The Beatles were the most influential band in pop history. In their 8year, 12album
history, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr altered (改变)
popular culture dramatically. And it wasn"t just the suits and changing lengths of hair the
four Liverpool boys wore that had such an impact, but what they seemed to stand for.
The world saw them as the voice of a new generation, one with a very different attitude
to life.
Their influence was at its height in the 1960s, but their music continues to stir listeners
today. However, up until recently one aspect of the Beatles was struck in Yesterday: The
music had never been remastered (重新灌录). But on September 9 that situation came to
an end, with the release of the entire band"s music in a digital makeover. It is probably the
biggest reissue (重新发行) in pop music history, said British newspaper the Financial
Times.
The albums were remastered at Abbey Road Studios in London, the location where the
band produced much of their work. The cover of their last album, Abbey Road of 1969,
featured the four young men striding (大步行走) across a zebra crossing on Abbey Road
itself. It is one of the most famous of all Beatles images.
Recently, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the album, hundreds of Beatles lovers
gathered there to show their appreciation.
Pop groups come and go. The boy band pursued by screaming fans one year will be
forgotten the next. But the Beatles are one of the few groups whose music seems to have
endured (持久). Why? Paul McCartney"s biographer Barry Miles has an explanation: "They
were the first rock band… and they just happened to be the best. They were the first band
to play stadiums, to have their own products. They were groundbreaking in every way," he
says.
Today, we complete our story about the influential English writer William Shakespeare. He wrote
plays and poems during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, which remain very popular today.
During earlier times, people would probably have learned several ancient Roman and Greek plays.
It was not unusual for writers to produce more current versions of these works. For example, in
Shakespeare"s play The Comedy of Errors Shakespeare borrowed certain details from the ancient
Roman writer Plautus. For his play Macbeth, Shakespeare most likely used a work on Scottish history
by Raphael Holinshed for information. Shakespeare might have borrowed from other writers, but the
intensity(强度)of his imagination and language made the plays his own. While many plays by other
writers of his time have been forgotten, Shakespeare and his art live on.
Shakespeare was also influenced by the world around him. He described the sights and sounds of
London in his plays. His works include observations about political struggles, the fear of diseases, and
the popular language of the city"s tradesmen. Shakespeare"s knowledge of the English countryside is
also clear. His works include descriptions of deep forests, local flowers, and the ancient popular
traditions of rural people.
It would be impossible to list all of the ways in which Shakespeare"s works have influenced the world
culture. But the first and greatest example would be his great influence on the English language. During
his time, the English language was changing. Many new words from other languages were being added.
Shakespeare used his sharp mind and poetic inventiveness to create hundreds of new words and rework
old ones. For example, he created the noun forms of "critic", "mountaineer" and "eyeball". Many common expressions in English come from his plays, including "pomp and circumstance(装腔作势)"from Othello,
"full circle(绕圈子)" from King Lear, etc. The list of cultural creations influenced by Shakespeare is
almost endless. From paintings to television to music and dance, Shakespeare was well represented.
Shakespeare"s plays have been translated into every major language in the world.
Shakespeare became a wellknown writer during a golden age of theater. His years of hard work paid off.
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