英语听力教程第三版unit8thesoundofmusic听力原文

Unit 8 The Sound of Music
Part I Getting ready
A quiz game show is a type of radio or television programming genre in which contestants, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes.
A The following words will appear in this unit. Listen carefully and study the definitions.
1. panel：a group of specialists who give their advice or opinion about something
2. contender：a person who takes part in a competition or tries to win something
3. nomination：the act of suggesting or choosing somebody as
a candidate in an election, or for a jo
b or an award
4. cinematography：the art or process of making films
5. score：the music written for a film/movie or play
6. audition：take part in a practical test for performing applicants
7. choreography：the arranging or inventing of dances, especially ballet
8. pantomime：traditional Christmas musical show for children
9. scherzo：a short, lively piece of music, that is often part of a longer piece
10. lyrics：the words of a song
Listen to the following radio quiz game. Who are those people on the panel Supply the missing information.
Now listen again. Put a mark beside each question. Put a tick if it is true. If it is false, put a cross. Finally write down who that person is.
Audioscript::
A - Announcer M - Maxine
Q - Quizmaster L - Laura
T-Tim D-David Radio Bristol. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for "Alive or Dead" our exciting quiz game about famous people alive or dead. Before I tell you the rules, let's meet our panel for tonight. From right to left we have that famous sportsman and racing driver, Tim Brown. T:. Evening everyone. Next to Tim, is that lovely star of the American cinema, who is now here in Bristol at the Opera House, Maxine Morgan. Hi there! Next we have novelist, David Walker. Good evening. And last but not least, composer and singer, Laura Dennison. Hello. So let's get with the game. I have the name of a famous person -- alive or dead -- in this envelope. The panel will try to guess who it is. But they can only ask questions which have a "yes" or "no" answer. Are we ready Well, yes. Are you alive No, I'm not. Now Maxine, let's have your question. You're not alive. So you are a famous person who is dead. Oh, I know. Are you a person in a book -- a fictional character -- somebody who isn't real No, I'm not fictional. David, can we have your question So you're a real, dead person That's right, I am. Good, now we want to know where you come from. Are you British No, I'm not British. Are you from Europe No, I'm not. T: Are you Australian No, Tim, I'm not. I'm not Australian. Oh, then I know, you're American. You're a real American person, but
you're dead. Now let me think. Ah, yes, are you a writer of any sort No, I'm not. Are you anything to do with peace, you know someone like Martin Luther King A good guess, Laura, but I'm nothing to do with peace. Well, that's a difficult one, really. I think the answer is half "Yes" and half "No". No, I'll say "No". T: Mm, funny, half "Yes", half "No", but finally "No". Well, well, are you famous as an entertainer of any sort, you know a film star, or pop singer, or an actor, you know what I mean Ask one question at a time, Tim, please. The answer to your question is "No". I've got it, I've got the answer.
I know, I'm right. Careful now, Maxine. Say the wrong answer and I win the game. Are you sure you know who I am Yes, you're dead, you're famous, you're American, you are sort of famous for peace work. You're not an entertainer -- you're not an American film star. I don't think you were famous as a soldier.
I think you were a politician, I think you died in think you were married to a very beautiful woman ... I think you are very close, Maxine. I think you are almost there. I think you once went to Berlin. I think you are President John Kennedy, President of the United States of America. And congratulations to you and the panel, Maxine. Yes, you are right, the name of the famous person in my envelope is
President Kennedy, born in 1917 and died in 1963, on November 22nd to be exact. Now for my next famous person ...
Part II Slumdog Millionaire Slumdog Millionaire is a 2000 British drama film. Set and filmed in India, the film tells the story of Jamal Malik, a young man from the Juhu slums of Mumbai who appears on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and exceeds people's expectations, thereby arousing the suspicions of cheating. It was widely acclaimed, being praised for its plot, soundtrack and directing. It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards in 2009, winning eight, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
A Listen to the first news report broadcasted when Slumdog Millionaire won 10 Academy Award nominations. Note down the key words in the notes column. Then complete the storyline of the movie.
Audioscript:
One of the strongest contenders for the Best Picture Oscar this year is Slumdog Millionaire.
Set in Mumbai, India, it is a story about destiny. Jamal Malik, a young man from the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian reality show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Based on its American equivalent, the Indian show offers 20 million rupees ($400 000) to the winner.
Few expected this independent production directed by filmmaker Danny Boyle to make it to the Oscars. But Slumdog is no longer an underdog. It has won viewers' hearts and gained critical acclaim. With ten Academy Award nominations, it is a serious Oscar contender. (Movie) Host: Jamal Malik, you 're absolutely right!
Jamal Malik is not knowledgeable. He just happens to know the answers to the specific questions he's been asked. Each question is somehow related to an event that has defined his life.
With their mother dead, Jamal and his brother Salim begin to steal, trade and sleep wherever they can to survive.
But the defining moment in Jamal's life is when an orphan girl named Latika tags along with them.
Latika is taken by gangsters and Jamal will not rest until he sees her again.
Years later, as a young adult, he finds her at a gangster's house. She is locked up, and her only pastime is the Indian TV show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Jamal gets on the show so she can watch him. (Movie) Two of the musketeers are called Athos and Porthos. What was the name of the third musketeer Danny: I'd like to phone a friend. Host: Here we go. Latika: Hello.
Latika answers the phone. When they were kids, she was the third musketeer. Jamal and Salim were Athos and Porthos. Director Danny Boyle's love story is influenced by Bollywood where everything is extreme.
Like most Indian films, Slumdog Millionaire offers up
all-consuming passion, tear-jerking drama and a happy ending. The film's dynamic music and vivid colors enhance the emotions. Its fairytale quality does not undermine Danny Boyle's gritty look at today's India, a country of extremes itself. (Movie) Danny: Latika.
Slumdog Millionaire's exuberance is contagious. We leave the theater love-struck, exhilarated.
And, as in Jamal's case, we can't help but root for the Oscar nominee regardless of the odds.
Now listen to the second news report broadcasted on the day when Slumdog Millionaire finally earned 8 Oscars. After listening, match the awards with the corresponding names. Audioscript:
Slumdog Millionaire was expected to win big. And, it did, earning Oscars for its cinematography, film editing, sound mixing, and bringing two of the golden statuettes to composer A. R. Rahman for his score and an original song.
Steven Spielberg announced the top award of the evening. "And, the Oscar goes to Slumdog Millionaire, Christian Colson, producer."
The man behind the movie, Danny Boyle, was named best director.
Slumdog Millionaire was a collaboration between the British filmmaker, an Indian cast and crew and a Hollywood distributor. Backstage, Boyle said joint efforts like this will become more common.
"You know, there's all sorts of people gonna work there. These things are gonna come together. The world's shrinking a bit in a ... in a wonderful way and it will benefit from it because, in ... in culture, fusion is a wonderful thing."
The film is set in the slums of Mumbai and features two professional actors with a cast of unknown youngsters from the Mumbai slums. Young cast members came to Hollywood for the Oscars.
The story revolves around a teenager who hopes to win riches on a quiz show. Writer Simon Beaufoy, who won an Oscar for his adapted screenplay, says the story is appropriate in a recession.
"A film comes out that is ostensibly about being a millionaire, and actually what it's about is, it's a film that says there are more important things than money. There's love and faith
and your family, and that struck a chord with people, I think, right now."
Part III Karen Kain -- a Canadian ballerina The beautiful prima ballerina of the National Ballet of Canada, Karen Kain, was for five years the partner of Rudolph Nureyev and has danced most of the major classical ballet roles all over the world, since her debut in the demanding role of Odile/Odette in Swan Lake at the age of nineteen. She was born in Hamilton, Ontario, not far from Toronto, the home of the National Ballet of Canada. She and her husband now live in Cabbagetown, one of the oldest districts in central Toronto. In this section, you are going to hear an interview during which Karen Kain, a Canadian ballerina, talks about her work and how she first became interested in the ballet. While listening for the first time, add more key words in the left column. After the second listening, answer the questions. Now try this: listen to a more authentic version of the interview and then do the multiple choice.
Audioscript:Well, I actually saw Celia Franka dance, and now she founded the National Ballet of Canada. And she was dancing
in my hometown -- Giselle, and I was taken for my birthday, and I saw her dance, (I) fell in love with it, and I started taking ballet lessons, and then at one point ... I think it was around ten ... my teacher said that I should audition for the National Ballet School, which is a full-time academic and ballet training facility here in Toronto. It's one of (I)
think it's the only one in North America. I mean, it's the same set-up as the Paris Opera, the Bolshoi, the Leningrad ... you know, that they have the school affiliated with the Company. And you take all your academic training as well as your dance training. So she told me that I should audition for that, and I did. And when I was eleven years old I went to the ballet school for seven years till I was eighteen, graduated from high school and I joined the National Ballet. Now you were married fairly recently, weren't you It'll be three years next month, yes. Is touring and so forth hard on married life I believe your husband's an actor, isn't he Yes, he is. So you're probably both away quite a lot. We've been very fortunate. We've managed to stay together most of the time. The longest we were separated was when I was on tour with the National Ballet in Europe last spring, and I was gone for six weeks, and he was making a television series and he
was in Australia for six weeks. So we have been separated a few times, but most of the time we manage to be together. We've just been very fortunate. Throughout the year ... how much time do you have off away from the dance Very little. I'm trying to make sure that I get one week in June this year, because I have not had more than two days free since a year ago January. So I've been working very very hard, and I feel that I really need one week free, you know. Tom Boyd: How long can a ballerina go on before she should start thinking of retiring I hope that I have another ten years at the most to dance. Tom Boyd: What would you do after that Would you leave the ballet completely or go into teaching, or choreography I don't think choreography, I don't think I have any talent in ... you know ... I have no desire, no talent. I like to teach, I like to coach young dancers. I don't think I would leave the ballet world entirely, but I may try something else. You never know. I'm interested in other things and I have done some sorts of musical comedy work, and I've enjoyed it very much -- just to expand myself a little and to look around. And this Christmas again I'll be playing Cinderella in an English pantomime -- which is great fun for me. I really have fun and it's not serious dancing, you know, and I get to speak
and act and everything. So I don't know. I would also like to have a family, so I have lots of things that I may do.
Part IV More about the topic:
Beethoven V
Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers. His best known compositions include 9 symphnies, 5 concertos for piano, 32 piano sonatas, and 16 string quartets. The Symphony No. 5 in C minor was written in 1804 - 1808. It is one of the most frequently played symphonies.
Listen to the recording. Learn to appreciate Beethoven's Fifth Symphony with the speakers. While listening, complete the following outline.
Audioscript:
"" The most famous four-note sequence in music, instantly recognizable to us today as Beethoven's Fifth and full of associations. Fate knocking at the door. "V" for victory. But how must it have sounded to that original audience Beethoven
presented it as pure music. No clue to its significance or meaning. Well, Beethoven, as a personality, was so tricky and so uncouth in so many ways, and had such a difficult, troubled childhood, that the adult that gave us some of these pieces was a man so often at odds with the world around him. Born in poverty in the German town of Bonn, he was bullied as a child by his alcoholic father and in his 20s realized he was going deaf, surely the crudest of tragedies for a musician. But Beethoven was a man with a will of iron, and, in the Fifth, he harnesses the power of the orchestra to an insistent propulsive rhythm, forcing the symphony to articulate the profoundest personal drama. Host: The story of a soul struggling against implacable fate and emerging incandescently victorious. One of the great contrasts available to a composer are the contrasts of darkness and lightness. And in his Fifth Symphony, builds up from hesitant darkness into the radiant blaze of optimism, confidence, whatever. Now he does this through the simplest of means. At the end of the third movement, which is the rather shadowy, dark scherzo, his plan is to burst us into the light without stopping. Now he does this by making the orchestra play as quietly as it can, all the strings just plucking very, very
quietly. Then comes the heartbeat of the drum, very, very quiet and distant and the strings just moving up and down, uncertain about which way they're going to go. And then suddenly, very quickly, the whole orchestra comes in, and, without stopping, we burst into the final movement. This is in the major key. Lights full on, after lights hardly on at all. The symphony is a masterpiece of storytelling without words. When the French Revolution erupted, Beethoven was a teenager, struggling to support his family after the death of their mother, and the concept of individual liberty became a lifelong issue. And we, the listeners, are compelled to share his battle against fate. Although Beethoven wanted to write something that was comprehensible at first hearing, he wasn't writing simply to give pleasure. He wanted it to be a potentially life-changing experience, music that would resonate in the mind long after the last note had sounded.
Part V Do you know ...
What is a musical According to one definition, it is a stage, television or film production utilizing popular-style songs and dialogue to either tell a story and/or showcase the talents of varied performers. Musicals are not just written
-- they are collaborative creations that are put together piece by piece. Then what is the Broadway musical When was it born
A Spot dictation. Listen to a passage about the birth of the Broadway musical. Fill in the blanks with the words you hear. Audioscript:
Most scholars believe that The Black Crook in 1866 marked the beginning of the musical comedy, integrating music, dance and comedy, with an emphasis on beautiful women and spectacular scenery. But it was during World War One and after, that the musical developed as a uniquely American idiom.
Song-and-dance man George M. Cohan exploited Americans' sense of patriotism, moving away from European influences. In the 1920s. songwriters who include Jerome Kern, George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, brought the musical to maturity with their meticulous crafting of music and lyrics to create the American popular song.
The modern musical was born in 1943 with Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma, which revolutionized the way dance, music and dialogue were used to develop the plot and
characters. Other songwriters of the 1940s, 50s and 60s capitalized on that winning formula to write so many hit musicals, that that era is now referred to as "Broadway's Golden Age." Since then, American musicals have been translated and produced on stages all over the world. The music has become a mainstay among vocalists and jazz musicians, making clear the expression that the music of Broadway is truly "America's classic music."
Foreigners call Americans Yankees. Southerners say that Yankees are Northerners. Northerners say that Yankees are from the New England states. People in New England say it is the Vermonters who are Yankees. Vermonters reply that a Yankee is just someone who eats pie for breakfast. It seems that the origin of this term defies detection.
B1 Listen to the passage. Focus on what the word "Yankee" refers to at different times. Supply the missing information. B2 Now listen to the passage again. Complete the summary. Our question this week asks about the song Yankee Doodle. To explain, we must go back more than 200 years. The American colonies had not yet won independence from England. The British used the word "Yankee" to describe colonists in the
northeast part of America. That area was known as New England. After the War for Independence, the British used the word to mean all Americans. And during both World Wars American soldiers were known as Yankees or just Yanks.
That was the song Yankee Doodle. History experts do not know exactly when it was written. Some research shows the date may have been during the 1750s. Many stories say a British army doctor wrote the song when England was fighting the French and the Indians in North America. There is little confirmation of these stories. We do know, however, that Yankee Doodle was sung by the British to make the colonial people of North America look foolish. And we know the song became popular among the colonists themselves. Many knew at least some of the words.
The British continued to use the song to make Yankees look foolish until the early days of the War for Independence in the 1770s. Stories say, British soldiers marching out of the city of Boston stepped in time to the music of Yankee Doodle. Those same soldiers were defeated by colonial troops at the town of Concord singing the same song. Since then, Yankee Doodle has been a song that represents the United States.
Part VII Watch and enjoy
Magic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means. These feats are called magic tricks, effects, or illusions. A professional who performs such illusions is called a magician or an illusionist. Watch the video clip from the movie Illusionist. After watching, answer the following questions. Videoscript:
Announcer：Life and death, space and time, fate and chance.
These are the forces of the universe. Tonight, ladies and gentleman, I present to you a man who has unlocked these mysteries. From the furthest corners of the world where the dark arts still hold sway, he returns to us to
demonstrate how nature's laws may be bent. I give you ...
Eisenheim.
Eisenheim：Might I borrow a handkerchief from someone You, Madam. Thank you. Ah, be patient. Now, if you please, I would like to continue with an examination of time. From the moment we enter this life we are in the flow of it.
We measure it and we mark it but we cannot defy it. We cannot even speed it up or slow it down. Or can we Have we not each experienced a sensation that a beautiful moment seemed to pass too quickly And wished that we could make it linger Or felt time slow on a dull day and wished that we could speed things up a bit I assure you, they're quite real. Audience: Is it real
Eisenheim： And you, Madam, where is your handkerchief Audience: Bravo! Very good.。