CCTV9英语新闻：环球剧院庆祝第四百五十岁生日

William Shakespeare, perhaps the world's greatest playwright 1, was born 450 years ago Wednesday. The Bard 2 is thought to have invented over a thousand words, and Shakespeare's plays, such as Hamlet and King Lear, continue to be staged across the globe to sell-out crowds.

Actors perform a scene from William Shakespeare's Hamlet for members

of the media during a photo call to present Hamlet at Shakespeare’s

Globe theatre, London, Wednesday, April 23, 2014.

A modern-day production of Shakespeare’s play ’ Much Ado About Nothing’ performed at the Globe theatre in London. More than four hundred years after it was written, the play still finds favour with this young audience.



Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, 90 miles northwest of London in 1564, Shakespeare became an actor and writer for the Lord Chamberlain’s Men - later to be renamed the King’s Men.



It was through his prolific 3 writing that the Bard truly made his name. His early works were mainly histories and comedies such as "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" and "The Merchant of Venice" , which first appeared during the 1590s.



By 1598 he had earned a name for himself as a poet and playwright, even performing several of his works at royal court for Queen Elizabeth the first.



This building, opened in 1997, is named Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and is a representation of the venue 4 the playwright used to stage some of his greatest ever productions.



"Every year, every decade, your understanding of Shakespeare is completely new. We now know that Shakespeare was a huge international playwright that’s transforming our understanding moment by moment. We now know that there’s enormous hunger for him and response to him in China, in India, in Russia, in America, all over the place. And that’s sort of re-calibrating our understanding of him." Dominic Dromgoole, Artistic 5 Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre,said.



If the playwright’s colleagues had not collected his works into the ’First Folio’ of 1623, plays such as ’Macbeth’, ’The Tempest’ and ’Twelfth Night’ would have been lost forever.



Now, at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, they’re exhibiting a copy of the famed ’First Folio’ alongside numerous other objects, which demonstrate how Shakespeare has been celebrated 6 over the generations.



"If you think how difficult it was publishing in those days and printing and the fact that all of those plays were not even published as complete volumes, they were published as individual parts, so his friends when they put it together they actually had to get back all the parts from all the individuals and put them together to create that work." Victoria Broackes, curator of Victoria & Albert Museum, said.



Throughout the exhibition, there are props 7, costumes, set models and design sketches 8, all illustrating 9 past productions of Shakespeare’s work.



Here, a theatre company in Nigeria is performing an African reboot of "The Winter’s Tale," one of the lesser 10 known tragicomedies written by the Bard. It’s about a child princess who is thrown away out of jealous rage, and later reunited with her royal family.



In the comedy ’As You Like It’, Shakespeare wrote: "All the world’s a stage" - and on his birthday it seems these words still ring true.

Actors perform a scene from William Shakespeare's Hamlet for members

of the media during a photo call to present Hamlet at Shakespeare’s

Globe theatre, London, Wednesday, April 23, 2014.

点击收听单词发音  






1
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。












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
prolific

  
 


adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的


参考例句：





She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。












4
venue

  
 


n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点


参考例句：





The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。












5
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。












6
celebrated

  
 


adj.有名的，声誉卓著的


参考例句：





He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。












7
props

  
 


小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋


参考例句：





Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
The government props up the prices of farm products to support farmers' incomes. 政府保持农产品价格不变以保障农民们的收入。












8
sketches

  
 


n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概


参考例句：





The artist is making sketches for his next painting. 画家正为他的下一幅作品画素描。
You have to admit that these sketches are true to life. 你得承认这些素描很逼真。 来自《简明英汉词典》












9
illustrating

  
 


给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明


参考例句：





He upstaged the other speakers by illustrating his talk with slides. 他演讲中配上幻灯片，比其他演讲人更吸引听众。
Material illustrating detailed structure of graptolites has been etched from limestone by means of hydrofluoric acid. 表明笔石详细构造的物质是利用氢氟酸从石灰岩中侵蚀出来。












10
lesser

  
 


adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地


参考例句：





Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。