Step 1: Intensive reading.
Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:
Question: Which actor read the letter in the end, the aristocrat or the gaoler?
Vocabulary:
run v. （戏剧， 电影等）连演，连映
gaoler n. 监狱长，看守
colleague n. 同事
lines n. （剧本中的）台词
curtain n. （舞台上的）幕布
part n. 剧中的角色
reveal v. 使显露
falter v. 支吾，结巴说
cell n. 单人监房，监号
cast (cast, cast) v. 选派 ……扮演角色
blank adj. 空白的
role n. 角色
squint v. 眯着（眼）看，瞄
aristocrat n. 贵族
dim adj. 昏暗
imprison v. 关押
sire n. （古用法）陛下
Bastille n. 巴士底狱
proceed v. 继续进行
Passage:
Some plays are so successful that they run for years on end. In many ways, this is
unfortunate for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the same lines
night after night. One would expect them to know their parts by heart and never have
cause to falter. Yet this is not always the case.
有些剧目十分成功，以致连续上演好几年。这样一来，可怜的演员们可倒霉了。
因为他们需要一夜连着一夜地重复同样的台词。人们以为，这些演员一定会把台
词背得烂熟，绝不会临场结巴的，但情况却并不总是这样。
Notes:
1 on end，连续不断的。
2 in many ways ，在许多方面。
3 go on repeating，继续重复。 go on 加上现在分词是“继续干”的意思。
4 Yet this is not always the case. 然而情况并非总是如此。
A famous actor in a highly successful play was once cast in the role of an aristocrat
who had been imprisoned in the Bastille for twenty years. In the last act, a gaoler
would always come on to the stage with a letter which he would hand to the prisoner.
Even though the noble was expected to read the letter at each performance, he always
insisted that it should be written out in full.
有一位名演员曾在一出极为成功的剧目中扮演一个贵族角色，这个贵族已在巴士
底狱被关押了 20 年。在最后一幕中，狱卒手持一封信上场，然后将信交给狱中
那位贵族。尽管那个贵族每场戏都得念一遍那封信，但他还是坚持要求将信的全
文写在信纸上。
Notes:
5 in the role of…，充当……角色。
6 Bastille，巴士底狱。曾是法国巴黎的监狱。1369 年始建时是一个要塞，1789
年被巴黎市民攻克并捣毁。
7 insisted that it should be written out in full, insist 后面所接的宾语从句，常用虚拟
语气 “should +动词原形”,而 should 又经常可以省略。
One night, the gaoler decided to play a joke on his colleague to find out if, after so
many performances, he had managed to learn the contents of the letter by heart. The
curtain went up on the final act of the play and revealed the aristocrat sitting alone
behind bars in his dark cell. Just then, the gaoler appeared with the precious letter in
his hands. He entered the cell and presented the letter to the aristocrat. But the copy he
gave him had not been written out in full as usual. It was simply a blank sheet of
paper. The gaoler looked on eagerly, anxious to see if his fellow actor had at last
learnt his lines. The noble stared at the blank sheet of paper for a few seconds. Then,
squinting his eyes, he said: ‘The light is dim. Read the letter to me. ’ And he promptly
handed the sheet of paper to the gaoler. Finding that he could not remember a word of
the letter either, the gaoler replied: ‘The light is indeed dim, sire. I must get my
glasses. ’ With this, he hurried off the stage. Much to the aristocrat's amusement, the
gaoler returned a few moments later with a pair of glasses and the usual copy of the
letter which he proceeded to read to the prisoner.
一天晚上，狱卒决定与他的同事开一个玩笑，看看他反复演出这么多场之后，是
否已将信的内容记熟了。大幕拉开，最后一幕戏开演，贵族独自一人坐在铁窗后
阴暗的牢房里。这时狱卒上场，手里拿着那封珍贵的信。狱卒走进牢房，将信交
给贵族。但这回狱卒给贵族的信没有像往常那样把全文写全，而是一张白纸。狱
卒热切地观察着，急于想了解他的同事是否记熟了台词。贵族盯着白纸看了几秒
种，然后，眼珠一转，说道：“光线太暗，请给我读一下这封信。”说完，他一下
子把信递给了狱卒。狱卒发现自己连一个字也记不住，于是便说：“陛下，这儿
光线的确太暗了，我得去把眼镜拿来。”他一边说着，一边匆匆下台。贵族感到
非常好笑的是：一会儿工夫，狱卒重新登台，拿来一副眼镜以及平时使用的那封
信，然后为那囚犯念了起来。
Notes:
8 play a joke on…，拿……开玩笑。
9 sire 是古代仆人对国王的一种尊称，现在仅用于故事和剧本。
10 Much to the aristocrat's amusement，使贵族感到非常可笑的是……。
much 为副词，此处修饰其后的介词短语 to the aristocrat's amusement. much to+
sb.'s sth. 是一个常见的状语短语，有“给某人带来很大的……”的意思。
22.2【阅读理解】By heart
Step 2: Comprehension questions.
1 How long do some plays run? (For years on end.)
2 Who is this sometimes unfortunate for? (The poor actors.)
3 Why? (Because they are required to go on repeating the same lines night after
night.)
4 Would you expect them to know their parts by heart? (Yes, you would.)
5 Is this always the case? (No, it isn't.)
6 What role was the famous actor cast in? (The role of an aristocrat.)
7 How long had the aristocrat been imprisoned for? (Twenty years.)
8 What would the gaoler hand to the prisoner in the last act? (A letter.)
9 When was the noble expected to read the letter? (At each performance.)
10 What did the actor always insist? (That the letter should be written out in full.)
11 What did the gaoler decide to do one night? (Play a joke on his colleague.)
12 What was the actor doing when the curtain went up on the final act? (He was
sitting alone behind bars in his cell.)
13 What happened then?(The gaoler appeared with the precious letter in his hands.)
14 What did the gaoler give the aristocrat instead of a letter written out in full?(A
blank piece of paper.)
15 How long did the aristocrat stare at the blank sheet of paper?(For a few seconds.)
16 Then what did he say?('The light is dim. Read the letter to me.')
17 Did he hand the sheet of paper to the gaoler? (Yes, he did.)
18 Why did the gaoler leave the stage? (Because he couldn't remember the words and
he couldn't see without his glasses.)
19 When did the gaoler return? (A few minutes later.)
20 What did the gaoler read to the prisoner? (A copy of the letter.)
22.3【拓展写作】By heart
Step 3: Composition
Write a composition of about 250 words using the ideas given below. Do not write
more than four paragraphs.
吗
Title: Six short weeks.
Introduction: A new play called ‘The world tomorrow’ to be shown. Highly
advertised — public interest— cast of famous actors.
Development: First night— play not well-received — supposed to be funny —
nobody laughed — people walked out— bad reviews.
Conclusion: The play ran for six weeks — last performance — small audience —
actors struggled through — the audience found the last line of the play very funny:
‘Our six short weeks have hastened to their end.’ Even the actors laughed.
Key to composition
Six short weeks
A couple of years ago, a new play called The World Tomorrow was going to be
shown in our local theatre. There was a great deal of advertising for it and there was
considerable public interest, mainly, I think, because the cast contained a number of
famous actors and actresses.
Most actors and actresses are usually nervous on the first night of any play, and
no one really knows what can go wrong or how the audience will react. In the case of
The World Tomorrow, no one forgot their lines, but the play was not well-received. It
was a comedy, so it was supposed to be funny, but nobody laughed-not in the right
places anyway -and people even walked out before the end. The cast suspected that
they would get bad reviews the following day, and they did. One review described it
as 'the saddest comedy I've ever seen'; another thought it was 'the most professionally
acted disaster we have ever seen on our local stage'.
In spite of the reviews, however, the play still ran for six weeks. The last
performance, on the last Saturday evening, attracted a small audience, and the actors
struggled through to the end. At the end of six terrible weeks, however, there was one
final moment of relief. When the last line was spoken: 'Our six short weeks have
hastened to their end,' the audience saw the funny side of it and laughed. Even the
actors and actresses laughed.
课外练习：
1 Which of the following proverbs suits the gist of the story best?
(a)He laughs best, who laughs last.
(b)Speech is silver, but silence is golden.
(c)Look before you leap.
(d)Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.
2 The play in which the two actors took part .
(a)had had a highly successful run of twenty years
(b)was about the plight of a nobleman
(c)ended with the imprisonment of the aristocrat
(d)had been performed so often that audiences were bored by it
3 When the aristocrat was presented with a blank sheet of paper, .
(a)he improvised the words which he had forgotten
(b)the gaoler was eagerly waiting to take the aristocrat's part
(c)he pretended that the light was not good enough for him to read by
(d)he asked the gaoler to fetch him some glasses
4 A gaoler would come on stage with a letter to the prisoner.(ll.7-8)
(a)to be delivering
(b)and delivered
(c)to deliver
(d)delivered
5 He always insisted in full.
(a)on its being written out
(b)on writing it out
(c)to have it written out
(d)that it would have to be written out
6-to find out if he the contents of the letter by heart.
(a)had known
(b)was knowing
(c)knew
(d)know
7 But he gave which had not been written out in full.
(a)the copy to him
(b)a copy him
(c)him a copy
(d)him the copy
8 remember a word of the letter, so he replied ...
(a)But neither could the gaoler
(b)Nor the gaoler could
(c)Also the gaoler could not
(d)Either the gaoler could not
9 The gaoler decided to his colleague.
(a)have a joke with
(b)play the fool with
(c)make fun of
(d)play a trick on
10 He wanted to see if his fellow actor had learnt his lines.
(a)lastly
(b)in the end
(c)conclusively
(d)finally
11 Then, about him, he said,.….
(a)searching
(b)peering
(c)blinking
(d)staring
12 Agreeing that the light was dim, the gaoler he would get his glasses.
(a)spoke
(b)informed
(c)said
(d)rejoined
答案：1a 2c 3c 4c 5a 6c 7c 8a 9d 10d 11b 12c