【正确答案】Key points: The subject matter of theater is always human beings and human concerns. Other arts can deal with any subject, but theater always focuses on human experiences. Theater is universal. It exists in every society. Theater always consists of a story presented by performers to an audience. Theater is transitory in nature. A performance changes from moment to moment, but is always in the present tense. Theater shares this quality with music and dance. Theater is not a fixed object, like a novel or a painting. Theater is an event, an experience. (3.9, 3.10) [听力原文] There are three characteristics of theater that define it as a separate art. First, unlike other arts, which can deal with any subject you can imagine, the subject of theater is always human beings. This is true even when the performers play animals or objects. The focus of drama is on human experiences, such as love, war, friendship, power, madness, and death. Different plays emphasize different themes, but the concerns are always human. Second, theater is universal. By that, I mean there's an impulse toward creating theater in every society. This isn't surprising, considering the human-centered quality of theater. In every culture, we find rituals, ceremonies, and celebrations that include elements of theater. At different times in different places, these ceremonies developed into a separate art of theater. And everywhere there is theater, it has certain essential qualities: a story is presented by performers to an audience. The third characteristic of theater is its transitory nature. A performance changes from moment to moment, but it's always in the present tense, and each moment is a direct, immediate adventure for the audience. Theater's transitory nature is a quality it shares with music and dance, and sets it apart from literature and the visual arts. A novel or a painting is a fixed object; it exists as a finished product. Theater, on the other hand, is not an object but an event. Theater is an experience created by a series of sights, sounds, and impressions. Using points and details from the lecture, explain the characteristics of theater that define it as a separate art.