1. be set in 以…….為背景
2. avoid marriage 逃避婚姻
3. shortly afterwards 不久以后
4. for the first time 第一次…（只做狀語，不引導從句）
the first time 可以引導時間狀語從句
5. fall in love with 愛上某人
6. express one’s love for sb. 表達對…的愛戀
7. take on 呈現出….演繹,招收，雇傭，接納，增加（人手）；承擔（任務、職責），接受（角色、職位）
8. be drunk with power 沉迷于權力
9. exercise control over 對…實施控制
lose control of/be(get) out of control 失去控制
be in control of sth 在、、、控制下，指揮，管理某事物
under the control of 被、、、控制著
bring/get sth.under control; be under control抑制；控制
exercise patience/tolerance/power over sb.對某人用耐心/忍耐力/權力
exercise one’s right 行使權力
exercise authority over sb管束某人
10. promise to do sth 答應做……
keep one’s promise 信守諾言
make a promise 許下諾言
break one’s promise 違背諾言
11. be desperate to do sth 極度渴望做某事
12. win one’s affection 贏得某人的喜愛
13. leave one’s future in one’s hands 把某人的命運交給某人控制
14. stage the opera 把戲劇搬上舞臺
15. leave sb. breathless with excitement 因為興奮而喘不過氣來
16. be condemned to death 被處死
17. have certain key components 有某些關鍵的部分
18. depend on 依賴
19. make up 構成，組成，彌補，化妝
20. leave out 省去，漏掉
21. put up 張貼
22. apply for 申請…
23. try out for 參加……選拔
24. participate in 參加
25.develop one’s interest in… 培養在…方面的興趣
26. make friends with 和… …交朋友
27. a number one hit 最流行的人或物
28. play a role in 在… … 起作用/扮演角色
29. be anchored in 扎根于
30. see … as 把… …看作
31. go into a bit of a decline衰敗
32. to the music 隨著音樂
33. start out doing/to do 開始做…
34. achieve fame 成名
35.make a fortune 發財
36. cut…short 使停止
37. be drafted into 征召入伍
38.appeal to sb. for sth.
appeal to sb. to do sth. 懇求某人做某事
(sth) appeal to sb 某物吸引某人
39. break up 解散，分手
break out （戰爭，火災）爆發
break in 闖入，插入
break off 使終止，打斷
break into 闖入，打斷（帶賓語）
break through 出現；突破
break down 分散，拆散；壞了；身體垮下來
40..masses of 許多，大量的
句型
1.I witnessed the first of only eight performances of Giacomo Puccini’s world-famous opera, being performed in the Forbidden City.
2. It starred some of the world’s greatest opera singers.
3. Just imagine performing such an opera in the Forbidden City-there could not be a better setting.
4. The story then takes on a classic love triangle featuring Calaf , Turandot, and Liu , whose love for Calaf is unconditional.
5. Turandot is drunk with power and even dares to try and exercise control over her father.
6. The emperor finds the deaths of so many men disturbing, and although he would like to, he can not break his promise.
7. Calaf says his own name aloud, leaving his future in Turandot’s hands.
8. The production combined the very best of Western and Chinese talents in music , staging and directing.
9. It has been transformed into the location for a beautiful and heartbreaking love story.
10. A group of musicians make up an orchestra.
11. It was a real privilege for me to be cast.
12. I saw a poster that the production company’s Personnel Department had put up saying they were looking for singers.
13. I applied for the job and they sent me an invitation to try out for a part in the chorus.
14. He first helped to compose a song in 1844, at an age when most children are still in kindergarten.
15. The album included the song “The Sound of Silence”, which was a number one hit on the pop charts.
16. My column today takes a brief look at how Western pop music evolved over the last one hundred years from jazz to rock.
17. Its origins are anchored in the folk songs of black Americans from the period of slavery.
18. Louis Armstrong is seen by many as being one of the founding fathers of jazz.
19. Traditional jazz went into a bit of a decline , and was replaced in popularity by a new king of music known as swing.
20. The start of a new musical trend known as rhythm and blues, or R￡B, had arisen as a kind of mixture of jazz and swing.
21. R￡B changed modern music further and led to what we know as rock and roll.
22. A poor white boy named Elvis Presley turned out to the answer to Philip’s prayer.
23. Elvis’ musical life was cut short when he was drafted into the army in 1958.
24. This left the way clear for a new frontier of pop music stars to come forward in the 1960s.
25. They continue to have almost universal appeal today, even though they broke up in 1970.
26. Wherever the Beatles went, masses of fans would welcome them at the airport in a phenomenon that was then called “Beatlemania”, as if it were some kind of mental illness.
27. It was fashionable for fans to wear the same clothing as the Beatles did, and to get haircuts that matched their style as well.