passage 18 贝拉斯科的作品太写实，不够极简主义
★★★
文章讲解：
①David Belasco’s 1912 Broadway production of The Governor’s Lady created a sensation with a scene set in a Child’s cafeteria, a chain restaurant that was an innovator in food standardization and emblematic of modern everyday life. 【事实】②While Belasco’s meticulously detailed reproduction of an immediately recognizable setting impressed the public, it was derided by progressive theater critics who championed the New Stagecraft theories of European artists like Max Reinhardt. ③The New Stagecraft rejected theatrical literalism; it drew inspiration from the subjectivity and minimalism of modern painters, advocating simplified sets designed to express a dramatic text’s central ideas. ④Such critics considered Belasco a craftsman who merely captured surface realities: a true artist eliminated the inessential to create more meaningful, expressive stage images.
① ↔ ②
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③
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④
1. The author of the passage implies which of the following about Belasco’s production of The Governor’s Lady? 推断+作者态度，定位①，答题在②，因为题干要找态度，而①句是事实。
D
A. It was dismissed by certain theater critics who misunderstood Belasco’s conception of modernity. NE
B. It was intended to marshal elements of the New Stagecraft to serve Belasco’s predilection for realistic staging. 相反（阵营）/ NE
C. It demonstrated that theatrical literalism could be used effectively to express a dramatic text’s central ideas. RE/NE
D. It elicited responses that reflected a discrepancy between popular tastes in entertainment and the tastes of progressive theater critics.
E. It relied on the appeal of an impressively realistic stage set to compensate for weaknesses in other aspects of the production. 用现实布景来弥补其他方面的不足。NE
marshal 整理，引领
predilection 偏好，喜好
2. It can be inferred that the theater critics would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about the theatrical productions? 推断+他人态度
B
A. Theatrical productions that seek to eliminate the inessential also often eliminate theatrical elements that enhance the expressiveness of a play. NE/RE，③句中这样人是认为极简更能反映主旨的
B. Theatrical productions that faithfully recreate the visual details of everyday life are unlikely to do justice to a good play’s central ideas.
C. Theatrical productions that employ the minimalism characteristic of modern paintings may have greater appeal to modern audiences than productions that rely on theatrical literalism. NE
D. Theatrical productions that aim to represent truths about modern life should not attempt to employ elements of the New Stagecraft. NE/IR/RE
E. Theatrical productions that attempt to produce authentic-looking scenes of everyday reality are likely to fail in that goal because of the theater’s inherent limitations. NE
背景拓展：
David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story Madame Butterfly for the stage, and he launched the theatrical career of many actors. Belasco pioneered many innovative new forms of stage lighting and special effects in order to create realism and naturalism.
美国演剧史上第一位重要导演，推进写实主义戏剧发展的革新人物，主张在舞台上创造生活幻觉。贝拉斯库对舞台灯光非常重视，并且富于实验精神，他对写实戏剧如何运用与舞台灯光创造自然幻觉，进行了大量的、卓有成效的创造性活动。美国戏剧评论家蒙特罗斯·摩西斯给他一个称号“配电盘心理学家”，以此暗示他的特殊贡献。尽管贝拉斯库由于受写实主义艺术观支配，对舞台美术外部形象的创造，沉醉于对自然界照相式效果的追求，而逐渐走向自然主义极端，但是他在推进舞台灯光发展方面还是有重要贡献的。
The Governor's Lady is a 1912 play written by Alice Bradley, directed by David Belasco and produced by Belasco and his son-in-law David Elliott. It is known for its unconventional set.
After previews in Philadelphia and WashingtonThe Governor's Lady opened at Belasco's Republic Theatre in New York on September 10, 1912. Emma Dunn and Emmett Corrigan starred as Mary and Dan Slade, Gladys Hanson played Katherine Strickland and Milton Sills played Robert Hayes. The three-act contemporary domestic drama dealt with topics of rising social status and the then-little-discussed topic of divorce. The reasonably well-reviewed and moderately commercially successful play ran 135 performances. It is primarily known as an example of Belasco's theatrical naturalism, because he recreated a Childs Restaurant on stage using materials and food from the actual restaurant chain rather than conventional representative stage scenery.
