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Unit 1 Appreciating literature
What is classic literature? Classics are the antiques of the literary world. They are novels, plays and poems that were written a long time ago and were so well written and well received that people still read them today. They are examples of great writing and wisdom, and even those written centuries ago can still be found in bookshops and libraries today. Because a lot of classics were written so long ago, the language used in them is quite different from the language used today. This makes them difficult for some people to read, and often, the classics are left to gather dust on shelves. Many people do not read them because they think that they are old-fashioned and boring, and have nothing to do with life today. However, if this is true, why do we still find classics in bookshops and libraries? They have not disappeared and still have a place in the world today. Why else would many films based on them be successful? In 1995, Clueless, the award-winning film based on Jane Austin?s novel Emma, was released. Three years later, in 1998, a modern adaptation of Charles Dickens?s novel Great Expectations appeared in cinemas. I do not think that these classic novels would be made into films if they had nothing to do with life today. Charles Dickens: „England?s greatest writer? Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England in 1812. He wrote many novels. Olive Twist, David Copperfield and Great Expectations are probably his best-known works. He first published many novels one chapter at a time in newspapers, and some were later performed on stage. For people at that time, his stories were like the soap operas we see on TV today. He died in 1870 and his tomb reads, „by his death, one of England?s greatest writers is lost to the world.? Great Expectations Great Expectations is set in England in the early 1800s.Dickens uses Pip, the main character, to tell the story. Pip is not only a character, he also tells the story of Great Expectations. Pip lives with his older sister and her husband Joe. Pip?s sister seldom has a kind word to say, but Joe is a kind and simple man, who would rather die than see any harm come to Pip. Pip, who is seven years old when the story begins, is in a misty field of tombs when a man appears and frightens him. Mist is a symbol of danger and uncertainty in Great Expectations. Classic novels often have symbols which add interest, tension or deeper meaning to the text. Readers may not be able to see the danger, so they need a symbol like the mist to make it clearer to them. There is a twist in the plot when a very generous stranger gives Pip a lot of money. Pip is about
18 years old when this happens, and the fortune sets him free from the financial worries. Pip makes the abrupt decision to move from Kent, which is a constant remainder of his shabby beginnings, to the bright lights of London. Excited by his move to London, Pip can hardly wait to begin his new life. Money and education have changed him, and before long he develops the shortcomings of being shallow and having prejudice, even against his old companions. Pip dislikes it when Joe comes to visit him in London. He has rigid ideas of what it means to be civil and to be a gentleman, and is embarrassed by Joe he does not fit these. Pip is bent on becoming a gentleman and winning Estella?s love. Estella is a beautiful girl, and for Pip, she is a symbol of education and money. What it really means to be a gentleman is an important theme in Great Expectations. Is an educated person with a lot of money a gentleman? Or is a gentleman somebody who is kind and good to his friends? By the end of the novel, Pip has changed a lot. He learns that wealth does not buy happiness and that friends are more important than a fancy education. This change in Pip is called character development and is an important part of any novel. Does Joe forgive Pip? Does Pip get the girl of his dreams? You will just have to read it yourself to find out!
Unit2
Turandot in Beijing By Jane Jones Last night, I witnessed the first of only eight performances of Giacomo Puccini?s world-famous opera, Turandot, being performed in the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. The performance was splendid. It starred some of the world?s greatest opera singers. Many great Chinese musicians, actors and singers were also cast. Puccini, an Italian, wrote Turandot towards the end of his life, in 1924. He liked East Asia very much and also wrote Madam Butterfly, which is set in Japan. Turandot is the story of a cold-hearted Chinese princess, named Turandot, who lives in Beijing?s Forbidden City. In order to avoid marriage, she says that any potential husband must answer three riddles correctly or die. Just imaging performing such an opera in the Forbidden City------there could not be a better setting! You could almost feel the history. The weather was also perfect for an outdoor performance. Instead of a stage curtain, there were decorated panels covered with red and gold, and traditional Chinese drums were used to announce the start of the opera. The story begins when a prince is killed for being unable to answer Turandot?s riddles. Shortly afterwards, another prince, Calaf, sees Turandot for the first time and falls in love. The handsome prince says that he will solve the riddles and marry her. Then, in a moving solo performance, a young slave of Calaf?s father, Liu expresses her love for Calaf. The story then takes on a classic triangle featuring Calaf, Turandot, and Liu, whose love for Calaf is unconditional. In the story, Turandot was drunk with power. She even dares to try and exercise control over her father, the emperor of China, who has promised to allow her to choose her own husband. The emperor finds the deaths of so many men disturbing and although he would like to, he cannot break his promise. Calaf recites the answers to the Turandot?s questions correctly, but she is greatly upset by this. Seeing this, Calaf says that if she can guess his name by sunshine, she does not have to marry him. Turandot is desperate to learn his name and threatens and terrifies Liu because he knows his name. while she is being tortured, Liu grabs a sward from a guard and kills herself. Everyone is shocked by this. After Liu kills herself, Calaf kisses Turandot and finally wins her affection. Then Calaf says his own name aloud, leaving his future in Turandot?s hands. The opera finishes with a beautifully-sung final duet, which was so moving that the audience fell silent. At the end of the story, the prince and princess marry and the whole city celebrates their happiness. Unfortunately, Puccini died before he completed this final scene, but he left notes for the final duet, which was completed by one of his former students, Franco Alfano.
4 An opera company staged the opera in Beijing in the 1990s, but the performance I saw was the first time Turandot was staged inside the Forbidden City. The production combined the very best of Western and Chinese talents in music, staging and directing. The orchestra was conducted by the Zubin Mehta, an internationally famous conductor, who was born in India. The opera was directed by the well-known Chinese director, Zhang Yimou. In the Beijing performance I saw, Turandot was played by Sharon Sweet from the USA, Liu was played by another opera singer from the USA, Barbara Hendricks, and Calaf was sung by Kristjan Johannsson from Iceland. They were all excellent. The Forbidden City is an area where once only the emperor, his family and officials were allowed. However, in this wonderful production, it has been transformed into the location for a beautiful and heartbreaking love story. The bringing together of this group of people from many countries, the music, and the setting are clearly the key components of this amazing production.
Unit 3
Hi Yang Yan, Here I am in Amsterdam. This trip has been fantastic! As you know, I am with my aunt and grandmother. They are both very talented artists, and I am thinking about starting painting myself after I get back. Let me tell you all about our trip. We started in Spain and went to the city of Málaga, the birthplace of Pablo Picasso. The house where Picasso was born is now a museum full of his art. Málaga is a lovely city and the architecture is beautiful. I was amazed to learn that Picasso produced more than 20000 pieces of art and he wasn?t just a painter. He drew pictures for books, and was also a sculptor and photographer. He developed different style of painting, including cubism, which is a type of art where things are represented as geometric shapes. My grandmother really likes cubist paintings and thinks he is the greatest artist ever. After visiting Spain, we flew to Paris. In Paris, all the buildings were very historic. The architecture was my favorite part of Paris. Everything was just so beautiful! During our four days in Paris we spent one whole day at the Louvre Museum. I thought it was going to be very boring, but it wasn?t. In the Louvre Museum is the famous Mona Lisa painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. He created this masterpiece between 1503 and 1506. I am sure you have seen this picture of a lady with dark hair and a mysterious smile. This painting is so valuable that it is difficult to calculate what its price would be if the museum wanted to sell it. Besides being a painter, da Vinci was also a sculptor, an architect, an engineer and a scientist. He made a lot of scientific discoveries that he shared with the world, particularly in the field of astronomy. Besides the works of da Vinci, the Louvre Museum has more than 6000 other European paintings, ranging from the 13th century to the 19th century. It doesn?t have any modern paintings in it. Modern paintings are not all kept at another museum in the city called the Musée d?Orsay. We went there on our second day in Paris because my aunt wanted to see the works of Claude Monet. Monet was a French painter who lived between 1840 and 1926. He loved to paint lotus flowers so much that he built a special garden at his home, where hundreds of lotus plants floated on the surface of a pond. I think it would feel very peaceful to live there. My aunt wants to go back to France again to see the garden. She almost wept because we missed it this time. Now let me tell you about our trip to Amsterdam. On the way here, we flew over a thunderstorm. Some people were scared, but I liked seeing the thunder in the clouds beneath the plane. Eventually, the thunderstorm stopped and we saw a beautiful rainbow in the clouds. Yesterday we went to the Van Gogh Museum. Van Gogh painted everything from people to nature during his ten years of painting. He painted about 800 oil paintings and did 1600 drawings. One of his most famous oil paintings is The Potato Eaters, which he painted in 1885. His early paintings used a style called Impressionism, but towards the end of his life, he created more abstract artwork. He did 36 paintings of himself, and his most famous still lifes are of sunflowers. One of my favorites of his paintings is called Starry Night, which he completed in 1889. The sad thing is that although Van Gogh devoted his whole self to painting, he only sold one painting before he died in 1890. His younger brother, Theo, tried hard to sell and distribute Van Gogh?s paintings to buyers, but he was never able to negotiate a successful sale. Although we adore his work today, Van Gogh was not successful while he was alive. Tomorrow we are off to another museum in Amsterdam. The most famous paintings there are by Rembrandt. He lived from 1606 until 1669. My aunt really wants to see a painting of his called the Night Watchman, which was painted in1642. I?ll tell you more about my trip when I get back.
Unit 4
Important film events around the world Host: welcome to our weekly programme, Movie Magic. Our guests today are representatives from six of the major international film festivals. Those spokeswomen and spokesmen will tell us about the festivals they represent. Joining us in the studio are Isabel Rose from the Cannes Film Festival, Hanz Muller from the Berlin International Film Festival, Kathy Barnes from the Sundance Film Festival, Maria Bella from the Venice Film Festival, Mike Taylor from the Toronto International Film Festival and Xu Li from the Shanghai International Film Festival. Welcome, everyone! Maria, do tell us a little about the Venice Film Festival. Maria: Well, I think it is right appropriate for me to begin our discussion. The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world. It began in 1932. Our festival is part of a larger festival which celebrates contemporary art. We view film as a type of contemporary art. Host: Kathy, please tell us about the Sundance Film Festival. Kathy: Unlike the Venice Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival only includes small, independent films. That is, it only includes those not financed by Hollywood studios. Many are made by amateur directors and star amateur stars. Maria: Kathy, I hate to interrupt you, but in defence of the Venice Film Festival, I have to point out that we don?t just feature Hollywood films. Our policy is to include high-quality films, regardless of who makes them. We don?t distinguish between Hollywood films and independent ones. As long as the film?s quality meets our standards, we include it. Kathy: The Sundance Film Festival boycotts all Hollywood films, and we don?t foresee ever including them. The idea for our festival was hatched back in 1978, when it was known as the Utah/US Film Festival. However, it was not well-known until 1981. it was then that Robert Redford tool over and changed the focus to saluting independent films. It was renamed the Sundance Film Festival in 1991. Redford has acted in and directed many big Hollywood films, and so he knew how many actors and directors were making good films unknown to the public. Now, if a film wins an award at Sundance, there is a good chance it will become famous! Isabel: Cannes is another festival that can make films famous. If a film wins a victory at the Cannes Film Festival, everyone will hear about it. I think it is fair to say that Cannes is the most famous and exciting festival. Hanz: I hate to contradict you, but in recent years, the Cannes Film Festival has given awards mostly to American films. So critics say that it has taken a step backwards, and is beginning to resemble the Academy Awards in Hollywood too much. Isabel: Well, yes, films shown at Cannes are often made with large budgets, and have well-known actors and directors. Many of them are American, but we reject the idea that we have lost our international angle. Considering the history of our festival, we feel it is important not to favor films from any one country. The Cannes Film Festival was started in 1939 because many people felt that the Venice Film Festival was giving awards to only German and Italian films. Hanz: Well, in my opinion, most people agree that the Berlin Film Festival is one of the most international of all the film festivals. Since it began in 1951, we have given awards to films from all around the globe. Hollywood films are in the minority at our festival, and films from smaller countries that would be overlooked at Cannes, for example, have a real chance of winning in Berlin. Mike: I am the spokesman for the Toronto International Film Festival, which began in 1975 and very quickly became one of the main film festivals around the world. Each year, famous actors and directors come to Toronto, and the whole film world pays attention to who wins. It is the second largest festival in the world------only Cannes is bigger. Our festival tries to show films from many countries, but gives some bonus awards to Canadian films. Xu Li: I represent the Shanghai International Film Festival. Our festival was founded in 1993 so we are perhaps the youngest festival. Even though we have only existed a short time, our festival has a good reputation worldwide. We are the only international film festival in China. We show films from many different countries and the highlight of the festival each year is the „Jinjue? or Golden Cup Award.
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原文地址：http://www.cnblogs.com/jinkun113/p/5637892.html
