托福考前练习题 带解析

　　In seeking to describe the origins of theater, one must rely primarily on speculation, sincethere is little concrete evidence on which to draw. The most widely accepted theory,championed by anthropologists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, envisionstheater as emerging out of myth and ritual. The process perceived by these anthropologistsmay be summarized briefly. During the early stages of its development, a society becomesaware of forces that appear to influence or control its food supply and well-being. Having littleunderstanding of natural causes, it attributes both desirable and undesirable occurrences tosupernatural or magical forces, and it searches for means to win the favor of these forces.Perceiving an apparent connection between certain actions performed by the group and theresult it desires, the group repeats, refines and formalizes those actions into fixed ceremonies,or rituals.

　　Stories (myths) may then grow up around a ritual. Frequently the myths includerepresentatives of those supernatural forces that the rites celebrate or hope to influence.Performers may wear costumes and masks to represent the mythical characters orsupernatural forces in the rituals or in accompanying celebrations. As a person becomes moresophisticated, its conceptions of supernatural forces and causal relationships may change. Asa result, it may abandon or modify some rites. But the myths that have grown up around therites may continue as part of the group's oral tradition and may even come to be acted outunder conditions divorced from these rites. When this occurs, the first step has been takentoward theater as an autonomous activity, and thereafter entertainment and aesthetic valuesmay gradually replace the former mystical and socially efficacious concerns.

　　Although origin in ritual has long been the most popular, it is by no means the only theoryabout how the theater came into being. Storytelling has been proposed as one alternative.Under this theory, relating and listening to stories are seen as fundamental human pleasures.Thus, the recalling of an event (a hunt, battle, or other feat) is elaborated through thenarrator's pantomime and impersonation and eventually through each role being assumedby a different person.

　　A closely related theory sees theater as evolving out of dances that are primarily pantomimic,rhythmical or gymnastic, or from imitations of animal noises and sounds. Admiration for theperformer's skill, virtuosity, and grace are seen as motivation for elaborating the activities intofully realized theatrical performances.

　　In addition to exploring the possible antecedents of theater, scholars have also theorizedabout the motives that led people to develop theater. Why did theater develop, and why was itvalued after it ceased to fulfill the function of ritual? Most answers fall back on the theoriesabout the human mind and basic human needs. One, set forth by Aristotle in the fourth centuryB.C., sees humans as naturally imitative-as taking pleasure in imitating persons, things, andactions and in seeing such imitations. Another, advanced in the twentieth century, suggeststhat humans have a gift for fantasy, through which they seek to reshape reality into moresatisfying forms than those encountered in daily life. Thus, fantasy or fiction (of which dramais one form) permits people to objectify their anxieties and fears, confront them, and fulfilltheir hopes in fiction if not fact. The theater, then, is one tool whereby people define andunderstand their world or escape from unpleasant realities.