TPO 12-2 Transition to Sound in Film

The word “regarded” in the passage is closest in meaning to

• Analyzed

• Criticized

• Considered

• Altered

According to paragraph 1, which of the following is the most significant development in the history of film?

• The development of a technology for translating films into other languages

• The technological innovation of sound film during the 1920s

• The technological improvements allowing clearer images in films

• The invention of a method for delivering movies to people's homes

The word “paradoxes” in the passage is closest in meaning to

• Paralles

• Difficulties

• Accomplishments

• Contradictions

Why does the author mention “Japanese benshi” and “original musical compositions”?

• To provide examples of some of the first sounds that were recorded for film

• To suggest that audiences preferred other forms of entertainment to film before the transition to sound in the 1920's

• To show how the use of sound in films changed during different historical periods

• To indicate some ways in which sound accompanied film before the innovation of sound films in the late 1920s

Paragraph 2 suggests which of the following about Eisenstein’s film The Battleship Potemkirf?

• The film was not accompanied by sound before its Berlin screening.

• The film was unpopular in the Soviet Union before it was screened in Berlin.

• Eisenstein’s film was the first instance of collaboration between a director and a composer.

• Eisenstein believed that the musical score in a film was as important as dialogue.

The word “overshadowed” in the passage is closest in meaning to

• Distracted from

• Explained

• Coordinated with

• Conducted

According to paragraph 3, which of the following is NOT true of the technological and aesthetic experiments of the 1920's?

• Many of the innovations developed in the 1920s were not widely introduced until as late as the 1950's.

• The new technological and aesthetic developments of the 1920s included the use of color, new screen formats, and television.

• The introduction of recorded sound prevented the development of other technological innovations in the 1920's.

• Because the costs of introducing recorded sound were low, it was the only innovation that was put to use in the 1920's.

Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage?

• It was difficult for some critics in the 1920s to imagine why the idea of sound film had faded from sight well before the First World War.

• As surprising as it seems today, some critics in the 1920s believed that the new attempts at sound films would fade just as quickly as the attempts made before the First World War.

• Although some critics predicted well before the First World War that sound film would be an important technical innovation, it was not attempted until the 1920s.

• Though some early critics thought that sound film would fade, its popularity during the First World War proved that it was not simply a technical novelty.

The word “neglected” in the passage is closest in meaning to

• Started

• Needed

• Expected

• Failed

According to paragraph 4, which of the following is true about the technical problems of early sound films?

• Sound films in the 1920s were unable to solve the technical flaws found in sound films before the First World War.

• Technical inadequacies occurred less frequently in early sound films than critics suggested.

• Critics assumed that it would be impossible to overcome the technical difficulties experienced with earlier sound films.

• Linking images with recorded sound was a larger obstacle than weak sound amplification or fragile sound recordings.