英语听力精选进阶版 6325

All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players... This famous quote from As You Like It describes perfectly¹ a festival starting today, which celebrates that play's famous author.

As part of the World Shakespeare Festival, all of the Bard²'s plays will be performed in just six weeks – but they won't be in Elizabethan English. The 37 plays will be in 37 different languages. 

It will be a rare opportunity to hear Romeo and Juliet's balcony scene delivered in Arabic or Hamlet's 'To be or not to be' soliloquy in Lithuanian. And as for Richard III's famous speeches... they will be in Mandarin³. 

Audiences will also get the chance to watch Love's Labour's Lost in sign language, which brings a new meaning to the term blank verse.

The Globe theatre on London's Southbank, a faithful recreation of Shakespeare's own theatre, will be living up to its name as over 600 actors from across the world come to tread its boards. The Globe's artistic⁴ director Dominic Dromgoole, said:

“A Globe by the Thames is where the wonderful cultural and imaginative journey of these plays began. Another Globe by the Thames is honoured to be inviting⁵ Shakespeare back home, dressed in the clothes of many different peoples.”

If there is a defining aim of the festival it is to present England's national dramatist as 'the world's playwright⁶'. As Michael Boyd, the artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company put it: "Shakespeare is no longer English property."

The celebrations will also include an exhibition at the British Museum and a digital project, myShakespeare. The festival was launched today with a new sonnet⁷ by Mark Ravenhill.

The events are the start of an exciting cultural year for Londoners. The Shakespeare festival is just one of the items in London's Cultural Olympiad – the series of events that aim to do for culture what the Olympics does for sport.

Quiz 小测验

1.True, false or not given: The quote 'All the world's a stage' comes from the play Macbeth.

False - it comes from As You Like It.

2. What's a nickname for Shakespeare?

The Bard.

3. Who was the English king or queen at the time of Shakespeare?

Elizabeth I.

4. Where will the international plays be performed?

At the Globe Theatre, London.

5. True, false or not given: Mark Ravenhill wrote a poem to celebrate the start of the festival.

True - he wrote a sonnet, which is a type of poem.

Glossary 词汇表

a stage 舞台

a quote 引述

the Bard 游吟诗人

a play 剧本

Elizabethan 伊丽莎白一世时期 (1558 – 1603)

soliloquy 独白

a speech 演讲

blank verse 无韵诗

to live up to one's name 不辜负某人的名誉

to tread the boards 登上舞台

peoples 民族

the national dramatist 英国最有名的剧作家

a playwright 编剧

a sonnet 十四行诗

1 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

2 bard   

n.吟游诗人

参考例句：

• I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神！
• I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。

3 Mandarin   

n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的

参考例句：

• Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue.大约有十亿以上的人口以华语为母语。
• Mandarin will be the new official language of the European Union.普通话会变成欧盟新的官方语言。

4 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

5 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

6 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

7 sonnet   

n.十四行诗

参考例句：

• The composer set a sonnet to music.作曲家为一首十四行诗谱了曲。
• He wrote a sonnet to his beloved.他写了一首十四行诗，献给他心爱的人。