102. Theater Critic: The play La Finestrina, now at Central Theater, was written in Italy in the eighteenth century. The
director claims that this production is as similar to the original production as is possible in a modern theater.
Although the actor who plays Harlequin the clown gives a performance very reminiscent of the twentieth-century
American comedian Groucho Marx, Marx’s comic style was very much within the comic acting tradition that had
begun in sixteenth-century Italy.
The considerations given best serve as part of an argument that
(A) modern audiences would fi nd it hard to tolerate certain characteristics of a historically accurate
performance of an eighteenth-century play
(B) Groucho Marx once performed the part of the character Harlequin in La Finestrina
(C) in the United States the training of actors in the twentieth century is based on principles that do not differ
radically from those that underlay the training of actors in eighteenth-century Italy
(D) the performance of the actor who plays Harlequin in La Finestrina does not serve as evidence against the
director’s claim
(E) the director of La Finestrina must have advised the actor who plays Harlequin to model his performance on
comic performances of Groucho Marx
Argument Construction
Situation Th e director of the local production of La Finestrina says it is as similar to the original
production as is possible in a modern theater. Th e actor playing Harlequin gives a
performance reminiscent of Groucho Marx, whose comic style falls within an acting
tradition which began in sixteenth-century Italy.
Reasoning For which of the options would the consideration given best serve as an argument?
Th e actor’s
performance was reminiscent of someone who fell within a tradition going back to
sixteenth-century Italy. Th e play was written, and therefore was likely fi rst performed, in
eighteenth-century Italy. All of this suggests that there could be a similarity between the
performances of Harlequin in the local production and in the original production. While
the two performances might have been quite dissimilar, there is nothing here that
supports that.
A Regardless of how plausible this option might be on its own merits, the passage provides no
support for it because the passage provides no information about the characteristics of a
historically accurate performance of an eighteenth-century play.
B Th e passage neither says this nor implies it.
C Th e passage says nothing about the training of actors, so this option would be supported by the
passage only in a very roundabout, indirect way.
D Correct. Th is is the option that the considerations most support.
E Th at the performance reminded the theater critic of Groucho Marx hardly shows that the
similarity was intentional, let alone that it was at the director’s instruction.
this production is as similar to the original production as is possible in a modern theater。这句话是什么意思？
Reasoning For which of the options would the consideration given best serve as an argument? 这句话是什么意思？
这题要解决的问题到底是什么？
