大学英语六级听力练习bbc随身英语(8)

　　Look Behind You! 就在你身后! 　　In winter in Britain, many children and adults enjoy going to the theatre to watch a pantomime. Pantomimes are a very old form of entertainment, but the modern version is as popular as ever. 　　Pantomimes today originate from a type of light, popular, comedy play from 16th Century Italy. Some aspects of modern pantomime date from this time, for example having stock characters who appear in different stories. 　　Pantomimes started to be performed in England in the 17th Century, and it was here that the comedy developed into slapstick - a clownish, physical comedy characterised by people falling over or fighting in a silly way. 　　In the 19th Century, Grimaldi, a famous clown, introduced the tradition of audience participation, a very important aspect of modern pantomime. He established catch phrases, which the audience would respond to by shouting a known response. 　　There are two very well-known catch phrases in modern British pantomime. The first is that a character will pretend not to see his enemy and ask the audience where he is. The audience shout out Look behind you! The second is where a character pretends to have an argument with the audience using phrases like Oh yes I did and Oh no you didnt! 　　Pantomimes are based on folk stories or fairy tales like Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk or Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The performances often include songs or music. 　　There are two stock characters who feature in almost every pantomime. The first is thepantomime dame, an older woman such as an aunt, usually played by a man. She usually has an outrageous costume and a bawdy sense of humour. 　　In addition, there is often a male character played by a young woman, called the principal boy. This is usually the hero of the story. The fact that actors are playing roles of the wrong gender is part of the joke. 　　Often, celebrities from the world of TV or pop music take leading roles in pantomimes, or pantos. You will find a pantomime in almost every theatre in Britain in wintertimeOh yes you will! 　　GLOSSARY 词汇表 　　pantomime 　　话剧 　　originate from 　　起源于 　　date from 　　起始于 　　stock character 　　固定角色 　　slapstick 　　闹剧, 滑稽戏 　　clownish 　　滑稽的 　　physical comedy 　　喜剧 　　clown 　　小丑 　　audience participation 　　观众的参与 　　catch phrases 　　口头禅, 套话 　　character 　　角色 　　based on 　　以为基础, 基于 　　folk stories 　　民间故事 　　fairy tales 　　神话故事 　　pantomime dame 　　话剧的女主角之一, 通常是指年岁较大的那位 　　played by 　　由来演 　　bawdy 　　淫猥的, 下流的 　　principal boy 　　话剧的男主角 　　actors 　　演员 　　celebrities 　　社会名流