The history of drama

 You are going to read the introduction to a book by Helen Thornton about the history of drama. For questions 31-36, choose the answer (A, B, e or O) which you think fits best according to the text.

 

Introduction

 

Any writer who boldly attempts to write a history of drama, covering every corner of the world in which the genre has flourished, risks ending up with egg on his or her face, and remaindered copies of the book selling for next to nothing. After all, there already exist a number of excellent works on the subject, so I have to ask myself, have I come to the party empty-handed? That would indeed be humiliating.

 

I am, I hope, realistic enough to accept that yet another history of drama is unlikely to disturb the bestseller lists; all I can do is rely on the casual browser in a bookshop or book-selling website to read a page or two of this work and feel sufficiently intrigued to want to read more - whether or not they are persuaded by my opinions. I hope to convey something of the fascination I have long experienced for drama, in the belief that enthusiasm, like measles, is catching.

 

The idea of writing this book came to me five years ago, sparked by reading, in a single sitting, James K. Hyde's slim volume that purported to trace the historical development of drama around the world, but in fact played down the value of any plays that have not survived in written form, or are in languages other than Hyde's own. His attitude - and the fact that he simply couldn't see the value of so much work that can, however loosely, be termed 'drama' - infuriated me to such a degree that I couldn't sleep. In the small hours of the morning, I made up my mind to write my own book, to counterbalance his very circumscribed view of 'good drama'. That decision made, I calmed down and fell asleep.

 

When I woke the following morning, I was aghast at my foolhardiness. I am far from being an expert on world drama: my particular field is the plays of ancient Greece and Rome. In relation to the drama of other times and places, I have a lively interest, but there are serious gaps in my knowledge. Hence the five-year gestation period that the book has undergone, a period that has seen me carry out a great deal of research, both in libraries and in theatres around the world.

 

Writing a book like this requires ground rules, one of which is a decision as to whether it should be 'academic', 'popular' or something in between - whatever that may be. As an academic myself, teaching university students of drama, I am under some pressure to write for my colleagues in the field, complete with quotations in the original Greek, Chinese or Sanskrit, footnotes on every page, and a long bibliography in an appendix, listing the numerous sources I have drawn on. That may look good on my CV when I apply for promotion at my university, but it would attract a tiny readership - and I'm arrogant enough to want my labours to be recognised and appreciated by many, on the basis that the harder I've worked, the more readers and - I must confess - praise I want. So that was the road I went down.

 

In this book, I have aimed to consider a representative sample of plays, of whatever length and written in whatever language. Not to mention plays that haven't survived in written form, though we have information about them, and ones that are ceremonies rather than plays as we understand the term today. Working out a principle to bring order out of this chaos was difficult enough in itself. One option was to focus on the playwrights, but so many of them are anonymous. Another possibility, which had a certain appeal, was to take one genre at a time - tragedy, comedy, farce and so on - and trace its development over the centuries. After considerable agonising, I finally opted for looking at particular locations at particular times. What drama was available? Who was allowed to attend? How did plays written for performance al a royal court differ from those for the general public? To what extent did the plays mirror or challenge the values and beliefs of their audiences? I have spent hours burning the midnight oil as I struggled to reach some tenable conclusions regarding these and many more questions.

 

In the end, all I can do is present the fruits of my labours and hope - like the spoken prologues of many plays - that you, my readers, will be indulgent and excuse the limitations of this book.

 

31.- In the first paragraph , Thornton expresses her concern that…

A) the task she has taken on is too difficult for her.

B) she has relied too heavily on existing books.

C) there is little interest in books about drama.

D) she has nothing new to say on the subject.

 

32.- According to the second paragraph, Thornton's purpose in this book is to…

A) make readers feel as she does about drama.

B) write a book that might sell in larger quantities than expected.

C) convince readers that her interpretations of drama are correct.

D) explore different emotional responses to drama.

 

33.- Why did Thornton decide to write this book?

A) The author of another book encouraged her to write it.

B) She was annoyed by the narrow focus of a book she had read.

C) Another book opened her eyes to drama from around the world.

D) She felt that a book she had read failed to distinguish between good and bad drama.

 

34.- What does Thornton explain in the fourth paragraph?

A) why the book has taken her a long time to write

B) the difficulties she faced in researching the book

C) why the book concentrates on ancient Greece and Rome

D) how she feels now that the book is complete

 

35.- What does that in the last line of the fifth paragraph refer to?

A) making the book academic in nature

B) providing information about her source material

C) trying to make the book appeal to a wide audience

D) applying for promotion at the university where she teaches

 

36.- In structuring her book, Thornton has…

A) organised the material chronologically.

B) described the work of one playwright at a time.

C) concentrated on different dramatic genres in turn.

D) attempted to place plays in their social context.

 

O’Dell, Felicity (2015) Advanced Trainer. 2^nd edition. Reading and Use of English Part 5 Test 6. Cambridge University Press: Dubai. Page 72.