The Origin and Development of Applause
Read The Origin and Development of Applause and check the IELTS Reading answers. Scholars aren't quite sure about the origins of applause, but the form that is still most common, clapping the hands together, was formalized in Western culture during and after performances. During the time of the Rom…
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Scholars aren't quite sure about the origins of applause, but the form that is still most common, clapping the hands together, was formalized in Western culture during and after performances. During the time of the Roman Republic (509 BC-27 BC) the common way to end a play was for the chief actor to yell 'Valete et plaudite!' ('Goodbye and applause!') thus signaling to the audience that it was time for them to give praise by striking hands and making explosive noise. It's no surprise, then, that this became a means of crowd manipulation. Rome saw the rise of a professional class of applauders, or 'people who clapped for their dinner', hired to infiltrate crowds and manipulate their reaction to performances. Actors would hire a dozen or so people to spread out among their audiences and prolong the applause, or, if they were feeling especially bold, to start 'spontaneous' chants and shouts of praise.
Vocabulary from this passage
9 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- a mark of sophistication noun phrase
A sign that someone is cultured and knows how to behave well.
In the passage:
Q23 says people could "show their superiority"; the passage says silence "became a mark of sophistication" (paragraph F).
Synonyms: show their superiority, a sign of refinement
- astute adjective
Very clever at judging people and situations, especially for personal gain.
In the passage:
Roman leaders "became astute at reading the volume, the rhythm, and the length of the crowd's claps" (paragraph B).
Synonyms: shrewd, sharp
Opposites: naive
- back and forth noun phrase
A repeated exchange of remarks or actions between two sides.
In the passage:
"There was a lot of back and forth between speakers and crowds" (paragraph C): a two-way exchange, not one-way applause.
Synonyms: exchange, give and take
- be credited with verb phrase
To be recognised as the person who did or started something.
In the passage:
"Jean Daurat is credited with bringing back the Roman practice" (paragraph E): people say he did it.
Synonyms: be given the credit for, be recognised as
- fall out of fashion verb phrase
To stop being popular or widely used.
In the passage:
The claque practice spread to Milan, Vienna and London "before falling out of fashion" (paragraph E).
Synonyms: go out of style, become unpopular
Opposites: come into fashion
- feign verb
To pretend to have a feeling or condition that you do not really have.
In the passage:
Q18 heading viii mentions "fake appreciation"; paragraph E says the criers "would feign tears in reaction to performances".
Synonyms: fake, pretend
- fortunes noun
How successful or unsuccessful someone is over time.
In the passage:
"assessing an orator's fortunes" (paragraph C): his success or failure, not money or luck; it is not the sense of wealth.
Synonyms: success, prospects
- institutionalized adjective
Made a normal, established part of a system or organisation.
In the passage:
By the 1820s "claques had become institutionalized" with a Paris agency (paragraph E): an accepted, organised practice.
Synonyms: established, entrenched
Opposites: temporary
- standing noun
A person's reputation or level of respect among other people.
In the passage:
"estimate their standing with the people" (paragraph B): their popularity, not their physical position or legal status; heading v says "popularity".
Synonyms: reputation, popularity
Answers with explanations
- 14. iii
The paragraph explains how clapping first became a set habit: the actor's closing call at the end of a **play** told the audience when to applaud. That fits the heading about the **initial emergence of applause** in the **theatre**. The hired applauders are only a side effect, so the heading about fake appreciation is wrong here.
- 15. v
The heading's **evaluate their own popularity** is the paragraph's **estimate their standing with the people**, and the political figures are the **leaders** and officials. The next paragraph is about **rivals**, so the heading about an opponent's popularity belongs there, not here.
- 16. x
The signpost is **rivals**: leaders **researched their rivals**, sending friends to note how much each official was **beloved**. That is the heading about working out how popular an **opponent** was. The heading about political figures judging their own popularity matches the paragraph before it.
- 17. vii
**More varied than clapping alone** matches **different methods of applause... besides clapping**. The paragraph then lists **snaps** and **waves** of the toga in the first century AD, so the heading about **ancient times** fits.
- 18. viii
The heading's **re-emergence** is the poet **bringing back the Roman practice** of hired applauders, and **disappearance** is the claque **losing its power**. **Fake appreciation** is paid people pretending to be moved. The paragraph covers the whole cycle, not only the price lists.
- 19. i
**Symphonies and concerts** become serious and a code of **silence** develops, so **musical performance** changes the **etiquette** of applause. The heading about music influencing how much the audience applauds is a trap: the paragraph is about rules of behaviour, not the level of applause.
- 20. iv
The paragraph is about **the 21st century** and likes and shares on **devices**. Applause is now **far more permanent** than the old **momentary** kind, which is the heading's **more far-reaching than ever before**.
- 21-22: AD
Two options match the paragraph about the claque. The option about the **16th century** paraphrases **Jean Daurat... In France, this group became known as a 'claque'**. The option about **different categories** is the passage's **classification** into laughers, criers and officers. The option about cost fails: prices depended on how enthusiastic the clapping was, not on the client's fame. The option saying the practice stayed in France fails because it **spread to Milan, to Vienna, and to London**.
- 23. silence
The question's **show their superiority** is the passage's **a mark of sophistication**. What people had to know was when to **maintain silence** and when to clap, so the gap before **or applause** needs **silence**.
- 24. opera
**No longer had a meaningful dialogue** is the passage's **much less of a true dialogue**. The performers it mentions most are the **opera** singers, so the gap needs **opera**.
- 25. reward
Look at the 19th century at the end of the same paragraph. Applause had become **an expectation rather than the reward it used to be**. So it was **no longer offered as a** **reward** to performers.
- 26. permanent
The last paragraph compares our applause with the old kind: it is **no longer momentary and short-lived** but **far more permanent**. The gap needs **permanent**.