TheMonster怪才综合英语4

1、The MonsterUnit 8Film episode: A Beautiful Mind1. Why did Thomas say “these are special circumstances”? 2. Do you think that geniuses are a mixture of madness? Can you tell the unusual thing in them?Answers for reference: Because Nash was suffering from schizophrenia精神分裂症 , which made him different

2、from other people, but he really achieved a lot. Thomas just wanted to make sure that Nash would behave normally if he really won the Nobel Prize. Actually, geniuses are normal people too. They may have a mad or eccentric side, but they have other sides at the same time. Therefore, we should not jud

3、ge them from just one side.Wilhelm Richard Wagner22May1813,Leipzig13February1883,VeniceGerman opera composer, conductor and musical writer. Works:13 operas (music dramas)Orchestral musicPiano music, vocal music, choral music 威廉理查德瓦格纳（德语：Wilhelm Richard Wagner，1813年5月22日1883年2月13日），德国作曲家、剧作家、指挥家、德国作曲

4、家、剧作家、指挥家、哲学家哲学家。他是德国歌剧史上一位举足轻重的人物。前面承接莫扎特、贝多芬的歌剧传统，后面开启了后浪漫主义歌剧作曲潮流，理查德施特劳斯紧随其后。同时，因为他在政治、宗教方面思想的复杂性，成为欧洲音乐史上最具争议的人物。在德国音乐界，瓦格纳具有宏伟的气魄和巨大的改革精神，他顽强地制定并实施自己的目标与计划，改革歌剧、倡导乐剧，从而奠定了在音乐史上的地位。同时，在世界音乐史上也几乎找不到像瓦格纳那样，在世界观、创作之间存在明显矛盾的音乐家。主要代表作品：他创作的主要领域是歌剧，包括尼伯龙根的指环（莱茵的黄金、女武神、齐格弗里德、众神的黄昏）、特里斯坦与伊索尔德、漂泊的荷兰人、罗恩

5、格林、汤豪瑟、黎恩济、纽伦堡的名歌手、帕西法尔等，另外还有管弦乐曲浮士德序曲等。Idea True drama can be conceived only as resulting from the collective impulse of all the arts to communicate in the most immediate way with a collective public. Thus especially the art of tone, developed with such singular diversity in instrumental music, wil

6、l realize in the collective artwork its richest potential - will indeed incite the pantomimic哑剧的art of dancing in turn to wholly new discoveries and inspire the breath of poetry no less to an undreamed-of fullness. For in its isolation music has formed itself an organ capable of the most immeasurabl

7、e expression - the orchestra.管弦乐队GesamptkunstwerkWagner changed the concept of opera by viewing it as a total art work (Gesamptkunstwerk). the synthesis of all the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic artsepitomized by his monumental four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (1876).歌剧歌剧尼尼伯龙根的指环伯龙根的指环

8、 (The Ring of the Nibelung)To try to stage these works as he imagined them, Wagner built his own opera house, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.Leitmotif （音乐的）主旋律，主导主题Musically, this was reflected in the idea of the Leitmotif, a musical theme that stands for a person, thing or idea. Wagners music dramas ar

9、e seamless webs of these musical ideas, with the music itself telling as much of the story as the action on the stage. the lietmotif idea allowed for continuous and flexible development throughout the production接触瓦格纳歌剧,必须了解熟悉乃至牢记他歌剧作曲的创新手法,主导动机,简单来说,这就是某个角色,某个事物,或者某个场景第一次出现时赋予它并代表它的一段简短的固定旋律,当全剧中与这个

10、角色,这个事物,这个场景有关的情节再次出现时,该旋律就会再次响起,提醒大家唱段中某个情节正在被叙述,这样即使完全不懂歌词,只要记熟各个动机的原型,凭借聆听动机在全剧中的再次出现,就能推测剧情的进展和唱词.Subject matter The subject matter of these works were to be the indigenous myths and legends of the German people, such as the famous Ride of the Valkyries, which depicts the daughters of the god Wo

11、tan riding their steeds through a storm, bearing the bodies of slain warriors to Valhalla. 女武神“瓦尔基丽”（古诺斯语：Valkyrja）是北欧神话里登场的狄丝（Dsir）女神（半神）。英文为 Valkyrie,德文中为Walkre. 她们一般是来自地上国王的女儿，或是奥丁自己的女儿，或是发誓侍神而被诸神选中上天的战士。他们被称为“奥丁的侍女”，她们在战场上赐与战死者美妙的一吻，并引领他们带往英灵殿（Valhalla）。这么做的目的是为了在诸神的黄昏来临之前，扩充神域的兵力以应付战场所需。这些瓦尔基莉都

12、是美丽的少女，有着漂亮的白臂和飘扬的金黄长发。戴著金盔或银盔，穿血红色的紧身战袍，头上戴著以羽毛装饰或鸟翼型的头盔，拿着发光的矛和盾，骑小巧精悍的白马。一般相信她们是雾或云的拟人化。而她们骑的白马，人们想像马的鬃毛间能够落下霜和露，因此这些马也受到人们尊敬。这些白马驰骤于空中，奔过那道长长的虹桥，不仅背负着它们那美丽的主人，而且也要背负战死的勇士。在北欧人看来，瓦尔基丽们和她们的马都是有惠于人类的。而北极光（Northern Light, Aurora Borealis）有时亦被认为是瓦尔基丽们驱马在夜空中奔驰时，铠甲和盾牌闪耀的光芒。女武神的飞驰（Ride of the Valkyries）

13、The Ride of the Valkyries (German: Ritt der Walkren) is the popular term for the beginning of Act III of Die Walkre, the second of the four operas by Richard Wagner that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen. In the opera-house, the Ride, which takes around eight minutes, begins in the prelude to the Act

14、, building up successive layers of accompaniment until the curtain rises to reveal a mountain peak where four of the eight Valkyrie sisters of Brnnhilde have gathered in preparation for the transportation of fallen heroes to Valhalla. 女武神“瓦尔基丽”（古诺斯语：Valkyrja）女武神的飞驰（Ride of the Valkyries）是瓦格纳著名歌剧尼伯龙根

15、的指环中最经典的乐曲之一。这是一段幕间音乐，像一幅宏伟的壁画，表现了女武神们骑着带翅膀的骏马在云霄之间驰骋的形象，她们的武器在闪电中闪烁，她们呼啸的笑声与雷鸣混成了一片在这段音乐中，瓦格纳充分发挥了以长号、小号为主的铜管乐器的音色，在乐队的伴奏下，辉煌的金属声音表现了女武神在空中飞行时的飘逸和潇洒，具有浓厚的神话色彩和宇宙空间的感觉。这段音乐的表现力如此之强，以致后来很多影视作品需要表现场面力度尤其是军事场面时经常用到，最经典的就是美国著名导演科波拉在其反映越战对人的心灵摧残的影片现代启示录中的一段：美军驾驶着直升飞机对着地面的越南平民疯狂扫射时，直升飞机上的扩音器里播放的就是这首女武神的飞驰

16、。电影锅盖头，教父，甚至著名的PC游戏星际争霸中，都曾出现过。瓦格纳（Wagner）以他最偏激的情绪，最极端的个性，最天才的想象力，谱写这些很长篇幅的歌剧。他的音乐冲动、激昂、近乎谵妄，令追随者亢奋乃至疯狂。在聆听经典剧目女武神的飞驰时，往往令人联想到的是天界之门敞开，天使拥簇着诸神降临的景象，又或者是数十万东征十字军摇起十字大旗齐步开拔的场面。正是这样的想象，瓦格纳在世人眼中兼具了神与魔的双重形象。http:/ The Monster A monster is any of a large number of legendary creatures which usually appear

17、in mythology, legend, and horror fiction. The word originates from the ancient Latin monstrum, meaning omen, from the root of monere (to warn) and also meaning prodigy or miracle.Summary The text describes the famous musician named Richard Wagner who seems to have rolled all kinds of demerits into o

18、ne, a real monster. But it justifies all the peculiar behaviors of Wagner and according to the text, Wagner, as one of the worlds greatest dramatists, a great thinker, and one of the most stupendous musical geniuses, has every reason to be a monster. The tremendous creative power, which propelled hi

19、m to produce so many memorable works in his little span of life , could have crushed his poor brain and body.However, he miraculously survived and made all the immortal accomplishments.In this sense he was a monster rather than a human being.In what sense may Wagner be said to be a monster?a monster

20、 of conceit vs. a great genius Delusions of grandeurMonster of conceitBelieved himself to be one of the greatest dramatistsOne of the greatest thinkersOne of the greatest composersMost exhausting conversationalist Right in so many waysHad theories about almost any subject under the sunAlmost innocen

21、t of any sense of responsibilityAn endless procession of womenRight all the timeOne of the worlds greatest dramatistsA great thinkerOne of the most stupendous musical geniusesthe worlds had ever seenOwe him a living Structure This text can be divided into three parts. Part IPart II Part III describe

22、 a man who seems to have rolled all kinds of demerits into one, a real monster. clarifies who this monster really is, i.e. a famous musician by the name of Richard Wagner.justify all the peculiar behaviors of Richard Wagner. He, as “one of the worlds greatest dramatists a great thinker one of the mo

23、st stupendous musical geniuses”, has every reason to be a monsterparagraph 1-9 paragraph 10paragraph 11-13Punctuation 1. Commas: we use commas to set off an inserted part that interrupts the sentence only slightly.2. dashes: we use dashes when we want to emphasize the insertion or when we want to se

24、t off a series used as an appositive同位语with commas in it.3. Brackets: we use brackets when we want to add inessential information that often goes to a footnote.Why do you think the writer postpones the presentation of the monsters name till the 10th paragraph?To use the terminology of functional lin

25、guistics and discourse analysis, this use of HE is anaphoric指代in nature.1. The repetitious use of the third person pronoun he creates suspense in the readers mind. This is one of the effective ways to hold the readers attention and make him move on.2. helps the reader to draw a picture of Richard Wa

26、gner faithful to the reality.Presenting Ws names first may interfere with their objective conclusion on what kind of person W really was.Para 1 appearance1. In what way was Wagner physically odd?2. Does the mans appearance, described in the first paragraph, give one any impression of “grandeur”?phys

27、icallyHe had a short stature with a disproportionately large head. And he had skin diseases.undersizedunder-pref.underground.1. Beneath or below in position: undersecretary.副部长，副国务卿2. Inferior or subordinate in rank or importance: undersized.3. Less in degree, rate, or quantity than normal or proper

28、 Syn. small, diminutive, little, miniature, minute, petite, tiny, These adjectives mean being notably below the average in size or magnitude: a small house; diminutive in stature; little hands; a miniature camera; minute errors; a petite figure; tiny feet; Appearance No.He is a little man with the s

29、ign of illness, sick in both body and nerves.This is by no means an appearance that may bring one a sense of grandeur. Then what makes the man with such a poor look have “delusions of grandeur”?The only explanation is that he is “a monster of conceit”And he had delusions of grandeur and he had a fal

30、se belief that he was a man of importance. delusiona false belief or opinion.That sick man is under the delusion that he is Napoleon.delusional adj; delusive adj; delusively adv; delusiveness ndelusions of grandeurthe belief that you are much more important or powerful than you really are Delusion v

31、s. illusion vs. disillusion a delusion is a deeply held false belief that is maintained even when other information contradicts the belief. The contradictory information is either ignored completely or discounted in some way. An illusion is a misleading perception, usually visual. You see something,

32、 but you consistently misjudge its length, shape, motion or direction. disillusion - freeing from false belief or illusionsAn illusion is a perceptual disturbance,while a delusion is a belief disturbance.Para 2-3 mindHe was a monster of conceit and how?An unusual person with excessive self-prideTo p

33、rove his conceit, the second Para. describes home as so egocentric that he cared about nothing but himself; He had such a strong sense of self-appreciation that he saw himself not just as the greatest musician, polemist and philosopher, but also as the worlds finest living poet and playwright.And th

34、e third paragraph tells that he never expected criticism or allowed disagreement. What kinds of grammatical devices are used to emphasize the extreme extent of his peculiar conceit?1. Inverted sentenceNever fordid2. The superlative forms of adjectives.Greatest; most Never for one minute did he look

35、at the world or at people, except in relation to himself.Concerning; with regard toHe had never cared about other people and thins in this world if they had nothing to do with him.To hear him talk, he was Shakespeare, and Beethoven, and Plato, rolled into one.Combined with their main features.Integr

36、ate several tints or features into one.He was often heard to boast of being a genius with a combined quality of Shakespeare, the greatest dramatist, Beethoven, the greatest composer and Plato, the greatest philosopher. Why did he always take himself as the center of his conversations?He believed he

37、was one of the greatest men in the world, a great composer, a great thinker and a great dramatist combined into one. A man of such arrogance cannot help but take himself as the center of conversations. How would he respond to disagreement?If anyone showed slight disagreement with him, he would make

38、a lengthy and aggressive speech for hours to prove himself to be in the right.This would force his dazed and deafened hearers to surrender. He had a mania for being in the rightHe has an extremely strong desire of being right .Mania : An excessively intense enthusiasm, interest, or desire; a crazema

39、niac n : an insane (and dangerous) person; a madman Manic adj : of, or suffering from, mania Syn.obsession, passion, thing (informal), desire, rage, enthusiasm, craving, preoccupation, craze, fadin the right vindicated, right, justified, with the law on your side The slightest hint of disagreement,

40、from anyone, on the most trivial point, was enough to set him off on a harangue that might last for hoursIf anyone disagreed with him, no matter how small the sign of disagreement was and how trivial the point is, he would make a lengthy speech for hours to prove himself right. set someone off: upse

41、t, make angry, discompose set off on somethingto begin on a journey or expedition. HarangueA long pompous speech, especially one delivered before a gathering.To deliver a harangue (to).Volubility Voluble Marked by a ready flow of speech; fluent.volubility the quality of being facile in speech and wr

42、itingSyn. talkative, articulate, fluent, For the sake offor someone (or somethings) sake for the purpose or benefit of someone or something; to satisfy the demands of someone or something.The teacher repeated the assignment for the sake of the slower students.Do you want to have lunch together somet

43、ime, just for old times sake?if you do something for old times sake, you do it in order to remember a happy time in the past For Gods sake, Eleanor, what happened to your hair?also for Gods sakesI am surprised or annoyed by this for Christs sake It never occurred to him that he and his doing were no

44、t of the most intense and fascinating interest to anyone with whom he came in contact. He had never thought whether other people around him would have as great interest in him and his doing as he himself did. occur to someonefor an idea or thought to come into someones mind. come in(to) contact (wit

45、h someone or something) to meet up with and learn about someone or something. What kind of versatile man is he?Besides his activity as a composer and a librettist W wrote an astonishing number of books and articles, in fact about 230 titles. His literary spectrum ranges from theories of opera to pol

46、itical programs.He has been classified as an anarchist and a socialist and, simultaneously, as a proto-fascist and a nationalist, as a vegetarian and an anti-Semite反犹太分子In fact, his name has appeared in connection with almost all major trends in German history of the 19th and 20th century.How does t

47、he writer describe him as an emotional person?He had a mood as changeable as a six-year-old child.For example, he would get mad when st. was against his desire, and forget all about it when st. pleasant happed. And he would be grieved on one occasion but become merciless on another. When he felt out

48、 of sorts, he would rave and stamp, and sink into suicidal gloom and talk darkly of going to the EastIn a bad temper; feeling unwell or annoyedRave about someone or something 1. to rage in anger about someone or something. 2. to sing the praises of someone or something. rave over someone or somethin

49、gto recite praises for someone or something. Fall into gloomy state which makes one wish to kill himselfIn a vaguely threatening or menacing mannerHe could be grief-stricken over the death of a pet dog, and could be callous and heartless to a degree that would have made a Roman emperor shudder.Overc

50、ome with, characterized, or resulting from great sorrow-strickendeeply affected, overwhelmed or afflictedPanic-stricken, conscience-stricken, poverty-strickenAnd could be so merciless that even the cruel Roman emperor would have felt fearfulHow was he financially supported? Did he earn himself a goo

51、d living with his great talents?He lived on others money.Through his life, he found many benefactors, among whom King Ludwig II and Otto Wesendonck were two of the most generous ones.In 1864 King Ludwig II, his greatest benefactor, invited him to settle in Bavaria, near Munich, discharging all his d

52、ebts and providing him with money.Another generous patron Otto, whose wife was stolen away by Wagner, supported him economically by buying the publishing rights of his works.However, later it turned out that he had to give up his publishing rights because W had sold them again to others.Although the

53、se benefactors had provided him with a great sum of money and never got any repayment, W kept living in debts and in a narrow escape from being thrown into jail for debts because he was a lavish spender.Ludwig II of BavariaThe young king, an ardent admirer of Wagners operas since childhood, had the

54、composer brought to Munich. He settled Wagners considerable debts, and made plans to have his new operas produced. Wagner also began to dictate his autobiography, Mein Leben, at the Kings request.Mathilde Wesendonck (23 December 1828 31 August 1902)Wagner met the Wesendoncks in Zrich in 1852. Otto,

55、a fan of Wagners music, placed a cottage on his estate at Wagners disposal. By 1857, Wagner had become infatuated with Mathilde.Though Mathilde seems to have returned some of his affections, she had no intention of jeopardizing her marriage, and kept her husband informed of her contacts with WagnerH

56、e was almost innocent of any sense of responsibility.He almost had no sense of responsibility.Be innocent ofUninformed; unaware; ignorant He was convinced that the world owed him a living.He firmly believed that the world had to support him for a living. owe something (to someone) (for something)to

57、be under obligation to pay or repay someone for something. I owe forty dollars to Ann for the dinner. He wrote begging letters by the score, sometimes groveling without shame, at other loftily offering his intended benefactor the privilege of contributing to his support, and being mortally offended

58、if the recipient declined the honor.Large numbers of; a great manyBe shamefully humble and eager to pleaseIn a manner showing belief of being better than other peopleHe wrote large numbers of letters begging for money. In some letters he was servile without shame, and in other letters he loftily off

59、ered his targeted benefactor the privilege of contributing to his support. If the recipient refused to accept his offer, i.e. refused to lend him money, he would fly into a rage. grovel before someone or somethingto prostrate oneself before someone or something. The peasant groveled before the lord

60、of the manor.grovel to someoneto kneel in deference to someone; to kowtow to someone. You dont have to grovel to me!What money he could lay his hands on he spent like an Indian rajah.Whatever money coming into his hands he spent lavishly like an Indian ruler did. lay a hand on st. to acquire or gain