專欄教學｜15 of the world's most spectacular theaters CNN精選: 世界上15個最美麗的劇院 @ 看CNN學英文

這次CNN精選了15間華麗的劇院，在國外，每次去看表演都一定要穿著正式服裝，男生會穿燕尾服或是西裝，女生都會穿晚禮服出席。這樣子的文化似乎在台灣或是在亞洲地區比較少見，大家好像都覺得去看表演輕鬆自在比較舒服。不像國外，他們除了劇院弄得非常的華麗壯觀之外，去看表演的人會覺得穿著正式是show respect to the performers，是一種對表演者的尊敬。另外，他們也會藉由這樣的場合跟一些政商名流互動，社交一下。因此，通常在表演前，都會舉行一個cocktail party，讓大家在看表演之前，可以有個平台互相認識認識。 所以，如果大家有機會，一定要去國外的劇院看場表演。保證值回票價喔!

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/22/travel/spectacular-theaters

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Tokyo's National Noh Theatre has a subtitling system for each seat that can be changed from Japanese to English. Noh, meaning "skill" or "talent," is a form of traditional Japanese musical drama. Plays often last all day. Better stock up on the popcorn.

Subtitling adj. 有字幕的; 通常看到的型態是subtitle，也就是我們在看電影時，螢幕下方出現的字幕 “When I watch movies, I prefer to have Chinese subtitle. Otherwise, I could easily get lost track.”

Play n. 這裡的play要注意一下，並不是只玩樂的意思。當成名詞使用時，play就是一齣戲或是一個表演。 “I like to watch various plays or Broadway shows when I am in New York.”

Stock up 這是一個動詞片語，stock主要的意思是 ‘儲存’，加上up，就是要把東西 ‘儲存起來’，換言之就是，’儲存更多’ 的意思。這邊要表達的意思是指在Noh Theatrek的表演都是一整天的，所以，如果你決定要看完整場表演，就要準備好更多的爆米花，才不會看到後面筋疲力盡。 “The typhoon is coming soon so people are going to the supermarket to stock up food and supplies.”

Last v. 持續; 通常我們在說一件事情會 “持續下去” 或是一個表演是多久時間，就用last來當作動詞使用。 “The show lasts for two hours with half an hour break in between.”

Minack Theatre is an open-air stone venue looking out to the Celtic Sea. Ocean views and roaring waves might be distracting but they also add to the drama.

Open-air 字面上的意思就是 “開放空氣” ，中文的意思就是 “開放空間”，表示這個場地沒有屋頂，是個開放的空間，所以可以呼吸到新鮮的 ‘空氣’。 “There is a jazz performance at this open-air stage in Da-an Park.”

Venue n. 場地; 在商用英文上，你如果要辦一場活動，通常都是用venue來跟大家確認活動場地。 “The venue for the training this weekend is at Sheraton Hotel in Taipei.”

Look out to 俯瞰到; 單單只是look out的話，意思則是 “小心” “注意” 的意思。而look out to則是 “看出去…是”。 “From my room, you could look out to the whole lake.”

Roaring adj. 波濤洶湧的; 驚濤駭浪的; 單單是roar這個字的話，是指 ‘吼叫’。通常是用在兇猛野獸撕吼時的動作和聲音，當然也可以用在人身上，比如說重金屬搖滾會有很多吼叫聲。 “The lion usually roars loudly when it is about to attack.”

Distracting adj. 令人分心的; 這個形容詞很常出現在日常生活中，因為我們常常會被一些人事物打斷我們原本在做的事情。 “The music is very distracting when I need to focus on my study.”

Add to 字面上是 ‘加上去’ 的意思。不過，這邊的意思是指 ‘美麗的海景’ 和 ‘驚濤駭浪’ 這些大自然景觀，除了會distract一些聽眾之外，某種程度上，是可以為這個表演 “加料”。畢竟這樣的氛圍是在室內劇院所體會不到的。

Germany's largest theater, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, was the world's biggest planetarium when it opened in 1926. The original German theater dates to 1818 when the king of Prussia gifted it to the residents of Düsseldorf. The modern theater, built in the 1960s, has curved, undulating lines to resemble a theater curtain.

Planetarium n. 從字面上看來，前一段是planet，所以這個字一定是跟星球有關。後面加上arium通常就是指一個 “館”，比如說 aquarium 就是水族館。因此，planetarium就是我們所謂的天文館。 “If you like to learn about astronomy, you can take your kids to planetarium.”

Dates to 日期追朔到…已前的某個年代/日期。 “This building dates to 1800s so the government is trying to keep it as cultural monument.”

Curved adj. 有蜿蜒線條的; 有曲線的; curve當成名詞使用，也可以用來形容一個人身體線條，當你說一個人curved，就是在稱讚他玲瓏有緻，身體線條非常漂亮。 “When you watch ballet dancers performing, their curved bodies and gestures are just so fascinating and breathtaking.”

Undulating adj. 波動的; 起伏的; 當成動詞使用時，可以形容一個人隨著音樂 ‘起舞’。 “Whenever the music is on, Madison likes to undulate with the rhythm and cannot help to dance along.”

Resemble v. 比擬; 形成; 這邊的意思是劇院的流動線條 ‘就像是’ 真的布簾一樣。 “When you go watching baseball games, the audience like to resemble wave to cheer up their team.”

Elgin and Winter Garden Theater