Question

You must have read or heard of the sad love story between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu. But can you imagine the two singing opera in English instead of speaking poetic Chinese?

Jia and Lin are two characters from the classic Chinese novel A Dream of Red Mansions《红楼梦》），written by Cao Xueqin （1715-1763）. Now the book has been made into an English-language opera. The opera was first performed last September in San Francisco, US. This month it comes to Beijing, Changsha and Wuhan.

Many of the opera’s creators have backgrounds （背景）in both Chinese and American cultures, including the director and playwrights. Their understanding of both cultures helped them to change a Chinese classic into a foreign-language opera.

The book, which covers the rise and fall of the Jia family, has 120 chapters and hundreds of characters. But opera writer David Henry Hwang cut down the number of characters to just seven. Huang, a Chinese-American, focused on the love story between Jia and Lin and tried to write a heartbroken tragedy （悲剧）that everyone would understand.

The art director Timmy Yip, from Hong Kong, tried to help foreign people understand the characters using costumes （服装）and stage settings （布景）.He compared Lin to water and gave her a light green costume. When Lin shows up on stage, there is usually water around her on the stage.

The creators consider it to be a meaningful job to introduce a Chinese classic to Western audiences. Hwang told China Daily he was happy to “have made a contribution to the land where my parents were born.

1.Who wrote the opera for the Chinese classic novel A Dream of Red Mansions?

A.Lin Daiyu. B.Cao Xueqin. C.Jia Baoyu. D.David Henry Hwang.

2.The opera was ________

A.sung in poetic Chinese B.performed in many languages

C.performed in China after one year D.first performed Beijing

3.Which of the following is NOT a difference between the book and the opera?

A.The sad love story. B.The whole family’s story.

C.The language used, D.The number of characters.

4.The “land” in the last paragraph refers to?

A.America B.San Francisco

C.China D.the place where David was born

5.Why did the creators make the book into an English-language opera?

A.Because they thought the book was not good enough.

B.Because they hope to help others learn English.

C.Because they wanted Westerners to know about the Chinese novel.

D.Because they have backgrounds in Western culture.

Answer 1