里。

S10: The conventions of opera are more evident than those of poetry, painting, drama, or film, but they are not different in kind.歌剧的惯用手法比诗歌、绘画、戏剧、或电影中的更明显，但本质上又没什么不同。

S11: It uses the human voice to impinge upon the spectators the basic emotions—love, hate, jealousy, joy, grief—[with an elemental force possible only to itself].它(歌剧)利用人的歌声, 以其特有的自然力，来冲击观众的基本情感——爱、恨、嫉妒、快乐、悲伤。

S12: The logic of reality gives way [on the operatic stage] to the transcendent logic of art, and to the power of music over the life of the heart.在歌剧的舞台上，现实的逻辑让位于艺术超越现实的逻辑，让位于音乐对心灵产生的影响力。

Unit 10XII. Sentence Analysis1. No other writer has been read so widely in so many countries.其他作家的作品都不曾像他的作品那样，在那么多的国家里受到如此广泛地阅读。

2. He could create characters (that have meaning (beyond the time and places of his plays)).他能塑造出超越剧中时空意义的人物。

或他塑造的人物超越了剧中的时空意义。

3. They struggle [just as people do in real life], [sometimes successfully and sometimes with painful and tragic results].他们的抗争就如同现实中的人们所经历的那样，有时大功告成，有时悲苦交加。

4. Shakespeare wrote at least thirty-seven plays, (which showed his knowledge on various subjects).莎士比亚撰写了至少三十七部剧本，表现了他在各学科上的渊博知识。

5. [Although principally remembered today as the premier English dramatist], he early attained widespread popularity [in the 1590’s] [as a lyric and narrative poet] [with the publication of Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece].尽管现在，人们主要将莎士比亚记为最重要的英语剧作家，但《维纳斯与阿童尼斯》和《鲁克丽斯受辱记》两部诗作的发表使他早在16世纪90年代享就成为了享有盛誉的抒情诗人和叙事诗人。

6. (Over the next two decades) he wrote a succession of widely acclaimed plays (which may be categorized roughly into three groups: histories, comedies, and tragedies or tragicomedies).在接下来的二十多年里，他写了一系列广受称赞的剧本，这些剧本大略可以分三类：历史剧、喜剧、悲剧或悲喜剧。

7. But undoubtedly Shakespeare’s worldwide reputation as a dramatist rests on the profound exploration of the human condition (portrayed in his great tragedies Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Hamlet, etc).但无疑的是，莎士比亚作为剧作家享誉世界是由于他对《罗密欧与朱丽叶》、《奥赛罗》和《哈姆雷特》等悲剧中所描绘的人性进行了深刻地探索。

8. [After having dominated the London theatrical scene for some twenty years], Shakespeare retired to his hometown, (where he lived in relative ease and comfort until his death in 1616).主宰伦敦剧场大约20年后，莎士比亚告老还乡，过着较为舒适安逸的生活，直到1616年去世。

Unit 11VIII. Sentence Analysis1. Some plays are so successful that they run for years on end.有些剧目十分成功，以致连续上演好几年。

2. In many ways, this is unfortunate for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the same lines night after night.这样一来，可怜的演员们可就倒霉了。

因为他们需要连夜重复同样的台词。

3. One would expect them to know their parts by heart and never have cause to falter.人们会认为，这些演员们应把台词背的滚瓜烂熟，绝不会临场结巴的。

4. A famous actor in a highly successful play was once cast in the role of an aristocrat who had been imprisoned in the Bastille for twenty years.有一位名演员曾在一出极为成功的剧目中扮演一个贵族的角色，这个贵族已在巴士底狱被关押了20年5. In the last act, a gaoler would always come on to the stage with a letter which he would hand to the prisoner.在最后一幕中，狱卒手持一封信上场，然后将信交给狱中的那位贵族。