『新东方在线托福听力』为托福考生准备了ETS托福TPO/Official 43 Lec 3听力练习：What is the professor's opinion of Geisel's book The Cat in the Hat?原文题目答案解析，TPO/Official 43 Lec 3听力原文范文音频翻译。

托福TPO/Official 43 Lec 3听力原文What is the professor's opinion of Geisel's book The Cat in the Hat?【新东方在线】

旁白：请听一段儿童文学的讲座。

Narrator: Listen to part of the lecture in a children's literature class.

教授：今天我们将看一个20世纪最重要的儿童文学作家。

Professor: Today we'll start looking at the most important children's book authors of the twentieth century.

你们可能在成长过程中读过他的文学作品，他叫Dr.Seuss。

And I'd like to start with an author illustrator whom some of you probably grew up reading: Dr. Seuss.

His actual name was Theodor Seuss Geisel.

他的作品在孩子和父母中是非常受欢迎的，但是，他的作品并没有被当成是文学或者受学术研究的关注。直到最近才有所改变。

Geisel's work was hugely popular among beginning readers and their parents, but it wasn't always considered literature or subjected to serious academic inquiry until relatively recently.

事实上，他的作品不仅没有当成文学，更没有作为学校教科书。

In fact, not only weren't his books considered literature, but they weren't always considered good school books.

在上世纪50年代末，甚至整个60年代，美国教师抵制Dr.Seuss 的书，因为他们认为这些书风格是幽默漫画， 有趣但不太适合在教室阅读

In the late 1950s and even through the 60s, US teachers resisted Seuss's books because they perceived them as having a comic book style... fun, maybe, but not... not appropriate for the classroom.

Geisel没有一本书获得过普利策奖。

None of Geisel's books individually won him a Pulitzer Prize.

他也没有得到过任何顶级的儿童文学奖项。

And he didn't receive any top children's literary awards either.

尽管普利策奖委员会确实授予他奖项，名号是“近半个世纪以来对儿童及其父母的教育和娱乐的特殊贡献”。

Although the Pulitzer Prize committee did give him a citation in 1984 for his... uh..."special contribution over nearly half a century to the education and enjoyment of America's children and their parents".

也许他的书没有被认真对待的一个原因是，尽管他的作品有韵律的，但是你不会称他为一个伟大的诗人。

Perhaps one reason his books weren't taken seriously is that even though they often use rhyme, you wouldn't call him a great poet.

而且为了使内容有韵律，他经常给他虚构的人物叫一些比较傻的名字，比如，Grinch和Sneetches。

And often, to make things rhyme, he used silly names for his imaginary creatures, like the Grinch and Sneetches.

事实上，一本书可能有34组押韵的词，但是其中只有8组全部是真实词汇。

In fact, one book features 34 pairs of rhymed words, but only eight of those pairs consist entirely of real words.

Geisel也给自己的书做过插图，创作出很多令人视觉上印象深刻的角色。

Geisel also illustrated his own books and created a lot of highly memorable characters from a visual standpoint.

但是，就艺术才华来说，没有人认为他是个很好的艺术家或者一个插图画家。

Yet as far as his artistic talent, no one's ever called him a great artist or a great illustrator.

从他的人物角色来看，他画的人物都是一样的。

For his human characters, he pretty much drew the same face over and over.

除了配角，他书里的所有人看上去都长一个样

Except for minor accessories, all the people in his books look the same.

这确实不是那些在艺术学校被鼓励做的事。

Not exactly something you'd be encouraged to do in art school.

他刻画的那些非人物的角色被评论家认为过于简单。

And the way he drew even nonhuman characters was dismissed by many critics as being overly simplistic.

另一方面，他作品中的风景很简单也很巧妙的。

His landscapes, on the other hand, they are simple but they are also extremely clever.

他用很神奇的手法来创造远距离的幻觉——利用一些简单的形状和线条。

He had this uncanny knack for creating the illusion of great distance with some very simple shapes and lines.

But what about from a pedagogical standpoint?

举一个Geisel最著名的作品：The Cat in the Hat。在某种程度上，这本书体现了Geisel作为儿童文学作家的特别天赋。

Well, let's consider Geisel's most famous book: The Cat in the Hat. Now, in a way, this book, The Cat in the Hat, captures the essence of Geisel's particular genius as a children's author.

Geisel写这篇文章是为了回应一篇文章。这篇文章是著名的小说家John Hersy写于1954年的。

Geisel actually wrote it in response to an article written in 1954 by an acclaimed novelist named John Hersey.

在这篇文章中，Hersey批评了小学里的阅读教科书。

In this article, Hersey criticized the textbooks being used in elementary schools to teach children to read.

他说这些书“无聊，做作，不幽默”。

He called the books “boring, contrived, and utterly humorless”.

看到Hersy的文章后，他一定是想知道是什么让这些书很无趣。

After seeing Hersey's article, Geisel must have wondered what made the books so dull.

他发现了一点，这些书只使用了Dolch List的单词。

And one thing he found was they use only words from the Dolch List.

Dolch List 包含几百个普通的常用词，比如，cat和hat。

The Dolch List contained a few hundred common sight words, words like, well, cat and hat.

当时，Dolch List 被初级读物的出版商广为采纳

At the time, the Dolch List was widely adhered to by publishers of textbooks for beginning readers.

在仅使用Dolch list 中的单词的情况下，盖泽尔激发出了他丰富的想象力

Well, using only words from the Dolch List, Geisel tapped into his fertile imagination.

结果有了一个十分有趣又吸引人的故事情节，讲的是一只会说话的猫说服一对兄妹，让自己趁妈妈不在家把家里弄得乱糟糟的。

And the result was an incredibly funny and engaging storyline about a talking cat that convinces a brother and sister to let him make a huge mess in their house while their mother is away.

另一个角色，一条会说话的鱼警告孩子们，他们会因为猫的疯狂的动作而被批评。

Another character, a talking fish, tries to warn the children that they'll be blamed for the cat's crazy antics.

你真的可以感觉到当猫把家里弄得越来越乱的时候孩子们越来越紧张。

You can really feel the tension building up in those kids as the cat makes the house messier and messier.

最终在紧要关头，房子又重归整洁。

Ultimately the house gets straightened up in the nick of time.

当妈妈回来后问她不在的时候有什么有趣的事情发生的时候，孩子们说不出话。

And the kids are left speechless when their mom shows up and casually asks if anything interesting happened in her absence.

大概，孩子和读者就会思考：他们应该说出事实嘛？

The kids, and presumably, Geisel's readers are left thinking: should they tell the truth?

非常好！没有太多的作者能够设定一个这样的道德两难情景去让孩子们自己思考。

Brilliant! There aren't too many authors who can set up a moral dilemma like this and then get children to think about it for themselves.

According to the professor, why did teachers oppose using Dr. Seuss books in the classroom during the 1950s and 1960s?

Why does the professor mention the citation awarded to Geisel by the Pulitzer Prize Committee?

What does the professor say about Geisel's work as an illustrator? Click on two answers.

What was the connection between Geisel and John Hersey?

What is the professor's opinion of Geisel's book The Cat in the Hat?

1."Today we’ll start looking at the most important children's book authors of the 20th century. And I’d like to start with an author illustrator whom some of you probably grew up reading, Dr. Seuss. He’s actual name was Theodor Seuss Geisel. Geisel’s work was hugely popular among beginning readers and their parents. But it wasn’t always considered literature or subjected to serious academic inquiry until relatively recently. In fact, not only won’t his books considered literature but they weren't always considered good schoolbooks. 
" 
2.In the late 1950s and even through 60s, US teachers resisted Seuss books because they perceive them as having a comic book style. Fun, maybe but not… not appropriate for the classroom. None of Geisel’s books individually won him the Pulitzer Prize. And he didn‘t receive any top children’s literary awards either. Although, the Pulitzer Prize committee did give them a citation in 1984 for his special contribution over nearly half a century to the education and enjoyment of America‘s children and their parents. But again that wasn’t until 1984. Perhaps one reason his books weren’t taken seriously is that even though they often use rhyme, you wouldn’t call him a great poet. Geisel’s rhyme schemes are very simple and often to make things rhyme, he use silly names for his imaginary creatures, like the Grinch and snitches. In fact, one book features 34 pairs of rhyme words but only eight of those pairs consist entirely of real words. The rest are made up words. 
3.In the late 1950s and even through 60s, US teachers resisted Seuss books because they perceive them as having a comic book style. Fun, maybe but not… not appropriate for the classroom. None of Geisel’s books individually won him the Pulitzer Prize. And he didn‘t receive any top children’s literary awards either. Although, the Pulitzer Prize committee did give them a citation in 1984 for his special contribution over nearly half a century to the education and enjoyment of America‘s children and their parents. But again that wasn’t until 1984. Perhaps one reason his books weren’t taken seriously is that even though they often use rhyme, you wouldn’t call him a great poet. Geisel’s rhyme schemes are very simple and often to make things rhyme, he use silly names for his imaginary creatures, like the Grinch and snitches. In fact, one book features 34 pairs of rhyme words but only eight of those pairs consist entirely of real words. The rest are made up words. 
4."Geisel also illustrated his own books and created lots of highly memorable characters from a visual standpoint. Yet as far as his artistic talent, no one’s ever really called him a great artist, or a great illustrator. For assuming characters, he pretty much drew the same face over and over. Except for minor accessories all the people in his books looked the same. Not exactly something you‘d be encouraged to do in art school. And the way he drew even nonhuman characters was dismissed by many critics as being overly simplistic. Its landscapes, on the other hand, they are simple but they’re also extremely clever. He had this uncanny knack for creating the illusion of great distance was very simple shapes and lines. 
" 
5."But what about form the pedagogical standpoint? Well, let‘s considered Geisel’s most famous book, The Cat in The Hat. 
Now in a way this book, The Cat in The Hat, captures the essence of Geisel particular genius as a children's author. Geisel actually wrote it in response to an article written in 1954 by an acclaimed novelist named John Hersey. 
In this article Hersey criticized the textbooks being used in elementary schools to teach children to read. He called the books boring, contrived and utterly humorless. After seeing Heasey's article, Geisel must've wondered what made the book so dull. And one thing he found was they used only words from the Dolch List. The Dolch List contained a few hundred common site words. Words like, well, cat and hat, at the time, the dose list was widely adhered to by publishers of textbooks for beginning readers. Well, using only words from the Dolch List, Geisel typed into his fertile imagination. 
" 
6."But what about form the pedagogical standpoint? Well, let‘s considered Geisel’s most famous book, The Cat in The Hat. 
Now in a way this book, The Cat in The Hat, captures the essence of Geisel particular genius as a children's author. Geisel actually wrote it in response to an article written in 1954 by an acclaimed novelist named John Hersey. 
In this article Hersey criticized the textbooks being used in elementary schools to teach children to read. He called the books boring, contrived and utterly humorless. After seeing Heasey's article, Geisel must've wondered what made the book so dull. And one thing he found was they used only words from the Dolch List. The Dolch List contained a few hundred common site words. Words like, well, cat and hat, at the time, the dose list was widely adhered to by publishers of textbooks for beginning readers. Well, using only words from the Dolch List, Geisel typed into his fertile imagination. 
And the result was an incredibly funny and engaging story line about a talking cat that convinces her brother and sister to let him make a huge mess in their house while their mother is away. Another character, a talking fish tries to warn children that they’ll be blamed for the cat’s crazy antics. You can really feel the tension building up in those kids as the cat makes the house messier and messier. Ultimately the house gets straightened up in the nick of time and the kids are left speechless when their mom shows up and casually asks if anything interesting happened in her absence. The kids and presumably Geisel’s readers are left thinking. Should they tell the truth? And that's where the book ends. Brilliant. There aren’t too many authors who can set up a moral dilemma like this and then get children to think about it for themselves.
"

北美留学考试	英联邦留学考试	专业问答
TOEFL	IELTS	雅思专业问答
GRE	A Level	托福专业问答
GMAT	PTE	GRE专业问答
SAT	Interchange	GMAT专业问答
ACT	英本精英计划
AP/SSAT/IB
美高先修课
美本精英计划
美研精英计划