1. be set in 以…….为背景
2. avoid marriage 逃避婚姻
3. shortly afterwards 不久以后
4. for the first time 第一次…（只做状语，不引导从句）
the first time 可以引导时间状语从句
5. fall in love with 爱上某人
6. express one’s love for sb. 表达对…的爱恋
7. take on 呈现出….演绎,招收，雇佣，接纳，增加（人手）；承担（任务、职责），接受（角色、职位）
8. be drunk with power 沉迷于权力
9. exercise control over 对…实施控制
lose control of/be(get) out of control 失去控制
be in control of sth 在、、、控制下，指挥，管理某事物
under the control of 被、、、控制着
bring/get sth.under control; be under control抑制；控制
exercise patience/tolerance/power over sb.对某人用耐心/忍耐力/权力
exercise one’s right 行使权力
exercise authority over sb管束某人
10. promise to do sth 答应做……
keep one’s promise 信守诺言
make a promise 许下诺言
break one’s promise 违背诺言
11. be desperate to do sth 极度渴望做某事
12. win one’s affection 赢得某人的喜爱
13. leave one’s future in one’s hands 把某人的命运交给某人控制
14. stage the opera 把戏剧搬上舞台
15. leave sb. breathless with excitement 因为兴奋而喘不过气来
16. be condemned to death 被处死
17. have certain key components 有某些关键的部分
18. depend on 依赖
19. make up 构成，组成，弥补，化妆
20. leave out 省去，漏掉
21. put up 张贴
22. apply for 申请…
23. try out for 参加……选拔
24. participate in 参加
25.develop one’s interest in… 培养在…方面的兴趣
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衰败
32. to the music 随着音乐
33. start out doing/to do 开始做…
34. achieve fame 成名
35.make a fortune 发财
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. 恳求某人做某事
(sth) appeal to sb 某物吸引某人
39. break up 解散，分手
break out （战争，火灾）爆发
break in 闯入，插入
break off 使终止，打断
break into 闯入，打断（带宾语）
break through 出现；突破
break down 分散，拆散；坏了；身体垮下来
40..masses of 许多，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.