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TPO5托福听力Lecture4原文文本
Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in a literature class.
Professor: Now we can't really talk about fairy tales without first talking about folktales because there's a strong connection between these two genres, these two types of stories. In fact, many fairy tales started out as folktales. So, what's a folktale?How would you characterize them? Jeff?
Jeff: Well, they are old stories, traditional stories. They were passed down orally within cultures from generation to generation, so they changed a lot over time. I mean, every storyteller, or, maybe every town, might have had a slightly different version of the same folktale.
Professor: That's right. There's local difference. And that's why we say folktales are communal. By communal, we mean they reflect the traits and the concerns of a particular community at a particulartime. So essentially the same tale could be told in different communities, with certain aspects of the tale adapted to fit the specific community. Um, not the plot, the details of what happens in the story would remain constant. That was the thread that held the tale together. But all the other elements, like the location or characters, might be modified for each audience.
Okay. So what about fairy tales? They also are found in most cultures, but how are they different from folktales? I guess the first question is: what is a fairy tale? And don’t anyone say “a story with a fairy in it” because we all know that very few fairy tales actually have those tiny magical creatures in them. But, what else can we say about them? Mary.
Mary: Well, they seem to be less realistic than folktales…like they have something improbablehappening - a frog turning into a prince, say. Oh, that's another common element, royalty - a prince or princess. And fairy tales all seem to take place in a location that's nowhere and everywhere at the same time.
Professor: What's the line-up? How do all those stories start? Once upon a time, in a faraway land... oh, in the case of folktales, each storyteller would specify a particular location and time, though the time and location would differ for different storytellers. With fairy tales, however, the location is generally unspecified, no matter who the storyteller is. That land far away... We'll come back to this point in a few minutes.
Student: Um... I, I thought that a fairy tale was just a written version of an oral folktale.
Professor: Well, not exactly, though that is how many fairy tales developed. For example, in the late 18th century, the Grimm Brothers traveled throughout what's now Germany, recording local folktales. These were eventually published as fairy tales, but not before undergoing a process of evolution. Now, a number of things happen when an oral tale gets written down.
First, the language changes. It becomes more formal, more standard - some might say, "Less colorful". It's like the difference in your language depending on whether you are talking to someone, or writing them a letter.
Second, when an orally transmitted story is written down, an authoritative version with a recognized author is created. The communal aspect gets lost. The tale no longer belongs to the community. It belongs to the world, so to speak. Because of this, elements like place and time can no longer be tailored to suit a particular audience. So they become less identifiable, more generalizable to any audience.
On the other hand, descriptions of characters and settings can be developed more completely. In folktales, characters might be identified by a name, but you wouldn't know anything more about them. But in fairy tales, people no longer have to remember plots. They're written down, right? So more energy can be put into other elements of the story like character and setting.
So you get more details about the characters, about where the action takes place, what people's houses were like, ur, whether they're small cabins or grand palaces. And it's worth investing that energy because the story, now in book form, isn't in danger of being lost. Those details won't be forgotten. If a folktale isn't repeated by each generation, it may be lost for all time. But with a fairy tale, it's always there in a book, waiting to be discovered, again and again.
Another interesting difference involves the change in audience. Who the stories are meant for? Contrary to what many people believe today, folktales were originally intended for adults, not for children. So, why is it that fairy tales seem targeted toward children nowadays?
TPO5托福听力Lecture4题目文本
Question 1 of 6
What is the lecture mainly about?
A. Oral traditions in folktales and fairy tales.
B. Common characters and plots in folktales and fairy tales.
C. Differences between folktales and fairy tales.
D. Hidden meaning in folktales and fairy tales.
Question 2 of 6
What does the professor mean when he says that folktales are communal?
A. They vary little form one community to another.
B. They serve to strengthen tiles among individuals within a community.
C. They relate important events in the history of a community.
D. They can be adapted to meet the needs of a community.
Question 3 of 6
Why does the professor clarify the concept of a “fairy tale”?
A. To explain the origins of the term “fairy tale”.
B. To eliminate a possible definition of the term” fairy tale”.
C. To support a claim about the function of fairy tales.
D. To indicate that fairies are a major element in fairy tale.
Question 4 of 6
What does the professor say about the setting of fairy tales?
A. The tales are usually set in a nonspecific location.
B. The location is determined by the country of origin of a tale.
C. The tales are set in a location familiar to the author.
D. A storyteller varies the location of a tale depending on the audience.
Question5 of 6
In the lecture, the professor discusses characteristics of folktales and fairy tales. Indicate the characteristics of each type of tale.
A.FolktalesB.Fairy Tales
Their appeal is now mainly to children.
The plot is the only stable element.
The tales are transmitted orally.
There is one accepted version.
Characters are well developed.
The language is relatively formal.
Question 6 of 6
playWhy does the professor say this?
A. To support the student’s statement.
B. To ask the student to clarify her statement.
C. To find out if the students know what story the line comes from.
D. To clarify the relationship between time and space in fairy tales.
TPO5托福听力Lecture4答案解析
Question 1 of 6
正确答案：C
题目解析：第一句教授就说如果不提到folk tales就很难分析fairy tales 之后开始In fact, many fairy tales started out as folk tales.将两者进行对比，也就是C。重点不是hidden meaning 因为只有一句带过，因此D错误。
Question2 of 6
正确答案：D
题目解析：因folktales具有地域性，因此它会随着地域的特征而逐渐改变也就是They can be adapted to meet the needs of a community。选D它并不能增强community中的个人关系因此B错误。
Question 3 of 6
正确答案：B
题目解析：教授强调了fairytales的具体定义显然就是And don?t anyone say “a story with a fairy in it”要排除一些笼统或不正确的定义。因此选B。very few fairy tales actually have those tiny magical creatures in them.说明fairy并不是主要的，因此D错误。
Question 4 of 6
正确答案：A
题目解析：Folktales具有地域性但是fairytales并没有，这也就是professor在说the setting of fairy tales所强调的，因此选A。author很多是无法确定的因此C错误。
Question 5 of 6
正确答案：BAABBB
题目解析：两分题。需要根据原文内容匹配类型，有一定难度。
Question 6 of 6
正确答案：A
题目解析：从教授的论断中看出他其实是在支持Mary的说法Well, they seem to be less realistic than folk tales…like they have something improbable happening - a frog turning into a prince, say。因此选A。并没有再要求该学生进一步阐明所以B错误。
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